Books like 'Invaincus'
Readers who enjoyed Invaincus by Kwame Alexander also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
historical children social-commentary poc-mc historical-fiction sports black-mc
-
The Essay by Robin Yocum
Rated: 4.56 of 5 stars · 16 ratings“Yocum writes like the reporter he used to be. He’s observant and still has his eye for detail and nuance.”—Richmond Times-DispatchJimmy Lee Hickam grew up along Red Dog Road, a dead-end strip of gravel and mud buried deep in the bowels of Appalachian Ohio. It is the poorest road, in the poorest county, in the poorest region of the state... -
![Shivaji: The Great Maratha by Ranjit Desai]()
Shivaji: The Great Maratha by Ranjit Desai
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsShrimanyogi is a biographical work on the life and the achievements of the great Maratha king, Chatrapathi Shivaji. Shivaji has been a legendary figure in the Indian history.Shivaji was one of the major influences on the revival of nationalism and Hindu culture during a period when centuries of rule by Muslim invaders had induced a condition of apathy and indifference in the people... -
![Let the Children March by Monica Clark-Robinson]()
Let the Children March by Monica Clark-Robinson
Rated: 4.57 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsI couldn't play on the same playground as the white kids.I couldn't go to their schools.I couldn't drink from their water fountains.There were so many things I couldn't do. In 1963 Birmingham, Alabama, thousands of African American children volunteered to march for their civil rights after hearing Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. speak...Categorized as:
historical-fiction social-commentary children poc-mc black-mc children-books historical fiction -
![Freedom Summer by Deborah Wiles]()
Freedom Summer by Deborah Wiles
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsTwo boys—one black, one white—are best friends in the segregated 1960s South in this picture book about friends sticking together through thick and thin.John Henry swims better than anyone I know. He crawls like a catfish, blows bubbles like a swamp monster, but he doesn’t swim in the town pool with me. He’s not allowed. Joe and John Henry are a lot alike...Categorized as:
black-mc children historical-fiction poc-mc social-commentary book children-books coming-of-age -
-
![The Attic Child by Lola Jaye]()
The Attic Child by Lola Jaye
Rated: 4.35 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsA hauntingly powerful and emotionally charged novel about family secrets, love and loss, identity and belonging.Two children trapped in the same attic, almost a century apart, bound by a shared secret. Early 1900s Taken from his homeland, twelve-year-old Celestine spends most of the time locked away in the attic of a large house by the sea...Categorized as:
historical-fiction poc-mc social-commentary black-mc fiction historical mystery audiobook -
![Hand Of Fate by Duane Boehm]()
Hand Of Fate by Duane Boehm
Rated: 4.43 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsBestselling Western author Duane Boehm has written another western novel with enough humor, heartbreak, love, and outlaws to keep you turning the page.While the ranchers around Trinidad are circling like buzzards in wait for Flannery Vogel to fail, the downtrodden widow with a young daughter refuses to surrender as she struggles to run the ranch that cost her husband his life... -
![Born a Colored Girl by Michael Edwin Q.]()
Born a Colored Girl by Michael Edwin Q.
Rated: 4.63 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsFrom the author of Pappy Moses' Peanut Plantation and A Slave's Song - Two slaves, a mother and daughter, separated during the Civil War never to see each other again. From her mother's diary, Etta Jean will learn to love the mother she never knew. And from the same diary, a mother will finally give of herself... -
![A Royal Visit to Victory Street by Pam Howes]()
A Royal Visit to Victory Street by Pam Howes
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsFrom Amazon charts bestseller Pam Howes comes an emotional and uplifting saga about the power of family and a community trying to rebuild their lives after the terrible war that nearly destroyed everything…1956, Liverpool. With the shadow of the war looming over them and bomb craters littering the surrounding streets, hope feels far away for the residents of Victory Street... -
![Hand Of Fate by Duane Boehm]()
Hand Of Fate by Duane Boehm
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsBestselling Western author Duane Boehm has written another western novel with enough humor, heartbreak, love, and outlaws to keep you turning the page.While the ranchers around Trinidad are circling like buzzards in wait for Flannery Vogel to fail, the downtrodden widow with a young daughter refuses to surrender as she struggles to run the ranch that cost her husband his life... -
![New Shoes by Susan Lynn Meyer]()
New Shoes by Susan Lynn Meyer
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsElla Mae is used to wearing her cousin's hand-me-down shoes—but when her latest pair is already too tight, she's thrilled at the chance to get new shoes.But at the shoe store, Ella Mae and her mother have to wait until there are no white customers to serve first...Categorized as:
