For patrons searching for books on race and justice, our librarians have brought together a sampling of social justice resources that we hope you’ll find helpful in these uncertain times. Whether you’re discussing current events unfolding with your children, your teens, one another, or you’re merely learning for yourself (and we are always learning and growing) the following titles and links are here for you to use. All the listed titles are owned by Three Rivers Library and can checked out by placing them on hold. Some titles are available as ebooks via hoopla online, where you may check them out immediately.
Children:
Non-fiction
- The Undefeated by Kwame Alexander
- Talking about Racism by Nicola Edwards
- A Place to Land: Martin Luther King Jr. and the Speech that Inspired a Nation by Barrie Wittenstein
- Kid Activists: True Tales of Childhood from Champions of Change by Robin Stevenson
- Hector: A Boy, A Protest, and the Photograph that Changed Apartheid by Adriene Wright
Fiction
- The Other Side by Jacqueline Woodson
- Separate is Never Equal by Duncan Tonatiuh (Available on Hoopla)
- The Day You Begin by Jacqueline Woodson
- My Hair is a Garden by Cozbi A. Cabrera (Available on Hoopla)
- Something Happened in Our Town (Available on Hoopla)
- Little Leaders by Vashti Harrison
Teens:
Non-fiction
- Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Jason Reynolds
- Just Mercy: Adapted for Young People by Bryan Stevenson
- Lies My Teacher Told Me by James Loewen (Available on Hoopla)
- Rise Up! The Art of Protest by Jo Rippen (Available on Hoopla)
- Unpunished Murder: Massacre at Colfax and the Quest for Justice by Lawrence Goldstone
- Things That Make White People Uncomfortable by Michael Bennett (Available on Hoopla)
Fiction
- Monster by Walter Dean Myers
- Genesis Begins Again by Alicia D. Williams
- The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
- A Good Kind of Trouble by Lisa Moore Ramee
- Stella by Starlight by Sharon M. Draper
Adults:
Non-fiction
- Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehsi Coates
- Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson
- The Civil Rights Movement by Paul Winters
- Mighty Justice: My Life in Civil Rights by Dovey Johnson Roundtree and Katie McCabe
- When They Call You a Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir by Patrisse Khan-Cullors and Asha Bandele
- The Age of Entitlement: America Since the 60s by Christopher Caldwell
- I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
- White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide by Carol Anderson
- Conversations in Black : On Power, Politics, and Leadership by Ed Gordon
- The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander (Available on Hoopla)
- Raising White Kids by Jennifer Harvey (Available on Hoopla)
- Fire Shut Up In My Bones by Charles Blow (Available on Hoopla)
- Things That Make White People Uncomfortable by Michael Bennett (Available on Hoopla)
Fiction
- A Big Dose of Lucky by Marthe Jocelyn (Available on Hoopla)
- Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward
- Out of Darkness by Ashley Hope Perez (Available on Hoopla)
further reading:
Other Resources and further reading:
Here is a created-with-permission video of the book Something Happened in Our Town: A Child's Story about Racial Injustice, which addresses discussing police violence with kids: https://youtu.be/lcOhOFGcWm8