Social Justice Books

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

My Heart Fills with Happiness

Reviewed by Debbie Reese Review Source: American Indians in Children’s Literature Book Author: I’ve read My Heart Fills With Happiness by Monique Gray Smith, illustrated by Julie Flett, many times. I can’t decide—and don’t need to, really—which page is my favorite! For now—for this moment—I just got off the phone with my daughter, Liz. She’s […]

The Knife and the Butterfly

Reviewed by Lynn Miller Lachman Book Author: Ashley Hope Perez Review Source: The Pirate Tree Last October I spoke on a panel with four other authors, including fellow Pirate Tree-huggers J.L. Powers and Nancy Bo Flood, on the topic of children’s literature and war. My part on children as combatants included G. Neri and Randy DuBurke’s […]

Yummy: The Last Days of a Southside Shorty

Reviewed by Lyn Miller Lachman Review Source: The Pirate Tree Book Author: We think of war as happening to children in other places. In doing so, we fail to think about young people in the United States whose everyday lives mirror the lives of young people in the world’s combat zones. For children who experience […]

Wonderstruck

Review by Anne Clare Le Zotte Review Source: Disabilities in Kid Lit Book Author: A boy named Ben longs for the father he has never known. A girl named Rose dreams of a mysterious actress whose life she chronicles in a scrapbook. When Ben discovers a puzzling clue in his mother’s room, and Rose reads an […]

Drum Dream Girl

Review by Sujei Lugo Review Source: Latinx in Kid Lit Book Author: Girls cannot be drummers. Long ago on an island filled with music and rhythm, no one questioned that rule — until the drum dream girl. She longed to play tall congas and small bongós and silvery, moon-bright timbales. She had to practice in secret. […]

Growing Up Pedro

Review by Lila Quintero Weaver Review Source: Latinx in Kid Lit Book Author: FROM THE BOOK JACKET:  Before Pedro Martinez pitched the Red Sox to a World Series championship, before he was named to the All-Star team eight times, before he won the Cy Young Award three times, he was a kid from a place called […]