Social Justice Books

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

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 […]

Gaby, Lost & Found

Reviewed by Cindy L. Rodriguez Review Source: Latinx in Kid Lit Book Author: Description from the book jacket: When Gaby Ramirez Howard starts volunteering at the local animal shelter, she takes special pride in writing adoption advertisements. Her flyers help the dogs and cats there find their forever homes: places where they’ll be loved and […]

The Poet X

Reviewed by Mark Oshiro Review Source: Latinx in Kid Lit Book Author: DESCRIPTION OF THE BOOK: Xiomara Batista feels unheard and unable to hide in her Harlem neighborhood. Ever since her body grew into curves, she has learned to let her fists and her fierceness do the talking. But Xiomara has plenty she wants to say, […]

The Smoking Mirror

Reviewed by Cris Rhodes Review Source: Latinx in Kid Lit Book Author: DESCRIPTION FROM THE BOOK JACKET: Carol and Johnny Garza are 12-year-old twins whose lives in a small Texas town are forever changed by their mother’s unexplained disappearance. Shipped off to relatives in Mexico by their grieving father, the twins learn that their mother is a nagual, […]

Merci Suarez Changes Gears

Reviewed by Lyn Miller-Lachmann Review Source: De Colores: The Raza Experience in Books for Children Book Author: It’s the beginning of Mercedes (Merci) Suarez’s sixth grade year, and right away she notices big changes. There’s a new boy in class, just moved to South Florida from Minnesota, and Merci has been assigned to be his […]

La Frontera: El viaje con papá ~ My Journey with Papa

Reviewed by: Kathleen Nganga Review source: Teaching for change Authors: La Frontera: El viaje con papá ~ My Journey with Papa is the true story of Alfredo Alva and his family’s migration from La Ceja, Mexico to the United States. Written by Alva and his neighbor Deborah Mills, the bilingual story tells Alva’s family history […]