Social Justice Books

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

Margarito’s Forest / El Bosque de don Margarito

Teaching Ideas Reviewed by Lila Quintero Weaver Review Source: Latinx in Kid Lit Book Author: PUBLISHER’S DESCRIPTION: Margarito’s Forest, a bilingual book in English and Spanish with excerpts in K’iche’, is based on the life of Don Margarito Esteban Álvarez Velázquez as told by his daughter, Doña Maria Guadalupe. It is a story of Maya culture and […]

Ana María Reyes Does Not Live in a Castle

Reviewed by Jessica Walsh Review Source: Latinx in Kids Lit Book Author: DESCRIPTION FROM THE PUBLISHER: Her last name may mean “kings,” but Ana María Reyes REALLY does not live in a castle. Rather, she’s stuck in a tiny apartment with two parents (way too loveydovey), three sisters (way too dramatic), everyone’s friends (way too often), and […]

Troublemaker for Justice

Reviewed by Conner Suddick Review Source: Teaching for Change Book Authors: Troublemaker for Justice illuminates readers on the life and legacy of Bayard Rustin. A notable civil rights leader, Rustin is often cast into the historical shadows of the civil rights movement because of his sexuality, his political engagement with the communist party during the […]

Kinda Like Brothers

Reviewed by Kaitlyn Plyley Review Source: Disability in Kids Lit Book Author: Kinda Like Brothers is New York novelist Coe Booth’s first book for middle-grade readers, and it is told from the point of view of an eleven-year-old boy who has asthma. Jarrett is struggling to keep up at school and to show the other boys that […]

Stonewall: A Building. An Uprising. A Revolution

Review Author Dr. Laura M. Jimenez Review Source: Book Toss Book Author: June in Pride Month and I’m a long-time Latinx lesbian and we’ve got some history to cover. I’ve been out for the majority of my life. I’m out to friends, family, acquaintances, neighbors, colleagues, students, my sons’ friends and families, the checkout people […]

An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States for Young People

Reviewed by Jen Forbus Review Source: Shelf Awareness Book Author: Curriculum specialists Debbie Reese and Jean Mendoza have adapted Indigenous human rights activist Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz’s acclaimed academic text An Indigenous People’s History of the United States for young readers. This history of North America’s native tribal nations rebuts popular cultural beliefs and offers school-aged children a different perspective […]