Social justice is the pursuit of fairness in society based on the belief that all people deserve equal opportunities and rights. We curated the following study guide collection (including books for middle-grade and young adult readers) to help readers get the most out of books that cover contemporary issues and topics in social justice.
Publication year 2014
Genre Essay Collection, Nonfiction
Themes Identity: Race, Identity: Femininity, Values/Ideas: Literature, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Values/Ideas: Equality
Tags Gender / Feminism, Women's Studies (Nonfiction), Race / Racism, Social Justice, Politics / Government
Bad Feminist is a collection of essays from writer, scholar, and social critic Roxane Gay. Published in 2014 by Harper Perennial, the New York Times best seller draws together an array of topics, from pop culture to literary discourse to political legislation to personal recollections, in an analysis of society, culture, and politics. Gay tackles modern patriarchy and racism in ways that emphasize the humanity of marginalized people and how those systems of oppression deny... Read Bad Feminist Summary
Publication year 2012
Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction
Themes Relationships: Family, Identity: Indigenous, Society: Colonialism, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Self Discovery, Society: Nation, Society: Community
Tags History: U.S., Trauma / Abuse / Violence, Addiction / Substance Abuse, Depression / Suicide, Education, History: The Americas, Race / Racism, Social Justice, Women's Studies (Nonfiction), Education, History: World, Biography
Publication year 1965
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger, Identity: Race, Emotions/Behavior: Grief
Tags Narrative / Epic Poem, Race / Racism, Grief / Death, Social Justice, Civil Rights / Jim Crow, African American Literature
Publication year 1990
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Emotions/Behavior: Hope, Identity: Femininity, Identity: Gender, Identity: Masculinity, Relationships: Family, Society: Class, Society: Community, Society: Education, Society: Globalization, Society: Immigration, Society: Nation, Society: Politics & Government, Values/Ideas: Equality, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger, Values/Ideas: Trust & Doubt, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies, Emotions/Behavior: Courage
Tags Women's Studies (Nonfiction), Education, Education, Gender / Feminism, Sociology, History: World, Social Justice, Politics / Government
Publication year 2015
Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction
Themes Life/Time: Coming of Age, Relationships: Friendship, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Self Discovery, Natural World: Environment, Natural World: Appearance & Reality, Society: Class, Society: Politics & Government, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger, Society: Community, Values/Ideas: Literature
Tags Sports, Travel Literature, Action / Adventure, Bullying, Arts / Culture, Class, Race / Racism, Relationships, Poverty, Politics / Government, Science / Nature, Social Justice, History: World, Biography
Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life is a 2015 memoir by William Finnegan, a writer for The New Yorker and the author of several social journalism books such as A Complicated War: The Harrowing of Mozambique and Dateline Soweto: Travels with Black South African Reporters. In Barbarian Days, Finnegan reflects on his upbringing in California and Hawaii, as well as his coming of age in the late 1960s. He relays his experience of the surfing counterculture... Read Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life Summary
Publication year 2017
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Themes Values/Ideas: Good & Evil
Tags Sociology, Social Justice, Religion / Spirituality
Friar Gregory Boyle is the founder of Homeboy Industries, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit organization known for being the largest gang intervention and re-entry program in the world. Boyle is also a Jesuit priest and the author of the bestselling Tattoos on the Heart: The Power of Boundless Compassion, a memoir and religious text presenting his work with Homeboy Industries as a set of parables. Boyle received much acclaim for this first work and followed it... Read Barking to the Choir Summary
Publication year 2018
Genre Biography, Nonfiction
Themes Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed, Relationships: Family, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Identity: Language, Identity: Race, Society: Community
Tags Historical Fiction, Harlem Renaissance, History: U.S., Race / Racism, African American Literature, Anthropology, Black Lives Matter, Civil Rights / Jim Crow, Grief / Death, History: African , Social Justice, Trauma / Abuse / Violence, History: World, Biography
Originally written in the late 1920s and early 1930s, Barracoon: The Story of the Last “Black Cargo” (2018) is the transcribed posthumous autobiography of the life of Oluale “Cudjo Lewis” Kossola (1841-1935), written by Zora Neale Hurston (1891-1960). Known for her involvement in the Harlem Renaissance, Hurston was a writer, anthropologist, folklorist, and filmmaker. In all her work, she held a special appreciation for Black life and Black culture of the US South. Her works... Read Barracoon: The Story of the Last "Black Cargo" Summary
Publication year 2017
Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction
Themes Identity: Race, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Values/Ideas: Win & Lose
Tags Sports, Race / Racism, Social Justice, Children's Literature, Biography
Publication year 2020
Genre Biography, Nonfiction
Themes Identity: Race, Values/Ideas: Loyalty & Betrayal, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies
