Middle School Literature

The first three books may seem too “picture book-y” but they were created with middle school students in mind…

  1. Aida, Leontyne
  2. Shaka, D. Stanley
  3. Sundiata, D. Wisnieski [winner of the African Studies Association (ASA) Children's Book Award, 1993]
  4. Chain of Fire, B. Naidoo [a sequel to the award-winning Journey to Jo'burg]
  5. African Folktales, R. Abrahams
  6. Tales of an Ashanti Father, P. Appiah
  7. Waiting for Rain, S. Gordon
  8. Apartheid: Calibrations of Color, (publisher: Icarus/Rosen Group) short stories, plays, photos, and personal essay by South Africans. [received Honor Book Award from the ASA Children's Book Committee, 1992]
  9. Bury My Bones But Keep My Words: African Tales for Retelling, T. Fairman
  10. The African Mask, J. Rupert [received Honor Book Award from the ASA Children's Book Committee, 1995]
  11. The Ear, The Eye and The Arm, N. Farmer
  12. The Captive, J. Hansen [winner of the ASA Children's Book Award, 1995]
  13. Somehow Tenderness Survives, e.d., H. Rockman
  14. Moonlight Bride, B. Emecheta
  15. Secret Lives, Ngugi wa Th’iongo (short stories); [Ngugi is his surname] created for a general/adult audience, but several of the stories are appropriate for middle school.
  16. Red Dust, Green Leaves, J. Gray.
  17. Story for a Black Night, C. Bess
  18. The Return, S. Levitin
  19. The Dark Child [sometimes published as Black Child], C. Laye

Barbara Brown, PhD 3/96