"The Underground Railroad" by Colson Whitehead

Tells the story of Cora, a young enslaved person who attempts to escape from slavery through the Underground Railroad. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award.

"Beloved" by Toni Morrison

Explores the experience of slavery and the trauma it inflicts. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize

"The Good Lord Bird" by James McBride

Told from the perspective of Henry Shackleford, a young enslaved person in 1856 Kansas when John Brown arrives and the experiences that ensue. Winner of the National Book Award

"The Water Dancer" by Ta-Nehisi Coates

Merging science fiction and historical fiction, this novel tells the story of an enslaved person who learns he possesses a superpower known as Conduction

"The Heroic Slave" by Frederick Douglass

Fictional story inspired by the real life events of Madison Washington, an enslaved person who led a rebellion on the slave ship Creole in 1841.