The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead 

A black boy in 1960s Tallahassee is unfairly sentenced to a juvenile reformatory called the Nickel Academy.

 

All American Boys by Jason Reynolds

Two teens, one black and one white, deal with the effects of a single violent act that shakes the community and larger society. 

 

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds of her poor neighborhood and her fancy prep schools while her life is shaken when her best friend is killed by police. 

 

One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia

Eleven-year-old Delphine acts as a mother to her two younger sisters after their mother left them years ago. 

 

The Rock and the River by Kekla Magoon

Thirteen-year-old Sam has difficulties being known as the son of civil rights activist Roland Childs.

 

Deacon King Kong by James McBride

In September 1969, an old church deacon shoots the project’s drug dealer at point-blank range.

 

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

In 1964 in South Carolina the story of Lily Owens is told and her relationship with her black stand-in mother Rosaleen deepens as deep racist acts occur in their town.

 

The Civil Rights Reader: American Literature from Jim Crow to Reconciliation by Amy Schmidt

An anthology of drama, essays, fiction, and poetry throughout the Civil Rights Movement.

 

Freshwater Road by Denise Nichols

Coming of age story set in Mississippi during the Freedom Summer of 1964. 

 

The Fog Machine by Susan Follett 

A story from three different perspectives during the Civil Rights Movement.

 

Meridian by Alice Walker

A story of a young woman at an Atlanta college attempting to find her place in the revolution of racial and social equity.

 

Fire in the Streets by Kekla Magoon

A companion the "The Rock and the River" that chronicles the story of Maxie, a young African American woman, who wants to join the Black Panthers.

 

Shorts Stories of the Civil Rights Movement: An Anthology by Margaret Earley Whitt

A collection of stories from the civil rights movement.