Social Justice Books

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

Thanku: Poems of Gratitude

Reviewed by Debbie Reese Review Source: American Indians in Children’s Literature Book Author: I haven’t studied book covers for edited books of poems before. This observation, therefore, might not hold water. Here’s the cover for Thanku: Poems of Gratitude. As you see, Thanku: Poems of Gratitude is illustrated by Marlena Myles (Myles is Spirit Lake Dakota/Mohegan/Muscokee Creek) and […]

My Shadow Is Purple

Reviewed by Ifeoma Ndujife Review Source: Independent Book Author: My Dad has a shadow that’s blue as a berry, and my mom’s is as pink as a blossoming cherry. There’s only those choices, a 2 or a 1. But mine is quite different, it’s both and it’s none. My Shadow is Purple by Scott Stuart […]

The World Needs More Purple Schools

Reviewed by Zapoura Newton-Calvert Review Source: Reading Is Resistance Book Author:  Much like its prequel, The World Needs More Purple People, The World Needs More Purple Schools by Kristen Bell, Benjamin Hart, and Daniel Wiseman celebrates a “purple world,” where “different people come together to mix their stories, their ideas, and their smarts to make […]

The Story of Hurry

Reviewed by Alison Kysia Book Author: The Story of Hurry, written by Emma Williams and illustrated by Ibrahim Quraishi, is a useful tool for introducing the colonization of Palestine to young children. The captivating mixed media illustrations frame a story of the imaginative use of animals by one compassionate zoo keeper who will do anything […]

A Child’s View of Gaza: Palestinian Children’s Art and the Fight Against Censorship

Reviewed by Katharine Davies Samway Review Source: Rethinking Schools Book Author: A Childs View of Gaza: Palestinian Children’s Art and the Fight Against Censorship is equally compelling for children, older students, and adults. The captioned illustrations were created by Palestinian children who lived through the Israeli bombardment of Gaza in 2008-09. The pictures were drawn as part […]

Finding Melody Sullivan

Reviewed by Linda Dittmar Review Source: Rethinking Schools Book Author: Especially now, when support for Palestinians is being cast as anti-Semitism, it takes courage to write a YA novel about a U.S. teenager’s journey into Israel’s Occupied Territories of Palestine, and yet this is what Alice Rothchild does in Finding Melody Sullivan. It also takes […]