Social Justice Books

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

The Notebook Keeper: A Story of Kindness from the Border

Reviewed by Brad Manker Review Source: Teaching for Change Book Author: Our home is different. Not like it used to be. When the protagonist, Noemí, and her mother are suddenly uprooted and forced to flee their homes in central Mexico, they seek refuge in the United States. At the border checkpoint, they meet Belinda, a […]

Troublemaker

Reviewed by Edi Campbell Review Source: Cotton Quilts Book Author: Jordan Park is convinced that he’s a disappointment to his parents. What makes it even worse is that they and his school principal have confirmed that to him. Since he can never measure up to his sister, Jordan opts to fall short with intention. He chooses […]

Sugar Town Queens

Reviewed by Barbara B. Brown and Rehana Odendaal Reviewed Source: Africa Access Book Author: Sugar Town Queens tells the story of Amandla, a 15-year-old mixed race South African girl, living on the edge of hunger in a Black shantytown, with her white mother. Her mother totters between reality and the life she lost years earlier. The […]

The Year We Learned to Fly

Reviewed by: Maria Ramos-Chertok Review Source: Latinxs in Kid Lit Book Author: On a dreary, stuck-inside kind of day, a brother and sister heed their grandmother’s advice: “Use those beautiful and brilliant minds of yours. Lift your arms, close your eyes, take a deep breath, and believe in a thing. Somebody somewhere at some point was […]

Sitti’s Bird: A Gaza Story

Review Source: This Week in Palestine Book Author: Written and illustrated by Palestinian artist Malak Mattar, Sitti’s Bird: A Gaza Story is a sensitive and heartwarming story of how a little girl in Gaza finds strength and hope through her discovery of painting. Growing up in Gaza, Malak Mattar was like a lot of other children her age. […]

Still This Love Goes On

Reviewed by Debbie Reese Review Source: American Indians in Children’s Literature Book Author: If Still This Love Goes On is not on your must-buy list yet, put it there right now. Better yet, order it, right now! You can read it as a book about seasons. You’ll see people and animals on wide landscapes of snow, or […]