Books on Racism and Injustice for Children
Key: H for Hoopla O for Overdrive CL for cloudLibrary A for Axis 360
A The Berenstain Bears' New Neighbors Berenstain, Stan The Berenstain Bears are getting new neighbors. However, Papa isn’t sure that he likes the new neighbors because they are different from the rest of the bears.
O Iggie's House Blume, Judy When a black family with three children moves into the white neighborhood, eleven- year-old Winnie learns the difference between being a good neighbor and being a good friend.
O Walking with Miss Millie Bundy, Tamara After moving with her mother and deaf brother to Grandma's small Georgia town in the 1960s, Alice copes with feelings of isolation by befriending the elderly black woman who lives next door.
O, CL I am Enough by Grace Byers This gorgeous, lyrical ode to loving who you are, respecting others, and being kind to one another comes from Empire actor and activist Grace Byers and talented newcomer artist Keturah A. Bobo.
We are all here for a purpose. We are more than enough. We just need to believe it.
H Something Happened in Our Town by Marianne Celano 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.
H Hair Love by Matthew Cherry Zuri's hair has a mind of its own. It kinks, coils, and curls every which way. Zuri knows it's beautiful. When Daddy steps in to style it for an extra special occasion, he has a lot to learn. But he LOVES his Zuri, and he'll do anything to make her -- and her hair -- happy.
H, CL Let the Children March by Monica Clark-Robinson 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. O The Jacket Clements, Andrew An incident at school forces sixth grader Phil Morelli, a white boy, to become aware of racial discrimination and segregation, and to seriously consider if he himself is prejudiced.
F White Socks Only Coleman, Evelyn In the segregated south, a young girl thinks that she can drink from a fountain marked “Whites Only” because she is wearing her white socks.
A, CL, O New Kid Craft, Jerry Seventh grader Jordan Banks loves nothing more than drawing cartoons about his life. But instead of sending him to the art school of his dreams, his parents enroll him in a prestigious private school known for its academics, where Jordan is one of the few kids of color in his entire grade. As he makes the daily trip from his Washington Heights apartment to the upscale Riverdale Academy Day School, Jordan soon finds himself torn between two worlds--and not really fitting into either one. Can Jordan learn to navigate his new school culture while keeping his neighborhood friends and staying true to himself?
O Chocolate Me! Diggs,Taye A timely book about how it feels to be teased and taunted, and how each of us is sweet and lovely and delicious on the inside, no matter how we look. The boy is teased for looking different than the other kids. His skin is darker, his hair curlier. He tells his mother he wishes he could be more like everyone else. And she helps him to see how beautiful he really, truly is.
O Mixed Me! Diggs, Taye Mom and Dad say I'm a blend of dark and light: "We mixed you perfectly, and got you just right." Mike has awesome hair. He has lots of energy! His parents love him. And Mike is a perfect blend of the two of them. Still, Mike has to answer lots of questions about being mixed. And he does, with lots of energy and joy in this charming story about a day in the life of a mixed-race child.
A, F, O Crossing Jordan Fogelin, Adrian This moving, coming-of-age story follows a young white girl who overcomes family prejudice and cultural differences when she befriends a black girl in a small working- class town.
H Rosa by Nikki Giovanni Fifty years after her refusal to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama, city bus, Mrs. Rosa Parks is still one of the most important figures in the American civil rights movement. This tribute to Mrs. Parks is a celebration of her courageous action and the events that followed.
A Run, Boy, Run Halkin, Hillel Based on the true story of a nine-year-old boy who escapes the Warsaw Ghetto and must survive throughout the war in the Nazi-occupied Polish countryside.
A, CL, F Beast Rider Johnston, Tony To be reunited with his brother, twelve-year-old Manuel will have to cross the border and survive the perilous journey from Mexico to Los Angeles.
H, CL, O Separate but Never Equal by Sylvia Mendez Almost 10 years before Brown vs. Board of Education, Sylvia Mendez and her parents helped end school segregation in California. An American citizen of Mexican and Puerto Rican heritage who spoke and wrote perfect English, Mendez was denied enrollment to a “Whites only” school. Her parents took action by organizing the Hispanic community and filing a lawsuit in federal district court. Their success eventually brought an end to the era of segregated education in California.
O The Proudest Blue Muhammad, Ibtihaj A powerful, vibrantly illustrated story about the first day of school—and two sisters on one's first day of hijab—by Olympic medalist and social justice activist Ibtihaj Muhammad.
F Burn My Heart Naidoo, Beverley Mathew and Mugo, two boys—one white, one black—share an uneasy friendship in Kenya in the 1950s. They're friends even though Mathew's dad owns the land and everything on it. They're friends despite the difference in their skin color. And they're friends in the face of the growing Mau Mau rebellion, which threatens British settlers with violence as black Kenyans struggle to win back their land and freedom. But suspicions and accusations are escalating, and an act of betrayal could change everything.
O How High the Moon Parsons, Karyn Eleven-year-old Ella seeks information about her father while enjoying a visit with her mother, a jazz singer, in Boston in 1944, then returns to the harsh realities of segregated, small-town South Carolina.
O All Are Welcome Penfold, Alexandra Illustrations and rhyming text follow a group of children through a day in school where they learn from each other's traditions.
A, O A Good Kind of Trouble Ramée, Lisa Moore After attending a powerful protest, Shayla starts wearing an armband to school to support the Black Lives Matter movement, but when the school gives her an ultimatum, she is forced to choose between her education and her identity.
