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12 books about the Black experience to read this Juneteenth

Learn more about the holiday and its impacts on society.

Woman spread out reading on a couch. Credit: Reviewed / Farrar, Straus and Giroux / Viking / Delacourt

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Juneteenth is arguably one of our country’s most important holidays. A commemoration of the day enslaved African Americans in Galveston, TX learned they were free, until June 19, 1865, until that date the Emancipation Proclamation only applied to people in Confederate states.

Historically, June 19, 1865, was rarely taught in history classes and books. In 2021 Juneteeth was finally recognized as a federal holiday. A portmanteau of “June” and “nineteenth,” it's a day for Americans learn more about our country’s history, and the contributions that some notable Black heroes have made to it.

We’ve rounded up 12 great books about Juneteenth that showcase not only the history of Juneteenth but also events that occurred in its aftermath, as well as fictional books that detail the Black experience. Plus, there are books for all reading levels, making them great for the entire family.

1. Juneteenth for Mazie by Floyd Cooper

Juneteenth for Mazie by Floyd Cooper
Credit: Reviewed / Capstone Young Readers

Books about the Black experience to read this Juneteenth

You and your family will enjoy this book about Juneteenth that is written specifically for young readers. Juneteenth for Mazie follows a young child named Mazie as she learns about her great-grandfather and the day Black people in Texas found out they were freed.

Many parents love this book as it’s an easy way to start educating their younger children about the importance of the holiday.

$14 at Amazon

2. On Juneteenth by Annette Gordon-Reed

On Juneteenth by Annette Gordon-Reed
Credit: Reviewed /

Books about the Black experience to read this Juneteenth

Pulitzer Prize–winning historian Annette Gordon-Reed details the purpose of Juneteenth and how it has impacted the country in On Juneteenth. As a Texan, Gordon-Reed also weaves in her own family history to explain her connection to the holiday to further expand on why it’s celebrated and why it’s an important piece of American history.

$10 at Amazon

3. Envisioning Emancipation: Black Americans and the End of Slavery by Deborah Willis and Barbara Krauthamer

Envisioning Emancipation: Black Americans and the End of Slavery by Deborah Willis and Barbara Krauthamer
Credit: Reviewed / Temple University Press

Books about the Black experience to read this Juneteenth

Photographic historian Deborah Willis and historian of slavery Barbara Krauthamer have combined their efforts to uncover 150 photos that give a visual history of the antebellum south up until the Great Depression in Envistioning Emancipation.

Several of these images have never been seen before and it illustrates the often untold post-slavery Black experience, detailing the aftermath of the Emancipation Proclamation.

$25 at Amazon

4. The Awakening of Malcolm X by Ilyasah Shabazz and Tiffany D. Jackson

The Awakening of Malcolm X by Ilyasah Shabazz and Tiffany D. Jackson
Credit: Reviewed / Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Books about the Black experience to read this Juneteenth

Despite Juneteenth marking the day slaves were officially freed, there’s still a lot of work to be done for the fight for equality. Malcom X, an African-American Muslim minister and leader in the American Black nationalist movement, was an important figure in the Civil Rights Movement. You can learn more about Malcolm X and his years when he was imprisoned in The Awakening of Malcolm X.

Told from the perspective of his daughter Ilyasah Shabazz in collaboration with award-winning author Tiffany D. Jackson, you’ll get an intimate view on what fed her father’s determination for freedom.

$10 at Amazon

5. A Little Devil in America: Notes in Praise of Black Performance by Hanif Abdurraqib

A Little Devil in America: Notes in Praise of Black Performance by Hanif Abdurraqib
Credit: Reviewed / Random House

Books about the Black experience to read this Juneteenth

Part poetry, part essay, author Hanif Abdurraqib tackles the history of Black entertainers in America. From Josephine Baker to Aretha Franklin, A Little Devil in America highlights the power of visual arts in Black America while showing the importance of every one of these performances—big or small—and their impact on Black culture and the United States.

