HKDPL Racial and Gender Equity Resources: Teens
a guide to resources available through HKDPL in print and electronically designed to raise awareness of social justice issues
This page offers materials that include website resources in the left column and Books with active links for those with electronic content in the right column. Books may be requested via our catalog.
Note that you may need to be signed in with your library card to access some of the materials. If you don't have a library card, get one here.
Websites
- Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture Guide to Talking About Raceguide for educators, parents, and people committed to equity
- Activist NY Exhibit from the Museum of the City of New Yorkongoing exhibit about social activism in NY from the 17th century through the present
- Exploring New York's Black HistoryNew York State Parks has made a site featuring amazing people and places that have impacted the state's and the nation's cultural landscape.
- PBS Chasing The DreamA public media initiative on income inequality and opportunity featuring videos available through YouTube
- People's Institute for Survival and BeyondThe People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond, a national, multiracial, anti-racist collective of organizers and educators, is dedicated to building a movement for social transformation. Its aim is to undo racism and other forms of oppression.
- National Civil Rights MuseumEstablished in 1991, the National Civil Rights Museum is located at the former Lorraine Motel, where civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated on April 4, 1968. Through interactive exhibits, historic collections, dynamic speakers and special events, the museum offers visitors a chance to walk through history and learn more about a tumultuous and inspiring period of change.
- Rosa Parks: In Her Own WordsRosa Parks: In Her Own Words showcases rarely seen materials that offer an intimate view of Rosa Parks and documents her life and activism
- Black History MonthThe Library of Congress, National Archives and Records Administration, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Gallery of Art, National Park Service, Smithsonian Institution and United States Holocaust Memorial Museum join in paying tribute to the generations of African Americans who struggled with adversity to achieve full citizenship in American society.
Hoopla E-content
- Hoopla Conversations on Race: YA ReadsHoopla's ebooks and audiobooks available to unlimited simultaneous users.
Recent Additions and Forthcoming Titles Combatting Prejudice and Promoting Empowerment 2021-2022
- The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks (Adapted for Young People) (in print) byISBN: 9780807067574Publication Date: 2021-02-02This biography examines Parks's life and 60 years of activism and brings the multifaceted, decades-long civil rights movement in the North and South to life for young readers. Now adapted for readers ages 12 and up, the award-winning biography that examines Parks's life and 60 years of radical activism and brings the civil rights movement in the North and South to life Rosa Parks is one of the most well-known Americans today, but much of what is known and taught about her is incomplete, distorted, and just plain wrong. Adapted for young people from the NAACP Image Award-winning The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks, Jeanne Theoharis and Brandy Colbert shatter the myths that Parks was meek, accidental, tired, or middle class. They reveal a lifelong freedom fighter whose activism began two decades before her historic stand that sparked the Montgomery bus boycott and continued for 40 years after. Readers will understand what it was like to be Parks, from standing up to white supremacist bullies as a young person to meeting her husband, Raymond, who showed her the possibility of collective activism, to her years of frustrated struggle before the boycott, to the decade of suffering that followed for her family after her bus arrest. The book follows Parks to Detroit, after her family was forced to leave Montgomery, Alabama, where she spent the second half of her life and reveals her activism alongside a growing Black Power movement and beyond. Because Rosa Parks was active for 60 years, in the North as well as the South, her story provides a broader and more accurate view of the Black freedom struggle across the twentieth century. Theoharis and Colbert show young people how the national fable of Parks and the civil rights movement-celebrated in schools during Black History Month-has warped what we know about Parks and stripped away the power and substance of the movement. The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks illustrates how the movement radically sought to expose and eradicate racism in jobs, housing, schools, and public services, as well as police brutality and the over-incarceration of Black people-and how Rosa Parks was a key player throughout. Rosa Parks placed her greatest hope in young people-in their vision, resolve, and boldness to take the struggle forward. As a young adult, she discovered Black history, and it sustained her across her life. The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks will help do that for a new generation.
- Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Boy (in print plus ebook and e-audio on Overdrive) byISBN: 9781250801067Publication Date: 2021-05-04Adapted from Emmanuel Acho's New York Times bestseller Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man, comes an essential young readers edition aimed at opening a dialogue about systemic racism with our youngest generation. Young people have the power to affect sweeping change, and the key to mending the racial divide in America lies in giving them the tools to ask honest questions and take in the difficult answers. Approaching every awkward, taboo, and uncomfortable question with openness and patience, Emmanuel Acho connects his own experience with race and racism--from attending majority-white prep schools to his time in the NFL playing on majority-black football teams--to insightful lessons in black history and black culture. Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Boy is just one way young readers can begin to short circuit racism within their own lives and communities.
- Dreams from My Father (Adapted for Young Adults) (in print plus ebook and e-audio on Overdrive/Libby) byISBN: 9780385738729Publication Date: 2021-10-05Now adapted for young adults--the #1 New York Times bestselling memoir, which Toni Morrison called "quite extraordinary," offers an intimate look at Barack Obama's early days. This is a compelling journey tracing the future 44th president's odyssey through family, race, and identity. A revealing portrait of a young Black man asking questions about self-discovery and belonging--long before he became one of the most important voices in America. This unique edition includes a new introduction from the author, full-color photo insert, and family tree. The son of a white American mother and a Black Kenyan father, Obama was born in Hawaii, where he lived until he was six years old, when he moved with his mother and stepfather to Indonesia. At twelve, he returned to Hawaii to live with his grandparents. Obama brings readers along as he faces the challenges of high school and college, living in New York, becoming a community organizer in Chicago, and traveling to Kenya. Through these experiences, he forms an enduring commitment to leadership and justice. Told through the lens of his relationships with his family--the mother and grandparents who raised him, the father he knows more as a myth than as a man, and the extended family in Kenya he meets for the first time--Obama confronts the complicated truth of his father's life and legacy and comes to embrace his divided heritage. On his journey to adulthood from a humble background, he forges his own path through trial and error while staying connected to his roots. Barack Obama is determined to lead a life of purpose, service, and authenticity. This powerful memoir will inspire readers to examine both where they come from and where they are capable of going.
- Finding Junie Kim (in print plus ebook and e-audio) byISBN: 9780062987983Publication Date: 2021-05-04For fans of Inside Out and Back Again and Amina's Voice comes a breathtaking story of family, hope, and survival from Ellen Oh, cofounder of We Need Diverse Books. When Junie Kim is faced with middle school racism, she learns of her grandparents' extraordinary strength and finds her voice. Inspired by her mother's real-life experiences during the Korean War, Oh's characters are real and riveting. Included in NPR's 2021 Books We Love List "Both unique and universal, timely and timeless." --Padma Venkatraman, Walter Award-winning author of The Bridge Home "A moving story that highlights how to find courage in the face of unspeakable hardship." --Hena Khan, award-winning author of Amina's Voice "Junie discovers where she comes from and gains the courage to make a difference in the future." --Wendy Wan-Long Shang, award-winning author of The Great Wall of Lucy Wu Junie Kim just wants to fit in. So she keeps her head down and tries not to draw attention to herself. But when racist graffiti appears at her middle school, Junie must decide between staying silent or speaking out. Then Junie's history teacher assigns a project and Junie decides to interview her grandparents, learning about their unbelievable experiences as kids during the Korean War. Junie comes to admire her grandma's fierce determination to overcome impossible odds, and her grandpa's unwavering compassion during wartime. And as racism becomes more pervasive at school, Junie taps into the strength of her ancestors and finds the courage to do what is right. Finding Junie Kim is a reminder that within all of us lies the power to overcome hardship and emerge triumphant.
- Black Birds in the Sky (in print plus ebook and e-audio on Overdrive) byISBN: 9780063056664Publication Date: 2021-10-05A searing new work of nonfiction from award-winning author Brandy Colbert about the history and legacy of one of the most deadly and destructive acts of racial violence in American history: the Tulsa Race Massacre. In the early morning of June 1, 1921, a white mob marched across the train tracks in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and into its predominantly Black Greenwood District--a thriving, affluent neighborhood known as America's Black Wall Street. They brought with them firearms, gasoline, and explosives. In a few short hours, they'd razed thirty-five square blocks to the ground, leaving hundreds dead. The Tulsa Race Massacre is one of the most devastating acts of racial violence in US history. But how did it come to pass? What exactly happened? And why are the events unknown to so many of us today? These are the questions that award-winning author Brandy Colbert seeks to answer in this unflinching nonfiction account of the Tulsa Race Massacre. In examining the tension that was brought to a boil by many factors--white resentment of Black economic and political advancement, the resurgence of white supremacist groups, the tone and perspective of the media, and more--a portrait is drawn of an event singular in its devastation, but not in its kind. It is part of a legacy of white violence that can be traced from our country's earliest days through Reconstruction, the Civil Rights movement in the mid-twentieth century, and the fight for justice and accountability Black Americans still face today. The Tulsa Race Massacre has long failed to fit into the story Americans like to tell themselves about the history of their country. This book, ambitious and intimate in turn, explores the ways in which the story of the Tulsa Race Massacre is the story of America--and by showing us who we are, points to a way forward.
