Melissa McCurdy is a mother of 3; wife of 1; lover of football, politics, food, travel, walking, theater and all things literary. She shelves books for a living and could spend hours recommending good reads to random strangers. You can check out all of the books listed here through the Central Arkansas Library System; find a branch near you at CALS.org.

Picture Books

“Stitchin’ and Pullin’: A Gee’s Bend Quilt”
by Patricia C. McKissack; illustrated by Cozbi A. Cabrera

As a young African American girl pieces her first quilt together, the history of her family, community, and the struggle for justice and freedom in Gee’s Bend, Alabama unfolds.


“28 Days: Moments In Black History That Changed The World”
by Charles R. Smith Jr.; illustrated by Shane W. Evans

This picture book looks at many of the men and women who revolutionized life for African Americans throughout history.


“Child Of The Civil Rights Movement”
by Paula Young Shelton; illustrated by Raul Colón

Paula Young Shelton shares her memories of the civil rights movement and her involvement in the historic march from Selma to Montgomery.


“Henry’s Freedom Box”
by Ellen Levine; illustrated by Kadir Nelson

This fictionalized account tells the story of how a Virginia slave, Henry “Box” Brown, escapes to freedom in 1849 by shipping himself in a wooden crate from Richmond to Philadelphia.


Juvenile Fiction

“Stella by Starlight”
by Sharon Draper

When a burning cross set by the Klan causes panic and fear in 1932 Bumblebee, North Carolina, fifth-grader Stella must face prejudice and find the strength to demand change in her segregated town.


“Bud, Not Buddy”
by Christopher Paul Curtis

Ten-year-old Bud, a motherless boy living in Flint, Michigan, during the Great Depression, escapes a bad foster home and sets out in search of the man he believes to be his father—the renowned bandleader, H.E. Calloway of Grand Rapids.


“Brown Girl Dreaming”
by Jacqueline Woodson

National Book Award Winner Jacqueline Woodson, one of today’s finest writers, tells the moving story of her childhood in mesmerizing verse.


“One Crazy Summer”
by Rita Williams-Garcia

In 1968, after traveling from Brooklyn to Oakland, California, to spend a month with the mother they barely know, 11-year-old Delphine and her two younger sisters arrive to a cold welcome as they discover that their mother, a dedicated poet and printer, is resentful of the intrusion of their visit and wants them to attend a nearby Black Panther summer camp.


Young Adult Fiction

“Mare’s War”
by Tanita S. Davis

Teens Octavia and Tali learn about strength, independence, and courage when they are forced to take a car trip with their grandmother, who tells about growing up Black in 1940s Alabama and serving in Europe during World War II as a member of the Women’s Army Corps.


“Flygirl”
by Sherri L. Smith

Ida Mae Jones dreams of flight. Her daddy was a pilot and being black didn’t stop him from fulfilling his dreams. But her daddy’s gone now, and being a woman and being black, are two strikes against her.

When America enters the war with Germany and Japan, the Army creates the WASP, the Women Airforce Service Pilots—and Ida suddenly sees a way to fly as well as do something significant to help her brother stationed in the Pacific. But even the WASP won’t accept her as a black woman, forcing Ida Mae to make a difficult choice of “passing,” or pretending to be white to be accepted into the program. Hiding one’s racial heritage, denying one’s family, denying one’s self is a heavy burden. And while Ida Mae chases her dream, she must also decide who she really wants to be.


“X: A Novel”
by Ilyasah Shabazz and Kekla Magoon

This riveting and revealing novel follows the formative years of the man whose words and actions shook the world.


Adult Recommendations

“Between The World And Me”
by Ta-Nehisi Coates

A 2015 National Book Award Winner, this letter from a father to his son is one of the most powerful books I’ve read this year.


“Someone Knows My Name”
by Lawrence Hill

This story follows Aminata, a slave, and her journey from Africa to the Americas. If you want to get lost in a difficult story and life of an incredible woman, open your soul to Aminata. You’ll be glad you know her name.


“Their Eyes Were Watching God”
by Zora Neale Hurston

In this classic coming of age story, Janie Woods—granddaughter of a former slave, with no memory of either her mother or father—sets her sights on a life of love and adventure.


“I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings”
by Maya Angelou

All Arkansans should know of Maya Angelou’s life with her brother and Grandmother in Stamps, Arkansas.