Social Justice Books

Critically reviewed selection of multicultural and social justice books for children, young adults, and educators.

Teaching About El Salvador

Visit Teaching for Change's website TeachingCentralAmerica.org for more resources to teach about El Salvador and other countries in Central America, including lessons, films, websites, biographies of noted historical figures, and readings for free use by classroom teachers.

See more recommended titles: Central America, Panama, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Teaching About Immigration.

Titles with reviews on this site are noted with an asterisk (*). Some titles are recommended with a caveat.

Elementary | Middle | YA Fiction | YA Nonfiction | Adult Fiction | Adult Nonfiction | Poetry

Early Childhood and Elementary

ABC El Salvador *
By Holly Ayala and Elizabeth Gómez
Alfredito Flies Home
By Jorge Argueta, Luis Garay (Illustrator)

Let's Go See Papa
By Lawrence Schimel, Alba Marina Rivera (Illustrator)
The Life of / La Vida de Llort
By Cynthia Gonzalez and Citlali Reyes

A Movie In My Pillow/Una Pelicula en Mi Almohada*
By Jorge Argueta, Elizabeth Gomez (Illustrator)

My Shoes and I*
By Rene Colato Lainez

Olita and Manyula*
By Jorge Argueta

Rene Has Two Last Names / Rene Tiene DOS Apellidos
By Rene Colato Lainez, Fabiola Graullera (Illustrator), Gabriela Baeza Ventura (Translator)
Sopa de Frijoles / Bean Soup: Un Poema Para Cocinar / A Cooking Poem
By Jorge Argueta and Rafael Yockteng (Illustrator)
Talking with Mother Earth/Hablando Con Madre Tierra: Poems/Poemas
By Jorge Argueta, Lucia Angela Perez (Illustrator)
Sopa de Frijoles / Bean Soup: Un Poema Para Cocinar / A Cooking Poem
By Jorge Argueta and Rafael Yockteng (Illustrator)

Vámonos a San Salvador
By Patty Rodriguez, Ariana Stein, and Ana Godinez (Illustrator)
FamilyWaiting for Papa/Esperando a Papa
By Rene Colato Lainez, Anthony Accardo (Illustrator)
Xochitl And The Flowers/Xochitl, la Nina de las Flores
By Jorge Argueta, Carl Angel (Illustrator)
Yefferson, Actually / En realidad, es Yefferson
By Scott Martin-Rowe, Katherine Trejo, and  Karla Monterrosa (Illustrator)
El Zipitio
By Jorge Argueta

Middle School

Emilio
By Julia Mercedes Castilla
Journey of the Sparrows
By Fran Leeper Buss, Daisy Cubias
Viaje A La Tierra Del Abuelo
By Mario Bencastro

YA Fiction

Blood of Paradise
By David Corbett
The Grief Keeper
By Alexandra Villasante
The Lives and Times of El Ciptio
By Randy Jurado Ertll

Mother Tongue
By Demetria Martinez

Odyssey to the North
By Mario Bencastro

One Day of Life
By Manlio Argueta

The Radius of Us *
By Marie Marquardt

The Weight of All Things
By Sandra Benitez

YA Nonfiction

Adult Fiction

Ashes of Izalco
By Claribel Alegria, Claribel Laegria, Darwin J. Flakoll
Bitter Grounds
By Sandra Benitez

The Café on Dream Street
By Adriane Brown

The Knife and the Butterfly*
By Ashley Hope Perez

Adult Nonfiction

Witness to War: An American Doctor in El Salvador
By Charles Clements
BOOK IS OUT OF PRINT
Movie available at Kanopy.com

Poetry

Cipota Under the Moon: Poems
By Claudia Castro Luna

Diaries of a Terrorist
By Christopher Soto
Lineage of Rain
By Janel Pineda

Máquinas voladoras
By Roxana Méndez
See Author Visit
Matria
By Alexandra Regalado
On the Front Line: Guerrilla Poems of El Salvador
By Claribel Alegria, Darwin J. Flakoll

Unaccompanied
By Javier Zamora

Learn about our criteria for selecting and reviewing titles at Social Justice Books. Feedback on these lists and suggestions for additional titles are welcome.

Most of the books on these lists are linked for more information or purchase to Bookshop (an indie bookstore platform). A small percentage from book sales through these links goes to Teaching for Change.

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