Campbell Hall
Ahmanson Library
Diversity Resources
African American Fiction Bibliography
398.2 Ham
Hamilton, Virginia. The people could fly : American Black folktales. 1st ed. New York: Knopf, [1985].
Retold Afro-American folktales of animals, fantasy, the supernatural, and desire for freedom, born of the sorrow of the slaves, but passed on in hope.
398.24 Par
Parks, Van Dyke and Harris, Joel Chandler. Jump on over! : the adventures of Brer Rabbit and his family. 1st ed. San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, [1989].
A collection of five tales in which Brer Rabbit outwits Brer Fox, Brer Wolf, and Brer Bear in order to ensure his family's survival during a drought.
398.2 Tal
Talk that talk : an anthology of African-American storytelling. New York: Simon & Schuster, [1989].
398.22 San c.2
Sanfield, Steve. The adventures of High John the Conqueror. New York: Orchard Books, [1988].
A collection of sixteen tales about High John the Conqueror, the traditional trickster hero of blacks during and immediately after the time of slavery.
398.2 Les
Lester, Julius. The knee-high man and other tales. New York: Dial Books for Young Readers, [1985, 1972].
Retells six tales from American black folk literature: "Why the Waves Have Whitecaps," "Mr. Rabbit and Mr. Bear," "Why Dogs Hate Cats," "The Farmer and the Snake," "What is Trouble?" and "The Knee-High Man.".
398.2 Afr
Afro-American folktales : stories from Black traditions in the New World. 1st ed. New York: Pantheon Books, [1985].
398.2 Hoo
Hooks, William H and Pinkney, J. Brian. The ballad of Belle Dorcas. New York: Knopf, [1990].
When she falls in love with Joshua, a slave, free-born Belle Dorcas uses the magic of a conjer woman to keep Joshua with her.
F Gai c.2
Gaines, Ernest J. The autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman. New York: Dial Press, [1971].
F Cal
Major, Clarence. Calling the wind : twentieth century African-American short stories. 1st ed. New York, NY: HarperPerennial, [1993].
F Str
Straight, Susan. I been in sorrow's kitchen and licked out all the pots : a novel. 1st ed. New York: Hyperion, [1992].
398.21 San
San Souci, Robert D and Pinkney, J. Brian. Sukey and the mermaid. 1st American ed. New York: Four Winds Press, [1992].
Unhappy with her life at home, Sukey receives kindness and wealth from Mama Jo the mermaid.
398.2 Raw
Lyons, Mary. Raw head, bloody bones : African-American tales of the supernatural. 1st ed. New York: Scribner's, [1991].
Fifteen black and African-American tales of the supernatural from various states and several Caribbean countries. Includes commentary on black folklore in the New World.
F Bre
McMillan, Terry. Breaking ice : an anthology of contemporary African-American fiction. New York, N.Y., U.S.A: Penguin Books, [1990].
F Wal
Walker, Alice. Possessing the secret of joy. 1st ed. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, [1992].
398.2 Afr
Young, Richard. African-American folktales for young readers : including favorite stories from African and African-American storytellers. 1st ed. Little Rock: August House, [1993].
A collection of folktales from the African-American oral tradition, presented as they have been told by professional black storytellers from Rhode Island to Oklahoma.
398.22 Les
Lester, Julius and Pinkney, Jerry. John Henry. 1st ed. New York: Dial Books, [1994].
Retells the life of the legendary African American hero who raced against a steam drill to cut through a mountain.
398.2 Fau
Faulkner, William J and Wilson, Roberta. Brer Tiger and the big wind. New York: Morrow Junior Books, [1995].
Clever Brer Rabbit finds a way to teach the greedy Brer Tiger a lesson.
398.2 Ham
Hamilton, Virginia and Dillon, Leo. Her stories : African American folktales, fairy tales, and true tales. New York: Blue Sky Press, [1995].
398.2 Ste
Stevens, Janet. Tops & bottoms. 1st ed. San Diego: Harcourt Brace, [1995].
Hare turns his bad luck around by striking a clever deal with the rich and lazy bear down the road.
398.2 San
San Souci, Robert D and Pinkney, Jerry. The hired hand : an African-American folktale. 1st ed. New York: Dial Books for Young Readers, [1997].
Old Sam hires a man to help out at his saw mill, and the hired hand also teaches Sam's lazy son a lesson about how to treat people.
F Way
Woodson, Jacqueline. A way out of no way : writing about growing up Black in America. 1st ed. New York: Holt, [1996].
A collection of stories and poems about coming of age written by African-American authors.
398.24 Ham
Hamilton, Virginia and Moser, Barry. A ring of tricksters : animal tales from America, the West Indies, and Africa. New York: Blue Sky Press, [1997].
