Social Justice Books

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

When Morning Comes

Reviewed by Meena Khorana Book Source: African Access Book Author: Set against the background of the 1976 Soweto student march against the Bantu Education Act, When Morning Comes is a multi-faceted novel that covers many important themes: the segregation of Black, White, and Indian racial groups in apartheid South Africa; the intelligence and determination of Black youth to […]

Never Caught, the Story of Ona Judge

Reviewed by Anndee Hochman Review Source: Broad Street Review Book Author: The summer I was 12, I spent weekday mornings on the tennis courts at Friends Central School in Wynnewood, swinging a clumsy backhand and counting the minutes until lunch. Each afternoon, I parked myself under a maple tree and devoured Gone with the Wind while sipping a […]

A Little Piece of Ground

Reviewed by Edi Campbell Review Source: Cotton Quilts Book Author: I first heard about A Little Piece of Ground back in 2006 at a dinner in Jeddah. It’s only fitting that I found out about this book on that trip because it’s when I really began to put a face on Palestine, to understand that real people were affected […]

Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer: Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement

Reviewed by Deborah Menkart Reviewed Source: Rethinking Schools Book Author: Finally, a book for children about Fannie Lou Hamer, one of the most influential women in the modern Civil Rights Movement. Voice of Freedom is infused with Hamer’s own quotes and the colloquial style that defined her skill as a speaker. It introduces key events […]

The Deep Past of Haiti

Reviewed by Deborah Menkart Review Source: Teaching for Change Book Author:  We highly recommend the book by fifth and sixth-grade students at Jubilee School called The Deep Past of Haiti. We agree with Edwidge Danticat who said it is a “gorgeous book” and “a stunning gift from the children to the world.” Here is the introduction […]

They Call Me Güero: A Border Kid’s Poems

Review by Beverly Slapin Review Source: De Colores: The Raza Experience in Books for Children Book Author: Memories from the author’s own childhood experiences—as well as those of his son, his friends, and the young men he worked with as a middle-school teacher—inform this too-slim book of poetry from the perspective of a 12-year-old Chicano border […]