- Paul Robeson (in print plus ebook on Overdrive) byISBN: 9781620976494Publication Date: 2021-03-09The inspiring life and legacy of vocal artist and civil rights icon Paul Robeson--one of the most important public figures in the twentieth century--adapted for young adults by the acclaimed Robeson biographer "As an artist I come to sing, but as a citizen, I will always speak for peace, and no one can silence me in this." --Paul Robeson Paul Robeson was destined for greatness. The son of an ex-slave who upon his college graduation ranked first in his class, Robeson was proclaimed the future "leader of the colored race in America." Although a graduate of Columbia Law School, he abandoned his law career (and the racism he encountered there) and began a hugely successful career as an internationally celebrated actor and singer. The predictions seemed to have been correct--Paul Robeson's triumphs on the stage earned him esteem among white and Black Americans across the country, although his daring and principled activism eventually made him an outcast from the entertainment industry, and his radical views made many consider him a public enemy. With the original biography lavishly praised in the Washington Post as "enthralling . . . a marvelous story marvelously told," this will be a thrilling new addition to the young adult canon. Featuring contextualizing sidebars, explanations of key terms, and photographs from Paul Robeson's life and times, Paul Robeson: No One Can Silence Me will introduce readers in middle and high school to the inspiring and complicated life of one of America's most fascinating figures, whose story of artistry, heroism, conviction, and conflict is newly relevant today.
- Black Was the Ink (in print plus ebook on Overdrive) byISBN: 9781643794310Publication Date: 2021-11-02Forgotten heroes still leave their mark. Malcolm Williams hasn't been okay for a while. He's angry and despondent and feels like nothing good ever happens for teens like him in D.C. All he wants is to be left alone in his room for the summer to draw or play video games----but no such luck. With growing violence in his neighborhood, his mother ships him off to his father's family farm in Mississippi, and Malcolm is anything but pleased. A few days after his arrival, his great--aunt tells him that the State is acquiring the farm to widen a highway. It's not news Malcolm is concerned about, but someone plans to make it his concern. One minute Malcolm is drawing in the farmhouse attic, and the next he's looking through the eyes of his ancestor Cedric Johnson in 1866. As Cedric, Malcolm meets the real--life Black statesmen who fought for change during the Reconstruction era: Hiram Revels, Robert Smalls, and other leaders who made American history. But even after witnessing their bravery, Malcolm's faith in his own future remains shaky, particularly since he knows that the gains these statesmen made were almost immediately stripped away. If those great men couldn't completely succeed, why should he try? Malcolm must decide which path to take. Can Cedric's experiences help him construct a better future? Or will he resign himself to resentments and defeat? Perfect for fans of Jason Reynolds and Nic Stone, and featuring illustrations by upcoming artist, Justin Johnson, Black Was the Ink is a powerful coming--of--age story and an eye--opening exploration of an era that defined modern America.
- The Lives of Desperate Girls (in print) byISBN: 9780143198710Publication Date: 2017-09-19One small, northern community. Two girls gone - one missing, the other dead. A riveting coming-of-age debut young adult novel for fans of We Were Liars and All the Bright Places. Sixteen-year-old Helen Commanda is found dead just outside Thunder Creek, Ontario. Her murder goes unremarked, except for the fact that it may shed light on the earlier disappearance of Chloe Shaughnessy. Chloe is beautiful, rich and white. Helen is plain, and from the reservation. They had nothing in common except that they were teenage girls from an unforgiving small town. Only Chloe's best friend Jenny Parker knows exactly how unforgiving, but she's keeping some dangerous secrets of her own. Jenny begins looking for answers about Helen's life and death, trying to understand larger questions about her town and her best friend. But what can a teenage girl really accomplish where adults have failed? And how much is Jenny actually complicit in a conspiracy of silence?
- Only the Pretty Lies (in print) byISBN: 9781542019644Publication Date: 2021-05-01A young love story about breaking painful legacies by the author of The Upside of Falling Down. Convention doesn't carry much weight in Alder Creek. It doesn't in Amoris Westmore's family either. Daughter of a massage therapist and a pothead artist, inheritor of her grandmother's vinyl collection, and blissfully entering her senior year in high school, Amoris never wants to leave her progressive hometown. Why should she? Everything changes when Jamison Rush moves in next door. Jamison was Amoris's first crush, and their last goodbye still stings. But Jamison stirs more than bittersweet memories. One of the few Black students in Alder Creek, Jamison sees Amoris's idyllic town through different eyes. He encourages Amoris to look a little closer, too. When Jamison discovers a racist mural at Alder Creek High, Amoris's worldview is turned upside down. Now Amoris must decide where she stands and whom she stands by, threatening her love for the boy who stole her heart years ago. Maybe Alder Creek isn't the town Amoris thinks it is. She's certainly no longer the girl she used to be.
- The Problem with the Other Side (in print plus ebook on Overdrive) byISBN: 9781641292054Publication Date: 2021-09-07Uly has no interest in politics. He just wants to hang out with his new girlfriend, Sallie. His sister Regina feels differently. She is fed up with the way white school presidential candidate Leona talks about Black students. So Regina decides to run against Leona... Sallie has no interest in managing her sister Leona's campaign, but Leona is practically her only family. When Leona is accused of running a racist campaign that targets the school's students of colour - including Sallie's boyfriend, Uly - Sallie wants to give her the benefit of the doubt. But how long can she ignore the ugly truth?
- Kneel (in print plus ebook and e-audio on Overdrive) byISBN: 9781335402516Publication Date: 2021-09-14"A must read. 10/10." --Broderick Hunter, actor, model, and activist This fearless debut novel explores racism, injustice, and self-expression through the story of a promising Black football star in Louisiana. The system is rigged. For guys like Russell Boudreaux, football is the only way out of their small town. As the team's varsity tight end, Rus has a singular goal: to get a scholarship and play on the national stage. But when his best friend is unfairly arrested and kicked off the team, Rus faces an impossible choice: speak up or live in fear. "Please rise for the national anthem." Desperate for change, Rus kneels during the national anthem. In one instant, he falls from local stardom and becomes a target for hatred. But he's not alone. With the help of his best friend and an unlikely ally, Rus will fight for his dreams, and for justice. "A gripping story about what it looks like when we demand equity, justice, and recognition of our own humanity." --Kalynn Bayron, author of Cinderella Is Dead
- The Awakening of Malcolm X (in print plus ebook on Overdrive) byISBN: 9780374313296Publication Date: 2021-01-05No one can be at peace until he has his freedom. In Charlestown Prison, Malcolm Little struggles with the weight of his past. Plagued by nightmares, he drifts through days unsure of his future. Slowly, he befriends other prisoners and writes to his family. He reads all the books in the prison library, joins the debate team and the Nation of Islam. Malcolm grapples with race, politics, religion, and justice in the 1940s. And as his time in jail comes to an end, he begins to awaken--emerging from prison more than just Malcolm Little: Now, he is Malcolm X.Here is an intimate look at Malcolm X's young adult years. While this book chronologically follows X: A Novel (Candlewick), it can be read as a standalone historical novel that invites larger discussions on structural racism, prison reform, and civil rights.
- Everything You Wanted to Know about Indians but Were Afraid to Ask (in print plus ebook on Overdrive) byISBN: 9781646140459Publication Date: 2021-04-06From the acclaimed Ojibwe author and professor Anton Treuer comes an essential book of questions and answers for Native and non-Native young readers alike. Ranging from "Why is there such a fuss about nonnative people wearing Indian costumes for Halloween?" to "Why is it called a 'traditional Indian fry bread taco'?" to "What's it like for natives who don't look native?" to "Why are Indians so often imagined rather than understood?", and beyond, Everything You Wanted to Know About Indians But Were Afraid to Ask (Young Readers Edition) does exactly what its title says for young readers, in a style consistently thoughtful, personal, and engaging. Updated and expanded to include: * Dozens of New Questions and New Sections--including a social activism section that explores the Dakota Access Pipeline, racism, identity, politics, and more! * Over 50 new Photos * Adapted text for broad appeal
- Native Women Changing Their Worlds (in print plus e-audio on Hoopla) byISBN: 9781939053329Publication Date: 2021-05-25Native women have filled their communities with strength and leadership, both historically and as modern-day warriors. The 12 Native American and First Nations women featured in this book overcame unimaginable hardships--racial and gender discrimination, abuse and extreme poverty--only to rise to great heights in the fields of politics, science, education and community activism. Such determination and courage reflect the essence of the traditional Cheyenne saying, "A nation is not conquered until the hearts of its women are on the ground." The impressive accomplishments of these 12 dynamic women provide inspiration for all. B/W photos. Ashley Callingbull Burnham (Enoch Cree Nation) Henrietta Mann, PhD (Southern Cheyenne) Ruth Anna Buffalo (Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation) Elouise Pepion Cobell (Blackfeet) Loriene Roy, PhD (Anishinabe, White Earth Reservation) Sharice Davids (Ho-Chunk Nation) Roberta Jamieson (Kanyen'kehà:ka, Six Nations of the Grand River Territory) Deb Haaland (Pueblo of Laguna) Elsie Marie Knott (Mississauga Ojibwe) Mary Golda Ross (Cherokee) Heather Dawn Thompson (Lakota, Cheyenne River Sioux) Emily Washines (Yakama Nation with Cree and Skokomish lineage)
- Run (in print plus ebook on Hoopla) byISBN: 9781419730696Publication Date: 2021-08-03First you march, then you run. From the #1 bestselling, award-winning team behind March comes the first book in their new, groundbreaking graphic novel series, Run: Book One "Run recounts the lost history of what too often follows dramatic change-the pushback of those who refuse it and the resistance of those who believe change has not gone far enough. John Lewis's story has always been a complicated narrative of bravery, loss, and redemption, and Run gives vivid, energetic voice to a chapter of transformation in his young, already extraordinary life." -Stacey Abrams "In sharing my story, it is my hope that a new generation will be inspired by Run to actively participate in the democratic process and help build a more perfect Union here in America." -Congressman John Lewis The sequel to the #1 New York Times bestselling graphic novel series March-the continuation of the life story of John Lewis and the struggles seen across the United States after the Selma voting rights campaign. To John Lewis, the civil rights movement came to an end with the signing of the Voting Rights Act in 1965. But that was after more than five years as one of the preeminent figures of the movement, leading sit-in protests and fighting segregation on interstate busways as an original Freedom Rider. It was after becoming chairman of SNCC (the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee) and being the youngest speaker at the March on Washington. It was after helping organize the Mississippi Freedom Summer and the ensuing delegate challenge at the 1964 Democratic National Convention. And after coleading the march from Selma to Montgomery on what became known as "Bloody Sunday." All too often, the depiction of history ends with a great victory. But John Lewis knew that victories are just the beginning. In Run: Book One, John Lewis and longtime collaborator Andrew Aydin reteam with Nate Powell-the award-winning illustrator of the March trilogy-and are joined by L. Fury-making an astonishing graphic novel debut-to tell this often overlooked chapter of civil rights history.