$15 at Amazon

6. Jarvais Po: (The Secret Adventures of a Potato) by Abesi N. Manyando

Jarvais Po: (The Secret Adventures of a Potato) by Abesi N. Manyando
Credit: Reviewed / 7th & Lotus

Books about the Black experience to read this Juneteenth

This children’s book will help parents and educators ease into talking about heavy topics such as bullying, race, and class with food as a backdrop. Abesi N. Manyando uses vegetables, like Jarvais “Po” Potato and Cee Celery, to illustrate difficult situations and showcase how racism impacts marginalized people.

$20 at Amazon

7. Becoming: Adapted for Young Readers

Becoming: Adapted for Young Readers
Credit: Reviewed / Delacourte

Books about the Black experience to read this Juneteenth

Have you ever wanted to start a book club with your 10-year-old but been unable to agree on the book? She wants to read The Hunger Games and you do not, thus leaving you at an impasse.

Well here’s a solution for your first book: Becoming: Adapted for Young Readers. That’s right, Michelle Obama’s first book is now available for the 10-and-up crowd. You can both read the former first lady’s memoir together. So dust off your unopened copy or if you need to buy Becoming, go ahead and snag this one too!

$10 at Amazon

8. Lifting as We Climb: Black Women's Battle for the Ballot Box by Evette Dionne

Lifting as We Climb: Black Women's Battle for the Ballot Box by Evette Dionne
Credit: Reviewed / Viking Books for Young Readers

Books about the Black experience to read this Juneteenth

After the 13th Amendment, which formally abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, was passed, most Black people wanted the right to vote. While Black men were able to vote legally first with the 14th Amendment, many Black women still experienced racism and sexism from white female suffragette allies who were fighting for the rights of women to vote.

As shown in Lifting as We Climb, many Black women were discouraged to vote and oftentimes left out of the conversation. Throughout this powerful book, Evette Dionne draws a connection from abolition to contemporary young activists, filling in the gaps of the women’s suffrage movement.

$12 at Amazon

9. Grieving While Black: An Antiracist Take on Oppression and Sorrow by Breeshia Wade

Credit: Reviewed / North Atlantic Books

Books about the Black experience to read this Juneteenth

Despite its title, this is not a self-help book. Instead, it's a critical analysis of the impact of Black trauma. Author Breeshia Wade uses a Buddhist-influenced approach, as well as her background as a caretaker, to explain how microaggressions and injustices have evolved over time. Throughout Grieving While Black, Wade encourages self-care and putting things that matter the most first.

$15 at Amazon

10. Black Sci-Fi Short Stories (Gothic Fantasy) by Tia Ross and Dr. Sandra M. Grayson

Black Sci-Fi Short Stories (Gothic Fantasy) by Tia Ross and Dr. Sandra M. Grayson
Credit: Reviewed / Flame Tree Collections

Books about the Black experience to read this Juneteenth

It’s time to get introduced to some classic Black sci-fi short stories by Walidah Imarisha, Pauline Hopkins, W.E.B. Dubois, and more. These tales incorporate sci-fi, dystopian, and oftentimes futuristic tales that intersect identity, technology, space, and time. While fictional, these are still great reads on the Black experience with a mix between century-old classics and more modern tales.

$20 at Amazon

11. The Man Who Lived Underground by Richard Wright

Credit: Reviewed / Library of America

Books about the Black experience to read this Juneteenth

Author Richard Wright submitted _The Man Who Lived Underground_ to publishers almost 70 years ago and it was initially rejected. Now, after his death, his novel is available and it certainly stands the test of time. The story follows a Black laborer who is forced to confess to a crime he did not do and follows his quest for any semblance of freedom.

$12 at Amazon

12. Becoming Muhammad Ali

Becoming Muhammad Ali
Credit: Reviewed Jimmy Patterson

Books about the Black experience to read this Juneteenth

Some athletes are heroes because they’re champions in the world of their sport, and others are heroes because of the causes that they champion. Muhammad Ali is a hero for both of those reasons.

Becoming Muhammad Ali teaches kids about one of the first athletes to stand up for causes he believed in while at the top of his game, and how he brought the athlete and activist parts of his identity together to fight for what he believed in.

$9 at Amazon

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