Social Justice Books

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

Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander

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Titles that we recommend are featured below with cover images. The ones with reviews are noted with an asterisk (*). Some titles are recommended with a caveat. At the end of this page, we provide a list of titles on this theme, with reviews, that we do not recommend.

Early Childhood | Upper Elementary and Middle School | Young Adult | Adult | Learn More

Early Childhood

10 Gulab Jamuns: Counting with an Indian Sweet Treat
By Sandhya Acharya, Vanessa Alexandre

Always Anjali *
By Sheetal Sheth and Jessica Blank (Illustrator)

American Desi
By Jyoti Rajan Gopal and Supriya Kelkar (Illustrator)

Amy Wu and the Perfect Bao
By Kat Zhang, Charlene Chua
Bee-Bim Bop!
By Linda Sue Park, Ho Baek Lee (Illustrator)

Bilal Cooks Daal
By Aisha Saeed and Anoosha Syed (Illustrator)

The Boy & the Bindi
By Vivek Shray

Bravo, Anjali! *
By Sheetal Sheth and Lucia Soto (Illustrator)

Bringing In the New Year
By Grace Lin

Brown Is Beautiful
By Supriya Kelkar and Noor Sofi (Illustrator)
Butterflies for Kiri
By Cathyn Falwell

Dancing in Thatha's Footsteps
By Srividhya Venkat and Kavita Ramchandran (Illustrator)

Dim Sum for Everyone!
By Grace Lin, Grace Lin (Illustrator)

Drawn Together
By Minh Le, Dan Santat
Emma's Rug
By Allen Say

Eyes That Kiss in the Corners
By Joanna Ho and Dung Ho (Illustrator)
Eyes That Speak to the Stars
By Joanna Ho and Dung Ho (Illustrator)

Finding Om
By Rashmi Bismark and Morgan Huff (Illustrator)
Grandfather's Journey
By Allen Say

Grandmother's Visit
By Betty Quan

Grandpa Across the Ocean
By Hyewon Yum

Hair Twins *
By Raakhee Mirchandani and Holly Hatam (Illustrator)

Hannah and the Ramadan Gift *
By Qasim Rashid and Aaliya Jaleel (Illustrator)
Hiromi's Hands
By Lynne Barasch

Home Is in Between *
By Mitali Perkins and Lavanya Naidu (Illustrator)
Ho'onani: Hula Warrior
By Heather Gale and illustrated by Mika Song 

Hot Hot Roti for Daddy-Ji
By F. Zia, Ken Min

Hundred Years of Happiness
By Thanhhà Lai and Nguyen Quang (Illustrator)  Kim Lien (Illustrator)

I Am an American: The Wong Kim Ark Story
By Martha Brockenbrough, Grace Lin and Julia Kuo (Illustrator)

I Dream of Popo
By Livia Blackburne and Julia Kuo (Illustrator)

I'll Go and Come Back
By Rajani Larocca and Sara Palacios (Illustrator)

Jasmine Toguchi, Flamingo Keeper
By Debbi Michiko Florence and Elizabet Vukovic (Illustrator)

Juna's Jar
By Jane Bahk, Felicia Hoshino (Illustrator)

Kapaemahu
By Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu, Dean Hamer, Joe Wilson, and Daniel Sousa (Illustrator)

The Katha Chest
By Radhiah Chowdhury and Lavanya Naidu (Illustrator)

Kite Flying
By Grace Lin
Kiyoshi’s Walk *
By Mark Karlins and Nicole Wong (Illustrator)

La Tienda De Mama Y Papa
By Amelia Lau Carling

Landed
By Milly Lee, Yangsook Choi (Illustrator)

Laxmi's Mooch *
By Shelly Anand and Nabi H. Ali (Illustrator)

Love in the Library
By Maggie Tokuda-Hall and Yas Imamura (Illustrator)

Magic Ramen The Story of Momofuku Ando
By Andrea Wang, Kana Urbanowicz

The Many Colors of Harpreet Singh
By Supriya Kelkar and Alea Marley (Illustrator)

A Map into the World
By Kao Kalia Yang

Mina vs. the Monsoon
By Rukhsanna Guidroz, Debasmita Dasgupta
The Moon from Dehradun: A Story of Partition
By Shirin Shamsi and Tarun Lak (Illustrator)

My Bindi
By Gita Varadarajan and Archana Sreenivasan (Illustrator)

My Dadima Wears A Sari
By Kashmira Sheth

My Footprints
By Bao Phi, Basia Tran
My Name Is Yoon
By Helen Recorvits, Gabi Swiatkowska (Illustrator)
The Name Jar
By Yangsook Choi

The Ocean Calls: A Haenyeo Mermaid Story
By Tina Cho, Jess X. Snow (Illustrator)

Ohana Means Family
By Ilima Loomis and Kenard Pak (Illustrator)

Ojiichan's Gift
By Chieri Uegaki, Genevieve Simms (Illustrator)
Punky Aloha
Written and illustrated by Shar Tuiasoa

Queen of the Hanukkah Dosas
By Pamela Ehrenberg, Anjan Sarkar

Redwoods
By Jason Chin

Rise Up and Write It: With Real Mail, Posters, and More!
By Nandini Ahuja and Anoosha Syed (Illustrator)

Ritu Weds Chandni
By Ameya Narvankar 

Sona and the Wedding Game
Kashmira Sheth, Yoshiko Jaeggi (Illustrator)

Soup Day: A Picture Book
By Melissa Iwai

Sunflower Sisters
By Monika Singh Gangotra and Michaela Dias-Hayes (Illustrator)

