Social Justice Books

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

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 […]

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 […]

The Jumbies

Reviewed by Edi Campbell Review Source: Cotton Quilts Book Author: Tracey Baptiste has been writing nonfiction and for quite a while. The Jumbies, her first book in this series, debuted in 2015. Rise of the Jumbies released in 2017 and The Jumbie God’s Revenge comes out this September. Baptise, a native of Trinidad, is quite familiar with the folklore that surrounds […]

Illegal

Reviewed by Beverly Slapin Review Source: De Colores Book Author: The Cover A teenage girl stands on dirt mixed with brambles, pieces of ragweed, and burned-out remnants of cypress roots. Nothing will ever grow where she stands. The girl faces away from the reader and away from her home. Her eyes are focused ahead, at […]

We Are Here to Stay: Voices of Undocumented Young Adults

Reviewed by Beverly Slapin Review Source: De Colores Book Author: The original title of Kuklin’s book of interviews with undocumented young people was to be Out of the Shadows: Voices of Undocumented Young Adults. This was during the time of the Obama administration’s DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) program, which allowed individuals who were brought to the […]

Front Desk

Reviewed by Edi Campbell Review Source: Cotton Quilts Book Author: Front Desk is based in Kelly Yang’s real-life experiences, making it an #ownvoices novel. In the Author’s Notes, she explains how situations in the story evolved from her growing up and helping her parents manage three hotels in California. She also provides background information on […]