So you want to learn more about race...

To Our Beloved Community,

We stand in solidarity with Black Lives Matter and against injustice and racism. We are encouraged by the many people who are making their voices heard and are advocating for real, substantial change. During times like these, it is up to each of us individually to be responsible for change and to involve ourselves in the conversation. We can find hope in people trying to educate themselves and their children. Below are a few different book lists, sorted by age (including links to our website) with titles that can help explain and aid in our education and in our conversation.

"Wherever there is a human being, there is an opportunity for a kindness." -Lucius Annaeus Seneca

These are just a few of the more popular titles right now (that are likely waiting for the publishers to catch up with the demand):

How to Be an Anti-Racist by Ibram X. Kendi

The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander

White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk about Racism by Robin DiAngelo

Me and White Supremacy: Combat Racism, Change the World, and Become a Good Ancestor by Layla Saad

This Book Is Anti-Racist: 20 Lessons on How to Wake Up, Take Action, and Do The Work by Tiffany Jewell, Aurelia Durand (Illustrator)

Hood Feminism: Notes from the Women That a Movement Forgot by Mikki Kendall

So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo

Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People about Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge

Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi

Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You: A Remix of the National Book Award-Winning Stamped from the Beginning by Jason Reynolds, Ibram X. Kendi

In addtion to the books above that may be on backorder due to their popularity, please consider some of the recommendations below for further reading.

~Peace To You, Our Neighbors~

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Adult Titles
*2021 Whatcom Reads Selection*
Washington Black by Esi Edugyan

Talking to Strangers by Malcomb Gladwell

(for teachers)
Teaching for Black Lives by Dyan Watson (Editor), Jesse Hagopian (Editor), Wayne Au (Editor)

The Racial Healing Handbook: Practical Activities to Help You Challenge Privilege, Confront Systemic Racism, and Engage in Collective Healing ( Social Justice Handbook ) by Anneliese A. Singh

Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson

Unapologetic by Charlene A. Carruthers

We Were Eight Years in Power by Ta-Nehisi Coates

Native Son by Richard Wright

Supreme Inequality by Adam Cohen

Black History in its Own Words by Dozens of Black Luminaries

The Rose That Grew From Concrete by Tupac Shakur

Double Victory : How African American Women Broke Race and Gender Barriers to Help Win World War II by Cheryl Mullenbach

All About Love: New Visions by Bell Hooks

The Souls of Black Folk : The Unabridged Classic by W. E. B. Dubois

Collected Poems of Langston Hughes by Langston Hughes

Oxford Anthology of African-American Poetry by African American Poets Over Two Centuries

James Baldwin: Collected Essays by James Baldwin

I Am Not Your Negro by James Baldwin

*Highly Recommended by our Fairhaven Store Manager, Lauren*
Transcendent Kingdom (Pre-Order September 2020) by Yaa Gyasi

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

Motherhood So White: A Memoir of Race, Gender, and Parenting in America by Nefertiti Austin

Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom by David W. Blight

The New Negro: The Life of ALain Locke by Jeffrey C. Stewart

Think Black by Clyde W. Ford

Officer Clemmons by Dr. Francois S. Clemmons

Overground Railroad by Candacy Taylor

A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James

Whatever Happened to Interracial Love? by Kathleen Collins

Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison

The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead

Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward

An American Marriage by Tayari Jones

Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid

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Ages 13-18+
Black Brother, Black Brother by Jewell Parker Rhodes

In Search of Safety by Susan Kuklin

American Struggle by Teens associated with various Museums & Academies

Kindred by Octavia E. Butler

How I Discovered Poetry by Marilyn Nelson

I Am Alfonso Jones (Graphic Novel) by Tony Medina

Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson

American Street by Ibi Zoboi

Dear Martin by Nic Stone

In the Shadow of Liberty : The Hidden History of Slavery, Four Presidents, and Five Black Lives by Kenneth C. Davis

Light It Up by Kekla Magoon

Bad Boy : A Memoir by Walter Dean Myers

Color Me In by Natasha Díaz

M is for Movement by Innosanto Nagara

The Skin I'm in (Anniversary 20th Edition) by Sharon G. Flake

The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo

After Tupac and D Foster by Jacqueline Woodson

The Stars and the Blackness Between Them by Junauda Petrus

Slay by Brittney Morris

The Black Friend: On Being a Better White Person (Pre-Order December 2020)

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Ages 9-12
Midnight Without Moon by Linda Jackson

What was the March on Washington? by Kathleen Krull

Who Was Frederick Douglass? by April Jones Prince

Stella by Starlight by Sharon M. Draper

All American Boys by Jason Reynolds

The Jazz Man by Mary Hays Weik, Ann Grifalconi (Illustrated by)

The Watsons Go to Birmingham--1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis

Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry : 40th Anniversary Special Edition by Mildred D. Taylor

It's Trevor Noah: Born a Crime : Stories from a South African Childhood (Adapted for Young Readers) by Trevor Noah

Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes

Black Women in Science : A Black History Book for Kids by Kimberly Brown Pellum, PhD

Finding Langston by Lesa Cline-Ransome

Blended by Sharon M. Draper

A Good Kind of Trouble by Lisa Moore Ramée

My Life as an Ice Cream Sandwich by Ibi Zoboi

Genesis Begins Again by Alicia D. Williams

Dough Boys by Paula Chase

We Rise, We Resist, We Raise Our Voices by Multiple Authors

One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia

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Ages 3-8
A is for Activist by Innosanto Nagara

Antiracist Baby (Pre-order, due June 16) by Ibram X. Kendi, Ashley Lukashevsky (Illustrator)

I Like Myself! by Karen Beaumont

Every Little Thing: Based on the Song 'Three Little Birds' by Bob Marley & Cedella Marley

Woke Baby by Mahogany Browne

I am Brave: A little book about MLKJ by Brad Meltzer

Dream Big, Little One by Vashti Harrison

Fierce 44: Black Americans Who Shook Up The World by The Undefeated

Each Kindness by Jacqueline Woodson

Equality's Call by Deborah Dieson

Follow the Drinking Gourd by Jeanette Winter

Tar Beach by Faith Ringgold

Henry's Freedom Box by Ellen Levine, Kadir Nelson (Illustrated by), Kadir Nelson

Martin's Big Words: The Life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. by Doreen Rappaport, Bryan Collier (Illustrated by)

Last Stop on Market Street by Matt de la Peña

I, Too, Sing America : Three Centuries of African American Poetry by Stephen Alcorn

Princess Hair by Sharee Miller

*2020 Caldecott Medal and a Newbery Honor WINNER*

The Undefeated by Kwame Alexander

One Last Word : Wisdom from the Harlem Renaissance by Nikki Grimes

Brown Baby Lullaby by Tameka Fryer Brown

Parker Looks Up: An Extraordinary Moment by Parker Curry & Jessica Curry

I am Perfectly Designed by Karamo Brown

Sulwe by Lupita Nyong'o

What is Given from the Heart by Patricia C. Mckissack, Illustraded by April Harrison

Mixed Me! by Taye Diggs