Social Justice Books

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

Areli Is a Dreamer

Reviewed by Alex Morales Review Source: Reading Is Resistance Book Author:  Areli is a Dreamer by Areli Morales tells the compelling story of Areli’s experience immigrating to the United States from Mexico as a young child. I am a DACA recipient, and this book uncovered emotions within me that I had not confronted since I […]

Black, White, Just Right!

Reviewed by Madisyn Myers Review Source: Reading Is Resistance Book Author:  Black, White, Just Right!, written by Marguerite Davol and illustrated by Irene Trivas, tells the story of an interracial couple and their young daughter.  The story shows the many differences between the young girl’s African American mother and white father and how she has […]

Those Shoes

Reviewed by Eden Grey Review Source: Reading Is Resistance Book Author:  Those Shoes by Maribeth Boelts is a sweet and touching story that addresses issues of social justice, empathy, generosity, and selflessness through the eyes of a young boy named Jeremy and his pursuit of a new pair of shoes. After his sneakers fall apart […]

Demon Copperhead

Reviewed by Jessica Miller Review Source: YouthComm Magazine Book Author:  Barbara Kingsolver dedicates her novel Demon Copperhead to survivors of the opioid crisis and foster care. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that the book is dedicated to someone like me: I am an Appalachian who was put in foster care due, in part, to my […]

Love, Violet

Reviewed by Catherine Taunton Review Source: Reading Is Resistance Book Author:  All day long, Violet’s stomach lurched. What if Violet couldn’t give her valentine? What if Mira didn’t want her valentine? What if . . . they never adventured? In Love, Violet by Charlotte Sullivan Wild, we see Violet create, contemplate, and inevitably give her […]

Ten Beautiful Things

Reviewed by Catherine Taunton Review Source: Reading Is Resistance Book Author:  None of this was easy. Maybe it would never be easy. But she belonged with Gram now. She belonged here now. This place wasn’t empty and neither was she. In Ten Beautiful Things by Molly Beth Griffin, the main character, Lily, goes through a […]