Social Justice Books

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

The Adventures of Sparrowboy

Reviewed by Elisa Gall Review Source: Reading While White Book Author: The picture book features Henry, a paperboy who is feeling depressed by the headlines in the news. While reading the paper before he makes his deliveries, he finds solace in the comics. He especially loves the story of Mark Steed, a police officer (Black […]

Tea Cakes for Tosh

Reviewed by Amy Rothschild Review Source: Teaching for Change Book Author: An invaluable new resource/picture book: Tea Cakes for Tosh written by Kelly Starling Lyons, author of Ellen’s Broom, and illustrated by the masterful E.B. Lewis. Tosh, a young African-American boy, learns from his grandmother Honey how to make teacakes, a family recipe passed down from his great-great-great-great-grandmother Ida.  “Long […]

Sylvia & Aki

Reviewed by Rethinking Schools Book Author: This historical novel for middle school readers is based on the true stories of Sylvia Mendez and Aki Munemitsu Nakauchi, who were 3rd graders during World War II. When Aki’s family is forced to leave their home in Westminster, Calif., for a Japanese American internment camp in Arizona, the Mendez […]

Stay Solid! A Radical Handbook for Youth

Reviewed by Shelly Wen, Teaching for Change Intern Review Source: Teaching for Change Book Author: Stay Solid! A Radical Handbook for Youth compiles testimonies, stories, advice, and more from over a hundred radical activists divided into content areas such as family, race, gender, school, friends, indigenous struggle, and more. This compilation offers an anti-bias perspective […]

Somos Como Las Nubes / We Are Like the Clouds

Reviewed by Beverly Slapin Review Source: DeColores Book Author: Even before the Monroe Doctrine, which declared that all of the Americas belonged to the U.S., this country has wreaked havoc through invasion, setting up companies to put native products in the hands of American corporations, and creating and supporting regime change to fit the agenda of big […]

Smoky Night: Misguided Effort to Help Kids Understand Rodney King Events

Reviewed by Beverly Slapin Review Source: Teaching for Change Book Author: On April 29, 1992, an almost all-white jury in the almost all-white suburb of Simi Valley acquitted four white Los Angeles Police Department officers of using assault and excessive force in the videotaped beating of a Black man named Rodney King. On the evening following […]