Social Justice Books

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

Disability

Elementary | Middle School | High School | Adult

Teaching for Change carefully selects the best multicultural and social justice books for children, young adults, and educators. Learn about our criteria for selecting titles. 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.

Titles with reviews on this site are noted with an asterisk (*).

We also recommend this article at Rethinking Schools - The Story of One Union’s Journey Toward Disability Justice.

Elementary

All the Way to the Top*
By Annette Bay Pimentel
The Amazing Erik
By Mike Huber, Joseph Cowman (Illustrator)

Be Quiet Marina!
By Kirsten de Bear, Laura Dwight (Photographer)

Benji, the Bad Day, and Me
By Sally J. Pla
The Black Book of Colors
By Menena Cottin, Rosana Faria (Illustrator), Elisa Amado (Translator)

Brothers and Sisters
By Laura Dwight

The Deaf Musicians
By Christie Seeger

 

Featherless
By Juan Felipe Herrera

A Friend for Henry
By Jenn Bailey, Mika Song (Illustrator)

The Girl Who Thought in Pictures
By Julia Finley Mosca, Daniel Rieley

A Head Full of Birds
By Alexandra Garibal, Sibylle Delacroix (Illustrator), and Vineet Lal (Translator)

I Talk Like a River
By Jordan Scott and Sydney Smith (Illustrator)

Itzhak: A Boy Who Loved the Violin
By Tracy Newman and  Abigail Halpin (Illustrator)

Just Ask! Be Different, Be Brave, Be You
By Sonia Sotomayor, Rafael Lopez
Different AbilitiesKeep Your Ear on the Ball
By Genevieve Petrillo, Lea Lyon (Illustrator)

King for a Day
By Rukhsana Khan, Christiane Kr Mer
Mama Zooms
By Jane Cowen-Fletcher

Moses Goes to a Concert
By Isaac Millman
My Brother Charlie
By Holly Robinson Peete, Ryan Elizabeth Peete, Denene Millner

My City Speaks
By Darren Lebeuf and Ashley Barron
Braille edition available here - My City Speaks (Braille edition)

Ray Charles
By Sharon Bell Mathis
Sam's Super Seats
By Keah Brown and Sharee Miller (Illustrator)
Singin' with Momma Lou
By Linda Jacobs Altman, Larry Johnson

A Sky-Blue Bench
By Bahram Rahman and Peggy Collins (Illustrator)

Thank You, Mr Falker
By Patricia Polacco

Too Sticky! Sensory Issues with Autism
By Jen Malia, Joanne Lew-Vriethoff (Illustrator)

We Are Little Feminists: How We Eat
By Shuli de la Fuente-Lau

We Are Little Feminists: On-The-Go
By Brook Sitgraves Turner and Archaa Shrivastav
We Can Do It!
By Laura Dwight
We Move Together
By Kelly Fritsch, Anne McGuire, and Eduardo Trejos (Illustrator)

Middle Grades

Tangerine
By Edward Bloor

High School / Young Adult

The ABCs of Autism Acceptance
By Sparrow R. Jones
Beauty Is a Verb: The New Poetry of Disability
By Sheila Black (Editor), Jennifer Bartlett (Editor), Michael Northen (Editor)

Dead Girls Society*
By Michelle Krys

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

Queens of Geek*
By Jen Wilde

She Came to Slay
By Erica Armstrong Dunbar

A Time to Dance *
By Padma Venkatraman

Typed Words, Loud Voices
By Amy Sequenzia (Editor), Elizabeth J. Grace (Editor), Melanie Yergeau (Foreword by)

Unbroken
By Marieke Nijkamp

Adult

If you value this book list, please help us promote it and create more book lists.

Donate Today