Race and Social Justice Books for Teens

Going beyond the story of America as a country “discovered” by a few brave men in the “New World,” Indigenous human rights advocate Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz reveals the roles that settler colonialism and policies of American Indian genocide played in forming our national identity.

Six years ago, Moss Jefferies’ father was murdered by an Oakland police officer. Now, Moss and his fellow classmates find themselves increasingly treated like criminals in their own school. The students decide to organize and push back against the administration. When tensions hit a fever pitch and tragedy strikes, Moss must face a difficult choice: give in to fear and hate or realize that anger can actually be a gift.

Lena knows she’s going to make it big. Campbell is just trying to get through the year at her new school. One is black, one is white. When both girls attend the Friday-night football game, neither expects everything to descend into sudden mass chaos. Chaos born from violence and hate. Chaos that unexpectedly throws them together. When the city is up in flames, they only have each other to rely on if they’re going to survive the night.

Told from multiple viewpoints, Shae Tatum, an unarmed, thirteen-year-old black girl, is shot by a white police officer, throwing their community into upheaval and making it a target of demonstrators.

Upon arriving at the prestigious Wooddale University, seventeen-year-old Savannah Howard comes face-to-face with microaggressions and outright racism — but if she stands up for justice, will she endanger her future?

A history of racist and antiracist ideas in America, from their roots in Europe until today, adapted from the National Book Award winner Stamped from the Beginning.

A young adult anthology featuring fictional stories and poems that reflect a slice of the varied and limitless ways that young people resist every day.