Social Justice Books

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

With Lots of Love

Reviewed by Estella Frias Review Source: Reading Is Resistance Book Author:  She missed Abuela’s warm tortillas and the way they smelled sweet and fresh, like the damp earth after a soft rain. She missed the pretty song of her language. With Lots of Love tells Rocio’s riveting story about the struggle and newness of immigrating […]

The Many Half-Lived Lives of Sam Sylvester

Reviewed by Deborah Jung Review Source: Teaching for Change Book Author: The Many Half-Lived Lives of Sam Sylvester is an original and heartfelt, if occasionally uneven, paranormal mystery centered around a close-knit friend group of LGBT+ teens. Sam has always collected stories of other teenagers who died before their nineteenth birthdays and occasionally experiences visions […]

Board Book Our Skin Useful for Parent Discussions About Race

To prepare parents to discuss racism in the United States with their children, internationally renowned anti-racist educator Dr. Enid Lee recommends the board book Our Skin: A First Conversation About Race by Megan Madison, Jessica Ralli, and Isabel Roxas. Lee, a Teaching for Change advisor, shares how she introduces the book to parents in the […]

The Great Banned-Books Bake Sale

Reviewed by Tara Matruolo Review Source: Reading Is Resistance Book Author:  “Some books are so powerful that they intimidate people” — Aya Khalil The Great Banned-Books Bake Sale by Aya Khalil is a powerful picture book confronting social justice issues head-on. Readers are reconnected to Kanzi, featured in Khalil’s The Arabic Quilt,  a young protagonist […]

We Are Gems: Healing from Anti-Asian Microaggressions through Self-love & Solidarity

Reviewed by Zapoura Newton-Calvert Review Source: Reading Is Resistance Book Author:  I saw We Are Gems on social media and was interested in the focus on solidarity and healing. This book was self-published by the author and illustrators through their writing collective, Just Words, Just Deeds. There is an upsurge in self-publishing the books that […]

We Still Belong

Reviewed by Debbie Reese Source: American Indians in Children’s Literature Author: What I particularly like about Christine Day’s books is that she includes things that I know kids know about. For example, young people are way into video games and gamer culture. More about that later. Early on in her book, we learn that Wesley […]