- The Burning (Young Readers Edition) (in print plus e-audio on Hoopla) byISBN: 9781250787699Publication Date: 2021-05-11In 1921, a white mob murdered hundreds of citizens and decimated the thriving Black community of Greenwood in Tulsa, Oklahoma. With chilling details, humanity, and the narrative thrust of compelling fiction, The Burning recreates the town of Greenwood at the height of its prosperity, explores the currents of hatred, racism, and mistrust between its Black residents and neighboring Tulsa's white population, narrates events leading up to and including Greenwood's annihilation, and documents the subsequent silence that surrounded this great tragedy. Delving into history that's long been pushed aside, much like Hidden Figures, In the Shadow of Liberty, and Claudette Colvin, this is the true story of Black Wall Street and the Tulsa Race Massacre, adapted for young readers.
- One of the Good Ones (in print plus ebook and e-audio on Overdrive) byISBN: 9781335145802Publication Date: 2021-01-05"One of the Good Ones is magic." --Damon Young, author of What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Blacker A shockingly powerful exploration of the lasting impact of prejudice and the indomitable spirit of sisterhood that will have readers questioning what it truly means to be an ally, from sister-writer duo Maika Moulite and Maritza Moulite, authors of Dear Haiti, Love Alaine. ISN'T BEING HUMAN ENOUGH? When teen social activist and history buff Kezi Smith is killed under mysterious circumstances after attending a social justice rally, her devastated sister Happi and their family are left reeling in the aftermath. As Kezi becomes another immortalized victim in the fight against police brutality, Happi begins to question the idealized way her sister is remembered. Perfect. Angelic. One of the good ones. Even as the phrase rings wrong in her mind--why are only certain people deemed worthy to be missed?--Happi and her sister Genny embark on a journey to honor Kezi in their own way, using an heirloom copy of The Negro Motorist Green Book as their guide. But there's a twist to Kezi's story that no one could've ever expected--one that will change everything all over again. "Astonishing!" --Laura Ruby, two-time National Book Award finalist and author of Bone Gap "Brilliant" --Kirkus Reviews, starred review "Thrilling" --SLJ, starred review
Recent Additions to HKDPL collection of books to combat racism and prejudice and empower people 2020
- The Voting Booth (in print and ebook on Overdrive) byISBN: 9781368053297Publication Date: 2020-07-07Marva was born ready for this day. She's always been driven to make a difference in the world, and what better way than to vote in her first election? Duke is so done with this election. He just wants to get voting over with so he can prepare for his band's first paying gig tonight. Only problem? Duke can t vote. When Marva sees Duke turned away from their polling place, she takes it upon herself to make sure his vote is counted. Romantic and triumphant, The Voting Booth is proof that you can't sit around waiting for the world to change... but some things are just meant to be.
- Punching the Air (in print and ebook on Overdrive) byISBN: 9780062996480Publication Date: 2020-09-01Instant New York Times bestseller! From award-winning author Ibi Zoboi and prison reform activist Yusef Salaam of the Exonerated Five comes a powerful YA novel in verse about a boy who is wrongfully incarcerated. Perfect for fans of Jason Reynolds, Walter Dean Myers, and Elizabeth Acevedo. The story that I thought was my life didn't start on the day I was born Amal Shahid has always been an artist and a poet. But even in a diverse art school, he's seen as disruptive and unmotivated by a biased system. Then one fateful night, an altercation in a gentrifying neighborhood escalates into tragedy. "Boys just being boys" turns out to be true only when those boys are white. The story that I think will be my life starts today Suddenly, at just sixteen years old, Amal's bright future is upended: he is convicted of a crime he didn't commit and sent to prison. Despair and rage almost sink him until he turns to the refuge of his words, his art. This never should have been his story. But can he change it? With spellbinding lyricism, award-winning author Ibi Zoboi and prison reform activist Yusef Salaam tell a moving and deeply profound story about how one boy is able to maintain his humanity and fight for the truth, in a system designed to strip him of both.
- Don't Ask Me Where I'm From (in print and ebook on Overdrive) byISBN: 9781534438248Publication Date: 2020-08-18"A funny, perceptive, and much-needed book telling a much-needed story." --Celeste Ng, author of the New York Times bestseller Little Fires Everywhere "Written with humor and grace, with intimacy and empathy, Don't Ask Me Where I'm From is the perfect coming of age novel for our time." --Matt Mendez, author of Barely Missing Everything and Twitching Heart First-generation American LatinX Liliana Cruz does what it takes to fit in at her new nearly all-white school. But when family secrets spill out and racism at school ramps up, she must decide what she believes in and take a stand. Liliana Cruz is a hitting a wall--or rather, walls. There's the wall her mom has put up ever since Liliana's dad left--again. There's the wall that delineates Liliana's diverse inner-city Boston neighborhood from Westburg, the wealthy--and white--suburban high school she's just been accepted into. And there's the wall Liliana creates within herself, because to survive at Westburg, she can't just lighten up, she has to whiten up. So what if she changes her name? So what if she changes the way she talks? So what if she's seeing her neighborhood in a different way? But then light is shed on some hard truths: It isn't that her father doesn't want to come home--he can't...and her whole family is in jeopardy. And when racial tensions at school reach a fever pitch, the walls that divide feel insurmountable. But a wall isn't always a barrier. It can be a foundation for something better. And Liliana must choose: Use this foundation as a platform to speak her truth, or risk crumbling under its weight.
- The Black Kids (in print and ebook on Overdrive) byISBN: 9781534462724Publication Date: 2020-08-04"Should be required reading in every classroom." --Nic Stone, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Dear Martin "A true love letter to Los Angeles." --Brandy Colbert, award-winning author of Little & Lion "A brilliantly poetic take on one of the most defining moments in Black American history." --Tiffany D. Jackson, author of Grown and Monday's Not Coming Perfect for fans of The Hate U Give, this unforgettable coming-of-age debut novel explores issues of race, class, and violence through the eyes of a wealthy black teenager whose family gets caught in the vortex of the 1992 Rodney King Riots. Los Angeles, 1992 Ashley Bennett and her friends are living the charmed life. It's the end of senior year and they're spending more time at the beach than in the classroom. They can already feel the sunny days and endless possibilities of summer. Everything changes one afternoon in April, when four LAPD officers are acquitted after beating a black man named Rodney King half to death. Suddenly, Ashley's not just one of the girls. She's one of the black kids. As violent protests engulf LA and the city burns, Ashley tries to continue on as if life were normal. Even as her self-destructive sister gets dangerously involved in the riots. Even as the model black family façade her wealthy and prominent parents have built starts to crumble. Even as her best friends help spread a rumor that could completely derail the future of her classmate and fellow black kid, LaShawn Johnson. With her world splintering around her, Ashley, along with the rest of LA, is left to question who is the us? And who is the them?
- This Is My America (in print and ebook on Overdrive) byISBN: 9780593118764Publication Date: 2020-07-28"Incredible and searing." --Nic Stone, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Dear Martin The Hate U Give meets Just Mercy in this unflinching yet uplifting first novel that explores the racist injustices in the American justice system. Every week, seventeen-year-old Tracy Beaumont writes letters to Innocence X, asking the organization to help her father, an innocent Black man on death row. After seven years, Tracy is running out of time--her dad has only 267 days left. Then the unthinkable happens. The police arrive in the night, and Tracy's older brother, Jamal, goes from being a bright, promising track star to a "thug" on the run, accused of killing a white girl. Determined to save her brother, Tracy investigates what really happened between Jamal and Angela down at the Pike. But will Tracy and her family survive the uncovering of the skeletons of their Texas town's racist history that still haunt the present? Fans of Nic Stone, Tiffany D. Jackson, and Jason Reynolds won't want to miss this provocative and gripping debut.
