Social Justice Books

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

Shame the Stars

Book Review by Araceli Méndez Hintermeister Review Source: Latinxs in Kid Lit Book Author: Eighteen-year-old Joaquin del Toro’s future looks bright. With his older brother in the priesthood, he’s set to inherit his family’s Texas ranch. He’s in love with Dulceña and she’s in love with him. But it’s 1915, and trouble has been brewing along […]

The Only Road

Book Review by Cris Rhodes Review Source: Latinxs in Kid Lit Book Author: A recipient of a Pura Belpré honor, Alexandra Diaz’s The Only Road is chilling and heart-wrenching in the best possible way. From the moment that Jaime’s beloved cousin Miguel is killed by a local gang, the Alphas, it is evident that this book […]

Lucky Broken Girl

Book Review by Maria Ramos-Chartok Review Source: Latinxs in Kid Lit Book Author: Ruthie Mizrahi and her family recently emigrated from Castro’s Cuba to New York City. Just when she’s finally beginning to gain confidence in her mastery of English—and enjoying her reign as her neighborhood’s hopscotch queen—a horrific car accident leaves her in a body […]

My Heart Is On the Ground: The Diary of Nannie Little Rose, a Sioux Girl

Review by Debbie Reese, Beverly Slapin, and more. Review Source: Rethinking Schools Book Author: My Heart Is on the Ground: The Diary of Nannie Little Rose, a Sioux Girl is a new book published by Scholastic as part of its “Dear America” series of historical fiction diaries. Immensely popular, the series is prominent both in bookstores […]

My Night in the Planetarium

Book Review by Lyn Miller Lachman Review Source: Pirate Tree Book Author: Innosanto Nagara, the Indonesian-born graphic artist and acclaimed author/illustrator of A Is for Activist and Counting on Community, tells his own story of facing dictatorship and oppression in My Night in the Planetarium. At the age of seven, he watched his father, a playwright, […]

Rooster Joe and the Bully / El Gallo Joe y el Abusón

Review by Lyn Miller Lachman Review Source: Pirate Tree Book Author: Joe López, a seventh grader who loves to draw, is tired of seeing eighth grade bully Martín Corona push smaller kids around and steal their lunch money. When he disrupts the shakedown of Luis, one of the smaller sixth graders, Martín demands that Joe give […]