Social Justice Books

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

When We Were Alone

Reviewed by Debbie Reese Review Source: American Indians in Children’s Literature Book Author: When We Were Alone is one of those books that brought forth a lot of emotion as I read it. There were sighs of sadness for what Native people experienced at boarding schools, and sighs of—I don’t know, love, maybe—for our perseverance through it […]

Laura Ingalls is Ruining My Life

Reviewed by Allie Jane Bruce Review Source: American Indians in Children’s Literature Book Author: At the outset of Laura Ingalls Is Ruining My Life, twelve-year-old Charlotte makes it clear that she finds her mom’s obsession with Laura Ingalls irritating. Anytime Mom or Rose (Charlotte’s younger sister) reference the Little House books or Laura Ingalls, Charlotte’s reaction is somewhere in […]

Wild Eggs: A Tale of Arctic Egg Collecting

Reviewed by Jean Mendoza Review Source: American Indians in Children’s Literature Book Author: Wild Eggs: A Tale of Arctic Egg Collecting opens with a little girl stepping off a bush plane, holding a stuffed polar bear. Akuluk and her mother have come from Yellowknife to a remote part of Nunavut. She is about to meet her maternal grandparents […]

Moonshot: The Indigenous Comics Collection – Volume 2

Reviewed by Debbie Reese Review Source: American Indians in Children’s Literature Book Author: Edited by Hope Nicholson, Moonshot: The Indigenous Comics Collection, Volume 2 has stories from several people who you may know from previous AICL reviews of their work. In particular, I’m thinking of Richard Van Camp. Some of you may recall that he is Tlicho Dene from […]

Nimoshom and His Bus

Reviewed by Debbie Reese Review Source: American Indians in Children’s Literature Book Author: Several people wrote to tell me about Nimoshom and His Bus. Due out in 2018 from Highwater Press, the story is by Penny M. Thomas (Cree-Ojibway background), with illustrations by Karen Hibbard. Books like Nimoshom and His Bus provide Native children with mirrors that non-Native children find in […]

The Water Walker

Reviewed by Debbie Reese Review Source: American Indians in Children’s Literature Book Author: Often, people write to ask me for books about Native people who are activists, or who might be involved in, or organizing, actions of some kind to protect their nations or homelands. Joanne Robertson’s book is one I’m happy to recommend. Robertson’s The Water Walker, published […]