historical-fiction social-commentary poc-mc children black-mc historical children-books fiction -
![Freedom Over Me: Eleven Slaves, Their Lives and Dreams Brought to Life by Ashley Bryan by Ashley Bryan]()
Freedom Over Me: Eleven Slaves, Their Lives and Dreams Brought to Life by Ashley Bryan by Ashley Bryan
Rated: 4.36 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsNewbery Honor Book Coretta Scott King Author Honor Book Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Book Using original slave auction and plantation estate documents, Ashley Bryan offers a moving and powerful picture book that contrasts the monetary value of a person with the priceless value of life experiences and dreams that a slave owner could never take away...Categorized as:
black-mc children historical-fiction poc-mc social-commentary book children-books cultural-identity -
![Follow the Drinking Gourd by Jeanette Winter]()
Follow the Drinking Gourd by Jeanette Winter
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsIllus. in full color. "Winter's story begins with a peg-leg sailor who aids slaves on their escape on the Underground Railroad. While working for plantation owners, Peg Leg Joe teaches the slaves a song about the drinking gourd (the Big Dipper). A couple, their son, and two others make their escape by following the song's directions...Categorized as:
black-mc children historical-fiction poc-mc social-commentary action-adventure book children-books -
![Homecoming by Beverly Jenkins]()
Homecoming by Beverly Jenkins
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA historical holiday story of homecoming and second-chance romance by NAACP Image Award Nominee, Beverly Jenkins. In 1883, Lydia Cooper is happily traveling back home to celebrate the simple joys of the holidays when an unexpected complication appears in the all-too-distracting form of Gray Dane, the man she loved as a girl; the man she left behind... -
![Tame the Savage Heart by Michael Edwin Q.]()
Tame the Savage Heart by Michael Edwin Q.
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsFrom the best selling author of BUT HAVE NOT LOVE and BORN A COLORED GIRL comes a love story like no other. She was a young slave girl. He was an African warrior purchased at a slave auction with the intent he would father a new breed of stronger slave. Despite all odds, a language barrier and the disapproval of her family and friends, the two fight for a life together... -
-
![Sweet Honesty by Joan Vassar]()
Sweet Honesty by Joan Vassar
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsAtlanta, Georgia, 1950–Michael can’t believe his eyes as he watches the man he loves marry a woman from the back row of Mount Zion Baptist Church. When the beautiful couple is pronounced man and wife, he leaves his home in Georgia for the chance of a better life in New York City.Alexander is just trying to exist in Queens, New York... -
![Taffy by Suzette D. Harrison]()
Taffy by Suzette D. Harrison
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsWelcome to the sleepy, all-Black southern town of Bledsoe, where Colored residents proudly declare “ain’t nothing white here ‘cept milk and teeth.” It’s 1935. A press-and-curl costs a quarter. Records play on phonographs. And a telephone is a luxury. Meet twenty-three-year-old Taffy Bledsoe Freeman... -
![Nell Plants a Tree by Anne Wynter]()
Nell Plants a Tree by Anne Wynter
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThis gorgeous picture book shows how one little girl’s careful tending of a pecan tree creates the living center of a loving, intergenerational Black family. For Earth Day and every day! Perfect for fans of Matt de la Peña and Oge Mora... -
![Overground Railroad by Lesa Cline-Ransome]()
Overground Railroad by Lesa Cline-Ransome
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsA window into a child's experience of the Great Migration from the award-winning creators of Before She Was Harriet and Finding Langston . Climbing aboard the New York bound Silver Meteor train, Ruth Ellen embarks upon a journey toward a new life up North-- one she can't begin to imagine...Categorized as:
historical-fiction children poc-mc black-mc children-books historical family fiction -
![A Sweet Smell of Roses by Angela Johnson]()
A Sweet Smell of Roses by Angela Johnson
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsTwo young girls not only witness but help to change history in this inspiring and urgent Civil Rights-era picture book by three-time Coretta Scott King Award winner Angela Johnson.There's a sweet, sweet smell in the air as two young girls sneak out of their house, down the street, and across town to where men and women are gathered, ready to march for freedom and justice...Categorized as:
historical-fiction social-commentary poc-mc children black-mc children-books historical fiction -
![This Is the Rope: A Story from the Great Migration by Jacqueline Woodson, James E. Ransome]()
This Is the Rope: A Story from the Great Migration by Jacqueline Woodson, James E. Ransome
