Juneteenth commemorates the end of slavery in the United States. Join us in June as we celebrate this annual Day of Jubilee, all month long!
Check out our reading lists and resources and enjoy our in-person and virtual programs in honor of this important day in U.S. history.
All Queens Public Library locations will be closed on Wednesday, June 19 in observance of Juneteenth.
Juneteenth Books: Adult Fiction
Juneteenth Books: Adult Nonfiction
Juneteenth Books: Young Adult Fiction
Juneteenth Books: Young Adult Nonfiction
Juneteenth Books: Children's Fiction
Juneteenth Books: Children's Nonfiction
Juneteenth Programs
Join us for QPL’s Juneteenth programs for all ages, including arts and crafts, concerts, conversations, storytimes, and much more!
Juneteenth Booklists
Adult Fiction
Juneteenth by Ralph Ellison
Book | Audiobook
Conjure Women by Afia Atakora
Book | eBook | Audiobook
Kindred by Octavia E. Butler
Book | eBook | Audiobook | Graphic Novel | Graphic Novel (eBook)
The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehesi Coates
Book | eBook | Audiobook
Black Cloud Rising by David Wright Faladé
Book | eBook | Audiobook
Libertie by Kaitlyn Greenidge
Book | eBook
Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
Book | eBook | Audiobook
Iola Leroy, or Shadows Uplifted by Frances Ellen Watkins Harper
Book | eBook
The Sweetness of Water by Nathan Harris
Book | eBook | Audiobook
The Good Lord Bird by James McBride
Book | eBook | Audiobook
Beloved by Toni Morrison
Book | eBook | Audiobook
Hell of a Book by Jason Mott
Book | eBook | Audiobook
River Sing Me Home by Eleanor Shearer
Book | eBook | Audiobook
The Deep by by Rivers Solomon, Daveed Diggs, William Hutson, and Jonathan Snipes
Book | eBook | Audiobook
Jubilee by Margaret Walker
Book | eBook | Audiobook
The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
Book | eBook | Audiobook
The Book of Lost Friends by Lisa Wingate
Book | eBook | Audiobook
Red at the Bone by Jacqueline Woodson
Book | eBook | Audiobook
Adult Nonfiction
Juneteenth Texas: Essays in African-American Folklore by Francis E. Abernethy, Patrick B. Mullen, and Alan B. Govenar
The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander
Book | eBook | Audiobook
The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin
Book | eBook | Audiobook
Remembering Slavery by Ira Berlin
Book | eBook | Audiobook
Juneteenth: The Story Behind the Celebration by Edward Cotham
Book | eBook
The War Before the War by Andrew Delbanco
Black Reconstruction in America by W. E. B. Du Bois
Book | eBook
She Came to Slay: The Life and Times of Harriet Tubman by Erica Armstrong Dunbar
Book | eBook | Audiobook
Forever Free: The Story of Emancipation and Reconstruction by Eric Foner
Book | eBook
The Second Founding by Eric Foner
Stony the Road: Reconstruction, White Supremacy, and the Rise of Jim Crow
by Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
Book | eBook | Audiobook
On Juneteenth by Annette Gordon-Reed
Book | Audiobook
Barracoon by Zora Neale Hurston
Book | eBook | Audiobook
To Raise Up a Nation by William S. King
Book | eBook
American Inheritance by Edward J. Larson
Book | eBook
The Failed Promise by Robert S. Levine
Book | eBook
Black Ghost of Empire by Kris Manjapra
Book | eBook
Sleeping with the Ancestors by Joseph McGill Jr. and Herb Frazier
Book | eBook
All That She Carried by Tiya Miles
Book | eBook | Audiobook
The Last Slave Ship by Ben Raines
Book | eBook | Audiobook
How the Word Is Passed by Clint Smith
Book | eBook | Audiobook
Watermelon & Red Birds: A Cookbook for Juneteenth and Black Celebrations by Nicole A. Taylor
Book | eBook
Freedom's Children by Velma Maia Thomas
Lest We Forget (eBook) by Velma Maia Thomas
Up from Slavery by Booker T. Washington
Book | eBook | Audiobook
The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson
Book | eBook | Audiobook
Master Slave Husband Wife: An Epic Journey from Slavery to Freedom by Ilyon Woo
Book | eBook | Audiobook
Young Adult Fiction
The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party
by M. T. Anderson
Book | eBook | Audiobook
Crossing Ebenezer Creek by Tonya Bolden
Book | eBook
Inventing Victoria by Tonya Bolden
Book | eBook
Copper Sun by Sharon M. Draper
Book | eBook
Dream Country by Shannon Gibney
Book | eBook | Audiobook
This Is My America by Kim Johnson
Book | eBook
Riot by Walter Dean Myers
Book | eBook | Audiobook
Come Juneteenth by Ann Rinaldi
Book | eBook
Dear Martin by Nic Stone
Book | Audiobook
