Social Justice Books

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

Incarceration

Despite the fact that the United States has the highest rate of incarceration in the world, there are very few books available for children and young adults on the topic. In addition, there are not enough books featuring families dealing with incarceration. Books featuring people who are incarcerated and on the prison-industrial complex should be in every school. See this list of teaching activities and articles on incarceration at the Zinn Education Project.

Titles that we recommend are featured below. The ones with reviews are noted with an asterisk (*). Some titles are recommended with a caveat.

Elementary | Middle School | Young Adult | Adult | Learn More

Elementary

Deena Misses Her Mom
By Jesse Holmes and Kahliya Ruffin

Demetri Makes a Memory Quilt
By Renee Menart and Candice Bradley (Illustrator)

Hazelnut Days
By Emmanuel Bourdier

Letters to a Prisoner
By Jacques Goldstyn, Angela Keenlyside (Translator)

Mama’s Nightingale: A Story of Immigration and Separation*
By Edwidge Danticat, Leslie Staub (Illustrator)

Mango Moon
By Diane de Anda
Spanish edition available: La Luna Mango
Milo Imagines the World*
By Matt de la Peña

Missing Daddy*
By Mariame Kaba, Bria Royal (Illustrator)

My Brother Is Away *
By Sara Greenwood and Luisa Uribe (Illustrator)

See You Soon *
By Mariame Kaba and Bianca Diaz (Illustrator)

Simone *
By Viet Thanh Nguyen and Minnie Phan (Illustrator)

Visiting Day
By Jacqueline Woodson, James Ransome (Illustrator)

When Dad Was Away
By Liz Weir, Karin Littlewood (Illustrator)

Middle School

Born Behind Bars
By Padma Venkatraman

I Am a Taxi
By Deborah Ellis

Jakeman
By Deborah Ellis
Leaving Lymon
By Lesa Cline-Ransome

Young Adult

The Awakening of Malcolm X
By Ilyasah Shabazz and Tiffany D. Jackson 

Big Black: Stand at Attica
By Jared Reinmuth, Frank Big Black Smith, and Ameziane (Illustrator)

Concrete Rose
By Angie Thomas
Invisible Son
By Kim Johnson

Race to Incarcerate: A Graphic Retelling
By Marc Mauer, Sabrina Jones, Michelle Alexander

The Real Cost of Prisons Comix
By Lois Ahrens (Editor), Craig Gilmore (Preface by)

The Reformatory
By Tananarive Due

This Is My America *
By Kim Johnson

When You Hear Me (You Hear Us)
By Free Minds Book Club and Writing Workshop

Adult

Assata: An Autobiography
By Assata Shakur with forewords by Angela Davis and Lennox S. Hinds

Beneath the Mountain: An Anti-Prison Reader
Edited by Mumia Abu-Jamal and Jennifer Black

Caged
By New Jersey Prison Theater Cooperative, Chris Hedges (Introduction by), Boris Franklin (Introduction by)

Disability Incarcerated: Imprisonment and Disability in the United States and Canada
Edited by Liat Ben-Moshe, Chris Chapman, Allison C. Carey, Foreword by Angela Y. Davis 

Dismantling Mass Incarceration: A Handbook for Change
Edited by James Forman, Premal Dharia, and Maria Hawilo

Felon: Poems
By Reginald Dwayne Betts

Race to Incarcerate
By Marc Mauer

Rattling the Cages: Oral Histories of North American Political Prisoners
Edited by Josh Davidson with Eric King, foreword by Angela Y. Davis, & intro by Sara Falconer
Read the editors' interview on TruthOut
Rethinking the American Prison Movement
By Dan Berger and Toussaint Losier

The Sentences That Create Us: Crafting a Writer's Life in Prison
Edited by Pen America and  Caits Meissner 

Shahid Reads His Own Palm
By Reginald Dwayne Betts

Six by Ten: Stories from Solitary (Voice of Witness)
Edited by Taylor Pendergrass and Mateo Hoke

Learn about our criteria for selecting and reviewing 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).  A small percentage from book sales through these links goes to Teaching for Change.

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