Elementary | Middle Grades |Young Adult | Teaching Guides
Below are selected books of poetry and books written in free verse for the classroom with a multicultural, social justice focus. Also included are books for children about poets.
Additional Resources
The Quarry: A Social Justice Poetry Database a database of social justice books and poetry, coordinated by Split This Rock.
Cultural Expressions: Spoken Connections and Poetry , an Afro-Puerto Rican workshop with free resources for middle and high school students.
Rhythm and Resistance: Teaching Poetry for Social Justice, best book on teaching poetry, edited by Linda Christensen and Dyan Watson of Rethinking Schools.
See more recommended titles here: Music, Culture and Language
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 Powells, an independent, union labor bookstore. Titles with reviews on this site are noted with an asterisk(*).
Hip Hop Speaks to Children: A Celebration of Poetry with a Beat
By Nikki Giovanni, Alicia Vergel De Dios (Illustrator), Damian Ward (Illustrator)
Jump Back, Paul: The Life and Poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar
By Sally Derby, Sean Qualls (Illustrator)
Laughing Out Loud, I Fly: Poems in English and Spanish
By Juan Felipe Herrera, Karen Barbour (Illustrator)
No Voice Too Small: Fourteen Young Americans Making History *
Edited by Lindsay H. Metcalf, Keila V. Dawson, and Jeanette Bradley
Woke: A Young Poet's Call to Justice
By Mahogany L. Browne, Elizabeth Acevedo, Olivia Gatwood, Theodore Taylor, III (Illustrator), Jason Reynolds (Contributions by)
Angels Ride Bikes / Los Angeles Andan en Bicicleta
By Francisco X. Alarcon, Maya Christina Gonzalez (Illustrator)
Dictionary for a Better World: Poems, Quotes, and Anecdotes from A to Z
By Irene Latham, Charles Waters, and Mehrdokht Amini (Illustrator)
Niños: Poems for the Lost Children of Chile
By María José Ferrada and María Elena Valdez (Illustrator)
The Poet Slave of Cuba: A Biography of Juan Francisco Manzano
By Margarita Engle, Sean Qualls (Illustrator)
Walking on Earth & Touching the Sky: Poetry and Prose by Lakota Youth at Red Cloud Indian School
By Timothy P. McLaughlin (Editor), S. D. Nelson (Illustrator), Joseph Marshall (Foreword by)
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
Aquí era el paraíso / Here Was Paradise: Selección de poemas de Humberto Ak'abal / Selected Poems of Humberto Ak'abal
By Humberto Ak'abal and Amelia Lau Carling (Illustrator)
Beauty Is a Verb: The New Poetry of Disability
By Sheila Black (Editor), Jennifer Bartlett (Editor), Michael Northen (Editor)
Bum Rush the Page: A Def Poetry Jam
By Tony Medina (Editor), Louis Reyes Rivera (Editor), Sonia Sanchez (Foreword by)
The Collected Poems of Lucille Clifton 1965-2010
By Lucille Clifton, Kevin Young (Editor), Michael S. Glaser (Editor)
Flicker and Spark: A Contemporary Queer Anthology of Spoken Word and Poetry
By Regie Cabico, Brittany Fonte (With)
Ghost Fishing: An Eco-Justice Poetry Anthology
By Melissa Tuckey (Editor), Camille Dungy (Foreword by)
Of Poetry and Protest: From Emmett Till to Trayvon Martin
By Phil Cushway (Compiled by), Victoria Smith (Photographer), Michael Warr (Editor)
Poems from Guantanamo: The Detainees Speak
By Marc Falkoff (Editor), Ariel Dorfman (Afterword by), Flagg Miller (Preface by)
When the Light of the World Was Subdued, Our Songs Came Through: A Norton Anthology of Native Nations Poetry *
By Jennifer Elise Foerster, Leanne Howe, and Joy Harjo (Editor)
