Social Justice Books

The best selection of multicultural and social justice books for children, YA, and educators.

Latinx and Latin American Titles

Elementary | Middle Grades | Young Adult | Adult Nonfiction

Here are titles on Latinx/Latin American History and an important article on Rethinking Cinco De Mayo.

See more recommended titles: Central America booklist, Puerto Rican Children’s Literature for Social Justice: A Bibliography for Educators, and our booklists on Cuba, El Salvador, and more.

Elementary

Alfredito Flies Home
By Jorge Argueta, Luis Garay (Illustrator)

All Around Us*
By Xelena Gonzalez

Alma and How She Got Her Name*
By Juana Martinez-Neal, Juana Martinez-Neal (Illustrator)

Camino A Casa / Walk With Me*
By Jairo Buitrago

Carlos And The Squash Plant / Carlos y la Planta de Calabaza
By Jan Romero Stevens, Jeanne Stevens (Illustrator)

Cesar: Si, se puede! / Yes, We Can!*
By Carmen T. Bernier-Grand

Clemente!
By Willie Perdomo, Bryan Collier (Illustrator)

The Composition
By Antonio Skarmeta; Illustrator-Alfonso Ruano

Creativity
By E. B. Lewis (Illustrator)

Dalia's Wondrous Hair / El Cabello Maravilloso de Dalia

Dalia's Wondrous Hair*
By Laura Lacamara

Dreamers*
By Yuyi Morales

Finding the Music / En Pos de La Musica
By Jennifer Torres, Renato Alarcao (Illustrator)

La Frontera: El viaje con papa / My Journey with Papa*
By Deborah Mills, Alfredo Alva, Claudia Navarro (Illustrator)

Furqan's First Flat Top*
By Robert Liu-Trujillo

A Gift from Abuela
By Cecilia Ruiz

A Gift from Papa Diego: Un Regalo de Papa Diego
By Benjamin Alire Saenz, Geronimo Garcia (Illustrator)

Grandma's Gift
By Eric Velasquez, Eric Velasquez (Illustrator)

Grandma's Records
By Eric Velasquez

Happy Like Soccer
By Maribeth Boelts, Lauren Castillo (Illustrator)

I Am Latino: The Beauty in Me
By Myles C. Pinkney, Sandra L. Pinkney

Islandborn*
By Junot Diaz, Leo Espinosa (Illustrator)

Joelito's Big Decision / La Gran Decision de Joelito*
By Ann Berlak, Daniel Camacho (Illustrator), Jose Antonio Galloso

Just in Case: A Trickster Tale and Spanish Alphabet Book
By Yuyi Morales, Yuyi Morales (Illustrator)

Kitchen Dance
By Maurie J. Manning

Little Night / Nochecita*
By Yuyi Morales

Looking for Bongo
By Eric Velasquez

Luis Paints the World*
By Terri Farish

La Luna Mango
By Diane de Anda

Mango, Abuela, and Me
By Meg Medina, Angela Dominguez (Illustrator)

Mango Moon
By Diane de Anda
My Papi Has a Motorcycle*
By Isabel Quintero, Zeke Peña (Illustrator)

Little Night / Nochecita*
By Yuyi Morales

Octopus Stew
By Eric Velasquez

Pele, King of Soccer / Pele, El Rey del Futbol
By Monica Brown, Rudy Gutierrez (Illustrator)

Rene Has Two Last Names / Rene Tiene DOS Apellidos
By Rene Colato Lainez, Fabiola Graullera (Illustrator), Gabriela Baeza Ventura (Translator)

Roses for Isabella
By Diana Cohn, Amy Cordova

Schomburg: The Man Who Built a Library by Carole Boston Weatherford

Schomburg: The Man Who Built a Library*
By Carole Boston Weatherford

Sofi and the Magic, Musical Mural / Sofi y El Mgico Mural Musical
By Raquel M. Ortiz, Maria Dominguez (Illustrator), Gabriela Baeza Ventura (Translator)

The Storyteller's Candle 
By Lucia Gonzalez, Lulu Delacre (Illustrator)

Tan to Tamarind: Poems about the Color Brown
By Malathai Iyengar, Jamel Akib (Illustrator)

That's Not Fair! /No Es Justo!
By Carmen Tafolla, Sharyll Teneyuca, Terry Ybanez (Illustrator)

Two White Rabbits
By Jairo Buitrago

When We Love Someone
By Ernesto Javier Martinez

Yes, We Can!: Janitor Strike in L.A.
By Diana Cohn, Paul Mirocha, Francisco Delgado (Illustrator)

Middle Grades

Call Me Maria
By Judith Ortiz Cofer

Caminar*
By Skila Brown

El Color de mis Palabras / The Color of My Words
By Lynn Joseph, Alberto Jimenez Rioja (Translator)

Con Carino, Amalia / With Love, Amalia
By Alma Flor Ada, Gabriel M. Zubizarreta

El Color de mis Palabras / The Color of My Words
By Lynn Joseph, Alberto Jimenez Rioja (Translator)

Dancing Home
By Alma Flor Ada, Gabriel M. Zubizarreta

The Dreamer
By Pam Munoz Ryan, Peter Sis (Illustrator), Pam Mu Ryan

The Epic Fail of Arturo Zamora
by Pablo Cartaya*

The First Rule of Punk*
By Celia C. Pérez

Forest World*
By Margarita Engle

Moon Within
By Aida Salazar

My Name Is Maria Isabel
By Alma Flor Ada, K. Dyble Thompson (Illustrator)

Red Glass
By Laura Resau

Return to Sender *
By Julia Alvarez

The Walls of Cartagena
By Julia Durango, Tom Pohrt (Illustrator)

Yes! We Are Latinos: Poems and Prose about the Latino Experience
By Alma Flor Ada, F. Isabel Campoy, David Diaz (Illustrator)

Young Adult

An Island Like You
By Judith Ortiz Cofer

The Distance Between Us
By Reyna Grande

The Dominican Republic
By Anne Gallin, Ruth Glasser, Jocelyn Santana

Enchanted Air: Two Cultures, Two Wings: A Memoir
By Margarita Engle, Edel Rodriguez (Illustrator)

Jazz Owls: A Novel of the Zoot Suit Riots*
By Margarita Engle, Rudy Gutierrez (Illustrator)

The Meaning of Consuelo
By Judith Ortiz Cofer

Memoir of a Visionary: Antonia Pantoja
By Antonia Pantoja, Henry A. J. Ramos (Foreword by)

Moving North: Caribbean Connections
By Keith Warner, Catherine Sunshine

Nilda
By Nicholasa Mohr, Alma Flor Ada (Foreword by)

Old Dog
By Teresa Cardenas, David Unger (Translator)

Playing for the Devil's Fire
By Phillippe Diederich

The Poet Slave of Cuba: A Biography of Juan Francisco Manzano
By Margarita Engle, Sean Qualls (Illustrator)

The Poet X*
By Elizabeth Acevedo

The Radius of Us
By Marie Marquardt

Secret Saturdays
By Torrey Maldonado

Shadowhouse Fall
By Daniel Jose Older

Show and Prove
By Sofia Quintero

Uninterrupted View of the Sky*
By Melanie Crowder

Adult Nonfiction

The Young Lords: A Radical History
By Johanna Fernandez

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

Donate Today