African American Historical Fiction

This is the true story of James Lafayette, a slave who spied for George Washington's army during the American Revolution. But while America celebrated its newfound freedom, James returned to slavery. His service hadn't qualified him for the release he'd been hoping for. For James, the fight wasn't over; he'd already helped his country gain its freedom, now it was time to win his own.

Born into slavery, young Booker T. Washington could only dream of learning to read and write. After emancipation, Booker began a 500-mile journey, mostly on foot, to Hampton Institute, taking his first of many steps toward a college degree. When he arrived, he had just 50 cents in his pocket and a dream about to come true. The young slave who once waited outside of the schoolhouse would one day become a legendary educator of freedmen.

“Kids always search for heroes, so we might as well have a say in it”, Brad Meltzer realized, and so he envisioned this friendly, fun approach to biography - for his own kids, and for yours. Each book tells the story of one of America’s icons in a vivacious, conversational way. Each book focuses on a particular character trait that made that role model heroic. For example, Rosa Parks dared to stand up for herself and other African Americans by staying seated, and as a result she helped end public bus segregation and launch the country’s Civil Rights Movement.

Harper Fleming is done with being passed over. As a journalist for a Chicago newspaper, she’s been refused a shot at the sportswriter position she longs for. And her on again/off again relationship is going nowhere. Leaving both behind, she heads to Nashville, Tennessee, where she plans to interview her widowed grandfather, Bernard Fleming, for a book about his father Kelton Fleming’s time in the Negro Baseball Leagues. When Bernard reveals health issues within days of her arrival, Harper assumes responsibility for taking care of him.

Claudie Wells wants more than anything to be a person whose imagination can fly, instead of a person whose feet are stuck on the ground. She believes everyone has a talent except for her. She’s growing up in the neighborhood of Harlem in New York City during the 1920s, surrounded by writers and poets, painters and sculptors, actors and dancers, singers and musicians. When an eviction notice threatens her family, friends, and the beloved boardinghouse they share, Claudie has an idea that just might save the day.

Calhoun, the 7th US Vice President, was mesmerized by Liza's beauty, yet he believed that slavery was ordained by God, a necessary evil. Behind the closed doors of his Fort Hill Mansion, Calhoun risked his infallible reputation by falling in love with Liza, his enslaved captive. Fearing exposure, he committed an unspeakable betrayal, but you cannot wash away the blood.

Au milieu des années 1960, Grace, jeune fille noire exilée du Sud ségrégationniste vers un New York en pleine lutte pour les droits civiques, tombe enceinte en même temps qu'elle découvre l'amour. On ne lui permet pas de garder l'enfant. C'est Delores, une femme traumatisée dans sa chair et dans son âme, qui va adopter et élever sa fille, Rae, en tentant de la préserver du poids de ses souvenirs. Mais à l'heure de devenir mère à son tour, Rae devra affronter cet héritage et faire la paix avec sa famille adoptive aussi bien qu'avec l'inconnue qui l'a mise au monde.

Set in the Five Points neighborhood of New York City, in the years 1857-1863, when America's attitudes toward people of color and slavery shifted—painfully, transformationally—to the point where a war that began to restore the union becomes one that owes much to Black fighting regiments, and common cause grows for the abolition of slavery. We experience the daily life of Five Points through the eyes of Theo, aged seven at the start of the book and 13 at its close. Theo is half Black and half Irish, an orphan living between the homes of her Black and Irish grandparents.

Ordinary lovers, Dena Miller and Will Wallace, confront extraordinary obstacles in their romance. Classism in their native North Carolina threatens to end their nascent romance as it began. Then, larger and more ominous life-threatening challenges of white supremacy and World War II wreak havoc on the dreams of the young couple, forcing them apart.

Of Rizpah's Daughters is the story of an American enslaved African woman named Margaret. When her master gave her toddler daughters away as gifts, she was so devastated that in her grief, she made "graves" for her daughters. She topped the graves with flowers and knelt at the graves daily. Her master thought it was funny and sarcastically re-named the woman Rizpah. Of Rizpah's Daughters is a story about the evils of slavery, love, grief, friendship, loyalty, adultery, the supernatural, death, and victory.

