Jude’s Wars is the story of Jude, a Black World War II veteran who struggles to adapt to post-war life after returning to a country that doesn’t protect him the same way that he protected it. Jude’s Wars not only shows the plight of Black veterans who are harassed, lynched, and barred from receiving G.I. Bill benefits but also highlights their resilience as they fight for the rights they deserve. As Jude comes together with others from his community, he finds support and strength to join the Civil Rights Movement and lay the groundwork for equal rights for everyone. After reading this book, you will know how the experiences of Black veterans like Jude expose the contradictions of American democracy, demonstrate the resilience of marginalized communities, and connect World War II service to the broader fight for Civil Rights.

ISBN: 978-1-962633-12-3

Details

• 28-page book 

• 1 historian interview

• 15 workbook questions

• For grades 8-12

As racial violence sweeps the nation in the early 1900s, the NAACP and other organizations advocate against extrajudicial lynching against numerous African-American citizens. Cecile’s Brother tells the story of a young Black activist who uses her privilege to pass for white to seek justice for her brother’s lynching and help the NAACP campaign for anti-lynching legislation in the U.S. As Cecile investigates, she explores the underground economy of lynchings and uses evidence of that economy to her advantage. After reading this book, you will understand how African American activists and their allies confronted racial violence, how the NAACP mobilized against lynching, and how media shaped—and was shaped by—the struggle for justice in early 20th-century America.

ISBN: 978-1-962633-07-9

Details

• 24-page book 

• 1 historian interview

• 10 workbook questions

• For grades 9-12

As American soldiers fight for freedom during WWII, a young man in Philadelphia must find a way to keep the peace during a contentious labor struggle. In 1944, Philadelphia was ground zero for a labor strike that defined African Americans’ freedom to participate in the economy. Mark, an NAACP organizer, must navigate a city on edge and do his best to prevent racial tensions from boiling over. Mark’s Way is a historical fiction story about using strategy and patience to win civil liberties during the 1940s. Through Mark’s story, students are taken through an engaging untold moment in U.S. history from the perspective of a person of color. After reading this book, you will know how African Americans organized, resisted, and strategized to claim their place in the economy and advance civil rights during WWII, as well as how their efforts redefined the meaning of democracy on the home front.

ISBN: 978-1-962633-05-5

Details

• 24-page book 

• 2 historian interviews

• 10 workbook questions

• For grades 7-12

In the early 1960s, a wave of protests in support of farmworkers' and migrant laborers' rights spread across the nation. The Delano Grape Strike sparked by Filipino farm workers brought attention to the plight of farm workers across the country. Gabriel’s Last Harvest tells a story of an elderly Filipino farm worker who decides to join the United Farm Workers’ strike in a last-ditch effort to get retirement and health benefits. The story explores the power and complexity of solidarity in a national movement. After reading this book, you will understand how solidarity can shape the success of social movements, the sacrifices workers made to demand justice, and the enduring impact of the farmworkers’ movement on labor rights today.

ISBN: 978-1-962633-06-2

Details

• 24-page book 

• 1 historian interview

• 15 workbook questions

• For grades 7-12

The unfulfilled promises of Reconstruction and crippling Jim Crow policies delayed social progress in the South so much that Southern Black people felt they had no choice but to move north. Edward and Louise’s Journey follows Edward and Louise as they embark on a life-altering journey from Georgia to Chicago during the First Great Migration. This heartfelt tale vividly portrays the challenges faced by African-American families seeking a better life in the North. Amidst racial tensions and economic hardships, the couple's unyielding love and determination brings to light the decisions and forces that motivated millions of Black people to migrate north in the 1900s. After reading this book, you will understand the historical forces that drove the First Great Migration, the experiences of African American families, and how movement itself became an act of resistance and resilience against systemic racism.

ISBN: 978-1-962633-08-6

• 24-page book 

• 1 historian interview

• 15 workbook questions

• For grades 7-12

Jane’s Freedom follows Jane, an enslaved woman in 1846 New Orleans, whose wit and quiet defiance make her both a target and a survivor. Haunted by the loss of her son and her master’s punishments, she works the city’s marketplaces, glimpsing both the grind of slavery and hints of possibility. With help from a free Black sailor, Jane plots escape—leveraging her skills in French, sewing, and trading to secure passage on a riverboat. But danger stalks her: her master hunts her, rivals betray her, and even allies warn her courage borders on recklessness. In the end, Jane learns freedom is not granted but seized, no matter the cost. Through her eyes, the comic illuminates urban slavery, strategies of resistance, and the spirit of marronage burning within the city. After reading this book, you will know how enslaved people in urban settings resisted oppression, built networks of survival, and navigated the perilous path toward freedom.

