Juneteenth for All Ages

Created on June 11, 2020, 6:11 pm

Last Updated June 12, 2023, 9:02 am

Juneteenth (short for “June Nineteenth”) celebrates the end of slavery in the United States. The official holiday, Juneteenth National Independence Day, is also known as Black Independence Day. On June 19, 1865, federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas and announced the end of the Civil War and the end of slavery. Although the Emancipation Proclamation had come two-and-a-half years earlier, on January 1, 1863, many slave owners continued to hold their slaves captive after the announcement. Therefore, Juneteenth became a symbolic date, representing African American freedom. Juneteenth is the oldest nationally-celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States. On June 17, 2021, Juneteenth officially became a federal holiday.

61) Invisible man

Author

Ellison, Ralph

Series

The Modern library of the world's best books

Formats:

Book, Book - Special Collections, eBook, Kindle, eAudiobook, Playaway, CD audio book, Kit

Description

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In the course of his wanderings from a Southern college to New York's Harlem, an American Black man becomes involved in a series of adventures. Introduction explains circumstances under which the book was written. Ellison won the National Book Award for this searing record of a Black man's journey through contemporary America. Unquestionably, Ellison's book is a work of extraordinary intensity -- powerfully imagined and written with a savage, wryly...

62) Hell of a book: a novel

Author

Mott, Jason

Formats:

Book, eBook, Kindle, eAudiobook

Description

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In Jason Mott's Hell of a Book, a Black author sets out on a cross-country publicity tour to promote his bestselling novel. That storyline drives Hell of a Book and is the scaffolding of something much larger and urgent: since Mott's novel also tells the story of Soot, a young Black boy living in a rural town in the recent past, and The Kid, a possibly imaginary child who appears to the author on his tour. As these characters' stories build and build...

63) 12 years a slave

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Based on the true story of Solomon Northup. It is 1841, and Northup, an accomplished, free citizen of New York, is kidnapped and sold into slavery. Stripped of his identity and deprived of all dignity, Northup is ultimately purchased by ruthless plantation owner Edwin Epps and must find the strength within to survive. Filled with powerful performances by an astonishing cast including Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbener, Benedict Cumberbatch, Brad...

64) Twelve years a slave

Author

Northup, Solomon

Series

American Classics Children's Collection

Formats:

Book, eBook, Kindle, eAudiobook, Playaway, CD audio book

Description

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#1 Bestseller

Now a major motion picture directed by Steve McQueen and starring Brad Pitt, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Paul Giamatti

12 Years a Slave is a riveting true account of a free man captured and sold into slavery in the pre–Civil War South. Solomon Northup's narrative explores one of the darkest times in American history and captures in vivid detail the unimaginable

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65) The night before freedom: a Juneteenth story

Author

Armand, Glenda

Description

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Eight-year-old David and his family gather at Grandma's house in Galveston, Texas, for a cherished family tradition--Grandma's annual retelling of the story of Juneteenth, the holiday that commemorates the end of slavery in the United States.

66) All good in the hood

Author

Reed, Dwayne

Description

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"A bounce-to-the-beat story, set against the backdrop of a Juneteenth celebration, about a young boy who's afraid of the sounds in the city but is comforted by his older brother, who tells him not to worry: "It's all good in the hood.""-- Provided by publisher.

67) Juneteenth

Author

Winn, Kevin P

Series

Racial justice in America histories

Formats:

Book, eBook

Description

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"The Racial Justice in America: Histories series explores moments and eras in America's history that have been ignored or misrepresented in education due to racial bias. Juneteenth explores the history around the celebration in a comprehensive, honest, and age-appropriate way. Developed in conjunction with educator, advocate, and author Kelisa Wing to reach children of all races and encourage them to approach our history with open eyes and minds....

68) Juneteenth: our day of freedom

Author

Wyeth, Sharon Dennis

Series

Step into reading. Step 3 book

Description

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"Learn more about Juneteenth, a holiday that celebrates the end of chattel slavery in the United States in this Step 3 History Reader"-- Provided by publisher.

69) Wake: The Hidden History of Women-Led Slave Revolts

Author

Hall, Rebecca

Formats:

eBook, Kindle, eAudiobook

Description

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A Best Book of the Year by NPR and The Washington Post

An imaginative and riveting tour de force that tells the "powerful" (The New York Times Book Review) story of women-led slave revolts and chronicles scholar Rebecca Hall's efforts to uncover the truth about these female warriors who, until now, have been left out of the historical record.
Women warriors planned and led revolts on slave ships during the Middle...

70) A black women's history of the United States

Author

Berry, Daina Ramey

Series

Revisioning American history

Formats:

Book, Book - Special Collections, eBook, Kindle, eAudiobook

Description

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"A Black Women's History of the United States is a critical survey of black women's complicated legacy in America, as it takes into account their exploitation and victimization as well as their undeniable and substantial contributions to the country since its inception"-- Provided by publisher.