- I Am Alfonso Jones (in print) byISBN: 9781620142639Publication Date: 2017-10-10The Hate U Give meets The Lovely Bones in this unflinching graphic novel about the afterlife of a young man killed by an off-duty police officer, co-illustrated by New York Times bestselling artist John Jennings. Alfonso Jones can't wait to play the role of Hamlet in his school's hip-hop rendition of the classic Shakespearean play. He also wants to let his best friend, Danetta, know how he really feels about her. But as he is buying his first suit, an off-duty police officer mistakes a clothes hanger for a gun, and he shoots Alfonso. When Alfonso wakes up in the afterlife, he's on a ghost train guided by well-known victims of police shootings, who teach him what he needs to know about this subterranean spiritual world. Meanwhile, Alfonso's family and friends struggle with their grief and seek justice for Alfonso in the streets. As they confront their new realities, both Alfonso and those he loves realize the work that lies ahead in the fight for justice. In the first graphic novel for young readers to focus on police brutality and the Black Lives Matter movement, as in Hamlet, the dead shall speak-and the living yield even more surprises. Foreword by Bryan Stevenson, Executive Director of the Equal Justice Initiative and author of Just Mercy
- Girls Resist! (in print and e-audio on Hoopla) byISBN: 1683690591Publication Date: 2018-08-07GIRLS RESIST is a cool, relevant, timely activism handbook that speaks to teen girl readers like the intelligent and passionate people they are. In this age of political Teen Vogue editorials and teen actors frankly discussing topics like feminism and white privilege, young women are more engaged, excited, and fired up than ever--but they also need guidance. Chapters will cover standard topics like picking a cause, fundraising, networking, and protesting, but devote plenty of space to teen-specific topics and how-tos like having tough talks with unsupportive family members, lobbying and campaigning for representatives when you're too young to vote, and best practices for being effective (and safe!) while raising awareness on social media. Plus, the fresh design will make this as much a self-purchase as a gift, fitting perfectly between magazines and YA novels on a teen girl's shelf.
- Black Enough (in print and ebook on Hoopla) byISBN: 9780062698728Publication Date: 2019-01-08Edited by National Book Award finalist Ibi Zoboi, and featuring some of the most acclaimed bestselling Black authors writing for teens today--Black Enough is an essential collection of captivating stories about what it's like to be young and Black in America. A selection of the Schomburg Center's Black Liberation Reading List. Black is...sisters navigating their relationship at summer camp in Portland, Oregon, as written by Renée Watson. Black is...three friends walking back from the community pool talking about nothing and everything, in a story by Jason Reynolds. Black is...Nic Stone's high-class beauty dating a boy her momma would never approve of. Black is...two girls kissing in Justina Ireland's story set in Maryland. Black is urban and rural, wealthy and poor, mixed race, immigrants, and more--because there are countless ways to be Black enough. Contributors: Justina Ireland Varian Johnson Rita Williams-Garcia Dhonielle Clayton Kekla Magoon Leah Henderson Tochi Onyebuchi Jason Reynolds Nic Stone Liara Tamani Renée Watson Tracey Baptiste Coe Booth Brandy Colbert Jay Coles Ibi Zoboi Lamar Giles
- Boycotts, Marches, and Strikes (in print plus ebook on Hoopla) byISBN: 9781619309166Publication Date: 2020-10-15An in-depth exploration of five different marches, protests, and boycotts of the Civil Rights Era--actions that made it impossible for the people in power to ignore the social injustices rampant in the United States. Part of a new series on the civil rights era for ages 12 to 15 from Nomad Press. Thousands of protests, marches, and demonstrations of the Civil Rights Era gave a strong voice to people and groups who were traditionally ignored. These protests led to important legal and social changes that continue to impact our nation today. In Boycotts, Strikes, and Marches: Protests of the Civil Rights Era, readers 12 through 15 explore five ground-breaking events that took place during the 1950s, 1960s, and early 1970s. Become immersed in the excitement, challenges, and spirit of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the Draft Card Burning Protests of the Vietnam War, the Delano Grape Strike and Boycott, the first Gay Pride March, and the Women's Strike for Equality. Kids learn about the conditions that prompted these demonstrations and how protest organizers used critical and creative thinking to surmount the challenges they faced to initiate meaningful change. When these protests began, American society looked vastly different than it does today. African Americans were denied the same rights as whites in many parts of the country. Women couldn't pursue the same jobs as men. The LGBTQ community was forced to live in secrecy. Farm workers were forbidden to join unions to advocate for fair wages and working conditions. Protests were a tool the people used to express their discontent and start to make essential change in the fabric of both society and politics. And today, we're seeing that the job is still unfinished, as protestors take to the streets and make their voices heard in a call for anti-racism through the Black Lives Matter movement. In this book, hands-on projects and research activities alongside essential questions, links to online resources, and text-to-world connections all help further explain a complicated era and offer opportunities for social-emotional learning. Boycotts, Strikes, and Marches: Protests of the Civil Rights Era is part of a new series from Nomad Press, The Civil Rights Era, that captures the passion and conviction of the 1950s, '60s, and '70s. Other titles in this set include Changing Laws: Politics of the Civil Rights Era; Sitting In, Standing Up: Leaders of the Civil Rights Era; and Singing for Equality: Musicians of the Civil Rights Era.
- Riot Baby (in print plus e-audio on Hoopla) byISBN: 9781250214751Publication Date: 2020-01-21"Riot Baby bursts at the seams of story with so much fire, passion and power that in the end it turns what we call a narrative into something different altogether."--Marlon JamesElla has a Thing. She sees a classmate grow up to become a caring nurse. A neighbor's son murdered in a drive-by shooting. Things that haven't happened yet. Kev, born while Los Angeles burned around them, wants to protect his sister from a power that could destroy her. But when Kev is incarcerated, Ella must decide what it means to watch her brother suffer while holding the ability wreck cities in her hands.Rooted in the hope that can live in anger, Riot Baby is as much an intimate family story as a global dystopian narrative. It burns fearlessly toward revolution and has quietly devastating things to say about love, fury, and the black American experience.Ella and Kev are both shockingly human and immeasurably powerful. Their childhoods are defined and destroyed by racism. Their futures might alter the world.
- The Suffragist Playbook: Your Guide to Changing the World (in print plus ebook on Overdrive) byISBN: 9781536210330Publication Date: 2020-10-27Do you have a cause you're passionate about? Take a few tips from the suffragists, who led one of the largest and longest movements in American history. The women's suffrage movement was decades in the making and came with many harsh setbacks. But it resulted in a permanent victory: women's right to vote. How did the suffragists do it? One hundred years later, an eye-opening look at their playbook shows that some of their strategies seem oddly familiar. Women's marches at inauguration time? Check. Publicity stunts, optics, and influencers? They practically invented them. Petitions, lobbying, speeches, raising money, and writing articles? All of that, too. From moments of inspiration to some of the movement's darker aspects--including the racism of some suffragist leaders, violence against picketers, and hunger strikes in jail--this International Literacy Association Young Adult Book Award winner takes a clear-eyed view of the role of key figures: Susan B. Anthony, Lucy Stone, Sojourner Truth, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Frances Willard, Ida B. Wells, Alice Paul, and many more. Engagingly narrated by Lucinda Robb and Rebecca Boggs Roberts, whose friendship goes back generations (to their grandmothers, Lady Bird Johnson and Lindy Boggs, and their mothers, Lynda Robb and Cokie Roberts), this unique melding of seminal history and smart tactics is sure to capture the attention of activists-in-the-making today.
- Daughters of Jubilation (in print) byISBN: 9781481459501Publication Date: 2020-10-13"A compelling story of first love and battling racism with a magical twist." --Kirkus Reviews (starred review) "Well-told, fast-paced." --School Library Journal (starred review) From the award-winning author of The Truth of Right Now comes a stunning, grounded fantasy in the vein of Dread Nation that follows a black teen as she finds her place among a family of women gifted with magical abilities. In the Jim Crow South, white supremacy reigns and tensions are high. But Evalene Deschamps has other things to worry about. She has two little sisters to look after, an overworked single mother, and a longtime crush who is finally making a move. On top of all that, Evvie's magic abilities are growing stronger by the day. Her family calls it jubilation--a gift passed down from generations of black women since the time of slavery. And as Evvie's talents waken, something dark comes loose and threatens to resurface... And when the demons of Evvie's past finally shake free, she must embrace her mighty lineage, and summon the power that lies within her.
- The Invincible Summer of Juniper Jones (in print plus ebook on Hoopla) byISBN: 9781989365168Publication Date: 2020-06-16There are some friends you never forget. It's the summer of 1955. For Ethan Harper, a biracial kid raised mostly by his white father, race has always been a distant conversation. When he's sent to spend the summer with his aunt and uncle in small-town Alabama, his blackness is suddenly front and center, and no one is shy about making it known he's not welcome there. Enter Juniper Jones. The town's resident oddball and free spirit, she's everything the townspeople aren't--open, kind, and accepting. Armed with two bikes and an unlimited supply of root beer floats, Ethan and Juniper set out to find their place in a town that's bent on rejecting them. As Ethan is confronted for the first time by what it means to be black in America, Juniper tries to help him see the beauty in even the ugliest reality, and that even the darkest days can give rise to an invincible summer . . .
- Displacement (in print plus ebook on Overdrive) byISBN: 9781250193537Publication Date: 2020-08-18Kiku is on vacation in San Francisco when suddenly she finds herself displaced to the 1940s Japanese-American internment camp that her late grandmother, Ernestina, was forcibly relocated to during World War II.These displacements keep occurring until Kiku finds herself "stuck" back in time. Living alongside her young grandmother and other Japanese-American citizens in internment camps, Kiku gets the education she never received in history class. She witnesses the lives of Japanese-Americans who were denied their civil liberties and suffered greatly, but managed to cultivate community and commit acts of resistance in order to survive. Kiku Hughes weaves a riveting, bittersweet tale that highlights the intergenerational impact and power of memory.