ISBN: 978-1-962633-03-1

Details

• 24-page book 

• Historian quotes

• 15 workbook questions

• For grades 7-12

The East L.A. Walkouts were a series of protests and demonstrations organized by Chicano students in Los Angeles in 1968. The students demanded equal educational opportunities and an end to racial discrimination in their schools. These walkouts brought attention to the systemic inequalities faced by Chicano students, inspired broader activism, and contributed to the advancement of bilingual education and the empowerment of the Chicano community. Sophia’s Dream follows a young Chicano student who is fed up with her school system and the lack of opportunities she has to go to college. Sophia eventually joins more than 10,000 students to protest and demand better education from the East L.A. school district. After reading this book, you will understand how the East L.A. Walkouts transformed the fight for educational equity, how young people like Sophia shaped history through activism, and why student voices remain critical in the ongoing struggle for justice.

ISBN: 978-1-962633-09-3

Details

• 24-page book 

• 10 comic pages 

• 2 historian interviews

• 10 workbook questions

• For grades 7-12

As American soldiers fought for freedom during World War II, a series of violent clashes known as the Zoot Suit Riots took place between military personnel and people of color in the streets of Los Angeles. Alex’s Suit tells the story of Alex and Ricardo Gonzalez, two Mexican-American brothers in L.A. who have opposing views about cultural assimilation. When the brutality of the Zoot Suit Riots hits close to home, the brothers must decide if their perspectives will help or hurt their community in the long run. In reading Alex’s Suit, students will explore the complexities and difficulties that marginalized communities face when they hold onto cultural pride and resistance in the midst of racialized violence. After reading this comic book, you will understand how the Zoot Suit Riots reflected broader struggles over cultural pride, racial injustice, and community identity—and how marginalized communities resisted erasure in the face of systemic violence.

ISBN: 978-1-962633-04-8

Details

• 24-page book 

• 1 historian interview

• 15 workbook questions

• For grades 7-12

We know how hard it is to find engaging history resources for your students. With our Black History Bundle, you can easily obtain the culturally responsive, inquiry-based content you need to help students think critically about how little-known events in Black history have impacted our society today.

Historical Fiction Comics: Four comic books that explore themes such as civil rights, labor rights, and self-liberation. These comics help students see examples of characters demonstrating agency in dealing with racial, gender, and socioeconomic challenges.

• Mark’s Way follows a young NAACP worker during a critical labor strike in U.S. history.

• Edward and Louise’s Journey follows a young couple on a life-altering journey from Georgia to Chicago.

• Cecile’s Brother tells the story of a young Black activist who uses her privilege to justice for her brother’s lynching. 

• Jane’s Freedom is about an enslaved woman who decides to leave behind everything she has ever known to take a chance on freedom.

Primary Sources and Secondary Interpretations: Transcripts of interviews with subject-matter experts and historians allow students to experience the difference between historical fiction and primary sources.

Inquiry Workbooks: Supplementary educational exercises, activities, and practice problems reinforce and assess what students learn from the learnings acquired while reading TrueFiktion comics.

We know how hard it is to find engaging history resources for your students. With our Ethnic Studies Bundle, you can easily obtain the culturally responsive, inquiry-based content you need to help students think critically about how little-known events in history involving marginalized communities have impacted our society today.

Historical Fiction Comics: Six comic books that explore themes such as student activism, civil rights, labor rights, and self-liberation. These comics help students see examples of characters demonstrating agency in dealing with racial, gender, and socioeconomic challenges.

• Edward and Louise’s Journey follows a young couple on a life-altering journey from Georgia to Chicago.

• Cecile’s Brother tells the story of a young Black activist who uses her privilege to justice for her brother’s lynching. 

• Jane’s Freedom is about an enslaved woman who decides to leave behind everything she has ever known to take a chance on freedom.

• Sophia’s Dream follows a young Chicano student who is fed up with her school system and the lack of opportunities she has to go to college.

• Alex’s Suit tells the story of two Mexican-American brothers in L.A. during the Zoot Suit Riots.

• Gabriel’s Last Harvest tells the story of an elderly Filipino farm worker who decides to join the United Farm Workers’ strike in a last-ditch effort to get retirement and health benefits.

Primary Sources and Secondary Interpretations: Transcripts of interviews with subject-matter experts and historians allow students to experience the difference between historical fiction and primary sources.

