Six New Picks for Black History Month
It’s Black History Month and we’ve selected six stand out new titles to read now, or anytime. As the nation celebrates its 250th anniversary, we are thrilled to highlight titles that explore the African American experience. Spanning fiction and nonfiction, these thoughtfully researched works offer illuminating perspectives on the past and the present.
Fiction
The Seven Daughters of Dupree by Nikesha Elise Williams
Williams’ nonlinear epic debut beautifully weaves together the lives of several generations of Dupree women from the 1860s to the present. It’s a story of family secrets and silence, but also moral beauty and resilience. This one is for everyone but fans of Honorée Fanonne Jeffers (The Love Songs of W. E. B. Du Bois) or Ayana Mathis (The Twelve Tribes of Hattie) should take note.
Burn Down Master’s House by Clay Cane
Cane’s bold and brutal debut pulled from real history, challenges the prevalent whitewashing of history through what Ibram X. Kendi (Stamped from the Beginning) describes as a “resistance story for the ages.” It follows the stories of enslaved men and women who dared to resist and fight back—sparks jumping from resistor to resistor. Fans of Colson Whitehead, Jesmyn Ward, and Percival Everett should check this out.
Adult NonFiction
A High Price for Freedom: Raising Hidden Voices from the African American Past by Clyde W. Ford
Ford, the multi-award-winning author, historian, and director of the Martin Luther King Jr. Publishing Project covers a wide range of topics and events in this book of essays about the struggle for Black freedom. Spanning hundreds of years and providing backstories for key moments in African American history, Ford clarifies misunderstood events while also giving voice to those whose stories have gone untold.
When Trees Testify: Science, Wisdom, History, and America's Black Botanical Legacy by Beronda L. Montgomery
Award-winning plant biologist Montgomery follows Lessons from Plants with this powerful book that combines science, history, and memoir, reclaiming the legacy and heritage of Black botanical expertise and showing the connections Black Americans have had through history with seven well-known trees: pecan, sycamore, willow, poplar, oak, mulberry, and apple, as well as the cotton shrub.
Children and Teen
Seven Million Steps: The True Story of Dick Gregory’s Run for the Hungry by Derrick Barnes and Dr. Christian Gregory, illustrated by Frank Morrison
Expressive text complements Frank Morrison’s illustrations in this exceptional picture book biography about a comedian who ran coast to coast in 1976 to draw attention to the problem of food insecurity. Oil paintings evoke realistic images of American scenery and families with bare cupboards.
Split the Sky by Marie Arnold
Arnold presents an astonishing tale of social justice exhaustion when a gifted teen cellist intent on escaping her Texas sundown town, must use her voice to save a Black classmate from a brutal killing. Elements of magical realism depicting “Flashes” or premonitions illuminate essential scenes from the Civil Rights Movement. A 2026 Coretta Scott King honor title, this will appeal to admirers of The Hate U Give or The Black Kids.
Check Out More Black History Month Nonfiction Picks