Twelve trickster tales that show the migration of African culture to America via the West Indies.
J Joh
Johnson, Dolores. Grandma's hands. [Tarrytown] N.Y: M. Cavendish, [1998].
While staying on his grandmother's farm, an African-American boy learns that every child needs a home where there's love, even though that love may be rough and scratchy.
J Gri
Grimes, Nikki. Jazmin's notebook. 1st ed. New York: Dial Books, [1998].
Jazmin, an African-American teenager who lives with her older sister in a small Harlem apartment in the 1960s, finds strength in writing poetry and keeping a record of the events in her sometimes difficult life.
F Mor
Morrison, Toni. Song of Solomon. New York: Knopf, [1995].
398.2 San
San Souci, Robert D and Daily, Don. Callie Ann and Mistah Bear. New York: Dial Books for Young Readers, [1999].
A bear disguised as a fine, handsome man comes courting Callie's mother and Callie must outwit the bear to prevent her mother from marrying it.
J Wal
Walter, Mildred Pitts and Byard, Carole M. Have a happy. New York: Avon Books, [1990, 1989].
Upset because his birthday falls on Christmas and will therefore be eclipsed as usual, and worried that there is less money because his father is out of work, eleven-year-old Chris takes solace in the carvings he is preparing for Kwanzaa, the Afrrican-American celebration of their cultural heritage.
J McK
McKissack, Pat and Pinkney, J. Brian. The dark-thirty : Southern tales of the supernatural. New York: Knopf, [1992].
A collection of ghost stories with African American themes, designed to be told during the Dark Thirty--the half hour before sunset--when ghosts seem all too believable.
398.22 Les
Lester, Julius and Pinkney, Jerry. John Henry. 1st ed. New York: Dial Books, [1994].
Retells the life of the legendary African American hero who raced against a steam drill to cut through a mountain.
398.24 Ham
Hamilton, Virginia and Moser, Barry. When birds could talk & bats could sing : the adventures of Bruh Sparrow, Sis Wren, and their friends. New York: Blue Sky Press, [1996].
A collection of stories, featuring sparrows, jays, buzzards, and bats, based on those African American tales originally written down by Martha Young on her father's plantation in Alabama after the Civil War.
J Igu
Igus, Toyomi and Wells, Daryl. Two Mrs. Gibsons. San Francisco: Children's Book Press, [1996].
The biracial daughter of an African American father and a Japanese mother fondly recalls growing up with her mother and her father's mother, two very different but equally loving women.
398.2 Ham
Hamilton, Virginia and Dillon, Leo. Her stories : African American folktales, fairy tales, and true tales. New York: Blue Sky Press, [1995].
J Cur
Curtis, Christopher Paul. The Watsons go to Birmingham--1963. New York: Delacorte Press, [1995].
The ordinary interactions and everyday routines of the Watsons, an African American family living in Flint, Michigan, are drastically changed after they go to visit Grandma in Alabama in the summer of 1963.
J Cha
Chapman, Cheryl and Saint James, Synthia. Snow on snow on snow. 1st ed. New York: Dial Books for Young Readers, [1994].
The author uses repetitive word play to tell the story of an African American boy who loses and then recovers his dog while sledding in the snow.
J Sai
Saint James, Synthia. Sunday. Morton Grove, Ill: A. Whitman, [1996].
Portrays an African American family as they spend a typical Sunday eating breakfast, going to church, and visiting their grandparents.
J Ham
Hamanaka, Sheila. Peace Crane. New York: Morrow Junior Books, [1995].
After learning about the Peace Crane, created by Sadako, a survivor of the bombing of Hiroshima, a young African American girl wishes it would carry her away from the violence of her own world.
J Dem
Barner, Bob. Dem bones. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, [1996].
398.2 Ros
Rosales, Melodye. Leola and the honeybears. New York: Scholastic, [1998].
An African American version of Goldilocks and the three bears.
398.21 Ham
Hamilton, Virginia and Dillon, Diane. The girl who spun gold. New York: The Blue Sky Press, [2000].
In this African American retelling of "Rumpelstiltskin," Lit'mahn spins thread into gold cloth for the king's new bride.
J Pin
Pinkney, Sandra L and Pinkney, Myles C. Shades of black : a celebration of our black children. New York: Scholastic, [2000].
Photographs and poetic text celebrate the beauty and diversity of African American children.
J How
Howard, Elizabeth Fitzgerald and Lewis, Earl B. Virgie goes to school with us boys. New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, [1999].
In the post-Civil War South, a young African American girl is determined to prove that she can go to school just like her older brothers.
Ahmanson Library
August 2001