Social Justice Books

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

Latinx and Latin American Titles

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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.

Elementary | Middle Grades | Young Adult | Adult Nonfiction | Learn More

Elementary

Abuelita and I Make Flan
By Adriana Hernández Bergstrom

 

Abuelita and Me
By Leonarda Carranza and Rafael Mayani (Illustrator)

 

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

Alicia and the Hurricane / Alicia y el huracán: A Story of Puerto Rico / Un cuento de Puerto Rico *
By Leslea Newman, Elizabeth Erazo Baez (Illustrator), and Georgina Lazaro (Translator)

All Around Us*
By Xelena Gonzalez

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

Areli Is a Dreamer: A True Story by Areli Morales, a Daca Recipient
By Areli Morales and Luisa Uribe (Illustrator)

 

Beauty Woke
By Nonieqa Ramos and Paola Escobar (Illustrator)

Between Us and Abuela: A Family Story from the Border *
By Mitali Perkins and Sara Palacios (Illustrator)

Boogie Boogie, Y'all
By C. G. Esperanza
Calling the Doves *
By Juan Felipe Herrera, Elly Simmons (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

Child of the Flower-Song People: Luz Jiménez, Daughter of the Nahua
By Gloria Amescua and Duncan Tonatiuh (Illustrator)

 

Clemente!
By Willie Perdomo, Bryan Collier (Illustrator)

The Composition
By Antonio Skarmeta; Illustrator-Alfonso Ruano

Coquí in the City
By Nomar Perez

The Coquíes Still Sing: A Story of Home, Hope, and Rebuilding *
By  Karina Nicole González and Krystal Quiles (Illustrator)

Creativity
By John Steptoe and E. B. Lewis (Illustrator)

El Cucuy Is Scared, Too!
By Donna Barba Higuera and Juliana Perdomo (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)

For All / Para Todos *
By Alejandra Domenzain , Katherine Loh (Illustrator), and Irene Prieto de Coogan (Translator)

 

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

Julián at the Wedding
By Jessica Love

Julián Is a Mermaid*
By Jessica Love

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

Mariana and Her Familia
By Mónica Mancillas and Erika Meza (Illustrator)
Mi Ciudad Sings
By Cynthia Harmony and Teresa Martinez (Illustrator)
 
My Papi Has a Motorcycle*
By Isabel Quintero, Zeke Peña (Illustrator)

My Two Border Towns
By David Bowles and  Erika Meza (Illustrator)

Octopus Stew
By Eric Velasquez

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

Rafa Counts on Papá
By Joe Cepeda
Rainbow Weaver*
By Linda Elovitz Marshall, Elisa Chavarri (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
Sharuko: El Arqueólogo Peruano / Peruvian Archaeologist Julio C. Tello
By Monica Brown and Elisa Chavarri (Illustrator)

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

The Spirit of Chicano Park / El espíritu del parque Chicano *
By Beatrice Zamora and Maira Meza (Illustrator)
Still Dreaming / Seguimos Soñando
By Claudia Guadalupe Martínez, Magdalena Mora (Illustrator), Luis Humberto Crosthwaite (Translator)
Author Interview

 

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

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

A Thousand White Butterflies
By Jessica Betancourt-Perez,  Karen Lynn Williams, and Gina Maldonado (Illustrator)
The Turquoise Room / El Cuarto Turquesa
By Monica Brown and Adriana M. Garcia (Illustrator)

Un Tren Llamado Esperanza / A Train Called Hope*
By Mario Bencastro and Robert Casilla (Illustrator)

Two White Rabbits
By Jairo Buitrago

When We Love Someone
By Ernesto Javier Martinez

Without Separation: Prejudice, Segregation, and the Case of Roberto Alvarez
By Larry Dane Brimner and Maya Gonzalez (Illustrator)

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

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 Everything I have Lost
By Sylvia Zéleny

The First Rule of Punk*
By Celia C. Pérez

Forest World*
By Margarita Engle

Max Loves Munecas!*
By Zetta Elliott

Moon Within
By Aida Salazar

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

Niños: Poems for the Lost Children of Chile
By María José Ferrada and María Elena Valdez (Illustrator)

The Other Side of the River
By Alda P. Dobbs

Red Glass
By Laura Resau

Return to Sender *
By Julia Alvarez
A Seed in the Sun
By Aida Salazar

 

Undercover Latina
By Aya de León

 

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)
Spanish version available: Si! Somos Latinos

Young Adult

An Island Like You
By Judith Ortiz Cofer

The Distance Between Us
By Reyna Grande

Does My Body Offend You?
By Mayra Cuevas and Marie Marquardt 

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

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

Furia
By Yamile Saied Méndez

Inheritance: A Visual Poem
By Elizabeth Acevedo and Andrea Pippins (Illustrator)

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

The Lost Dreamer *
By Lizz Huerta

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)

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

Adult Nonfiction

Teaching Gloria E. Anzaldúa: Pedagogy and Practice for Our Classrooms and Communities
Edited by Margaret Cantú-Sánchez, Candace de León-Zepeda, and Norma Elia Cantú 

The Young Lords: A Radical History
By Johanna Fernandez

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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