Social Justice Books

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

Habibi

Review Source: Independent Book Author: An educator wrote: While I love Naomi Shihab Nye’s 1997 book Habibi, it may be helpful to add a disclaimer that it uses the ‘Jews and Arabs’ formula. Also, although the storyline begins to explore ways in which the Oslo Accords did not live up to the initially high hopes […]

A Day With No Words

Reviewed by Jacklyn Ogden Review Source: Reading Is Resistance Book Author:  A Day With No Words by Tiffany Hammond is inspired by the author’s own life as an autistic mother of two autistic boys and follows a Black autistic boy’s daily life written from his own perspective. The first-person language strengthens the voice of the […]

Three Strike Summer

Reviewed by Betsy Bird Review Source: School Library Journal Book Author: The gutsy girl is a conundrum in children’s books. She seems so easy to conjure up. Writing a bit of historical fiction? Surely all you have to do is just give your heroine some feisty comebacks and historically accurate inequities and the audience will be […]

Borderless

Reviewed by Marcy Campos Review Source: Teaching for Change Book Author:  Borderless is an excellent novel for high school students and teachers that sheds light on the push factors that lead Central Americans to face the agonizing decision to leave their home country, and it explores the perilous journey and the horrific treatment by U.S. […]

Abdul’s Story

Reviewed by Brad Manker Review Source: Teaching for Change Book Author:  Young Abdul loves storytelling, and his tales are inspired by the people who live in his neighborhood. But when it comes to writing those stories, Abdul feels his handwriting is messy and he has difficulty forming letters and spelling words. He questions the value of […]