- Sitting in, Standing Up (in print plus ebook on Hoopla) byISBN: 9781619309159Publication Date: 2020-11-12A collective biography about five influential leaders of the Civil Rights Era! Part of a new series on the Civil Rights Movement for ages 12 to 15 from Nomad Press. Perfect for kids interested in how history led to the Black Lives Matter movement. Sitting In, Standing Up: Leaders of the Civil Rights Era tells the story of one of the most tumultuous and important eras in American history through the lives of five major figures of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s: Thurgood Marshall, Fannie Lou Hamer, Martin Luther King, Jr., Ella Baker, and John Lewis. The work of these people sparked the passion of a nation and helped change the tide of social injustice in a way that reverberates to this day. Before learning about the changes that characterize the Civil Rights Movement, readers ages 12 to 15 establish foundational knowledge of the very concept of civil rights--why was an entire movement necessary to make the promise of civil rights, contained in the United States Constitution, a reality for African American people? Kids learn about the Bill of Rights, Jim Crow segregation laws, and the civil rights and social justice issues that concern the public today. Armed with this background knowledge, they dive into the stories and deeds of the major leaders of the movement and distinguish the giant steps forward, the frequent backslides, and the ever-present current of determination and passion that drove these people toward the ideal they knew their country could achieve. And today, we''re seeing that the job is still unfinished, as protestors take to the streets and make their voices heard in a call for anti-racism at all levels of society. Who are today''s leaders? Hands-on projects and research activities alongside essential questions, links to online resources, and text-to-world connections promote a profound understanding of history and offer opportunities for social-emotional learning. Readers learn how Thurgood Marshall, a lawyer, used civil law to change the very fabric of society, from the pivotal 1954 Supreme Court decision of Brown v. Board of Education Topeka to the dozens of cases he argued and or decided in his roles as an appellate court judge, Solicitor General, and Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. Face down hatred with Fannie Lou Hamer and her heroic efforts to make the right to vote more than an empty promise for black Americans. Learn about endurance with Ella Baker, the behind-the-scenes organizer and grass roots activist whose work in the civil rights movement spanned five decades. Travel the road to nonviolent civil disobedience with Martin Luther King, Jr., the young Baptist minister who became the most recognizable face of the civil rights movement and whose commitment to peaceful forms of protest stood in stark contrast to the violence to which black activists were frequently subjected. His 1968 assassination marked the end of an era and triggered waves of racial unrest. Watch John Lewis rise from the lowest rung of African American society in the sharecropping South to one of the highest elected offices in the land. Plus, explore the anger and hope of Malcolm X and the Nation of Islam. Meets multiple standards for the National Curriculum Standards for Social Studies. Uses an inquiry-based approach to encourage readers to explore the present status of civil rights for blacks in the United States. Aligns with Common Core State Standards. Projects include Reading and responding to primary sources such as the Bill of Rights, Staging a debate on a current civil rights issue, and Researching the history of women''s right to vote.
- Self-Love Revolution (ebook on Hoopla) byISBN: 9781684034116Publication Date: 2020-05-01"A terrific resource that shows readers how to start feeling good about their body and rewire their sense of self-worth." --School Library Journal starred review It's time to ditch harmful, outdated beauty standards and build real, lasting body positivity. It's time for a self-love revolution! Every day we see movies, magazines, and social media that make us feel like we need to change how we look. This takes a toll on how we think about ourselves--and how we allow others to treat us. And while many teens feel shame about their body, being a teen girl of color can be hard in unique ways. Maybe you feel alienated by the mainstream image of beauty, which is still thin, white and able-bodied. In addition to that, you may also feel pressure from within your community to measure up to a different--but equally unfair--beauty standard. So, how can you start feeling good about yourself when you're surrounded by these unrealistic--and problematic--ideas about your body? In The Self-Love Revolution, leading body image expert and creator of #LoseHateNotWeight Virgie Tovar offers an unapologetic guide to help you question popular culture and cultivate radical body positivity. With this groundbreaking book, you'll identify and challenge mainstream beliefs about beauty; understand the unique tools girls of color have to counter negative body image; and build real, lasting body empowerment. You'll also learn how to call out diet culture, and discover ways to move beyond your own inner critic and start building the unconditional love for yourself that you deserve. It's time to explode society's beauty standards, stop messing with diets, wear what you want, and recognize that your body is your business. This book will help you find your way to radical body positivity, one step at a time.
- You Too? (e-audio on Overdrive) byISBN: 9781335929082Publication Date: 2020-01-07A timely and heartfelt collection of essays inspired by the #MeToo movement, edited by acclaimed author Janet Gurtler. Featuring Beth Revis, Mackenzi Lee, Ellen Hopkins, Saundra Mitchell, Jennifer Brown, Cheryl Rainfield and many more. When #MeToo went viral, Janet Gurtler was among the millions of people who began to reflect on her past experiences. Things she had reluctantly accepted--male classmates groping her at recess, harassment at work--came back to her in startling clarity. She needed teens to know what she had not: that no young person should be subject to sexual assault, or made to feel unsafe, less than or degraded. You Too? was born out of that need. By turns thoughtful and explosive, these personal stories encompass a wide range of experiences and serve as a reminder to readers that they, too, have a voice worthy of being heard--and that only by listening and working together can we create change.
- Unequal (in print plus ebook on Overdrive/Libby) byISBN: 9780759557017Publication Date: 2022-05-03New York Times bestselling author Michael Eric Dyson and critically acclaimed author Marc Favreau show how racial inequality permeates every facet of American society, through the lens of those pushing for meaningful change. The true story of racial inequality--and resistance to it--is the prologue to our present. You can see it in where we live, where we go to school, where we work, in our laws, and in our leadership. Unequal presents a gripping account of the struggles that shaped America and the insidiousness of racism, and demonstrates how inequality persists. As readers meet some of the many African American people who dared to fight for a more equal future, they will also discover a framework for addressing racial injustice in their own lives.
HKDPL Books (Print & Electronic) About Combating Racism and Prejudice and Empowering People
- All American Boys (in print plus ebook on Overdrive) byISBN: 9781481463331Publication Date: 2015-09-29A 2016 Coretta Scott King Author Honor book, and recipient of the Walter Dean Myers Award for Outstanding Children's Literature.
In this New York Times bestselling novel, two teens—one black, one white—grapple with the repercussions of a single violent act that leaves their school, their community, and, ultimately, the country bitterly divided by racial tension.
A bag of chips. That's all sixteen-year-old Rashad is looking for at the corner bodega. What he finds instead is a fist-happy cop, Paul Galluzzo, who mistakes Rashad for a shoplifter, mistakes Rashad's pleadings that he's stolen nothing for belligerence, mistakes Rashad's resistance to leave the bodega as resisting arrest, mistakes Rashad's every flinch at every punch the cop throws as further resistance and refusal to STAY STILL as ordered. But how can you stay still when someone is pounding your face into the concrete pavement?
There were witnesses: Quinn Collins—a varsity basketball player and Rashad's classmate who has been raised by Paul since his own father died in Afghanistan—and a video camera. Soon the beating is all over the news and Paul is getting threatened with accusations of prejudice and racial brutality. Quinn refuses to believe that the man who has basically been his savior could possibly be guilty. But then Rashad is absent. And absent again. And again. And the basketball team—half of whom are Rashad's best friends—start to take sides. As does the school. And the town. Simmering tensions threaten to explode as Rashad and Quinn are forced to face decisions and consequences they had never considered before. - Just Mercy (Adapted for Young Adults) (in print and ebook on Overdrive) byISBN: 9780525580034Publication Date: 2018-09-18The young adult adaptation of the acclaimed, #1 New York Times bestseller Just Mercy--now a major motion picture starring Michael B. Jordan, Jaime Foxx, and Brie Larson and the subject of an HBO documentary feature! In this very personal work--adapted from the original #1 bestseller, which the New York Times calls "as compelling as To Kill a Mockingbird, and in some ways more so"--acclaimed lawyer and social justice advocate Bryan Stevenson offers a glimpse into the lives of the wrongfully imprisoned and his efforts to fight for their freedom. Stevenson's story is one of working to protect basic human rights for the most vulnerable people in American society--the poor, the wrongly convicted, and those whose lives have been marked by discrimination and marginalization. Through this adaptation, young people of today will find themselves called to action and compassion in the pursuit of justice. A portion of the proceeds of this book will go to charity to help in Stevenson's important work to benefit the voiceless and the vulnerable as they attempt to navigate the broken U.S. justice system. A KIRKUS REVIEWS BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR A BOOKLIST EDITORS' CHOICE FEATURED ON CBS THIS MORNING A NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR PRAISE FOR JUST MERCY: A TRUE STORY OF THE FIGHT FOR JUSTICE: "It's really exciting that young people are getting a version tailored for them." --Salon "A deeply moving collage of true stories. . . . This is required reading." --Kirkus Reviews, starred review "Compassionate and compelling, Stevenson's narrative is also unforgettable." --Booklist, starred review PRAISE FOR JUST MERCY: A STORY OF JUSTICE AND REDEMPTION: "Gripping. . . . What hangs in the balance is nothing less than the soul of a great nation." --DESMOND TUTU, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate "Important and compelling." --Pulitzer Prize-winning author TRACY KIDDER "Inspiring and powerful." --#1 New York Times bestselling author JOHN GRISHAM
- The Hate U Give (in print plus ebook and e-audio on Overdrive) byISBN: 9780062498533Publication Date: 2017-02-28National Book Award Longlist ∙ Printz Honor Book ∙ Coretta Scott King Honor Book ∙ #1 New York Times Bestseller! Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed. Soon afterward, his death is a national headline. Some are calling him a thug, maybe even a drug dealer and a gangbanger. Protesters are taking to the streets in Khalil's name. Some cops and the local drug lord try to intimidate Starr and her family. What everyone wants to know is: what really went down that night? And the only person alive who can answer that is Starr. But what Starr does--or does not--say could upend her community. It could also endanger her life.
- Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You (in print plus ebook and e-audio on Overdrive) byISBN: 9780316453691Publication Date: 2020-03-10Stamped Racism, Antiracism, and You
The #1 New York Times bestseller and a USAToday bestseller! A timely, crucial, and empowering exploration of racism--and antiracism--in America This is NOT a history book. This is a book about the here and now. A book to help us better understand why we are where we are. A book about race. The construct of race has always been used to gain and keep power, to create dynamics that separate and silence. This remarkable reimagining of Dr. Ibram X. Kendi's National Book Award-winning Stamped from the Beginning reveals the history of racist ideas in America, and inspires hope for an antiracist future. It takes you on a race journey from then to now, shows you why we feel how we feel, and why the poison of racism lingers. It also proves that while racist ideas have always been easy to fabricate and distribute, they can also be discredited. Through a gripping, fast-paced, and energizing narrative written by beloved award-winner Jason Reynolds, this book shines a light on the many insidious forms of racist ideas--and on ways readers can identify and stamp out racist thoughts in their daily lives. - We Rise, We Resist, We Raise Our Voices (in print and ebook on Overdrive) byISBN: 9780525580423Publication Date: 2018-09-04What do we tell our children when the world seems bleak, and prejudice and racism run rampant? With 96 lavishly designed pages of original art and prose, fifty diverse creators lend voice to young activists. Featuring poems, letters, personal essays, art, and other works from such industry leaders as Jacqueline Woodson (Brown Girl Dreaming),Jason Reynolds (All American Boys),Kwame Alexander (The Crossover), Andrea Pippins (I Love My Hair), Sharon Draper (Out of My Mind),Rita Williams-Garcia (One Crazy Summer),Ellen Oh (cofounder of We Need Diverse Books), and artists Ekua Holmes, Rafael Lopez, James Ransome, Javaka Steptoe, and more, this anthology empowers the nation's youth to listen, learn, and build a better tomorrow.
- White Privilege Race in America (eBook on Overdrive) byISBN: 9781532110399Publication Date: 2017-09-01Everyone's daily lives are affected by race and racism in America. White Privilege examines the historical forces that have disadvantaged people of color and discusses how these forces continue to influence the media, education, politics, and other areas of life today. Features include essential facts, a glossary, references, websites, source notes, and an index. Aligned to Common Core Standards and correlated to state standards. Essential Library is an imprint of Abdo Publishing, a division of ABDO.
- Dear Martin (in print and ebook and e-audio on Overdrive) byISBN: 9781101939499Publication Date: 2017-10-17Raw, captivating, and undeniably real, Nic Stone joins industry giants Jason Reynolds and Walter Dean Myers as she boldly tackles American race relations in this stunning #1 New York Times bestselling debut, a William C. Morris Award Finalist. Justyce McAllister is a good kid, an honor student, and always there to help a friend--but none of that matters to the police officer who just put him in handcuffs. Despite leaving his rough neighborhood behind, he can't escape the scorn of his former peers or the ridicule of his new classmates. Justyce looks to the teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. for answers. But do they hold up anymore? He starts a journal to Dr. King to find out. Then comes the day Justyce goes driving with his best friend, Manny, windows rolled down, music turned up--way up, sparking the fury of a white off-duty cop beside them. Words fly. Shots are fired. Justyce and Manny are caught in the crosshairs. In the media fallout, it's Justyce who is under attack.
- "I Will Not Be Erased" Our stories about growing up as people of colour (ebook on Overdrive) byISBN: 9781406386370"A radical, beautiful, world-changing collection of writing that we all need to read." Scarlett Curtis, Feminists Don't Wear Pink
gal-dem, the award-winning online and print magazine, is created by women and non-binary people of colour. In this life-affirming, moving and joyous collection of fourteen essays, gal-dem's talented writers use raw material from their teenage years – diaries, poems and chat histories – to give advice to their younger selves and those growing up today.
gal-dem have been praised by the Guardian for being "the agents of change we need", and these essays tackle important subjects including race, gender, mental health and activism, making this essential reading. - Monday's Not Coming (in print and ebook on Hoopla and Overdrive) byISBN: 9780062422675Publication Date: 2018-05-22From the critically acclaimed author of Allegedly, Tiffany D. Jackson, comes a gripping new novel perfect for fans of E. Lockhart and Gillian Flynn about the mystery of one teenage girl's disappearance and the traumatic effects of the truth. Monday Charles is missing, and only Claudia seems to notice. Claudia and Monday have always been inseparable--more sisters than friends. So when Monday doesn't turn up for the first day of school, Claudia's worried. When she doesn't show for the second day, or second week, Claudia knows that something is wrong. Monday wouldn't just leave her to endure tests and bullies alone. Not after last year's rumors and not with her grades on the line. Now Claudia needs her best--and only--friend more than ever. But Monday's mother refuses to give Claudia a straight answer, and Monday's sister April is even less help. As Claudia digs deeper into her friend's disappearance, she discovers that no one seems to remember the last time they saw Monday. How can a teenage girl just vanish without anyone noticing that she's gone?
- When You Ask Me Where I'm Going (e-audio on Overdrive) byISBN: 9780062912619Publication Date: 2019-10-01Perfect for fans of Rupi Kaur and Elizabeth Acevedo, Jasmin Kaur's stunning debut novel is a collection of poetry, illustrations, and prose. scream so that one day a hundred years from now another sister will not have to dry her tears wondering where in history she lost her voice The six sections of the book explore what it means to be a young woman living in a world that doesn't always hear her and tell the story of Kiran as she flees a history of trauma and raises her daughter, Sahaara, while living undocumented in North America. Delving into current cultural conversations including sexual assault, mental health, feminism, and immigration, this narrative of resilience, healing, empowerment, and love will galvanize readers to fight for what is right in their world.
- This Book Is Anti-Racist (ebook on Overdrive) byISBN: 9780711245211Publication Date: 2020-01-07Who are you? What is racism? Where does it come from? Why does it exist? What can you do to disrupt it? Learn about social identities, the history of racism and resistance against it, and how you can use your anti-racist lens and voice to move the world toward equity and liberation. "In a racist society, it's not enough to be non-racist--we must be ANTI-RACIST." --Angela Davis Gain a deeper understanding of your anti-racist self as you progress through 20 chapters that spark introspection, reveal the origins of racism that we are still experiencing, and give you the courage and power to undo it. Each chapter builds on the previous one as you learn more about yourself and racial oppression. 20 activities get you thinking and help you grow with the knowledge. All you need is a pen and paper. Author Tiffany Jewell, an anti-bias, anti-racist educator and activist, builds solidarity beginning with the language she chooses--using gender neutral words to honor everyone who reads the book. Illustrator Aurélia Durand brings the stories and characters to life with kaleidoscopic vibrancy. After examining the concepts of social identity, race, ethnicity, and racism, learn about some of the ways people of different races have been oppressed, from indigenous Americans and Australians being sent to boarding school to be "civilized" to a generation of Caribbean immigrants once welcomed to the UK being threatened with deportation by strict immigration laws. Find hope in stories of strength, love, joy, and revolution that are part of our history, too, with such figures as the former slave Toussaint Louverture, who led a rebellion against white planters that eventually led to Haiti's independence, and Yuri Kochiyama, who, after spending time in an internment camp for Japanese Americans during WWII, dedicated her life to supporting political prisoners and advocating reparations for those wrongfully interned. Learn language and phrases to interrupt and disrupt racism. So, when you hear a microaggression or racial slur, you'll know how to act next time. This book is written for EVERYONE who lives in this racialized society--including the young person who doesn't know how to speak up to the racist adults in their life, the kid who has lost themself at times trying to fit into the dominant culture, the children who have been harmed (physically and emotionally) because no one stood up for them or they couldn't stand up for themselves, and also for their families, teachers, and administrators. With this book, be empowered to actively defy racism and xenophobia to create a community (large and small) that truly honors everyone.
- The Poet X (in print plus ebook and e-audio on Overdrive) byISBN: 9780062662804Publication Date: 2018-03-06The Poet X is also the winner of the National Book Award for Young People's Literature, the Michael L. Printz Award, and the Pura Belpré Award.
Xiomara Batista feels unheard and unable to hide in her Harlem neighborhood. Ever since her body grew into curves, she has learned to let her fists and her fierceness do the talking. But Xiomara has plenty she wants to say, and she pours all her frustration and passion onto the pages of a leather notebook, reciting the words to herself like prayers—especially after she catches feelings for a boy in her bio class named Aman, who her family can never know about. With Mami's determination to force her daughter to obey the laws of the church, Xiomara understands that her thoughts are best kept to herself. So when she is invited to join her school's slam poetry club, she doesn't know how she could ever attend without her mami finding out. But she still can't stop thinking about performing her poems. Because in the face of a world that may not want to hear her, Xiomara refuses to be silent. - March: Book One (in print and ebook on Overdrive) byISBN: 9781603093002Publication Date: 2013-08-13Congressman John Lewis (GA-5) is an American icon, one of the key figures of the civil rights movement. His commitment to justice and nonviolence has taken him from an Alabama sharecropper's farm to the halls of Congress, from a segregated schoolroom to the 1963 March on Washington, and from receiving beatings from state troopers to receiving the Medal of Freedom from the first African-American president.Now, to share his remarkable story with new generations, Lewis presents March, a graphic novel trilogy, in collaboration with co-writer Andrew Aydin and New York Times best-selling artist Nate Powell (winner of the Eisner Award and LA Times Book Prize finalist for Swallow Me Whole).March is a vivid first-hand account of John Lewis' lifelong struggle for civil and human rights, meditating in the modern age on the distance traveled since the days of Jim Crow and segregation. Rooted in Lewis' personal story, it also reflects on the highs and lows of the broader civil rights movement.Book One spans John Lewis' youth in rural Alabama, his life-changing meeting with Martin Luther King, Jr., the birth of the Nashville Student Movement, and their battle to tear down segregation through nonviolent lunch counter sit-ins, building to a stunning climax on the steps of City Hall.
