Social Justice Books

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

Amal Unbound

Reviewed by Edi Campbell Review Source: Cotton Quilts Book Author: Among the 14 facts about Aisha Saeed on her website are the facts that she’s worked as a lawyer and an elementary teacher, she speaks three languages and she’s a fantastic air hockey player. And, she loves to write. When interviewed by Publishers Weekly about what inspired her to […]

We Kiss Them with Rain

Reviewed by: Africa Access Review Source: Africa Access Book Author: Life wasn’t always hard for fourteen-year-old Mvelo. There were good times living with her mother and her mother’s lawyer boyfriend. Now her mother is dying of AIDS and the terrible thing that stole Mvelo’s song remains unspoken, despite its growing presence in their shack. But […]

Dreaming in Indian: Contemporary Native American Voices

Reviewed by Debbie Reese Review Source: American Indians in Children’s Literature Book Author: For some time now, I’ve been waiting for Dreaming in Indian: Contemporary Native American Voices. Edited by Lisa Charleyboy and Mary Leatherdale, it was getting buzz in Native networks on social media. Given my commitment to bringing the work of Native writers to the fore—especially […]

We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga

Reviewed by Debbie Reese Review Source: American Indians in Children’s Literature Book Author: I love to see Indigenous languages on book covers! Check out the cover of Traci Sorell’s We Are Grateful/Otsaliheliga. What you see on that cover is the words “We Are Grateful” in English, and then in Cherokee, and also in the Cherokee […]

We Rise, We Resist, We Raise Our Voices

Reviewed by The Brown Bookshelf Review Source: The Brown Bookshelf Book Author: Edited by Wade and Cheryl Hudson and published by Crown Books for Young Readers in cooperation with the Hudsons’ company, Just Us Books, We Rise, We Resist, We Raise Our Voices is a treasury of poems, prose and art that offers hope and encouragement to children in these […]

A Werewolf Named Oliver James

Reviewed by Edith Campbell Review Source: Cotton Quilts Book Author: I’m not sure what you, the author, illustrator, editor or publishers may have seen in this story but, I’m seeing a young boy of African descent on the streets at night being perceived as a monster. I do not refer to him as African American […]