Social Justice Books

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

Labor History Without Unions in Young Adult Fiction

By Deborah Overstreet In 2001, I wrote an article titled, Organize! A Look at Labor History in Young Adult Fiction, which was published in the National Council of Teachers of English’s young adult literature journal, The ALAN Review. In that analysis I examined how unions and labor were represented in historical fiction for young readers, […]

I’m Finding My Talk

Reviewed by Debbie Reese Review Source: American Indians in Children’s Literature Book Author: A reader wrote to ask me about I’m Finding My Talk. I did not know about the book prior to being asked about it. I was able to get a copy and was deeply touched by it. The author’s father was in […]

Three Strike Summer

Reviewed by Betsy Bird Review Source: School Library Journal Book Author: The gutsy girl is a conundrum in children’s books. She seems so easy to conjure up. Writing a bit of historical fiction? Surely all you have to do is just give your heroine some feisty comebacks and historically accurate inequities and the audience will be […]

This Land: The History of the Land We’re On

Reviewed by Debbie Reese Review Source: American Indians in Children’s Literature Book Author: Wow! I love how this book starts! The words on the first double-paged spread say, “This is my house.” Behind it is a river. Beside the house is a tall pine tree. We see a family by the tree. Turn the page […]

Charles Albert Bender: National Hall of Fame Pitcher

Reviewed by Jean Mendoza Review Source: American Indians in Children’s Literature Book Author: Biographies of Native sports figures have been few and far between, in my experience. Jim Thorpe and Tom Longboat are two that immediately come to mind. So it feels great to be able to recommend Kade Ferris’ middle grade book about the […]

Ella Cara Deloria: Dakota Language Protector

Reviewed by Jean Mendoza Review Source: American Indians in Children’s Literature Book Author: . . . . Author Diane Wilson (Dakota) follows Ella Deloria from her childhood on the Standing Rock reservation to the creation of a fellowship in her name at Columbia University in 2010, nearly 4 decades after her death in 1971. Wilson […]