Social Justice Books

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

When We Were Alone

Reviewed by Debbie Reese Review Source: American Indians in Children’s Literature Book Author: When We Were Alone is one of those books that brought forth a lot of emotion as I read it. There were sighs of sadness for what Native people experienced at boarding schools, and sighs of—I don’t know, love, maybe—for our perseverance through it […]

Alma and How She Got Her Name

Also available in Spanish: Alma y cómo obtuvo su nombre Reviewed by Sierra Kling Review Source: Reading Is Resistance Book Author: Born in Lima, Perú, Juana Martinez-Neal incorporates her Latinx culture into her debut author/ illustrator book, Alma and How She Got Her Name, published in both Spanish and English! This is a pleasant read because […]

The Story Circle / El círculo de cuentos

Reviewed by Linda Boyden Review Source: Pirate Tree Book Author: After a terrible storm flooded their school, most of the classroom books were destroyed and for the first time, the school’s bookshelves were empty. For three days school staff and volunteers helped to clean water damage and remove sludge from the school’s classrooms. The children returned […]

The Story Circle/El Círculo de Cuentos

Reviewed by Linda Boyden Review Source: The Pirate Tree Book Author: After a terrible storm flooded their school, most of the classroom books were destroyed and for the first time, the school’s bookshelves were empty. For three days school staff and volunteers helped to clean water damage and remove sludge from the school’s classrooms. The […]

Cheyenne Again

Reviewed by: Jean Mendoza Review Source: American Indians in Children’s Literature Book Author: Last year, Debbie and I analyzed several picture books about children in Indian boarding school for a book chapter. We intentionally left out of our chapter a fairly popular 1993 book, Cheyenne Again, by European-American writer Eve Bunting, illustrated by Dine artist Irving Toddy. I recently […]

Side By Side/Lado a Lado

Reviewed by: Maria Ramos-Chertok Review Source: Latinxs in Kid Lit Book Author: Growing up, my mother told us we had to boycott grapes. At that time, I only understood farmworkers were treated badly and Cesar Chavez was helping them. Years later, I’ve found a bilingual children’s book that would have helped me understand, not only the […]