Social Justice Books

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

Activism and Organizing

Titles that we recommend are featured below. 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.

Here are books on organizing for all ages. Note that the Elementary list contains activism and organizing, whereas the other lists focus on organizing.

 Elementary | YA / Adult | Learn More

Early Childhood and Elementary

Aani & the Tree Huggers
By Jeannine Atkins, Venantius J. Pinto (Illustrator)

Alejandria Fights Back! / ¡La Lucha de Alejandria!
By Leticia Hernández-Linares,  The Rise-Home Stories Project, and  Robert Liu-Trujillo (Illustrator)

 

The Artivist
By Nikkolas Smith

Barrio Rising: The Protest That Built Chicano Park
By María Dolores Águila and Magdalena Mora (Illustrator)

The Bobbin Girl
Emily Arnold McCully; Illustrator-Emily Arnold McCully
Book Uncle and Me
By Uma Krishnaswami

Destiny's Gift*
Natasha Anastasia Tarpley

Farmer Will Allen and the Growing Table
Jacqueline Briggs Martin, Eric Larkin

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

 

Freedom on the Menu: The Greensboro Sit-Ins
By Carole Boston Weatherford and Jerome Lagarrigue  (Illustrator)

Grandpa's Corner Store
By DyAnne DiSalvo-Ryan

The Great Banned-Books Bake Sale *
By Aya Khalil and Anait Semirdzhyan (Illustrator)

The Harvey Milk Story
By Kari Krakow and David Gardner (Illustrator)

How to Heal a Broken Wing
By Bob Graham, Bob Graham (Illustrator)

If You're a Kid Like Gavin
By Gavin Grimm,  Kyle Lukoff, and  J Yang (Illustrator)

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

Journey for Justice: The Life of Larry Itliong *
By Dawn Bohulano Mabalon and Gayle Romasanta

Kid Blink Beats the World
By Don Brown, Don Brown (Illustrator)

Letters to a Prisoner
By Jacques Goldstyn

Little Meena and the Big Swim
By Lorna Gonsalves and  Ximena Diego (Translator)
Love Is Powerful
By Heather Dean Brewer and LeUyen Pham (Illustrator)

Malala: My Story of Standing Up for Girls' Rights (for Young Readers)
By Malala Yousafzai with Patricia McCormick, abridged and adapted by Sarah J. Robbins

Milo’s Museum*
By Zetta Elliott, Purple Wong (Illustrator)

Nobody Gonna Turn Me 'Round: Stories and Songs of the Civil Rights Movement
By Doreen Rappaport, Shane W. Evans (Illustrator)
Nour's Secret Library
By Wafa' Tarnowska and Vali Mintzi (Illustrator)

Oh, The Things We're For!
By Innosanto Nagara

One*
By Kathryn Otoshi

One Duck Stuck: A Mucky Ducky Counting Book
By Phyllis Root, Jane Chapman (Illustrator)

The Price of Freedom: How One Town Stood Up to Slavery
By Dennis Brindell Fradin, Judith Bloom Fradin, Eric Velasquez (Illustrator)

Rise Up and Write It: With Real Mail, Posters, and More!
By Nandini Ahuja and Anoosha Syed (Illustrator)

Rocket Says Speak Up! *
By Nathan Bryon and Dapo Adeola (Illustrator)

Rosa
By Nikki Giovanni, Bryan Collier (Illustrator)

She Sang for India: How M.S. Subbulakshmi Used Her Voice for Change
By Suma Subramaniam and Shreya Gupta (Illustrator)

Side by Side / Lado a Lado*
By Monica Brown, Joe Cepeda (Illustrator)

Sofia Valdez Future Prez
By Andrea Beaty and David Roberts
link to Powell's books for Someday is NowSomeday is Now*
By Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich

The Subway Sparrow
By Leyla Torres, Leyla Torres (Illustrator)

Swimmy *
By Leo Lionni
Spanish edition: Nadarin
Tenacious: Fifteen Adventures Alongside Disabled Athletes
By Patty Cisneros Prevo and Dion MBD (Illustrator)

Undocumented: A Worker's Fight
By Duncan Tonatiuh

Vicki and A Summer of Change! ¡Vicki y un verano de cambio! *
By Raquel M. Ortiz and Iris Morales 

Viva's Voice *
By Raquel Donoso and Carlos Vélez (Illustrator)

Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer*
By Carole Boston Weatherford, Ekua Holmes

The Water Walker*
By Joanne Robertson

We Are the Builders
By Deepa Iyer and Romina Galotta (Illustrator)

We Are Water
Protectors *
By Carole Lindstrom, Michaela Goade (Illustrator)
We Want to Go to School! The Fight for Disability Rights
By Maryann Cocca-Leffler and Janine Leffler 

We Who Produce Pearls: An Anthem for Asian America
By Joanna Ho and Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya (Illustrator)

What We Believe
By Laleña Garcia, Caryn Davidson (Illustrator)

 

 

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

YA / Adult

The Assignment *
By Liza Wiemer

Beautiful Trouble: A Toolbox for Revolution
By Andrew Boyd, Dave Oswald Mitchell

Beyond Resistance! Youth Activism and Community Change
Edited by Shawn Ginwright, Pedro Noguera, and Julio Cammarota

 

Stay Solid! A Radical Handbook for Youth
By Matt Hern (Editor), Noam Chomsky (Contribution by), Dan Savage (Contribution by)

Learn More

In addition to the titles below, we recommend:

Not recommended

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) 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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