Social Justice Books

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

Finding Langston

Reviewed by: Kathleen Nganga Review source: Independent Book Author:  Finding Langston is Lesa Cline-Ransome’s superb first novel. The book is about eleven-year-old Langston, a young boy from Alabama who moves with his father to Chicago in 1946 after the death of his mother. The move jars Langston as he is forced to grapple with a […]

I Am Alfonso Jones

Reviewed by Fayette Colon Review Source: Teaching for Change Book Author: I Am Alfonso Jones provides young readers with a narrative that not only addresses the complexity and history of police brutality but also discusses climate change, gun control, the criminalization of Black males, the Black Lives Matter movement, youth activism, Afro Latinidad, and so much more. […]

Before She Was Harriet

Reviewed by CCBC Review Source: Cooperative Children’s Book Center Book Author: The skillful narrative’s imaginative and effective structure, in which Tubman’s life unspools from old woman back to childhood, allows the child audience to build on prior knowledge and emphasizes Harriet’s agency throughout her life. The many facets of Tubman’s life and the many roles she […]

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 […]

Step Up to the Plate, Maria Singh

Reviewed by: Megan Schliesman Review Source: Reading While White Book Author: During the first part of the 20th century, immigrants from India were not allowed to become citizens of the United States (the law changed in 1946). Restrictions on immigration also meant many Indian men came alone to the California area, and a number of […]

The Secret Project

Reviewed by Debbie Reese Review Source: American Indians in Children’s Literature Book Author: Some conversations about my review of Jonah and Jeanette Winter’s The Secret Project suggest that I didn’t say enough, back in March. I’m back, therefore, to say more. Some of what I wrote in March is being interpreted as innuendo and destructive. In saying more, this review […]