Social Justice Books

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

Too Small Tola

Reviewed by Lauren Parnell Marino Review Source: Africa Access Book Author: Too Small Tola by Atinuke is a delightful book which introduces a slate of charming characters to young readers. The collection of three short stories focuses on the daily lives of Tola, a young girl growing up in Lagos, Nigeria, and her Grandmommy, sister, and brother. […]

Nile Crossing

  Reviewed by Ronald J. Leprohon Review Source: Africa Access Book Author: Here is a charming and delightful book, which takes us on a journey through a young boy’s day as he leaves his ancient Egyptian rural home for a teeming city and a school where he will learn to become a scribe. Written in […]

Raybearer

Reviewed by Ibrahim Odugbemi Review Source: Africa Access Book Author: Jordan Ifueko’s Raybearer is both a fantasy and an epic novel. This is evident in its wide and diverse physical setting, Aritsar, presented as a continent and empire of different peoples and cultures; in its human characters who have magical powers and embark on dangerous and heroic missions, […]

Sulwe

Reviewed by Vanessa Oyugi, Ph.D. Review Source: Africa Access Book Author: Sulwe, Lupita Nyong’o’s first picture book, subtly celebrates her Kenyan heritage. The main character’s name means star in Luo (Lupita’s mother tongue) and there is an illustration of young girls playing a classic Kenyan jumping game called kati. Sulwe, the story of a young black girl dealing […]

War Girls

    Reviewed by Toyin Falola, Ph.D. Review Source: Africa Access Book Author: War Girls gives a captivating and harrowing sneak peek of the potential future before us in the 2170s: The Earth ravaged by climate change, space colonies forming, human beings turning more machine-like, and the remaining Earth dwellers struggling to survive. Among the struggling Earth […]

Grandpa Cacao: A Tale of Chocolate, from Farm to Family

Review Source: Africa Access Book Author: Illustrator Elizabeth Zunon has illustrated more than 15 books, three of which have received Children’s Africana Book Awards, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba, One Plastic Bag: Isatou Seesay and the Recycling Women of the Gambia by Miranda Paul and this book, Grandpa Cacao, A Tale of Chocolate, from Farm to […]