- Resist (in print plus ebook and e-audio on Hoopla) byISBN: 9780062796257Publication Date: 2018-09-25A perfect tool for young readers as they grow into the leaders of tomorrow, Veronica Chambers's inspiring collection of profiles--along with Senator Cory Booker's stirring foreword--will inspire readers of all ages to stand up for what's right. You may only be one person, but you have the power to change the world. Before they were activists, they were just like you and me. From Frederick Douglass to Malala Yousafzai, Joan of Arc to John Lewis, Susan B. Anthony to Janet Mock--these remarkable figures show us what it means to take a stand and say no to injustice, even when it would be far easier to stay quiet. Resist profiles men and women who resisted tyranny, fought the odds, and stood up to bullies that threatened to harm their communities. Along with their portraits and most memorable quotes, their stories will inspire you to speak out and rise up--every single day.
- Because They Marched (in print plus ebook on Overdrive) byISBN: 9780823429219Publication Date: 2014-08-11In the early 1960s, tired of reprisals for attempting to register to vote, Selma's black community began to protest. The struggle received nationwide attention when Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. led a voting rights march in January, 1965, and was attacked by a segregationist. In February, the shooting of an unarmed demonstrator by an Alabama state trooper inspired a march from Selma to the state capital of Montgomery. The march got off to a horrific start on March 7 as law officers attacked peaceful demonstrators. Broadcast throughout the world, the violence attracted widespread outrage and spurred demonstrators to complete the march at any cost. On March 25, after several setbacks, protesters completed the fifty-four-mile march to a cheering crowd of 25,000 supporters.
- Black Lives Matter (in print and ebook on Hoopla) byISBN: 9781624038983Publication Date: 2015-12-15Black Lives Matter covers the shootings that touched off passionate protests, the work of activists to bring about a more just legal system, and the tensions in US society that these events have brought to light.
- We Shall Overcome with CDs (in print) byISBN: 9781402202131Publication Date: 2004-10-01In words, photos and on two audio CDs, witness the courageous and controversial stories that defined America's civil rights movement We Shall Overcome is a gripping chronicle of the words and voices of the civil rights movement. From stirring speeches to the voices of hate, this collection brings to life the battle for justice and equality that shook America to its core. American Book Award winning author Herb Boyd tells the dramatic stories of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Fannie Lou Hamer, Stokely Carmichael, Ella Baker and activist groups like the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and the Black Panthers. In words, photos and on two accompanying audio CDs, you'll witness the courageous and controversial stories that defined America's civil rights movement.
- Their Eyes Were Watching God (in print plus ebook and e-audio on Overdrive) byISBN: 9780060931414Publication Date: 1998-12-01"A deeply soulful novel that comprehends love and cruelty, and separates the big people from the small of heart, without ever losing sympathy for those unfortunates who don't know how to live properly." —Zadie Smith
One of the most important and enduring books of the twentieth century, Their Eyes Were Watching God brings to life a Southern love story with the wit and pathos found only in the writing of Zora Neale Hurston. Out of print for almost thirty years—due largely to initial audiences' rejection of its strong black female protagonist—Hurston's classic has since its 1978 reissue become perhaps the most widely read and highly acclaimed novel in the canon of African-American literature. - All Boys Aren't Blue (ebook and e-audio on Overdrive) byISBN: 9780374312718Publication Date: 2020-04-28In a series of personal essays, prominent journalist and LGBTQIA+ activist George M. Johnson explores his childhood, adolescence, and college years in New Jersey and Virginia. From the memories of getting his teeth kicked out by bullies at age five, to going to flea markets with his loving grandmother, to his first sexual relationships, this young-adult memoir weaves together the trials and triumphs faced by Black queer boys. Both a primer for teens eager to be allies as well as a reassuring testimony for young queer men of color, All Boys Aren't Blue covers topics such as gender identity, toxic masculinity, brotherhood, family, structural marginalization, consent, and Black joy. Johnson's emotionally frank style of writing will appeal directly to young adults.
- Genesis Begins Again (in print plus ebook and e-audio on Overdrive) byISBN: 9781481465809Publication Date: 2019-01-15A Newbery Honor Book Winner of the Correta Scott King - John Steptoe for New Talent Author Award A Morris Award Finalist An NPR Favorite Book of 2019 This deeply sensitive and powerful debut 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. There are ninety-six things Genesis hates about herself. She knows the exact number because she keeps a list. Like #95: Because her skin is so dark, people call her charcoal and eggplant--even her own family. And #61: Because her family is always being put out of their house, belongings laid out on the sidewalk for the world to see. Genesis actually likes her new school; she's made a couple friends, her choir teacher says she has real talent, and she even encourages Genesis to join the talent show. But how can Genesis believe anything her teacher says when her dad tells her the exact opposite?
- Police Brutality (in print) byISBN: 9780737775181Publication Date: 2016-02-03Four intriguing questions are asked across four chapters: Are the police using excessive force? Is police brutality a widespread problem in the United States? How can police brutality be stopped? What is the U.S. government's response to police brutality? Essays assembled under each question debate the related topics, allowing readers access to more than one intelligent viewpoint.
- Malcolm X By Any Means Necessary (ebook on Overdrive) byISBN: 9780590464840Publication Date: 1993-01-01As a 14-year-old he was Malcolm Little, the president of his class and a top student. At 16 he was hustling tips at a Boston nightclub. In Harlem he was known as Detroit Red, a slick street operator. At 19 he was back in Boston, leading a gang of burglars. At 20 he was in prison.
It was in prison that Malcolm Little started the journey that would lead him to adopt the name Malcolm X, and there he developed his beliefs about what being black means in America: beliefs that shook America then, and still shake America today.
Few men in American history are as controversial or compelling as Malcolm X. In this Coretta Scott King Honor Book, Walter Dean Myers, winner of a Newbery Honor and four-time Coretta Scott King Award winner, portrays Malcolm X as prophet, dealer, convict, troublemaker, revolutionary, and voice of black militancy. - Tyler Johnson Was Here (in print plus ebook and e-audio on Overdrive) byISBN: 9780316440776Publication Date: 2018-03-20A young man searches for answers after the death of his brother at the hands of police in this striking debut novel, for readers of The Hate U Give. When Marvin Johnson's twin, Tyler, goes to a party, Marvin decides to tag along to keep an eye on his brother. But what starts as harmless fun turns into a shooting, followed by a police raid. The next day, Tyler has gone missing, and it's up to Marvin to find him. But when Tyler is found dead, a video leaked online tells an even more chilling story: Tyler has been shot and killed by a police officer. Terrified as his mother unravels and mourning a brother who is now a hashtag, Marvin must learn what justice and freedom really mean. Tyler Johnson Was Here is a powerful and moving portrait of youth and family that speaks to the serious issues of today--from gun control to the Black Lives Matter movement.
- Watch Us Rise (in print plus ebook on Overdrive) byISBN: 9781547600083Publication Date: 2019-02-12Jasmine and Chelsea are best friends on a mission--they' re sick of the way women are treated even at their progressive NYC high school, so they decide to start a Women's Rights Club. These two dynamic, creative young women stand up and speak out in a novel that features their compelling art and poetry along with powerful personal journeys that will inspire readers and budding poets, feminists, and activists.
- Miles to Go for Freedom (in print and ebook on Hoopla) byISBN: 9781419700200Publication Date: 2012-01-01Told through unforgettable first-person accounts, photographs, and other primary sources, this book is an overview of racial segregation and early civil rights efforts in the United States from the 1890s to 1954, a period known as the Jim Crow years. Multiple perspectives are examined as the book looks at the impact of legal segregation and discrimination on the day-to-day life of black and white Americans across the country. Complete with a bibliography and an index, this book is an important addition to black history books for young readers.
- The Voice That Challenged a Nation (in print and e-audio on Hoopla) byISBN: 9780618159765Publication Date: 2004-05-252005 Sibert Medal Winner A 2005 Newbery Honor Book This insightful account of the great African American vocalist considers her life and musical career in the context of the history of civil rights in this country. Drawing on Anderson's own writings and other contemporary accounts, Russell Freedman shows readers a singer pursuing her art despite the social constraints that limited the careers of black performers in the 1920s and 1930s. Though not a crusader or a spokesperson by nature, Marian Anderson came to stand for all black artists -- and for all Americans of color -- when, with the help of such prominent figures as Eleanor Roosevelt, she gave her landmark 1939 performance on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, which signaled the end of segregation in the arts. Carefully researched, expertly told, and profusely illustrated with contemporary photographs, this Newbery Honor and Sibert Medal-winning book is a moving account of the life of a talented and determined artist who left her mark on musical and social history.
- The Charlottesville Protests (in print and ebook on Hoopla) byISBN: 9781532116766Publication Date: 2018-12-15The Charlottesville Protests delves into the eruption of violence that occurred in Charlottesville, Virginia, in August 2017. It also examines the racial strife that's plagued the United States for decades and encourages readers to form their own opinions. Features include a glossary, references, websites, source notes, and an index.
