Social Justice Books

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

Banned Books Week 2022

Over the last two years libraries and schools have faced an unprecedented number of bids to have books banned. As Jonna Perrillo writes in the Washington Post, these book bans may be even more dangerous than those of the past. The most frequently challenged books are ones that students are reading on their own accord, even if they are accessing them through […]

Sugar Town Queens

Reviewed by Barbara B. Brown and Rehana Odendaal Reviewed Source: Africa Access Book Author: Sugar Town Queens tells the story of Amandla, a 15-year-old mixed race South African girl, living on the edge of hunger in a Black shantytown, with her white mother. Her mother totters between reality and the life she lost years earlier. The […]

The Year We Learned to Fly

Reviewed by: Maria Ramos-Chertok Review Source: Latinxs in Kid Lit Book Author: On a dreary, stuck-inside kind of day, a brother and sister heed their grandmother’s advice: “Use those beautiful and brilliant minds of yours. Lift your arms, close your eyes, take a deep breath, and believe in a thing. Somebody somewhere at some point was […]

Sitti’s Bird: A Gaza Story

Review Source: This Week in Palestine Book Author: Written and illustrated by Palestinian artist Malak Mattar, Sitti’s Bird: A Gaza Story is a sensitive and heartwarming story of how a little girl in Gaza finds strength and hope through her discovery of painting. Growing up in Gaza, Malak Mattar was like a lot of other children her age. […]

Still This Love Goes On

Reviewed by Debbie Reese Review Source: American Indians in Children’s Literature Book Author: If Still This Love Goes On is not on your must-buy list yet, put it there right now. Better yet, order it, right now! You can read it as a book about seasons. You’ll see people and animals on wide landscapes of snow, or […]

Sona Sharma, Very Best Big Sister?

Reviewed by Paige Pagan Review Source: Teaching for Change Book Author: Note: While I recommend this book for early readers because it offers an authentic representation of the Hindu ceremony, namakarna, along with other Indian traditions and customs that accompany the birth of a new baby, it’s also worthwhile to note this naming ceremony is […]