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsJacqueline Woodson--New York TimesBestselling, National Book Award andNewbery Honor winning author--writes arich story of a family adapting to change as they hold on to the past and embrace the future. WithCoretta Scott King Award winning illustrator James Ransome.During the time of the Great Migration, millions of African American families relocated from the South, seeking better opportunities...Categorized as:
black-mc children historical-fiction poc-mc social-commentary action-adventure audiobook book -
![Jackie & Me by Dan Gutman]()
Jackie & Me by Dan Gutman
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsLike every other kid in his class, Joe Stoscack has to write a report on an African American who's made an important contribution to society. Unlike every other kid in his class, Joe has a special talent: with the help of old baseball cards, he can travel through time...Categorized as:
black-mc children historical-fiction poc-mc sports action-adventure book children-books -
![Under the Quilt of Night by Deborah Hopkinson]()
Under the Quilt of Night by Deborah Hopkinson
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsAward-winning duo Deborah Hopkinson and James E. Ransome combine their talents once more for this sequel to the best-selling "Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt." Traveling late one night, a runaway slave girl spies a quilt hanging outside a house. The quilt's center is a striking deep blue -- a sign that the people inside are willing to help her escape...Categorized as:
black-mc children historical-fiction poc-mc social-commentary 21st-century american-civil-war book -
![Best Kept Secrets by Rochelle Alers]()
Best Kept Secrets by Rochelle Alers
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsWith the tumult of the Great War finally at an end, ambitious Samuel Cole returns from Europe determined to forge his own destiny as a wealthy entrepreneur. The lush lands of the Caribbean will provide the means to wealth, but they offer private bounty as well--"a bride. Marguerite-Josefina Diaz is the toast of Havana, the convent-educated daughter of a wealthy cigar manufacturer... -
![Forgotten by Jeanne Hardt]()
Forgotten by Jeanne Hardt
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsRumor has it, the war is about to end. But that doesn’t stop Billy Denton from running away to enlist. He’s lived a privileged life on the Wellesley estate, where slavery is seen as a necessary means to operate their textile production. Believing no human should be enslaved by another, he’s willing to fight—and even die—to change the future of the woman who holds his heart... -
-
![Mamie Garrison: A Tale of Slavery, Abolition, History & Romance by Teresa McRae]()
Mamie Garrison: A Tale of Slavery, Abolition, History & Romance by Teresa McRae
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsMamie Garrison is a story of an ordinary woman who goes to extraordinary lengths to do what she knows is right. Everything in her young life has led her to this moment, this decision. She will embark on the greatest adventure of her life... -
![Meet Claudie: An American Girl; 1922 by Brit Bennett]()
Meet Claudie: An American Girl; 1922 by Brit Bennett
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsClaudie 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... -
![Build a House by Rhiannon Giddens]()
Build a House by Rhiannon Giddens
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsGrammy Award winner Rhiannon Giddens celebrates Black history and culture in her unflinching, uplifting, and gorgeously illustrated picture book debut. I learned your words and wrote my song. I put my story down...Categorized as:
children historical-fiction poc-mc social-commentary black-mc children-books family historical -
![Almost to Freedom by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson]()
Almost to Freedom by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsLindy and her doll Sally are best friends - wherever Lindy goes, Sally stays right by her side. They eat together, sleep together, and even pick cotton together. So, on the night Lindy and her mama run away in search of freedom, Sally goes too. This young girl's rag doll vividly narrates her enslaved family's courageous escape through the Underground Railroad...Categorized as:
black-mc children historical-fiction poc-mc social-commentary action-adventure book children-books -
![The Fancy by Mercedes Keyes]()
The Fancy by Mercedes Keyes
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsThe slave trader, "fancy" dealer was saving the best for last, for a special auction. However, at hearing how close he'd come to losing his mother - his priorities, his plan shifted. Dr. Quinton Thaddeus Caine had saved his mother's life - for this deed, the young surgeon deserved the best that he could give in compensation. A gift - the best - a Fancy... -
![Aunt Harriet's Underground Railroad in the Sky by Faith Ringgold]()
Aunt Harriet's Underground Railroad in the Sky by Faith Ringgold
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsIllus. in full color. Cassie, who flew above New York in Tar Beach, soars into the sky once more. This time, she and her brother Be Be meet a train full of people, and Be Be joins them. But the train departs before Cassie can climb aboard...Categorized as:
