Social Justice Books

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

Sing to the Moon

Reviewed by Kirkus Reviews Review Source: Kirkus Reviews Book Author: A young boy and his jjajja share memories and wishes in this tender tale set in Uganda. Have you ever wished to “ride a supernova straight to Mars” or travel to the spice markets of Zanzibar or ride a crane to a large feast? This young […]

Wangari Maathai: The Woman Who Planted a Million Trees

Reviewed by Jane Irungu, Ph.D. Review Source: Africa Access Book Author: Wangari Maathai: The Woman Who Planted Millions of Trees by Franck Prévot and Aurélia Fronty (illus.) joins the list of picture books about The Green Belt Movement and its founder, Nobel Peace Laureate Wangari Maathai. Previous titles about Maathai include Wangari’s Trees of Peace: A True Story […]

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 […]

Mirage

Reviewed by Suzanne Moyer Baazet Review Source: Africa Access Book Author: Mirage is a fictional novel that not only draws the reader into its story and prose, but challenges the reader to observe futurism and science fiction in a unique cultural context where it is not commonly used.  Readers familiar with Moroccan culture find themselves constantly encountering […]

We Kiss Them with Rain

Reviewed by: Africa Access Review Source: Africa Access Book Author: Life wasn’t always hard for fourteen-year-old Mvelo. There were good times living with her mother and her mother’s lawyer boyfriend. Now her mother is dying of AIDS and the terrible thing that stole Mvelo’s song remains unspoken, despite its growing presence in their shack. But […]

One Shadow on the Wall

Reviewed by Marame Gueye, Ph.D. Review Source:  Africa Access Book Author: Set in present day Senegal, One Shadow on the Wall is about an interrupted childhood, one’s resolve to keep promises in spite of temptations, as well as a community’s daily struggle to make life meaningful. Told in the third person point of view, Leah Henderson’s debut novel take […]