* *The Woman with the Blue Guitar: A Memoir of Discovering Jazz and America* (1991)
* *A Gathering of Spirits: A Collection of African American Folklore* (1994)
* *Beyond the Blues: The Music of Charlie Parker* (2000)
* *Miles Davis: The Autobiography* (2019) (with Miles Davis)
Fiction
* *The Great Migration: A Novel* (2006)
* *The Crossing: A Novel* (2011)
* *The African American History of the United States* (2014) (with William C. Kashatus)
* *The Jazz Age: A History* (2017)
Children's books
* *The Black Musicians of Jazz: A Kid's Guide to 50 Important Figures in Jazz* (1999)
* *Miles Davis: A Kid's Guide to a Musical Legend* (2004)
* *The Harlem Renaissance: A Kid's Guide to the Exciting Era in African American History* (2009)
Poetry
* *Jazz: A Collection of Poems* (2003)