H Ruth and the Green Book by Calvin Alexander Ramsey Ruth was so excited to take a trip in her family's new car! In the early 1950s, few African Americans could afford to buy cars, so this would be an adventure. But she soon found out that black travelers weren't treated very well in some towns. Many hotels and gas stations refused service to black people. Daddy was upset about something called Jim Crow laws . . .
O Ghost Boys Rhodes, Jewell Parker After seventh-grader Jerome is shot by a white police officer, he observes the aftermath of his death and meets the ghosts of other fallen black boys including historical figure Emmett Till
CL, O On the Playground Roberts, Jillian On the Playground: Our First Talk About Prejudice focuses on introducing children to the complex topic of prejudice. Crafted around a narrative between a grade-school-aged child and an adult, this inquiry-focused book will help children shape their understanding of diversity so they are better prepared to understand, and question, prejudice witnessed around them in their day-to-day lives and in the media.
H Coretta Scott by Ntozake Shange Walking many miles to school in the dusty road, young Coretta Scott knew the unfairness of life in the segregated south. A yearning for equality began to grow. Together with Martin Luther King, Jr., she gave birth to a vision of change through nonviolent protest. It was the beginning of a journey—with dreams of freedom for all.
A, O Maniac Magee Spinelli, Jerry After his parents die, Jeffrey Lionel Magee's life becomes legendary, as he accomplishes athletic and other feats which awe his contemporaries.
H The Skin I’m In by Pat Thomas Racial discrimination is cruel—and especially so to younger children. This title encourages kids to accept and be comfortable with differences of skin color and other racial characteristics among their friends and in themselves. A First Look At is an easy- to-understand series of books for younger children.
F, O Separate Is Never Equal Tonatiuh, Duncan Years before the landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling Brown v. Board of Education, Sylvia Mendez, an eight-year-old girl of Mexican and Puerto Rican heritage, played an instrumental role in Mendez v. Westminster, the landmark desegregation case of 1946 in California F Black Like Kyra, White Like Me Vigna, Judith Kyra is Christy’s best friend from the youth center. Matt and Julie are Christy’s best friends on her block. When Kyra’s African-American family moves into Christy’s white neighborhood, Christy learns a hard lesson about prejudice.
F Tori and the New Girl Voss-Guillén, Alicia Danielle The weekend is off to a wonderful start for fifth-grader Tori Salinas! She and her cousin Gina have been invited to spend the night with their Peruvian-American grandparents, and on Monday, a new girl will be joining their class! Tori and Gina can't wait. But when Monday arrives, they're in for a big surprise. Anastasia Adams is nothing like anyone had expected. She's rich, beautiful, dresses like a princess…and treats Tori and Gina like garbage. Tori can't figure out why Anastasia is friendly to all the girls except for them. It takes a shocking conversation with a newfound friend to make Tori realize that Anastasia is racist! Hurt and horrified, Tori discovers for herself the ugliness of racism. But, with the help of her family and friends, she soon learns to handle her problems with strength…and becomes prouder than ever of her Latin-American heritage.
O Genesis Begins Again Williams, Alicia D. This deeply sensitive and powerful novel tells the story of a thirteen-year-old who must overcome internalized racism and a verbally abusive family to finally learn to love herself.
A, CL, F One Crazy Summer Williams-Garcia, Rita In the summer of 1968, after travelling from Brooklyn to Oakland, California, to spend a month with the mother they barely know, eleven-year-old Delphine and her two younger sisters arrive to a cold welcome as they discover that their mother, a dedicated poet and printer, is resentful of the intrusion of their visit and wants them to attend a nearby Black Panther summer camp.
O Slant Williams, Laura E. Thirteen-year-old Lauren, a Korean-American adoptee, is tired of being called "slant" and "gook," and longs to have plastic surgery on her eyes, but when her father finds out about her wish--and a long-kept secret about her mother's death is revealed--Lauren starts to question some of her own assumptions.
H, CL Schomburg: The Man Who Built a Library by Carole Boston Weatherford Amid the scholars, poets, authors, and artists of the Harlem Renaissance stood an Afro–Puerto Rican named Arturo Schomburg. This law clerk’s life’s passion was to collect books, letters, music, and art from Africa and the African diaspora and bring to light the achievements of people of African descent through the ages. When Schomburg’s collection became so big it began to overflow his house (and his wife threatened to mutiny), he turned to the New York Public Library, where he created and curated a collection that was the cornerstone of a new Negro Division. A century later, his groundbreaking collection, known as the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, has become a beacon to scholars all over the world.
O, CL The Day you Begin by Jacqueline Woodson There are many reasons to feel different. Maybe it's how you look or talk, or where you're from; maybe it's what you eat, or something just as random. It's not easy to take those first steps into a place where nobody really knows you yet, but somehow you do it.
More Book that can be found on Amazon:
Woke Baby by Mhaogany Browne
Let’s Talk about Race by Julius Lester
Hands up! By Breanna McDaniel
Not My Idea by Anastasia Higginbotham
Skin Again by Bell Hooks
Intersection Allies by Chelsea Johnson
Who We Are! By Robie Harris
Where Are You from? By Yamile Saied Mendez
The Youngest Marcher by Cynthia Levinson
Viola Desmond Won’t Be Budged! by Jody Nyasha Warner and Richard Rudnicki
Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom by Carole Boston Weatherford
We're Different, We're the Same (Sesame Street) by Bobbi Kates