Order of Book Series
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Julius Lester Books in Order

Julius Lester has written 48 books, published between 1968 and 2016. The first book is To Be a Slave (1968) and the newest is The Girl Who Saved Yesterday (2016). Publication order is the reading order below.

Books
48
Published
1968–2016
Pages on record
5,441 in 35 of 48 books
Reading time
91–136 hours

Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 5,441 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 35 of 48 titles with a page count on record.

See all 48 books in order Printable Julius Lester checklist
Photo of Julius Lester, author of the Uncle Remus series

To Be a Slave (1968) opens the catalogue of Julius Lester, an American writer for both children and adults who was also a civil rights activist, a photographer and a musician with two recorded albums of folk music and original songs. Lester taught at the University of Massachusetts Amherst for 32 years, from 1971 to 2003. The 48 listed titles run to The Girl Who Saved Yesterday (2016) and return to African American history, slavery, folktales and race relations. Lester lived from 1939 to 2018.

How many Julius Lester books are there?

Julius Lester has 48 books, released between 1968 and 2016. 3 of them belong to the Uncle Remus series.

Julius Lester Books in Publication Order

The table lists all 48 Julius Lester books in the order they were published, with the release year, the page count where one is on record, and how many independent book listings confirm each title. Catalogue data as of September 2026.

  1. Cover of To Be a Slave by Julius Lester (1968)
  2. Cover of Search for the New Land by Julius Lester (1969)
  3. Cover of Black Folktales by Julius Lester (1970)
  4. Cover of The Knee-High Man and Other Tales by Julius Lester (1972)
  5. Cover of Long Journey Home by Julius Lester (1972)
  6. Cover of All is Well by Julius Lester (1976)
  7. Cover of This Strange New Feeling by Julius Lester (1982)
  8. Cover of A Taste of Freedom by Julius Lester (1983)
  9. Cover of Do Lord Remember Me by Julius Lester (1985)
  10. Cover of The Tales of Uncle Remus by Julius Lester, book 1 of the Uncle Remus series (1987)
  11. Cover of Lovesong: Becoming a Jew by Julius Lester (1988)
  12. Cover of More Tales of Uncle Remus by Julius Lester, book 57 of the Jerry Pinkney as Illustrator series (1988)
  13. Cover of How Many Spots Does A Leopard Have? by Julius Lester (1989)
  14. Cover of Further Tales of Uncle Remus by Julius Lester, book 3 of the Uncle Remus series (1990)
  15. Cover of Falling Pieces of the Broken Sky by Julius Lester (1990)
  16. Cover of And All Our Wounds Forgiven by Julius Lester (1994)
  17. Cover of Man Who Knew Too Much by Julius Lester (1994)
  18. Cover of The Last Tales of Uncle Remus by Julius Lester, book 4 of the Uncle Remus series (1994)
  19. Cover of Black and White by Julius Lester (1994)
  20. Cover of John Henry by Julius Lester, book 71 of the Jerry Pinkney as Illustrator series (1994)
  21. Cover of Othello by Julius Lester (1995)
  22. Cover of Sam and the Tigers by Julius Lester, book 75 of the Jerry Pinkney as Illustrator series (1996)
  23. Cover of Black Cowboy, Wild Horses by Julius Lester, book 77 of the Jerry Pinkney as Illustrator series (1998)
  24. Cover of What a Truly Cool World by Julius Lester (1999)
  1. 1
    To Be a Slave1968 · 160 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1968160
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  2. 2
    Look Out Whitey! Black Power's Gon' Get Your Mama!1969 · confirmed 1/4
    1969–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  3. 3
    Search for the New Land1969 · 195 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1969195
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  4. 4
    Black Folktales1970 · 110 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1970110
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  5. 5
    The Knee-High Man and Other Tales1972 · 28 pages · confirmed 1/4
    197228
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  6. 6
    Two Love Stories1972 · confirmed 1/4
    1972–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  7. 7
    Long Journey Home1972 · 150 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1972150
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  8. 8
    Who I Am1974 · 55 pages · confirmed 1/4
    197455
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  9. 9
    All is Well1976 · 319 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1976319
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  10. 10
    Basketball Game1977 · 91 pages · confirmed 1/4
    197791
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  11. 11
    This Strange New Feeling1982 · 193 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1982193
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  12. 12
    A Taste of Freedom1983 · 158 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1983158
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  13. 13
    Do Lord Remember Me1985 · 224 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1985224
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  14. 14
    The Tales of Uncle RemusUncle Remus #11987 · 143 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1987143
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  15. 15
    Lovesong: Becoming a Jew1988 · 256 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1988256
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  16. 16
    More Tales of Uncle RemusJerry Pinkney as Illustrator #571988 · 143 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1988143
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  17. 17
    How Many Spots Does A Leopard Have?1989 · confirmed 1/4
    1989–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  18. 18
    Further Tales of Uncle RemusUncle Remus #31990 · 148 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1990148
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  19. 19
    Falling Pieces of the Broken Sky1990 · 276 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1990276
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  20. 20
    And All Our Wounds Forgiven1994 · 228 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1994228
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  21. 21
    Man Who Knew Too Much1994 · 32 pages · confirmed 1/4
    199432
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  22. 22
    The Last Tales of Uncle RemusUncle Remus #41994 · 156 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1994156
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  23. 23
    Black and White1994 · 240 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1994240
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  24. 24
    John HenryJerry Pinkney as Illustrator #711994 · confirmed 1/4
    1994–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  25. 25
    Othello1995 · 176 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1995176
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  26. 26
    Sam and the TigersJerry Pinkney as Illustrator #751996 · 40 pages · confirmed 1/4
    199640
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  27. 27
    From Slave Ship to Freedom Road1998 · 40 pages · confirmed 1/4
    199840
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  28. 28
    Black Cowboy, Wild HorsesJerry Pinkney as Illustrator #771998 · confirmed 1/4
    1998–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  29. 29
    What a Truly Cool World1999 · 315 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1999315
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  30. 30
    When the Beginning Began1999 · 100 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1999100
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK

Julius Lester books grouped by series

Each title below is a row in the publication-order table above. None of these groups has a reading-order page of its own on this site.

Jerry Pinkney as Illustrator in order

6 books
  1. 57. More Tales of Uncle Remus
  2. 71. John Henry
  3. 75. Sam and the Tigers
  4. 77. Black Cowboy, Wild Horses
  5. 80. Albidaro and the Mischievous Dream
  6. 84. The Old African

Uncle Remus in order

3 books
  1. 1. The Tales of Uncle Remus
  2. 3. Further Tales of Uncle Remus
  3. 4. The Last Tales of Uncle Remus

Standalone books

39 books

39 Julius Lester titles here are not listed as part of any series.

Do you have to read Julius Lester books in order?

You only need to read Julius Lester books in order within the Uncle Remus series, which holds 3 of the 48 Julius Lester books listed here. The numbered table above gives every book in publication order.

Where to start with Julius Lester

Start with To Be a Slave (1968), the earliest published title.

What is the newest Julius Lester book?

The Girl Who Saved Yesterday (2016) is the newest Julius Lester book released so far.

Is there a new Julius Lester book coming?

No next Julius Lester book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.

Awards Julius Lester has won

Wikidata records 1 award for Julius Lester. Each row states whether the title won or was shortlisted, and the year the award was given.

  • Coretta Scott King Award2006Won

Julius Lester at a glance

Died
Julius Lester died in 2018, according to Wikidata.
Last book
The newest book credited to Julius Lester on record dates from 2016.
Release pace
Julius Lester books have appeared about one a year on average.
Length
5,441 pages across the 35 of 48 books with a recorded length, a median of 158 pages each.
Busiest decade
Most Julius Lester books, 16 of 48, were published in the 2000s.

What the Julius Lester books are about

46 of the 48 Julius Lester books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: african americans is tagged on 20 of 46. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.