Children / Young Adult Book Lists

After a Muslim student is arrested on suspicion of terrorist affiliations, Jay and the rest of the football squad are set up to look like racists while Haroon and other Muslim teens claim that they experience prejudice at school.

Although he is uncertain why his father is so angry and what secret his mother is keeping from him, eleven-year-old Sonny knows that he is different from his classmates in their small New York town.

Coretta Scott King Honor Award for Illustration2019 I couldn't play on the same playground as the white kids.  I couldn't go to their schools.   I couldn't drink from their water fountains.   There were so many things I couldn't do.  In 1963 Birmingham, Alabama, thousands of African American children volunteered to march for their civil rights after hearing Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. speak. They protested the laws that kept black people separate from white people. Facing fear, hate, and danger, these children used their voices to change the world. Frank Morrison's emotive oil-on-canvas paintings bring this historical event to life, while Monica Clark-Robinson's moving and poetic words document this remarkable time. 

For Kariuki, life in his small Kenyan village is one great adventure. It gets even more interesting when he meets Nigel, an English boy who is visiting his grandfather. Kariuki befriends Nigel even though the rest of the villagers fear him and call him "the mzungu boy."

An honest explanation about how power and privilege factor into the lives of white children, at the expense of other groups, and how they can help seek justice. --THE NEW YORK TIMES ONE OFHUFFPOST'S RECOMMENDED "ANTI-RACIST BOOKS FOR KIDS AND TEENS" **A WHITE RAVEN 2019 SELECTION** NAMED ONE OFSCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL'S BEST BOOKS OF 2018 Not My Idea: A Book About Whiteness is a picture book about racism and racial justice, inviting white children and parents to become curious about racism, accept that it's real, and cultivate justice. This book does a phenomenal job of explaining how power and privilege affect us from birth, and how we can educate ourselves...Not My Idea is an incredibly important book, one that we should all be using as a catalyst for our anti-racist education. --THE TINY ACTIVIST Quite frankly, the first book I've seen that provides an honest explanation for kids about the state of race in America today. --ELIZABETH BIRD, librarian "It's that exact mix of true-to-life humor and unflinching honesty that makes Higginbotham's book work so well..."--PUBLISHERS WEEKLY (*Starred Review) A much-needed title that provides a strong foundation for critical discussions of white people and racism, particularly for young audiences. Recommended for all collections. --SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL (*Starred Review) A necessary children's book about whiteness, white supremacy, and resistance... Important, accessible, needed. --KIRKUS REVIEWS A timely story that addresses racism, civic responsibility, and the concept of whiteness. --FOREWORD REVIEWS For white folks who aren't sure how to talk to their kids about race, this book is the perfect beginning. --O MAGAZINE

Few people would identify themselves as racist and yet we all hold attitudes and beliefs about cultures that are different from our own which affect the way we behave towards others. Using realistic examples and sensitive language, Racism: Deal with it before it gets under your skin examines the sources of racial and cultural conflicts and the many forms

Seven years before Brown v. Board of Education, the Mendez family fought to end segregation in California schools. Discover their incredible story in this picture book from award-winning creator Duncan Tonatiuh A Pura Belpré Illustrator Honor Book and Robert F. Sibert Honor Book!   When her family moved to the town of Westminster, California, young Sylvia Mendez was excited about enrolling in her neighborhood school. But she and her brothers were turned away and told they had to attend the Mexican school instead. Sylvia could not understand why--she was an American citizen who spoke perfect English. Why were the children of Mexican families forced to attend a separate school? Unable to get a satisfactory answer from the school board, the Mendez family decided to take matters into its own hands and organize a lawsuit.   In the end, the Mendez family's efforts helped bring an end to segregated schooling in California in 1947, seven years before the landmark Supreme Court ruling in Brown v. Board of Education ended segregation in schools across America.   Using his signature illustration style and incorporating his interviews with Sylvia Mendez, as well as information from court files and news accounts, award-winning author and illustrator Duncan Tonatiuh tells the inspiring story of the Mendez family's fight for justice and equality.  

It was February 1, 1960. They didn't need menus. Their order was simple. A doughnut and coffee, with cream on the side. This picture book is a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the momentous Woolworth's lunch counter sit-in, when four college students staged a peaceful protest that became a defining moment in the struggle for racial equality and the growing civil rights movement. Andrea Davis Pinkney uses poetic, powerful prose to tell the story of these four young men, who followed Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s words of peaceful protest and dared to sit at the "whites only" Woolworth's lunch counter. Brian Pinkney embraces a new artistic style, creating expressive paintings filled with emotion that mirror the hope, strength, and determination that fueled the dreams of not only these four young men, but also countless others.

A Little Free Library Action Book Club Selection National Parenting Product Award Winner (NAPPA) Emma and Josh heard that something happened in their town. A Black man was shot by the police. "Why did the police shoot that man?" "Can police go to jail?" Something Happened in Our Town follows two families -- one White, one Black -- as they discuss a police shooting of a Black man in their community. The story aims to answer children's questions about such traumatic events, and to help children identify and counter racial injustice in their own lives. Includes an extensive Note to Parents and Caregivers with guidelines for discussing race and racism with children, child-friendly definitions, and sample dialogues. Free, downloadable educator materials (including discussion questions) are available at www.apa.org. From the Note to Parents and Caregivers: There are many benefits of beginning to discuss racial bias and injustice with young children of all races and ethnicities: Research has shown that children even as young as three years of age notice and comment on differences in skin color.Humans of all ages tend to ascribe positive qualities to the group that they belong to and negative qualities to other groups.Despite some parents' attempts to protect their children from frightening media content, children often become aware of incidents of community violence, including police shootings.Parents who don't proactively talk about racial issues with their children are inadvertently teaching their children that race is a taboo topic. Parents who want to raise children to accept individuals from diverse cultures need to counter negative attitudes that their children develop from exposure to the negative racial stereotypes that persist in our society.

For months six-year-old Ruby Bridges must confront the hostility of white parents when she becomes the first African American girl to integrate Frantz Elementary School in New Orleans in 1960.

Standing together makes all of us stronger. Mai, a young Hmong girl, and Kiara, a young Black girl, are best friends. They do everything together--riding the bus, eating lunch, playing at recess. But one day Kiara misses school and Mai goes looking for answers. When she learns that her best friend is protesting an act of police violence against the Black community, Mai decides to join the protest too. Her parents at first want to protect her by keeping her at home, but she shows them that standing together makes all of us stronger. Written by author and actor Doua Moua, who played Po in Disney's live-action Mulan, this picture book provides an inspiring look at the value of allyship and solidarity with Black Lives Matter.

Seventeen-year-old Emiko, brought up in a strict Japanese-American family, is in love with handsome blond Adam, although she realizes her old-fashioned father expects her to find a Japanese husband.

Grandma tells the story about her first trip alone into town during the days when segregation still existed in Mississippi.

Meet the youngest known child to be arrested for a civil rights protest in Birmingham, Alabama, 1963, in this moving picture book that proves you're never too little to make a difference. Nine-year-old Audrey Faye Hendricks intended to go places and do things like anybody else. So when she heard grown-ups talk about wiping out Birmingham's segregation laws, she spoke up. As she listened to the preacher's words, smooth as glass, she sat up tall. And when she heard the plan--picket those white stores! March to protest those unfair laws! Fill the jails!--she stepped right up and said, I'll do it! She was going to j-a-a-il! Audrey Faye Hendricks was confident and bold and brave as can be, and hers is the remarkable and inspiring story of one child's role in the Civil Rights Movement.