Inquiry Workbooks: Supplementary educational exercises, activities, and practice problems reinforce and assess what students learn from the learnings acquired while reading TrueFiktion comics.

Jamie’s Decisions follows Jamie, a skilled laborer and formerly enslaved person. He escaped slavery in Virginia and found refuge in Syracuse, New York. His world is shattered when the federal government passes the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 and the U.S. Marshals capture his formerly enslaved friend, Jerry, under the law. Now, Jamie must decide whether to put his own freedom at risk to help the community save Jerry. This graphic novel focuses on the Jerry Rescue, an event that happened in Syracuse on October 1, 1851. A group of abolitionists forcibly liberated William “Jerry” Henry from U.S. custody after he was arrested under the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. Jamie’s Decisions explores the Jerry Rescue and the Syracuse abolitionist movement to highlight how community members – sometimes with different motives – can come together to seek justice for all. After reading this book, you will understand how people with diverse motives can come together to resist unjust laws, how the Jerry Rescue influenced the abolitionist movement in Syracuse, and how acts of collective defiance contributed to the broader struggle for freedom and justice in the United States.

ISBN: 978-1-962633-10-9

Details

• 24-page book 

• 2 historian interviews

• 15 workbook questions

• For grades 7-12

Ella’s Lessons follows Ella, a passionate and highly qualified Black educator who is demoted from her position as assistant principal in the aftermath of the Brown v. Board of Education decision to integrate schools. Now a seventh-grade English teacher at an integrated school, Ella must navigate a hostile work environment while also supporting Black students who face racism from white teachers. This comic focuses on the aftermath of Brown v. Board of Education, a landmark 1954 Supreme Court decision that the “separate but equal” racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional. It required schools to integrate without specifying exactly how. Ella’s Lessons explores how Black educators and students were treated as an afterthought during school integration and highlights the importance of community relationships in inspiring social change. After reading this book, you will know how the Brown v. Board decision reshaped education, disrupted the careers of Black teachers, and left a complex legacy that continues to shape issues of equality and segregation in schools today.

ISBN: 978-1-962633-11-6

Details

• 28-page book 

• 1 historian interview

• 10 workbook questions

• For grades 7-12

The Carters’ Theatre focuses on the Carter family, a highly successful Black family living in Greenwood, also known as Black Wall Street. Magnus and Antonia own the thriving Carter’s Movie Theatre and are the loving, protective parents of their teenage son, Sammy. Sammy is creative, ambitious, and passionate about his present community and his future in movies. In the heart of Black Wall Street, the Carters’ dreams light up the screen, but will they be able to survive the attack of a violent mob to keep their dreams alive? This story focuses on the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, when a mob of white Tulsans attacked the wealthy Black community of Greenwood. The Carters’ Theatre highlights the lived experience of growing Black communities in the context of racial violence and injustice. After reading this book, you will know how the Tulsa Race Massacre devastated one of the most prosperous Black communities in the United States, how families like the Carters experienced and resisted racial violence, and how history continues to shape the fight for justice today.

ISBN: 978-1-962633-13-0

Details

• 28-page book 

• 1 historian interview

• 15 workbook questions

• For grades 7-12

Norah’s Handkerchief follows Norah, a determined and hopeful young woman who was freed from slavery at the end of the Civil War. Norah learned to read and write while enslaved, and after her enslavers found out, they sold her away from her mother. After the War, will Norah be able to find her long-lost family? Norah’s Handkerchief focuses on the aftermath of emancipation for newly freed Black people. We often discuss emancipation as a one-time event, but it was an ongoing process in which people continually seized and asserted their freedom. This graphic inquiry highlights the resilience that newly freed people exhibited in trying to establish new beginnings for themselves and their loved ones. After reading this book, you will know how formerly enslaved people used literacy, faith, and community networks to search for their families, and how their resilience reshaped the meaning of freedom in the years following the Civil War.

ISBN: 978-1-962633-14-7

Details

• 28-page book

• 2 historian interviews

• 20 workbook questions

• For grades 7-12

Gaspar’s Home follows Gaspar, a self-emancipated maroon and community leader in the Great Dismal Swamp. Though a former bandit who raided plantations, he lives a peaceful life with his family until enslavers capture his son, Ezekiel, and threaten him with torture and selling him away. Will Gaspar be able to use his skills as a former bandit to save his son? This graphic novel focuses on the Great Dismal Swamp, a vast swamp in Virginia and North Carolina where formerly enslaved people, known as maroons, could find refuge and live in their own autonomous communities with diverse cultures. Gaspar’s Home shows the courage, perseverance, and resilience it takes to seize and protect one’s freedom. After reading this book, you will know how maroons in the Great Dismal Swamp used the landscape itself as both shield and sustenance, building autonomous communities that challenged the slave system and redefined what freedom could mean.

