Social Justice Books

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

Someday Is Now: Clara Luper and the 1958 Oklahoma City Sit-In

Reviewed by Deborah Menkart Review Source: Cotton Quilts Book Author: Every year in the Zinn Education Project “this day in history” series, we feature the story of high school history teacher Clara Luper and the NAACP Youth Council in Oklahoma who began sit-ins to desegregate lunch counters at the Katz Drugstore on Aug. 19, 1958. This was […]

Grandpa Cacao: A Tale of Chocolate, from Farm to Family

Review Source: Africa Access Book Author: Illustrator Elizabeth Zunon has illustrated more than 15 books, three of which have received Children’s Africana Book Awards, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba, One Plastic Bag: Isatou Seesay and the Recycling Women of the Gambia by Miranda Paul and this book, Grandpa Cacao, A Tale of Chocolate, from Farm to […]

Man Up!

Reviewed by Deborah Menkart Review Source: Cotton Quilts Book Authors: Man Up! by Riley Campbell, London Jones, and Shirelle Hurt, illustrated by Joy Ingram.  Dedicated to “all the boys who are told they can’t be themselves” — this is the book we have been waiting for. Not since William’s Doll have I seen a book […]

From North to South / Del Norte al Sur

Reviewed by Grace Cornell Review Source: Rethinking Schools Book Author: Hot off the press, From North to South/Del norte al sur addresses issues of family separation and deportation head-on. The story is told from the perspective of José, a young child who travels from San Diego to Tijuana to see his mother, recently deported in a […]

Fry Bread

Reviewed by Ashleigh (13), Alexis (19), Charlie (17), Langston (13), and Michael (18) Review Source: Indigo’s Bookshelf: Voices of Native Youth Book Author: There is no doubt about it–Native children’s literature and  YA literature, fiction and nonfiction, is having a moment. Every time we turn around, there’s another wonderful book at the library or the publication details are announced […]