People who speak up, care for community, and change what they can.
This hub is for the child who already knows something is unfair and wants words for it. People who speak up, care for community, and change what they can. Language for unfairness, without a TED-talk ending.
We look for activism a kid can feel in their body: stairs, water, a motel desk, a notebook. We skip books that believe in yourself instead of doing something. We skip titles that end on a speech and call it a victory.
All the Way to the Top is the Capitol Crawl, and it also lives on the disability hub. We Are Water Protectors is also Indigenous. Front Desk is also immigration and middle grade. Tags are finding aids. Lives are not one chip.
Match the book to the hour. Some of these are not lights-out books the first time. Stay in the room. The after the last page guide is for the quiet after.
We will not pretend one picture book is a civics curriculum. We will not put a discussion packet in your hands and call it curation. If you are a teacher, use these as read-alouds that tell the truth, then do the actual work of your classroom.
Related guides: Picture Books About Disability for Kids · After the Last Page: Talking With Kids About Identity
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Young adult
Piecing Me TogetherRenée Watson
Tired of being singled out at her mostly-white private school as someone who needs support, high school junior Jade would rather participate in the school's amazing Study Abroad program than join Women to Women, a mentorship program for at ...
Young adult
The Hate U GiveAngie Thomas
This story is important." —Kirkus (starred review) "Heartbreakingly topical." —Publishers Weekly (starred review) "A marvel of verisimilitude." —Booklist (starred review) "A powerful, in-your-face novel." —Horn Book (starred review) ...
Young adult
On the Come UpAngie Thomas
Insightful, unflinching, and full of heart, On the Come Up is an ode to hip hop from one of the most influential literary voices of a generation. It is the story of fighting for your dreams, even as the odds are stacked against you; and about how, especially for young black people, freedom of speech isn't always free.
Young adult
Dear MartinNic Stone
"In Dad is Fat, stand-up comedian Jim Gaffigan, who's best known for his legendary riffs on Hot Pockets, bacon, manatees, and McDonald's, expresses all the joys and horrors of life with five young children--everything from cousins ( ...
Young adult
All American BoysJason Reynolds & Brendan Kiely
When sixteen-year-old Rashad is mistakenly accused of stealing, classmate Quinn witnesses his brutal beating at the hands of a police officer who happens to be the older brother of his best friend.
Young adult
InternmentSamira Ahmed
"A terrifying, futuristic United States where Muslim-Americans are forced into internment camps, and seventeen-year-old Layla Amin must lead a revolution against complicit silence"--
Young adult
Children of Blood and BoneTomi Adeyemi
Zélie Adebola remembers when the soil of Orïsha hummed with magic. Burners ignited flames, Tiders beckoned waves, and Zélie's Reaper mother summoned forth souls. But everything changed the night magic disappeared. Under the orders of a ruthless king, maji were killed, leaving Zélie without a mother and her people without hope.
Young adult
March: Book OneJohn Lewis, Andrew Aydin & Nate Powell
Congressman John Lewis (GA-5) is an American icon, one of the key figures of the civil rights movement. His commitment to justice and nonviolence has taken him from an Alabama sharecropper’s farm to the halls of Congress, from a segregated schoolroom to the 1963 March on Washington, and from receiving beatings from state troopers to receiving the Medal of Freedom from the first African-American president.
Young adult
Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and YouJason Reynolds & Ibram X. Kendi
The construct of race has always been used to gain and keep power, to create dynamics that separate and silence. Racist ideas are woven into the fabric of this country, and the first step to building an antiracist America is acknowledging America's racist past and present. This book takes you on that journey, showing how racist ideas started and were spread, and how they can be discredited. Through a gripping, fast-paced, and energizing narrative written by beloved award-winner Jason Reynolds with research from renowned author Ibram X. Kendi, Stamped shines a light on the many insidious forms of racist ideas-and on ways you can identify and stamp out racist thoughts, leading to a better future.
Young adult
SpeakLaurie Halse Anderson
"Speak up for yourself--we want to know what you have to say." From the first moment of her freshman year at Merryweather High, Melinda knows this is a big fat lie, part of the nonsense of high school. She is friendless, outcast, because she busted an end-of-summer party by calling the cops, so now nobody will talk to her, let alone listen to her. As time passes, she becomes increasingly isolated and practically stops talking altogether. Only her art class offers any solace, and it is through her work on an art project that she is finally able to face what really happened at that terrible party: she was raped by an upperclassman, a guy who still attends Merryweather and is still a threat to her. Her healing process has just begun when she has another violent encounter with him. But this time Melinda fights back, refuses to be silent, and thereby achieves a measure of vindication. In Laurie Halse Anderson's powerful novel, an utterly believable heroine with a bitterly ironic voice delivers a blow to the hypocritical world of high school. She speaks for many a disenfranchised teenager while demonstrating the importance of speaking up for oneself.
