💖Juneteenth Holiday Books!

Juneteenth for Mazie

Mazie learns the importance of the Juneteenth holiday through a story about her three-times great grandfather’s enslavement in Texas. Juneteenth for Mazie by Floyd Cooper (2015, 40 pages, kindle edition) has an easy to understand storyline and nice illustrations. A great read!

The Story of Juneteenth: An Interactive History Adventure (You Choose: History)

The Story of Juneteenth by Steven Otfinoski (2015, 113 pages, kindle edition) is an interactive history lesson on the Juneteenth holiday and the lives of the formerly enslaved in Texas. The book allows the reader to choose different paths and provides the opportunity for valuable discussions.

In the book, the path I choose as a newly freed teenage girl, led to a vagrancy charge (a common post-slavery racist tactic to subjugate liberated Africans). The book has a timeline, glossary, and bibliography. An important part of history to read!

Book Quotes:

“The federal government sent General Gordon Granger to Texas with 2,000 troops to enforce emancipation.”

“Though slavery was abolished, prejudice and racism against blacks continued. Many southern whites resented the newly freed people.”

“On January 1, 1980, a law was passed in Texas to establish Juneteenth as a state holiday.”

“Without slave labor, some plantations could no longer operate. Why do you think many white southerners resented freed slaves?”

Tiny’s Emancipation (The Young Texans Series)

Tiny is a young girl enslaved in Texas who witnesses the arrival of Union Army General Gordon Granger. He declares the enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation to a crowd in which Tiny is in attendance. However, the liberation of this young girl takes a turn, as not everyone is ready for Tiny to be freed. Read more about her journey in the book: Tiny’s Emancipation (The Young Texans Series) by Linda Baten Johnson (2015, 48 pages, kindle edition). This short story is a very good read!

Book Quotes:

“The uniformed man read General Order Number 3 to the stunned crowd:”

“The people of Texas are informed that in accordance with a Proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and free laborer.”

Juneteenth Jamboree

The American Civil War (1861-1865) in which the Union Army defeated the Confederacy. This victory brought chattel slavery to a subsequent end. The news of freedom for the enslaved population in Texas took over two and half years to reach the ears of these unknowing liberated Africans. There are multiple reasons theorized as being the culprit for this delay, such as the slow travel of the messenger to deliver the news of freedom, to slave holders keeping silent to reap another crop harvest. Juneteenth refers to the time when the news of freedom was finally received. On June 19th, 1980 the state of Texas made Juneteenth a legal holiday.

You can explore the history and celebration of Juneteenth in the book: Juneteenth Jamboree by Carole Boston Weatherford and Yvonne Buchanan (1995, 24 pages, paperback). The main character Cassandra, learns about this important piece of history from her family as they prepare a glorious feast and attend a celebratory parade. “She [Cassandra] imagined slave families celebrating their newfound freedom, jumping, shouting, laughing, and crying, their spirits taking wing like birds released from cages” (p. 22). This is a cute book to teach and inspire remembrance of Juneteenth for children and grown-ups.

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