Today Is Different
By Doua Moua and Kim Holt (Illustrator)

Tofu Takes Time
By Helen H. Wu and Julie Jarema (Illustrator)

The Ugly Vegetables
By Grace Lin, Grace Lin (Illustrator)
Watercress
By Andrea Wang and Jason Chin (Illustrator)
When Lola Visits
By Michelle Sterling and Aaron Asis (Illustrator)

When the Cousins Came
By Katie Yamasaki

Where Three Oceans Meet *
By Rajani Larocca and Archana Sreenivasan (Illustrator)

Yang Warriors
By Kao Kalia Yang and Billy Thao (Illustrator)

 

Upper Elementary and Middle School

Chef Roy Choi and the Street Food Remix
By Jacqueline Briggs Martin and June Jo Lee
Cilla Lee-Jenkins: The Epic Story
By Susan Tan and Dana Wulfekotte (Illustrator)

Coolies
By Yin

Cora Cooks Pancit
By Dorina K. Lazo Gilmore

A Different Pond *
By Bao Phi, Thi Bui (Illustrator)
Dragonwings
By Laurence Yep

Dragon's Gate
By Laurence Yep
Every Falling Star*
By Sungju Lee and Susan McClelland

 

Finding Junie Kim
By Ellen Oh
Fish for Jimmy
By Katie Yamasaki

Fred Korematsu Speaks Up*
By Laura Atkins, Stan Yogi

Front Desk*
By Kelly Yang
A discussion guide is here: Scholastic's Study Guide
The Great Wall Of Lucy Wu*
By Wendy Wan-Long Shang

Journey for Justice: The Life of Larry Itliong *
By Dawn Bohulano Mabalon and Gayle Romasanta

The Legend of Auntie Po
By Shing Yin Khor

A Long Pitch Home
By Natalie Dias Lorenzi

The Lotus Seed
By Sherry Garland

Mommy Eats Fried Grasshoppers
By Vilayvanh Bender

link to More to the Story book review

More to the Story *
By Hena Khan

Moth and Wasp, Soil and Ocean
By Sigrid Schmalzer, Melanie Linden Chan

Mountain Chef
By Annette Bay Pimentel, Rich Lo

Our Favorite Day
By Joowon Oh

Paper Son: Lee's Journey to America
By Helen Foster James
Passage to Freedom: The Sugihara Story
By Ken Mochizuki, Dom Lee (Illustrator)

Samira Surfs
By Rukhsanna Guidroz and Fahmida Azim (Illustrator)

Save Me a Seat*
By Sarah Weeks and Gita Varadarajan 
Stand Up, Yumi Chung!
By Jessica Kim
See Sarah Park Dahlen's: Discussion Guide for Stand Up, Yumi Chung!

 

Step Up to the Plate, Maria Singh*
By Uma Krishnaswami

 

The Story of Olympic Swimmer Duke Kahanamoku
By Ellie Crowe and Richard Waldrep (Illustrator)

Sylvia & Aki*
By Winifred Conkling

 

Tall Story
By Candy Gourlay

Three Keys (a Front Desk Novel)
By Kelly Yang
A discussion guide is here: Scholastic's Study Guide

 

Troublemaker *
By John Cho

 

Young Adult

Ahimsa *
By Supriya Kelkar

Amal Unbound

Amal Unbound*
By Aisha Saeed
American Born Chinese
By Gene Luen Yang
The Cargo Rebellion: Those Who Chose Freedom
By Jason Chang, Alexi Dudden, Ben Barson, and Kim Inthavong (Illustrator)

Darius the Great Is Not Okay*
By Adib Khorram
Listen, Slowly
By Thanhha Lai

Love from A to Z*
By S. K. Ali

My Basmati Bat Mitzvah
By Paula J. Freedman

The Night Diary
By Veera Hiranandani
Only What We Could Carry: The Japanese American Internment Experience
By Lawson Fusao Inada (Editor), Patricia Wakida (Preface by), William M. Hohri (Afterword by)

Project Mulberry*
By Linda Sue Park

Rani Patel in Full Effect
By Sonia Patel

Secret Identities: The Asian American Superhero Anthology
By Jeff Yang, Parry Shen, Keith Chow
Sugar
By Jewell Parker Rhodes

They Called Us Enemy
By George Takei and Justin Eisinger and Steven Scott and Harmony Becker
A Time to Dance*
By Padma Venkatraman

Vietnamerica
By G B Tran

We Hereby Refuse: Japanese American Resistance to Wartime Incarceration
By Frank Abe, Tamiko Nimura and Ross Ishikawa (Illustrator)

Which Side Are You On
By Ryan Lee Wong

The Whole Story of Half a Girl*
By Veera Hiranandani

Wild Meat and the Bully Burgers
By Lois-Ann Yamanaka

A Wish in the Dark
By Christina Soontornvat

Adult

A Free Life
By Ha Jin

A Good Fall
By Ha Jin
Insurrecto
By Gina Apostol

The Kindness of Color
By Janice Munemitsu, foreword by Sylva Mendez

The Sympathizer: A Novel
By Viet Thanh Nguyen

Teaching about Asian Pacific Americans *
Edited by Edith Wen Chen and Glenn Omatsu

Learn More

Not recommended

 

Learn about our criteria for selecting titles at Social Justice Books. Feedback on these lists and suggestions for additional titles are welcome.

Most of the books on these lists are linked for more information or purchase to Bookshop (an indie bookstore platform) and / or Powells.com (an independent, unionized bookstore). A small percentage from book sales through these links goes to Teaching for Change.

 

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