Read about a genius slave who name George; also known in the 1800’s as, The Black Magician, for his remarkable tactics of helping slaves escape North into freedom. George uses his witty inventions, brilliant disguises and crafty tricks to help slaves escape slavery. George is instructed and guided by his grandmother, a Nubian princess, stolen from Africa. While setting out on the mission to set slaves free, George has to contend with a money hungry slave catcher, dishonest friends and many other trials and tribulations.

A powerful story about love, courage, sacrifice, resilience, and hope, True Grace, set in 1924 during the Harlem Renaissance and Roaring Twenties, chronicles the journey of an immigrant, mixed-raced woman from the Congo, England, and Jamaica, fighting for her family's survival. Inspired by real people and events, Grace must navigate the misogyny and racism of the courts, banks, child welfare system, and bad actors to hold her family together. Calling on her grit, determination, and grace, she must overcome harrowing circumstances.

Annamitta enters the story as a six-year old as her “Sonatina” begins with a Polonaise North with her Mama Minnie Lou, where she learns dignified protest and discovers a talent for sewing. Annamitta’s adult dance kicks-off in what I like to call the “Honey Pot Suite” where a visit with her big sister Suzie Mae in Miami leads to an altercation with Trixie Dupree causing concern over Mr. Buddy J.

The World is Full of Champions spans more than thirty years from the ’60s to the late ’90s in race-torn Philadelphia as two proud Black families—one wealthy, the other not—confront major change when tragedy strikes and the daughter of the working-class Smythe family falls in love with the son of the affluent Whitman family.

Por toda a América as plantações de tabaco floresceram e trouxeram riqueza aos senhores de terra durante o século XIX. Quando a bonança começa seu declínio, Howell Walker já vislumbra o próprio fim e sabe que precisará de um substituto para administrar os últimos dias de Lockless, sua propriedade no coração da Virgínia, Estados Unidos. Logo fica claro que seu único herdeiro, Maynard, não tem a menor aptidão para a missão. E mesmo o jovem Hiram, com sua resiliência e memória infalíveis, não poderia fazê-lo―além de filho ilegítimo de Walker, ele é um escravo.

When a bloody carriage appears at the front gate, Black’s greatest fear is realized. Mayhem has found its way to his doorstep, forcing him and the people to examine everyday life. In this fifth installment of The Black Series, the legendary Black is tasked with leading the people to a freer existence. He must also solve a deadly game of cat and mouse, while keeping the people from peril. Join Joan Vassar, Black, and the men, as they uncage the people from physical bondage, emancipate the people’s thoughts, and unshackle the people from fear.

Beautiful and brilliantly talented Celia DeMille is a 19th-century concert artist who has garnered fame, sung all over the world, and amassed a fortune. But prejudice bars her from achieving her place in history as one of the world’s greatest singers, and she dies in poverty and obscurity.

It is 1938, and a despondent president travels incognito on a mission to reconnect with the country. He hitches a ride with a 13-year-old boy on his journey of a lifetime: to deliver a Lincoln Zephyr convertible—a car of historic significance. Together, they travel the backroads of the South toward Virginia. The Secret Service plans to protect the president go awry during an overnight, nationwide calamity, and when a psychotic killer sets upon the pair, the joy of traveling becomes a race for survival. My Friend the President is a fun-filled adventure for old and young.

Henry Cebolla Shackleton es un pícaro niño esclavo en cuyo camino se cruza el legendario abolicionista John Brown, «el más americano de todos nosotros», en palabras de Henry David Thoreau; «el hijop--a asesino más infame y retorcío que jamás hayáis visto», a ojos del Cebolla. Comienza así la hilarante autobiografía de Henry, envuelto contra su voluntad en la cruzada antiesclavista del ejército de John Brown y obligado a hacerse pasar por una niña para sobrevivir.

Roo, as he is affectionately known by family and friends, experiences a dual journey: the conscious journey via the Atlantic Railroads and the eerie journey through his dreary and murky dream state. Both of these "pathways" ultimately lead him to the same profound and soul-jarring destination—a catastrophic event that all but decimates a successful Black community where many of its residents earned more that the average United States citizen...only 56 years after the abolition of slavery.