ISBN: 978-1-962633-15-4

Details

• 28-page book 

• 1 historian interview

• 15 workbook questions

• For grades 7-12

Joe’s Last Stand follows Joe, a courageous and determined young miner in the 1920’s West Virginia coalfields. After serving in World War I, Joe sought to provide for his family by becoming a miner, but the injustices that the mine companies perpetrated against him and his fellow miners were too great. Can Joe organize his community to fight back against the rich and powerful coal companies? Joe’s Last Stand focuses on the Battle of Blair Mountain in 1921, which was the largest labor uprising in U.S. history. They were fighting for union rights, better working conditions, and to free imprisoned miners, but were met with heavy resistance, including machine guns and aerial bombings. Despite the miners’ eventual surrender, the Battle of Blair Mountain was a key moment in the labor movement. After reading this book, you will know the story of the Battle of Blair Mountain, understand its significance in the history of labor rights, and be able to connect its themes to broader questions of justice, fairness, and collective action.

ISBN: 978-1-962633-16-1

Details

• 28-page book 

• 2 historian interviews

• 15 workbook questions

• For grades 7-12

Natsumi’s War follows Natsumi, a Japanese-American woman fighting for redress after she and her family were incarcerated by the U.S. government during World War II. As she visits her brother’s grave, she reflects on her family’s past, her long fight for justice as a participant in the Redress Movement, the movement’s successes, and the fight still ahead. By connecting with her memories of the past, can Natsumi help the Redress Movement march forward?

Natsumi’s War focuses on the impacts of incarceration on the Japanese-American community, including the generational divides, economic losses, and long-lasting trauma it created. It is often forgotten that the majority of the incarcerated individuals were American citizens whose constitutional rights were violated due to wartime panic and long-standing racism. This graphic inquiry asks questions about national loyalty and who is seen as American while highlighting the resilience and strength of Japanese Americans fighting for redress.

ISBN: 978-1-962633-17-8

Details

• 28-page book 

• 2 historian interviews

• 15 workbook questions

• For grades 7-12

Adele’s Testimony focuses on the aftermath of the Vicksburg massacre, in which white paramilitary groups aimed to dismantle Reconstruction reforms that granted Black people more political power. When Vicksburg’s first Black sheriff was forcibly removed from office by white supremacists, the local community rallied to peacefully protest only to be ambushed, and 75-300 Black Vicksburg residents were murdered in the streets. Vicksburg was only an example in a broader trend of attacks on Reconstruction reforms. This graphic inquiry shows the violence of the massacre while highlighting the resilience and bravery of the Black Vicksburg community, particularly the women who testified.

ISBN: 978-1-962633-18-5

Mary Anne’s First Class: The Lincoln School follows Mary Anne, a young Black teacher in the early 1930s, as she arrives in West Plains, Missouri, to teach at a segregated, single-room schoolhouse on “The Hill.” Fresh out of university and full of hope, Mary Anne quickly encounters the realities of Jim Crow education: hand-me-down books, too few desks and scarce supplies. As she works to teach both children and their parents the importance of education and its long-term value, Mary Anne faces the challenge of bridging a divide shaped by generations of limited access to resources.

Mary Anne’s First Class: The Lincoln School focuses on the everyday injustices faced by Black communities in the segregated South, where educational inequality was enforced through neglect rather than absence. Set in Jim Crow Missouri, the story shows how systemic discrimination shaped students’ access to supplies and opportunities.

ISBN: 978-1-962633-19-2

Arnie’s Byline follows a young, closeted white reporter in Greenwich Village, New York. On the night of June 28, 1969, Arnie is at the Stonewall Inn with his partner and friends when police burst through the doors, turning an ordinary night into a moment that would change history. As the uprising spills into the streets and the story becomes twisted in the press, the cost of doing nothing becomes personal—his partner, unwilling to look away, walks out the door. Now Arnie must face the hardest decision of his life: Protect the life he has carefully built, or put his name behind the truth and risk his job, his reputation, and his safety.

Arnie’s Byline focuses on the Stonewall Uprising of June 1969, where a series of protests sparked after the New York City police raided the Stonewall Inn. At a time when homosexuality was criminalized and LGBTQ+ people faced routine harassment, the patrons of the Stonewall Inn fought back. The uprising lasted several nights and galvanized a community, leading directly to the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement.

ISBN: 978-1-962633-20-8