What Are You Looking For?

Obar is enslaved on a Barbados plantation and dreams of freedom. When rebellion is whispered about, she meets Jacob, a boy from the twenty-first century who wants to help her reach the future.

A fast-moving science-fantasy adventure follows Kincar across alternate versions of Gorth, where he must navigate a new threat and the demands of a mysterious relic.

The story follows Solomon’s efforts to find his own path while his family works towards independence. A cattle drive brings adventure and new sights, alongside tensions at home and the question of how Black settlers will be received.

A personal life provides a route into Washington’s changing landscape and national history, with diary passages and images offering more than a straightforward overview.

A historical novel in verse about Phoebe’s struggle towards freedom, told through several perspectives. Learning to read and write is central to how she begins to understand her circumstances and choices.

A focused account of one inventive episode offers a way into Banneker's interests in science and mathematics, rather than a full survey of his life.

This historical adventure centres on work, friendship and a promise to family, with Kevin's role in helping enslaved people escape adding a serious moral dimension.

This is an adventure of escape and resistance in an imagined underground world, with a focus on David’s efforts to reunite with Dia and rally human tribes against their rulers.

A fantasy quest about confronting an enemy's magic and attempting to free people held in his domain.

This is a fantasy rescue adventure, with responsibility set against danger to unicorns and the possibility of conflict between peoples.

A fantasy journey centred on a young protagonist whose life shifts from tightly controlled service towards travel, uncertainty and new possibilities.

Expect high-stakes fantasy built around a threatened world, prophecy and perilous travel, with several characters facing sharply different circumstances. This is the concluding volume of a trilogy.

A fast-moving paranormal adventure about public exposure, hostility towards shapeshifters and a group of companions caught up in a wider conflict.

A science-fiction chase and conflict centre on Tool’s resistance to engineered obedience, with human soldiers and a threat of war also part of the story.

This is a magical adventure about two cousins and their dragon trying to thwart a scientist’s scheme. Expect mythical creatures, a threatened forest and a rescue challenge.

This is a resistance adventure built around a global threat, a sabotage mission and a betrayal. It continues events from the earlier Earthfall story.

This could suit a reader interested in historical romance and stories of escape, while also inviting careful thought about how slavery and racial identity are represented in popular historical fiction.

Expect a historical adventure centred on Sally and Roger, their mother’s efforts to protect gold, and the threat posed by approaching British forces. The book also foregrounds family loyalty, courage and a woman taking charge.

This is an informational life story centred on Sacajawea’s involvement with Lewis and Clark. It combines personal history, motherhood and travel with a broader account of the expedition and its place in American history.

This is a mission-driven seafaring adventure in which a crew pursues a former rival who has become a pirate and slave trader. Friendship, courage and restored honour shape the action.

A ghostly quest combines danger, memory and moral choices. Riley’s efforts to free her friends and other spirits give the story an emphasis on understanding rather than defeating pain by force.

A powerful story of enslavement, resistance and imagined liberation, told through poetic language, expressive paintings and magical realism. Its movement from brutality towards freedom may offer hope without softening the history.

Expect a fast-moving sea adventure in which Ben and Ned face separation, exploitation, danger and bereavement. Alongside fantasy and historical atmosphere, the story gives considerable weight to compassion and protecting others.

This is a frontier adventure about two friends seeking new beginnings, with danger arising after a mistake. Its central appeal appears to be action combined with a friendship tested under pressure.

A history-rich picture-book biography about Philip Reid’s craftsmanship, enslavement and contribution to the Statue of Freedom. It brings an overlooked African American figure into the story of a prominent American landmark.

This is a historical adventure about choosing how to help someone in trouble when friendship, family loyalty and political loyalties pull in different directions. Its plantation setting also opens onto slavery, though enslaved people remain in the background of Felicity’s experience.

A lyrical, illustrated account of Henry Brown’s life under slavery, his family’s forced separation, and his dangerous escape in a box.

This is a plot-led fantasy about power, conquest and moral choice, balancing prophetic gifts and political intrigue with military training, pursuit and repeated danger. Landen’s struggle with revenge gives the story its clearest ethical tension.

A dark, plot-driven fantasy about surviving occupation and reclaiming identity, with court intrigue, resistance and magic. Its central journey from frightened captive to leader is accompanied by graphic brutality and morally difficult choices.

A forceful historical adventure about enslaved people resisting plantation rule. Moa’s choice to join Tacky’s uprising brings friendship, courage and hope into direct conflict with coercion, danger and the possibility of death.

Choose this for a visually supported introduction to Black British history that connects overlooked people and communities with larger questions about slavery, migration, war and how national histories are made.

A powerful testimony about enslavement, bodily suffering and the struggle for freedom, carried by Mary Prince’s distinctive voice but shaped by an editor and abolitionist publication context.

This is a high-stakes historical pirate adventure centred on Kemosha’s determination to regain freedom and help people she loves. It offers action, survival, romance and a Black heroine confronting slavery and racial cruelty.

This is a structured historical introduction to slavery, combining broad chronology with accounts of enslaved people’s lives, journeys and escapes. Its contemporary coverage may help connect past systems with slavery that still exists.

This offers a poetic, visually collage-rich introduction to Harriet Tubman, connecting her life with nature, family, faith and freedom. It combines storytelling with historical tools for looking further.

A richly imagined fantasy combines Arthurian legend, secret societies and demons with Bree’s investigation into her mother’s death. Its strongest offering is a Black protagonist navigating grief, power and contested history alongside diverse allies and difficult questions about inherited authority.

This is an emotionally charged historical animal adventure: Delta uses courage and resourcefulness to search for separated friends while Pompeii faces catastrophe. It offers suspense, relationships and a window onto Roman life, including the unequal position of enslaved people.

A dark, atmospheric story for readers who enjoy ghosts, folklore, natural magic and narratives that connect across time. Three girls face danger and loss while their stories gradually converge around a threatening presence in the woods.

This is an adventure-led historical story about a child confronting enslavement, separation and restricted freedom. Its movement from Jamaica to England brings Nat into contact with people connected to abolition and Black history.

A thoughtful choice for readers interested in history, family secrets and how stories preserve identity. Expect a serious, emotionally demanding account of enslavement alongside a slower contemporary mystery that becomes more absorbing as the connections emerge.

Expect a survival adventure driven by resourcefulness, solitude and danger. Its interest also lies in Crusoe’s changing relationship with fear and faith, alongside troubling material involving captivity, slavery and colonial power.

A high-stakes fantasy about two young people facing an oppressive society, dangerous magic and threats to their families. Its strongest focus is courage joined with cultural pride and resistance to injustice.

This is an action-led transformation fantasy about fear, courage and responsibility. Cory must survive unfamiliar environments, make alliances and repair the consequences of opening a forbidden medicine bag, while seeking a way home.

This is an adventurous historical mystery built around Green Knowe’s layered past. Its strongest thread is the friendship between Susan and Jacob, alongside danger, hidden jewels, escape, fire and links between generations.

A historical adventure about siblings separated from safety, people torn from their families, and friendships formed across unequal circumstances. Its central movement is towards solidarity and escape, not towards accepting enslavement as legitimate.