Social Justice Books

The best selection of multicultural and social justice books for children, YA, and educators.

Stolen Justice: The Struggle for African American Voting Rights

Reviewed by Edi Campbell Review Source: Crazy Quilt Edi Book Authors: I didn’t begin to appreciate nonfiction until my adult years. During my childhood, nonfiction I think was primarily written for for adults; particularly white, male adults. Even more so, it was a dry, informational text, a text that led readers to think it was delivering honest, […]

Stamped: Racism, Antiracism and You

Reviewed by Edi Campbell Review Source: Crazy Quilt Edi Book Authors: I didn’t begin to appreciate nonfiction until my adult years. During my childhood, nonfiction I think was primarily written for for adults; particularly white, male adults. Even more so, it was a dry, informational text, a text that led readers to think it was delivering honest, […]

Troublemaker for Justice

Reviewed by Conner Suddick Review Source: Teaching for Change Book Authors: Troublemaker for Justice illuminates readers on the life and legacy of Bayard Rustin. A notable civil rights leader, Rustin is often cast into the historical shadows of the civil rights movement in part because of his sexuality, political engagement with the communist party during […]

The Day You Begin

Reviewed by Rethinking Schools Review Source: Rethinking Schools Book Author: This powerful, lyrical picture book speaks directly to the children who are its intended readers, describing those familiar moments when a child may be marked as an outsider among their peers because of their home language, or the color of their skin, or the “different” […]

Jazz Owls: A Novel of the Zoot Suit Riots

Reviewed by Rethinking Schools Review Source: Rethinking Schools Book Author: Every 20th-century U.S. history class covers World War II. However, the 1943 attack by white sailors on Mexican Americans, Filipinos, and African Americans in Los Angeles, known as the Zoot Suit Riots, gets little mention. Author Margarita Engle uses free verse to bring this history […]

Different Differenter: An Activity Book About Skin Color

Reviewed by Dr. Ed Greene Book Author: In 1971, Vivian Church wrote the children’s book, Colors Around Me. It provided an eye-opening explanation of the meaning of the words Black, Negro, and Afro-American, while at the same time presenting positive descriptions and illustrations about the shades of color among African Americans and being part of […]