Social Justice Books

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

42 Is Not Just a Number

Reviewed by Don Allen Review Source: Teaching for Change Book Author: For many kids, sports can be a window into the injustices that have desecrated the American democratic experiment, since its beginnings. I was one of those kids. I loved sports and I lived in a town and attended a school that lacked diversity. I […]

One

Reviewed by Deborah Menkart Book Author: An engaging story for very young children based on colors and numbers about “blue, a quiet color,” who gets bullied by “hot head red.” The other colors feel sorry for blue, but never stand up to red. Then “One” comes along. He — would have been nice to have […]

Why is the Monster Black in Islandborn?

Update: The editorial director at Dial (the publishing house for Islandborn) called the Teaching for Change office on February 6 to say that in response to the concerns surfaced in the article below, a new version of the first edition of the book is being printed. She noted that this decision was made to meet the goal of having a book […]

Dragons in a Bag Cover Reveal

The See What We See (SWWS) coalition is thrilled to introduce the cover for Dragons in a Bag by Zetta Elliott. Random House will release Dragons in a Bag in October of 2018. It is a wonderful middle grade novel, the first in a series, that will leave you clamoring for the sequel. This is the first […]

Sources for Book Reviews and Recommendations

We encourage you to visit the following blogs and websites on multicultural and social justice children’s books. Africa Access Review. An online database with over 1,000 annotations and reviews of children’s books on Africa and the annual Children’s Africana Book Award. American Indians in Children’s Literature (AICL). Established in 2006, AICL provides critical perspectives and analysis of […]

Bronze and Sunflower

Reviewed by: Lyn Miller-Lachmann Review Source: The Pirate Tree Book Author: Seven-year-old Sunflower is the daughter of an artist forcibly relocated from the city to the countryside during China’s cultural revolution. By day, he works in the “Cadre School,” leaving the young child to explore the river and nearby village of Damaidi. There she sees […]