Top Social Justice Advocacy Title
Can We Please Give the Police Department to the Grandmothers?
Written by Junauda Petrus and Illustrated by Kristen Uroda. Published by October 2023. Orchard Books, an imprint of Hachette Children’s Group, a division of Hachette Book Group. $18.99 Hardback. 48 pages. 9781338715941. Ages 5-9.
Author Junauda Petrus wrote this poem in 2014, shortly after Michael Brown’s death in Ferguson, MO. The poem, along with picture book artist Kristen Uroda’s wonderful drawings, is a radical call to action towards community-based policing that provides safety, compassion, accountability, humanity, and respect for all. The committee envisions this book as a catalyst for collective action, emphasizing the importance of united efforts to build a safer, more trusting, and all-inclusive community. By pooling our resources and working collaboratively, the book suggests that we can actively contribute to the creation of an ecologically sound environment that prioritizes the well-being of all its members. The call to action embedded in the narrative encourages readers to engage in initiatives that promote dignity and respect for everyone, irrespective of their race or class. Trigger Warnings: References to police aggression, school bullying, disconnected and disengaged youth
On the Tip of a Wave
Written by Joanna Ho & Illustrated by Cátia Chien. Published October 2023. Orchard Books, an imprint of Hachette Children’s Group, a division of Hachette Book Group. $18.99 Hardback. 48 pages. 9781338715941. Ages 5-9.
Ho’s poetic text and Chien’s art capture the life of visual artist Ai Wei Wei as he addresses human rights, prejudice, and the struggle for freedom. Wei Wei’s childhood experience in a forced labor camp, his tactile act of assisting refugees fleeing their native countries by boat, and his innovative art that has impacted the world stage makes this a book of interest and education for all ages. Trigger Warnings: Child imprisonment, refugee boat people, sibling death, and grief.
My Red, White, and Blue
Written by Alana Tyson and Illustrated by London Ladd. Published January 2023. Philomel Books, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers, a division of Penguin Random House. $18.99. Hardback. 32 pages. 9780593525708. Ages 4-8.
In this powerfully validating story, many facets of Black American history are seen through the eyes of a young Black boy in conversation with his grandfather. Readers can see how Black Americans, whose history and contributions have been greatly marginalized, view freedom as it relates to America and the flag. This interpretation is one that many in the privileged majority fail to understand. Trigger Warnings: Historic social and racial injustice injustice.
The Incarceration of Native American Women: Creating Pathways to Wellness and Recovery Through Gentle Action Theory
Written by Carma Corcoran. Published June 2023. University of Nebraska Press. $55.00 Hardback. 200 pages. 9781496224187. Adult
He plans, designs, and oversees the Corcoran examines the increasing numbers of incarcerated indigenous women looking at a rising trajectory that has not been examined or rightfully acknowledged. In light of the historical trauma, Cocoran offers a theory of wellness and recovery that can lead to healing. Trigger Warnings: Drug and alcohol abuse, incarceration, poverty, depression, and historic racial and social injustice.
Punished for Dreaming: How School Reform Harms Black Children and How We Heal
Written by Bettina L. Love. Published September 2023. St. Martin’s Press, an imprint of The St. Martin’s Group, a division of MacMillan Publishing. $29.00 Hardback. 352 pages. 9781250280381. Adult.
The Reagan presidency played a pivotal role in initiating a War on Black Children.This war was intricately linked to the broader War on Drugs, collectively pathologizing and penalizing black children. Love asserts that the purported goal of reforming public schools was overshadowed by punitive measures such as increased policing, closures, and funding cuts. This punitive approach has resulted in a system where private interests can exploit and manipulate the educational landscape for their benefit. Trigger Warnings: Harmful results from past political policies, harmful impacts on public schools, closing down of public libraries, and social justice blindness,
The Eruption of Possible: To Burst From the Limits of Environment
Written by Dr. Kevin H. Abdur-Rahman. Published May 2023. Page Publishing, Inc. $15.95 Paperback. 120 pages. 9798887936116. Adult.
In his first book, Solving the Riddle, Dr. Abdur Rahman looks at the individual case study of at-risk youth. In this book, he looks at the community of ex-offenders with lived experiences of criminal behavior and incarceration. This group is frequently silenced and overlooked by a society driven by fear. Dr. Abdur-Rahman not only proposes a solution to break the cycle of criminal thinking but also highlights a connection between those with lived experiences and the necessary strategies and methodologies for diminishing crime and gun violence. Trigger Warnings: Advocation for ex-offenders, incarceration, gun violence, criminal lifestyle, and criminal thought processes.
Didn’t Nobody Give a Shit What Happened to Carlotta
Written by James Hannaham. Published August 2022. Little brown and company, a division of Hachette. $17.99 Hardback, 352 pages. 9780316285278. 17 – Up.
After being wrongfully imprisoned for a crime she witnessed but did not participate in, Carlotta Mercedes, a black Columbian formerly known as Dustin, is released on parole. Through the snarky humor of Carlotta’s narrative, the reader experiences the cruelty of the American prison system and its horrendous treatment of people who are members of marginalized communities. Trigger Warnings: Gender transformation, cursing, prison violence by security guards and inmates, racial and gender slurs, colorism.
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