The Library Vault

Russell Library could not be more excited to take part in Middletown’s 4th Annual Liberation Day Festival on June 19th. After the parade, swing by our table at Harbor Park to pick up one of the giveaway titles listed below. They are available to Middletown residents while supplies last.

Many thanks to the Middletown Ujima Alliance for orchestrating this event. We look forward to seeing you there!

The Giveaway List

African Town by Irene Latham and Charles Waters

Chronicling the story of the last Africans brought illegally to America in 1860, African Town is a powerful and stunning novel-in-verse.

A Little Devil In America by Hanif Abdurraqib

A sweeping, genre-bending “masterpiece” (Minneapolis Star Tribune) exploring Black art, music, and culture in all their glory and complexity—from Soul Train, Aretha Franklin, and James Brown to The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Whitney Houston, and Beyoncé.

Black Liturgies by Cole Arthur Riley

A collection of prayer, poetry, and spiritual practice centering the Black interior world, from the author of This Here Flesh and creator of Black Liturgies.

Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson

Jacqueline Woodson’s National Book Award and Newbery Honor winner is a powerful memoir that tells the moving story of her childhood in mesmerizing verse.

The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin

The book that galvanized the nation, gave voice to the emerging civil rights movement in the 1960s—and still lights the way to understanding race in America today.

Four Hundred Souls edited by Ibram X. Kendi and Keisha N. Blain

A chorus of extraordinary voices tells the epic story of the four-hundred-year journey of African Americans from 1619 to the present—edited by Ibram X. Kendi, author of How to Be an Antiracist, and Keisha N. Blain, author of Set the World on Fire.

Freedom, We Sing by Amyra León, illustrated by Molly Mendoza

As powerful as it is beautiful, Freedom, We Sing is a lyrical picture book designed to inspire and give hope to readers around the world.

High On The Hog by Jessica B. Harris

The grande dame of African American cookbooks and winner of the James Beard Lifetime Achievement Award stakes her claim as a culinary historian with a narrative history of African American cuisine.

The Hill We Climb by Amanda Gorman

Amanda Gorman’s electrifying and historic poem The Hill We Climb, read at President Joe Biden’s inauguration, captivated the nation and brought hope to viewers around the globe with her call for unity and healing.

The History of Juneteenth by Arlisha Norwood

This colorfully illustrated story takes kids on an exciting journey through all the events that led up to the first Juneteenth, the day itself, and the impact it had on the future of the United States.

James by Percival Everett

A brilliant, action-packed reimagining of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, both harrowing and darkly humorous, told from the enslaved Jim’s point of view.

Juneteenth by Ralph Ellison

In this radiant, posthumous second novel by the visionary author of Invisible Man, Ralph Ellison evokes the rhythms of jazz and gospel and ordinary speech to tell a powerful tale of a prodigal son in the twentieth century.

The Juneteenth Story by Alliah L. Agostini, illustrated by Sawyer Cloud

With colorful illustrations and a timeline, this introductory history of Juneteenth for kids details the evolution of the holiday commemorating the date the enslaved people of Texas first learned of their freedom​.

On Juneteenth by Annette Gordon-Reed

The essential, sweeping story of Juneteenth’s integral importance to American history, as told by a Pulitzer Prize–winning historian and Texas native.

Opal Lee And What It Means To Be Free by Alice Faye Duncan, illustrated by Keturah A. Bobo

Black activist Opal Lee had a vision of Juneteenth as a holiday for everyone. Growing up in Texas, Opal knew the history of Juneteenth, but she discovered that many Americans had never heard of the holiday. Join Opal on her historic journey to recognize and celebrate “freedom for all.”

Shoutin’ In The Fire by Dante Stewart

In Shoutin’ in the Fire, Danté Stewart gives breathtaking language to his reckoning with the legacy of white supremacy—both the kind that hangs over our country and the kind that is internalized on a molecular level. 

The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead

“An American masterpiece” (NPR) that chronicles a young slave’s adventures as she makes a desperate bid for freedom in the antebellum South.

The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates

This is the dramatic story of an atrocity inflicted on generations of women, men, and children—the violent and capricious separation of families—and the war they waged to simply make lives with the people they loved. Written by one of today’s most exciting thinkers and writers, The Water Dancer is a propulsive, transcendent work that restores the humanity of those from whom everything was stolen.