Juneteenth is celebrated annually on June 19th to commemorate the emancipation of enslaved people in the US. It marks the day that the last enslaved people, in Texas, received word that they were free. Do you want to learn more about the holiday & the history of slavery in the US? Check out some of these books put together by library staff.
For Kids
Juneteenth by Van G. Garrett
Juneteenth Is by Natasha Tripplet
Juneteenth Jamboree by Carole Boston Weatherford
The Story of Juneteenth by Dorena Williamson
Juneteenth For Maize by Flyod Cooper
J is For Juneteenth by Jamariah Cross
Jayylen’s Juneteenth Surprise by Lavaille Lavette
A Flag For Juneteenth by Kim Taylor
For Teens
Strange Fruit by Joel Christian Gill
Caste: The Orgins of Our Discontents: Adapted for Young Adults by Isabel Wilkerson
Crossing Ebenezer Creek by Tonya Bolden
Unequal: A Story of America by Michael Eric Dyson
The Hill We Climb: An Inaugural Poem for the Country by Amanda Gorman
Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Ibram X. Kendi
Dread Nation by Justina Ireland
For Adults
On Juneteenth by Annette Gordon-Reed
On Watermelon & Red Birds: A Cookbook for Juneteenth and Black Celebrations by Nicole A. Taylor
Juneteenth: A Novel by Ralph Ellison
The Slave’s Cause: A History of Abolition by Manisha Sinha
Up For Slavery by Booker T. Washington
How the Word is Passed: A Reckoning With the History of Slavery Across America by Clint Smith
Freedom in My Heart: Voices From the United States National Slavery Museum by Cynthia Jacobs Carter