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)

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

Clemente!
By Willie Perdomo, Bryan Collier (Illustrator)

Creativity
By E. B. Lewis (Illustrator)

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, Eric Velasquez (Illustrator)

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

Luis Paints the World*
By Terri Farish

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

Nochecita
By Yuyi Morales

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

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

Two White Rabbits
By Jairo Buitrago

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)

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

The Composition
By Antonio Skarmeta; Illustrator-Alfonso Ruano

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*

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

The First Rule of Punk*
By Celia C. Pérez

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

Red Glass
By Laura Resau

Return to Sender
By Julia Alvarez

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

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

Sylvia & Aki*
By Winifred Conkling

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

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

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

Young Adult

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)

Adult Nonfiction