black-mc children historical-fiction poc-mc social-commentary action-adventure book children-books -
![That Is My Dream! by Langston Hughes]()
That Is My Dream! by Langston Hughes
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratings"Dream Variation," one of Langston Hughes's poems about the dream of a world free of discrimination and racial prejudice is now a picture book.To fling my arms wideIn some place of the sun, To whirl and to danceTill the white day is done.... Follow one African-American boy through the course of his day as the harsh reality of segregation and racial prejudice comes into vivid focus...Categorized as:
social-commentary historical-fiction children poc-mc black-mc children-books fiction historical -
![Big Papa and the Time Machine by Daniel Bernstrom]()
Big Papa and the Time Machine by Daniel Bernstrom
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsDiscover the true meaning of being brave in this tender and whimsical picture book from Daniel Bernstrom (One Day in the Eucalytus, Eucalyptus Tree) and Shane Evans (Chocolate Me!) that follows a grandfather and grandson who travel through time in a beloved 1952 Ford.A little boy who lives with his grandpa isn’t reprimanded for being afraid to go to school one day...Categorized as:
black-mc children historical-fiction poc-mc social-commentary action-adventure book children-books -
![White Water by Michael S. Bandy, Eric Stein]()
White Water by Michael S. Bandy, Eric Stein
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsFor a young boy growing up in the segregated south, a town drinking fountain becomes the source of an epiphany.It’s a scorching hot day, and going into town with Grandma is one of Michael’s favorite things. When the bus pulls up, they climb in and pay their fare, get out, walk to the back door, and climb in again...Categorized as:
historical-fiction social-commentary poc-mc children black-mc children-books historical fiction -
![Jim & Me by Dan Gutman]()
Jim & Me by Dan Gutman
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsHe was the world's greatest athlete, and a hero—until his medals were taken away.Stosh is shocked when his enemy, Bobby Fuller, begs him for a favor. He wants Stosh to take him back in time to meet Native American Jim Thorpe—an Olympic champion who lost his medals in a scandal. Thorpe went on to play professional baseball and football, but he could never again achieve such fame...Categorized as:
children historical-fiction poc-mc sports action-adventure book children-books fiction -
-
![I Been in Sorrow's Kitchen and Licked Out All the Pots by Susan Straight]()
I Been in Sorrow's Kitchen and Licked Out All the Pots by Susan Straight
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsBeginning in the late 1950s, this novel tells the story of Marietta Cook, a tall girl growing up in Pine Gardens, a Gullah-speaking village in South Carolina. When Marietta's mother dies, she heads to Charleston in search of her uncle - only to find a lover and return pregnant with twins two years later... -
![The Faithful Friend by Robert D. San Souci]()
The Faithful Friend by Robert D. San Souci
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsA friendship is tested by love and magic in this beautiful, Caldecott Honor–winning retelling of a traditional tale from the French West Indies.Clement and Hippolyte are best friends who live together on the lush tropical island of Martinique. They set off together toward the woman Clement loves so he can propose, but her uncle—a quimboiseur, a wizard—doesn’t approve of the match... -
![Lost Daughters by Mary Monroe]()
Lost Daughters by Mary Monroe
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsEveryone from Louisiana to Florida knows Mama Ruby--a small-town girl who became one of the South's most notorious and volatile women. Now New York Times bestselling author Mary Monroe reveals how Mama Ruby's past haunts the family she's left behind. . . Mama Ruby has died and Maureen Montgomery is finally taking charge of her own life... -
![A Pair of Wings by Carole Hopson]()
A Pair of Wings by Carole Hopson
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsAn airline captain crafts a riveting, adventurous novel inspired by the remarkable true life of pioneer aviatrix Bessie Coleman, a Black woman who learned to fly at the dawn of aviation and found freedom in the air A few years after the Wright brothers’ first flight, Bessie was working the Texas cotton fields with her family when an airplane flew over their heads... -
![Underground: Finding the Light to Freedom by Shane W. Evans]()
Underground: Finding the Light to Freedom by Shane W. Evans
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsA family silently crawls along the ground. They run barefoot through unlit woods, sleep beneath bushes, take shelter in a kind stranger's home. Where are they heading? They are heading for Freedom by way of the Underground Railroad."A stellar introduction to the Underground Railroad, narrated by a group of slaves...Categorized as:
historical-fiction social-commentary poc-mc children black-mc children-books historical fiction -
![Thicker Than Water by Michael Edwin Q.]()
Thicker Than Water by Michael Edwin Q.
