Social Justice Books

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

Navajo Code Talkers

Reviewed by Debbie Reese Review Source: American Indians in Children’s Literature Book Author: I love that Danielle C. Burbank (Diné) opens her book, Navajo Code Talkers, with the word Yá’át’ééh! It signals that we’re going to learn about the Code Talkers from someone for whom this is not a subject. Instead, it is her family’s life. […]

Mani Semilla Finds Her Quetzal Voice

Reviewed by Amanda MacGregor Review Source: School Library Journal Book Author: Uncovered family secrets and a growing feminist consciousness propel a seventh grader to cause good trouble and start a school-wide revolution. Twelve-year-old Manuela “Mani” Semilla, whose parents are Chinese-Filipino American and Guatemalan, feels stuck in the liminal space between childhood and adulthood. Mani is desperate […]

Black Girl You Are Atlas

Review Source: Rethinking Schools Book Author: Black Girl You Are Atlas is Renée Watson’s first book of poetry. Like her novels, Watson’s poems explore the intersection of race, class, and gender. And like her novels, this semi-autobiographical collection celebrates the joys and sorrows of growing up a Black girl in this country. Woven throughout the book are […]

Ida in the Middle

Reviewed by Deborah Menkart Review Source: Rethinking Schools Book Author: Middle school student Ida tries to sit where she is “unnoticeable, like the dust on last year’s history books.” She seeks to avoid stereotypical insults hurled at her for being from a Palestinian immigrant family. The school’s silence aggravates the problem. Ida notes, “Nobody even says the […]

Saving Sunshine

Reviewed by Paige Pagan Review Source: Teaching for Change Book Author:  Saving Sunshine is a contemporary graphic novel that makes issues such as Islamophobia and covert racism accessible for a middle grade audience. Zara and Zeeshan can’t remember the last time they had anything in common — they’re the epitome of opposite twins. Neither one of […]

Speculation

Reviewed by Paige Pagan Review Source: Teaching for Change Book Author:  Inspired by the work of authors such as Toni Morrison and Alice Walker, Speculation is a middle-grade novel that explores the myriad of ways in which Black families in America have been, still are, and always will be intrinsically affected by slavery.  Set in 1960s […]