Tags Race / Racism, Arts / Culture, History: U.S., Philosophy, Post-War Era, History: World, Biography, Social Justice, Politics / Government
Begin Again: James Baldwin’s America and Its Urgent Lessons for Our Own is a non-fiction book by Eddie S. Glaude Jr., a Princeton University professor specializing in race and religion in the US. The title gestures to a passage in James Baldwin’s last novel, Just Above My Head (1979), which stresses the importance of new beginnings in the quest to rebuild the US as a truly multiracial democracy. A New York Times bestseller, Begin Again... Read Begin Again Summary
Publication year 1988
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Identity: Femininity, Relationships: Fathers, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger
Tags Historical Fiction, Auto/Biographical Fiction, Military / War, History: U.S., Gender / Feminism, Social Justice, American Civil War, Children's Literature, Education, Education, History: World
Behind Rebel Lines: The Incredible Story of Emma Edmonds, Civil War Spy by Seymour Reit is a work of historical fiction and children’s literature based on the true story of a young woman who pretends to be a man so that she can join the Union army during the US Civil War. The book’s target audience is ages 10-14, and it uses a simple style to appeal to a young audience. It is categorized as... Read Behind Rebel Lines Summary
Publication year 2020
Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction
Themes Values/Ideas: Equality, Society: Community, Society: Education, Society: Politics & Government, Identity: Disability
Tags Disability, Social Justice, History: U.S., Politics / Government, History: World, Biography
Publication year 2018
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Relationships: Family, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Identity: Race, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Relationships: Mothers, Society: Community, Values/Ideas: Equality, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice
Tags Historical Fiction, Social Justice, Race / Racism, African American Literature, Children's Literature, History: World
Publication year 2015
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Themes Identity: Race, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice
Tags Race / Racism, African American Literature, Black Lives Matter, History: World, Social Justice, Politics / Government, Biography
Ta-Nehisi Coates’s nonfiction book Between the World and Me was published 2015. The book takes the form of a long letter to Coates’s son Samori at age 15, and the title borrows from a poem by famed Black author Richard Wright. The text focuses on the psychological and physical trauma of racial violence that haunts generations of Black people, considering themes like The Precarity of the Black Body in the United States, The Danger of... Read Between the World and Me Summary
Publication year 2019
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Themes Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Values/Ideas: Equality, Emotions/Behavior: Fear, Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Society: Community
Tags Psychology, Race / Racism, Sociology, Social Justice, Science / Nature, Psychology, Politics / Government
Publication year 2023
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Themes Identity: Race, Society: Nation, Society: Politics & Government
Tags History: U.S., Race / Racism, Social Justice, Politics / Government, African American Literature, History: World, Humor
Publication year 1877
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality, Society: Class, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Natural World: Animals
Tags Classic Fiction, Historical Fiction, Action / Adventure, Animals, Addiction / Substance Abuse, Class, History: European, Poverty, Religion / Spirituality, Social Justice, Trauma / Abuse / Violence, Urban Development, Victorian Period, Coming of Age / Bildungsroman, Children's Literature, History: World
Black Beauty was written by English novelist Anna Sewell, and published in 1877. It quickly became extremely popular, and led to increased activism and public concern for the humane treatment of horses and other animals. It went on to become one of best-selling novels of all time, and has been adapted numerous times into films and theatre productions. Sewell used her novel to explore themes such as kindness and responsibility, and to critique social problems... Read Black Beauty Summary
Publication year 2021
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Fear, Identity: Race, Society: Nation, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice
Tags History: U.S., Race / Racism, Social Justice, Politics / Government, Trauma / Abuse / Violence, Children's Literature, History: World
Publication year 2020
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Relationships: Family, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Identity: Race
Tags Realistic Fiction, Sports, Coming of Age / Bildungsroman, Race / Racism, Children's Literature, Social Justice, Modern Classic Fiction
Publication year 1990
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Themes Identity: Gender, Identity: Race, Relationships: Mothers, Society: Community
Tags Gender / Feminism, Race / Racism, Politics / Government, Social Justice, Sociology, Philosophy, Women's Studies (Nonfiction), African American Literature, Philosophy
Publication year 2013
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Themes Society: Community, Identity: Race, Values/Ideas: Equality, Identity: Gender
Tags Psychology, Race / Racism, Science / Nature, Social Justice, Sociology, Education, Education, Business / Economics, Psychology, Self Help