Social Justice Books

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

Mirage

Reviewed by Suzanne Moyer Baazet Review Source: Africa Access Book Author: Mirage is a fictional novel that not only draws the reader into its story and prose, but challenges the reader to observe futurism and science fiction in a unique cultural context where it is not commonly used.  Readers familiar with Moroccan culture find themselves constantly encountering […]

Unpresidented: A Biography of Donald Trump

Reviewed by Debbie Reese Review Source: American Indian’s in Children’s Literature Book Author: I haven’t done a rigorous study of biographies of U.S. presidents. The ones I have looked at over the years are lacking in one way or another. Most leave out Native peoples and nations that presidents interacted with — or the information that […]

They Call Me Güero: A Border Kid’s Poems

Review by Beverly Slapin Review Source: De Colores: The Raza Experience in Books for Children Book Author: Memories from the author’s own childhood experiences—as well as those of his son, his friends, and the young men he worked with as a middle-school teacher—inform this too-slim book of poetry from the perspective of a 12-year-old Chicano border […]

A Girl Called Echo

Reviewed by Jean Mendoza Review Source: American Indians in Children’s Literature  Book Author: Apple, Echo, and the Importance of “More Than One Book” Two Native high school girls, two unique stories about not fitting in, and about trying to make sense of Indigenous heritage/ancestry when something has disrupted their place in a Native community…. Most regular […]

Dactyl Hill Squad

Reviewed by Debbie Reese Review Source: American Indians in Children’s Literature Book Author: Some time back, I learned that Daniel José Older was working on a series that would blend history and fantasy. The first book in the series—Dactyl Hill Squad—is out and I gotta say, I enjoyed it! Older, by the way, is not […]

Mission to Space

Reviewed by Debbie Reese Review Source: American Indians in Children’s Literature Book Author: Regular readers of American Indians in Children’s Literature know that I emphasize several points when reviewing children’s or young adult books, especially: Is the book by a Native author or illustrator? Does the book, in some way, include something to tell readers […]