Social Justice Books

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

Alfredito Flies Home

Reviewed by Beverly Slapin Review Source: De Colores Reviews  Book Author: Alfredito and his grandma and parents are preparing to go home to El Salvador for Christmas—the first time they’ve returned since they fled as refugees and made their way to California on foot. This will be the first plane ride for them, and anticipation […]

Mumbet’s Declaration of Independence

Teaching Stories Reviewed by Allyson Criner Brown Review Source: Zinn Education Project Book Author: Mumbet’s Declaration of Independence gives young readers a slavery-to-freedom narrative that is clever, honest, and age appropriate. Gretchen Woelfle’s recounting of Elizabeth Freeman’s true story of resistance and liberation is smartly written and beautifully illustrated. Readers are introduced to Mumbet, a Black […]

The Peace Tree from Hiroshima: The Little Bonsai with a Big Story

Reviewed by Maria Brescia-Weiler Review Source: Teaching for Change Book Author: The Peace Tree from Hiroshima is narrated by the titular tree, a nearly four hundred year old bonsai that now resides in the National Arboretum. Throughout its long lifetime, the tree is passed down from generation to generation, and it witnesses many important events […]

Ada’s Violin: The Story of the Recycled Orchestra of Paraguay

Reviewed by Maria Brescia-Weiler Review Source: Independent Book Author: The story of Ada’s Violin begins in the town of Cateura, Paraguay, home to Asunción’s largest garbage dump and a girl with an early interest in music. Almost everyone Ada knows works as a ganchero, sifting through the piles of trash for recyclable goods. Just as Ada […]

Radiant Child: The Story of Young Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat

Reviewed by Sujei Lugo and Lila Quintero Weaver Review Source: Latinx in Kid Lit Book Author: Radiant Child is a heartfelt and vibrant picture book about the childhood and life of Puerto Rican-Haitian American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat. Written for young children, it celebrates Basquiat’s art and traces the early steps of his artistic formation, as […]

The Bitter Side of Sweet

Reviewed By Vivian Yenika-Agbaw Review Source: Africa Access Book Author: This is an engaging novel told from the perspective of Amadou, a child worker whom along with other boys work on a cocoa farm far away from home. The conditions under which they work are deplorable but they had come to accept their fate as impoverished […]