Social Justice Books

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

Baghdad Burning: Girl Blog from Iraq

Reviewed by Rethinking Schools Book Author: “The trouble with world history is it started so long ago,” I complained to anyone who would listen as I wrestled with the best way to start the year for my 10th-grade World History students. In their first journal entries, many of my students had already told me they thought […]

Bitter

Reviewed by Alex Brown Review Source: Tor.com Book Author: In Pet, Akwaeke Emezi’s 2019 young adult debut, we followed Jam and Redemption as they hunted down an all-too-human monster with the titular creature, an angel from another dimension. Two years later Emezi has bestowed upon the world the follow-up, a prequel about Jam’s eventual parents, Bitter and […]

Yes! No! A First Conversation About Consent

Reviewed by Makai Kellogg Review Source: Teaching for Change Book Author: Consent is a big deal for my three to five-year-old students. As a population who navigates their days around people who exert power — both peers and adults — conversations about consent are critical for building a safe classroom environment. Expressing one’s feelings, understanding […]

The Assignment

Interview by Alaina Leary Review Source: Diverse Books.org Book Author: Book description: SENIOR YEAR. When an assignment given by a favorite teacher instructs a group of students to argue for the Final Solution, a euphemism used to describe the Nazi plan for the genocide of the Jewish people, Logan March and Cade Crawford are horrified. Their […]

Laxmi’s Mooch

Reviewed by Nikitha Menon Review Source: Brown Girl Magazine Book Author: A brown girl’s journey with her hair is always an emotional and personal one. For me, it started in the sixth-grade gym. More specifically when Scott pointed out that I had “man arms.” In retrospect, he was probably just jealous he couldn’t grow his […]

Room for Everyone

Reviewed by Paige Pagan Review Source: Teaching for Change Book Author: Note: While we recommend this book for early elementary children as it focuses on community and is an ideal read aloud, we also want to point out a few things to keep in mind while reading. Although the setting of the story is in Zanzibar, […]