A reading list for all ages to accompany the movie Selma.
Child of the Civil Rights Movement by Paula Young Shelton. (4-8 yrs.) The author shares her childhood memories of the civil rights movement and her family's involvement in the historic march from Selma to Montgomery. This is an excellent introduction to the civil right movement and can be used with elementary school aged children. Raul Colon's lovely illustrations add to the text.
Marching for Freedom: Walk Together, Children, and Don't You Grow Weary by Elizabeth Partridge. (4-8 yrs.) An account of the three months of protest that led up to the historic march from Selma, Alabama, to Montgomery. This is an excellent book for upper elementary and middle school students studying the civil rights movement. —Louise Lareau, Children’s Center at 42nd Street
Coretta Scott King: Dare to Dream by Angela Shelf Medearis. (6-8 yrs.) Part of the "Women of Our Time" series, the author shines a light on Coretta Scott King, a courageous leader in her own right. —Jenny Baum, Jefferson Market
Through My Eyesby Ruby Bridges (9-12 yrs.) The story of a pivotal event as seen through the eyes of the six-year old Ruby Bridges told in her words, the words of those who observed her and photographs. Freedom Walkers: The Story of the Montgomery Bus Boycottby Russell Freedman (9-12 yrs.) A powerful combination narrative, words from the record and black at white photographs emphasize the effort and coordination and everyday people it took to pull off this history-changing protest. One Crazy Summerby Rita Williams-Garcia (9-12 yrs.) Rita Williams-Garcia tells the story of three sisters who travel to Oakland, California, in 1968 to meet the mother who abandoned them. When they arrive from Brooklyn, their mother estranged mother surprises them by sending them to a day-camp run by the Black Panthers. —Lynn Lobash, Readers Services
March: Book Oneby Congressman John Lewis, one of the Selma protesters. It's a graphic novel geared toward younger teens. The next book in the series comes out later this month. —Joshua Soule, Spuyten Duyvil
Freedom Summer: The 1964 Struggle for Civil Rights in Mississippi by Susan Goldman Rubin. Before the Selma March and the Voting Rights Act in 1965 there was Freedom Summer in 1964, when volunteers across the country ventured South to register African-Americans to vote. They faced harassment, intimidation and death. Discover the heroes and villains of this eventful summer in American history. The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963by Christopher Paul Curtis. In the summer of 1963, Kenny and his family "The Weird Watsons" travel from Flint, Michigan to visit their grandma in Alabama. —Anne Rouyer, Mulberry Street
Because They Marched :The People's Campaign for Voting Rights That Changed Americaby Russell Freedman. A recently published book that chronicles the movement against restrictive voting laws in Alabama, highlighting the important efforts of student activists as well as lesser-known figures of the Civil Rights era. —Mina Hong, Epiphany
The Silence of Our Friendsby Mark Long. Inspired by the author's childhood experiences, this book chronicles the struggle of two families—divided by the color line—who come together despite the turmoil of the civil rights movement. Honest, raw, and deeply confronting, this is the type of remembrance that reminds us how far we've come. —Daniel Norton, Mid-Manhattan Library
The Lions of Little Rockby Kristin Levine. Two twelve-year old girls fight segregation to remain friends in Little Rock, Arkansas, 1958. We’ve Got A Job: The 1963 Birmingham Children’s March by Cynthia Levinson. The little known story of 3000 Black elementary, middle, and high school students who voluntarily went to jail in May, 1953. The Rock and the Riverby Kekla Magoon. Sam Childs, the 13-year-old son of a civil rights activist, struggles to find his own way on the path between non-violent and violent protest. —Lynn Lobash, Readers Services
The Eyes on the Prize: Civil Rights Reader. An anthology of primary source documents from the American civil rights movement. Pillar of Fire: America in the King Years, 1963-1965 by Taylor Branch. The second volume in Branch's trilogy covering the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s covers the Mississippi Freedom Summer, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and of course, the Selma marches. Bearing the Cross. David Garrow’s research includes interviews hundreds of Martin Luther King’s associates and opponents, King’s personal papers and thousands of FBI files. —Tony Marx, President
Reporting Civil Rights, the Library of America's two volume collection of book excerpts, and contemporaneous articles from newspapers and magazines from over 150 writers including James Baldwin, David Halberstam, Alice Walker and Gordon Parks. Just My Soul Responding: Rhythm and Blues, Black Consciousness and Race Relationsby Brian Ward examines how black music artists dealt with and pushed for racial equality in their lives and in in their music. —Wayne Roylance, Selection Team
Two books of photographic essays: In Powerful Days: The Civil Rights Photography of Charles Moorea photojournalist working for Life and other news magazines chronicles the Selma March of 1965 as well as many other civil rights events happening in the South from 1958-1965. Time of Change: Civil Rights Photographs 1961-1965 by Bruce Davidson. Five photographic essays tell stories about communities in the North and South highlighting families, work, and everyday moments alongside the marches, speeches, and armed police that define civil rights imagery. —Jessica Cline, Mid-Manhattan Library
Killing Rage: Ending Racism by Bell Hooks. This collection of essays adds the often missing female voice to the conversation of race and class. In Killing Rage, Hooks discusses feelings of rage and anger sparked by of discrimination and oppression throughout she experiences throughout the day. She examines the political and cultural power structures perpetuating racism and class imbalances. In the end she deconstructs black rage, and shows how she
and others can use this rage both as an incentive to fight for change and a source of healing. Like of Hook's writing, it's as relevant today as the day it was written. —Jaqueline Woolcott, AskNYPL
Freedom's Daughters by Lynne Olson traces women's involvement in equal rights from the antebellum period through the beginnings of the Black Power movement. —Lynn Lobash, Readers Services