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsWhen her aunt who raised her dies, sixteen-year-old Alana goes to live with her uncle on another plantation, the plantation her deceased parents lived on. After months of inquiries, she questions if they're really dead. She sets off to discover the past...her past... -
![Squanto's Journey: The Story of the First Thanksgiving by Joseph Bruchac]()
Squanto's Journey: The Story of the First Thanksgiving by Joseph Bruchac
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsIn 1620 an English ship called the Mayflower landed on the shores inhabited by the Pokanoket people, and it was Squanto who welcomed the newcomers and taught them how to survive in the rugged land they called Plymouth. He showed them how to plant corn, beans, and squash, and how to hunt and fish... -
![Georgie's Beau by Shara Azod]()
Georgie's Beau by Shara Azod
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsGeorgie had always been on the outside looking in. As the bastard daughter of the man who ran the local juke joint, there was little hope of a respectable life in store for her. Especially after she caught the eye of Beau Dupuis, son the richest man in all of South Georgia. All he could offer her is a nice house hidden away on his family's plantation, but Georgie yearned for more... -
![John Henry: An American Legend by Ezra Jack Keats]()
John Henry: An American Legend by Ezra Jack Keats
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsCaldecott Medalist Ezra Jack Keats’s vibrant retelling of the popular African American folk ballad. Have you heard the tale? John Henry was born with a hammer in his hand. He was taller and stronger than anyone around. When men started talking about laying railroad tracks across the prairies and deserts, and right through the mountains, John Henry knew he and his hammer had to be a part of it... -
![Up from Freedom by Wayne Grady]()
Up from Freedom by Wayne Grady
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsFor readers of Colson Whitehead, James McBride, Yaa Gyasi and Lawrence Hill, Up From Freedom is a powerful and emotional novel about the dangers that arise when we stay silent in the face of prejudice or are complicit in its development. As a young man, Virgil Moody vowed he would never be like his father, he would never own slaves... -
-
![Jazz On A Saturday Night by Leo Dillon, Diane Dillon]()
Jazz On A Saturday Night by Leo Dillon, Diane Dillon
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsCelebrated illustrators Leo and Diane Dillon have won the Caldecott Medal twice, and now they present stunning illustrations of an evening of jazz music, complete with a special CD.If you have ever been lucky enough to hear great jazz, then you will understand the pure magic of this book... -
![Nobody's Family Is Going To Change by Louise Fitzhugh]()
Nobody's Family Is Going To Change by Louise Fitzhugh
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsWhat can you do if your parents simply refuse to listen to, let alone accept, your hopes and aspirations? Fat, intelligent Emma and her talented brother, Willie, brave parental disapproval to try to achieve their dreams and maintain their integrity. Emma is determined to become a lawyer like her father, while Willie thinks of nothing but dancing...Categorized as:
black-mc children historical-fiction poc-mc book children-books coming-of-age family -
![Passing by Samaria by Sharon Ewell Foster]()
Passing by Samaria by Sharon Ewell Foster
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsWhen the discovery of a schoolmate's lynched body puts her own life in jeopardy, Alena is sent by her parents from her beloved Mississippi home. With thousands of other African-Americans, Alena begins making her way north to the Promised Land of turn-of-the-century Chicago...Categorized as:
black-mc historical-fiction poc-mc social-commentary 20th-century book christian fiction -
![Ladies Night (Ladies' Night) by Christian Keyes]()
Ladies Night (Ladies' Night) by Christian Keyes
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsAmp Anthony is strong-willed, ruggedly handsome, with a body that women will pay just to look at. He is also a recently freed felon. It's not easy to make things whole again under the rules of the halfway house to which he's been released, especially since his parole officer would like nothing more than to send him back to prison. Amp is bound and determined to make sure that will never happen... -
![Jazz Moon by Joe Okonkwo]()
Jazz Moon by Joe Okonkwo
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsIn a lyrical, captivating debut set against the backdrop of the Harlem Renaissance and glittering Jazz Age Paris, Joe Okonkwo creates an evocative story of emotional and artistic awakening.On a sweltering summer night in 1925, beauties in beaded dresses mingle with hepcats in dapper suits on the streets of Harlem. The air is thick with reefer smoke, and jazz pours out of speakeasy doorways... -
![But Have Not Love by Michael Edwin Q.]()
But Have Not Love by Michael Edwin Q.
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsFrom the author of BORN A COLORED GIRL and PAPPY MOSES’ PEANUT PLANTATION – By a twist of fate, a runaway slave girl and a wounded Confederate officer are thrown together, and must rely on each other to survive...
Or - use our amazing romance book finder to get recommendations based on your favorite content tropes and themes. Mix and match at will.
