Social Justice Books

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

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 […]

Dactyl Hill Squad

Reviewed by Debbie Reese Review Source: American Indians in Children’s Literature Book Author: Some time back, I learned that Daniel José Older was working on a series that would blend history and fantasy. The first book in the series—Dactyl Hill Squad—is out and I gotta say, I enjoyed it! Older, by the way, is not […]

She Sang Promise: The Story of Betty Mae Jumper: Seminole Tribal Leader

Reviewed by Alexis Blendel Review Source: American Indians in Children’s Literature Book Author: This is my last year of Florida Virtual School. Soon I will take a trip with my cousin to the Glades to visit the Big Cypress Reservation. My mother is originally from Hollywood, but I want to see the Glades again. It […]

My Year in the Middle

Reviewed by Beverly Slapin Review Source: De Colores: The Raza Experience in Books for Children Book Author: It’s the school year of 1969-1970. “The Vietnam War,” known in Vietnam as “The American War,” has been raging for 15 years. The US is continuing to drop millions of tons of bombs on three small countries. US soldiers […]

Photographic: The Life of Graciela Iturbide

Reviewed by Lila Quintero Weaver Review Source: Latinx in Kid Lit Book Author: DESCRIPTION OF THE BOOK: “I see reality in another way with a camera. Looking through the lens, I peer into another world . . . . ” Born in Mexico City in 1942, Graciela Iturbide wants to be a writer, but her […]