A Sitting in St. James by Rita Williams-Garcia
Book | eBook | Audiobook
Young Adult Nonfiction
Black Birds in the Sky: The Story and Legacy of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre by Brandy Colbert
Book | eBook | Audiobook
Passenger on the Pearl by Winifred Conkling
Book | eBook
In The Shadow of Liberty by Kenneth C. Davis
Book | Audiobook
Unequal: A Story of America by Michael Eric Dyson and Marc Favreau
Book | eBook | Audiobook
This Book Is Anti-Racist by Tiffany Jewell
Book | eBook
Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi
Book | eBook | Audiobook
Children's Fiction
Juneteenth for Mazie by Floyd Cooper
Book | eBook | Audiobook
Build a House by Rhiannon Giddens and Monica Mikai
Book | eBook
Henry's Freedom Box: A True Story from the Underground Railroad
by Ellen Levine and Kadir Nelson
Book | eBook | Audiobook
Annie and Juneteenth by Aletta Seales and Artkina Celestin
Juneteenth Is by Natasha Tripplett and Daniel J. O'Brien
Juneteenth Jamboree by Carole Boston Weatherford and Yvonne Buchanan
Book | eBook
Children's Nonfiction
The Juneteenth Cookbook: Recipes and Activities for Kids and Families to Celebrate
by Alliah L. Agostini, Taffy Elrod, and Sawyer Cloud
Juneteenth by R.J. Bailey
Book | eBook
The American Civil War in Texas by Johanna Burke
Let's Celebrate Emancipation Day & Juneteenth by Barbara deRubertis
Book | eBook
Opal Lee and What It Means to Be Free: The True Story of the Grandmother of Juneteenth
by Alice Faye Duncan and Keturah A. Bobo
Book | eBook | Audiobook
Hidden Black History: From Juneteenth to Redlining by Amanda Jackson Green
Book | eBook
What Is Juneteenth? by Kirsti Jewel
Book | eBook | Audiobook
All Different Now: Juneteenth, the First Day of Freedom by Angela Johnson and E.B. Lewis
Traditional African American Arts & Activities by Sonya Kimble-Ellis
Juneteenth by Julie Murray
Book | eBook
Juneteenth by Lynn Peppas
Stamped (For Kids): Racism, Antiracism, and You by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi
Book | eBook | Audiobook
The Real History of Juneteenth by Elliott Smith
Book | eBook
African-American Holidays by Faith Winchester
Juneteenth (Racial Justice in America: Histories) by Kevin P. Winn and Kelisa Wing
Book | eBook
Juneteenth: Our Day of Freedom by Sharon Dennis Wyeth and Kim Holt
Book | eBook | Audiobook
This image appeared on an 1865 recruitment poster encouraging African American men to join the Union Army’s United States Colored Troops. During the Civil War, the United States Colored Troops made up more than 10% of the Union Army, despite being prohibited from joining until July 1862, 15 months after the war began. (Source: African American Civil War Memorial Museum)
Juneteenth Resources
Learn About Juneteenth: A Day of Jubilee! (Virtual Brochure from QPL, Langston Hughes Library, and Queens Memory)
Juneteenth: The Legacy of Black Greek Organizations (QPL/YouTube, 2022)
Juneteenth - All About the Holidays (PBS Kids/YouTube)
Juneteenth Storytime: "Opal Lee And What It Means To Be Free" (Alice Faye Duncan Books/YouTube)
Opal Lee: Meet the “Grandmother of Juneteenth” (Biography.com)
The history behind the Juneteenth flag (WCNC Charlotte/YouTube)
Juneteenth Digital Toolkit (National Museum of African American History and Culture)
What Is Juneteenth? (HISTORY)
Celebrating Juneteenth, the Day Slavery Ended (The New York Times)
What is Juneteenth? (CBS News)
Juneteenth: The History of a Holiday (The New York Times)
The History Of Juneteenth (NPR Fresh Air)
Galveston, Texas, is the birthplace of the Juneteenth holiday (NPR)
United States Colored Troops History (African American Civil War Memorial Museum)
Fighting for Their Freedom: Historian Steward Henderson Talks about the United States Colored Troops (Emerging Civil War/YouTube)
How Black families, torn apart during slavery, worked to find one another again (NBC News)
DIY Confetti Poppers for Juneteenth (Crafting a Fun Life)
4 Meaningful Ways to Celebrate Juneteenth with Your Kids 2022 (Indy's Child Magazine)
5 Juneteenth Celebration Ideas for the Entire Family (Verywell Family)
Great Ideas for Celebrating Juneteenth (HGTV)
Here are 50 Quotes to Better Understand Juneteenth (Parade Magazine)
How to Celebrate Juneteenth This Year (PureWow)
Juneteenth Printables (Primary Treasure Chest Resources)
25 Ideas to Help You Celebrate Juneteenth (The Cubicle Chick by Danyelle Little)
8 Ways to Teach Your Kids About the Importance of Juneteenth (PopSugar Family)