- Lunch Counter Sit-Ins (in print and ebook on Overdrive) byISBN: 9780756558789Publication Date: 2018-08-01On point historical photographs combined with strong narration bring the saga of the Woolworth lunch counter sit-ins in the early 1960s to life. Readers will learn about the four brave college students who started it all, as well as the many who came after. These events changed the world. The photographer who took the photographs shown in this book is now in his 90s, but he agreed to an exclusive interview for this book.
- Light It Up (in print plus ebook on Overdrive) byISBN: 9781250128898Publication Date: 2019-10-22Told in a series of vignettes from multiple viewpoints, Kekla Magoon's Light It Up is a powerful, layered story about injustice and strength--as well as an incredible follow-up to the highly acclaimed novel How It Went Down. A girl walks home from school. She's tall for her age. She's wearing her winter coat. Her headphones are in. She's hurrying. She never makes it home. In the aftermath, while law enforcement tries to justify the response, one fact remains: a police officer has shot and killed an unarmed thirteen-year-old girl. The community is thrown into upheaval, leading to unrest, a growing movement to protest the senseless taking of black lives, and the arrival of white supremacist counter demonstrators.
- Racial Profiling (in print) byISBN: 9781512402681Publication Date: 2017-01-01In the United States, racial profiling affects thousands of Americans every day. Both individuals and institutions--such as law enforcement agencies, government bodies, and schools--routinely use race or ethnicity as grounds for suspecting someone of an offense. The high-profile deaths of unarmed people of color at the hands of police officers have brought renewed national attention to racial profiling and have inspired grassroots activism from groups such as Black Lives Matter. Combining rigorous research with powerful personal stories, this insightful title explores the history, the many manifestations, and the consequences of this form of social injustice.
- Attucks! (in print) byISBN: 9780374306120Publication Date: 2018-10-23An ALA Notable Book of 2019 NYPL Best Book for Teens of 2018 A 2018 Booklist Youth Editors' Choice A Center for the Study of Multicultural Children's Literature Best Book of 2018 A Kirkus Reviews Best YA Nonfiction Book of 2018 An ALSC Notable Children's Book of 2019 A YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction Award Nominee The true story of the all-black high school basketball team that broke the color barrier in segregated 1950s Indiana, masterfully told by National Book Award winner Phil Hoose. By winning the state high school basketball championship in 1955, ten teens from an Indianapolis school meant to be the centerpiece of racially segregated education in the state shattered the myth of their inferiority. Their brilliant coach had fashioned an unbeatable team from a group of boys born in the South and raised in poverty. Anchored by the astonishing Oscar Robertson, a future college and NBA star, the Crispus Attucks Tigers went down in history as the first state champions from Indianapolis and the first all-black team in U.S. history to win a racially open championship tournament--an integration they had forced with their on-court prowess. From native Hoosier and award-winning author Phillip Hoose comes this true story of a team up against impossible odds, making a difference when it mattered most. This title has Common Core connections.
- Anger Is a Gift (in print and ebook on Hoopla) byISBN: 9781250167026Publication Date: 2018-05-22*31st Annual Lammy Finalist for LGBTQ Children's/Young Adult category* *2019 ALA Schneider Family Book Award Teen Winner* *Buzzfeed's 24 Best YA Books of 2018* *Vulture's 38 Best LGBTQ YA Novels* *Book Riot's Best Books 2018* *Hyable's Most Anticipated Queer YA Books of 2018* *The Mary Sue's 18 Books You Should Read in 2018* Moss Jeffries is many things--considerate student, devoted son, loyal friend and affectionate boyfriend, enthusiastic nerd. But sometimes Moss still wishes he could be someone else--someone without panic attacks, someone whose father was still alive, someone who hadn't become a rallying point for a community because of one horrible night. And most of all, he wishes he didn't feel so stuck. Moss can't even escape at school--he and his friends are subject to the lack of funds and crumbling infrastructure at West Oakland High, as well as constant intimidation by the resource officer stationed in their halls. That was even before the new regulations--it seems sometimes that the students are treated more like criminals. Something will have to change--but who will listen to a group of teens? When tensions hit a fever pitch and tragedy strikes again, Moss must face a difficult choice: give in to fear and hate or realize that anger can actually be a gift.
- The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (ebook and e-audio on Overdrive) byISBN: 9781400052189Publication Date: 2011-03-08#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * "The story of modern medicine and bioethics--and, indeed, race relations--is refracted beautifully, and movingly."--Entertainment Weekly NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE FROM HBO® STARRING OPRAH WINFREY AND ROSE BYRNE * ONE OF THE "MOST INFLUENTIAL" (CNN), "DEFINING" (LITHUB), AND "BEST" (THE PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER) BOOKS OF THE DECADE * ONE OF ESSENCE'S 50 MOST IMPACTFUL BLACK BOOKS OF THE PAST 50 YEARS * WINNER OF THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE HEARTLAND PRIZE FOR NONFICTION NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The New York Times Book Review * Entertainment Weekly * O: The Oprah Magazine * NPR * Financial Times * New York * Independent (U.K.) * Times (U.K.) * Publishers Weekly * Library Journal * Kirkus Reviews * Booklist * Globe and Mail Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa. She was a poor Southern tobacco farmer who worked the same land as her slave ancestors, yet her cells--taken without her knowledge--became one of the most important tools in medicine: The first "immortal" human cells grown in culture, which are still alive today, though she has been dead for more than sixty years. HeLa cells were vital for developing the polio vaccine; uncovered secrets of cancer, viruses, and the atom bomb's effects; helped lead to important advances like in vitro fertilization, cloning, and gene mapping; and have been bought and sold by the billions. Yet Henrietta Lacks remains virtually unknown, buried in an unmarked grave. Henrietta's family did not learn of her "immortality" until more than twenty years after her death, when scientists investigating HeLa began using her husband and children in research without informed consent. And though the cells had launched a multimillion-dollar industry that sells human biological materials, her family never saw any of the profits. As Rebecca Skloot so brilliantly shows, the story of the Lacks family--past and present--is inextricably connected to the dark history of experimentation on African Americans, the birth of bioethics, and the legal battles over whether we control the stuff we are made of. Over the decade it took to uncover this story, Rebecca became enmeshed in the lives of the Lacks family--especially Henrietta's daughter Deborah. Deborah was consumed with questions: Had scientists cloned her mother? Had they killed her to harvest her cells? And if her mother was so important to medicine, why couldn't her children afford health insurance? Intimate in feeling, astonishing in scope, and impossible to put down, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks captures the beauty and drama of scientific discovery, as well as its human consequences.
- Steal This Country (in print) byISBN: 9780451479372Publication Date: 2018-09-04A walk-the-walk, talk-the-talk, hands-on, say-it-loud handbook for citizen activist kids who want to change the world! Inspired by Abbie Hoffman's radical classic, Steal This Book, author Alexandra Styron's call for resistance and citizen activism will clearly be heard by young people who don't accept "it is what it is," who want to make sure everybody gets an equal piece of the American pie, and who know that the future of the planet is now. Styron's lively primer on-how-to-make a difference opens with a personal essay and a historic look at activism and civil disobedience in America. That's followed by thematic chapters on key issues such as climate change, racial justice, women's rights, LGBTQ rights, immigration, and religious understanding. Each chapter is introduced by an original full page comic and includes a summary of key questions, interviews with movers and shakers--from celebrities to youth activists--and spotlights on progressive organizations. A substantive section of how-to advice starts with an explanation of why activism matters and continues with practical information about group activities such as organizing, marching, rallying, and petitioning and individual actions like voting with your wallet, volunteering, talking with relatives with different viewpoints, and using social activism to get out a progressive message. This is a terrific book for older middle-schoolers and teens who are distressed by current events, political tweets, and news headlines and want to show up and be counted!
- What Makes Us (in print plus ebook on Overdrive) byISBN: 9780763697501Publication Date: 2019-10-15A viral video reveals a teen's dark family history, leaving him to reckon with his heritage, legacy, and identity in this fiery, conversation-starting novel. Eran Sharon knows nothing of his father except that he left when Eran was a baby. Now a senior in high school and living with his protective but tight-lipped mother, Eran is a passionate young man deeply interested in social justice and equality. When he learns that the Houston police have launched a program to increase traffic stops, Eran organizes a peaceful protest. But a heated moment at the protest goes viral, and a reporter connects the Sharon family to a tragedy fifteen years earlier -- and asks if Eran is anything like his father, a supposed terrorist. Soon enough, Eran is wondering the same thing, especially when the people he's gone to school and temple with for years start to look at him differently. Timely, powerful, and full of nuance, Rafi Mittlefehldt's sophomore novel confronts the prejudices, fears, and strengths of family and community, striking right to the heart of what makes us who we are.
- Maya Lin (in print plus ebook on Hoopla) byISBN: 9781452108377Publication Date: 2017-11-07The Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., is one of the most famous pieces of civic architecture in the world. But most people are not as familiar with the reserved college student who entered and won the design competition to build it. This accessible biography tells the story of Maya Lin, from her struggle to stick with her vision of the memorial to the wide variety of works she has created since then. The carefully researched text, paired with ample photos, crosses multipleinterests--American history, civic activism, art history, and cultural diversity--and offers a timely celebration of the memorial's 35th anniversary as well as providing an important contribution to the current discussion of the role of women and minorities in society.
- Freedom's Children (in print) byISBN: 9780698118706Publication Date: 2000-12-01In this inspiring collection of true stories, thirty African-Americans who were children or teenagers in the 1950s and 1960s talk about what it was like for them to fight segregation in the South-to sit in an all-white restaurant and demand to be served, to refuse to give up a seat at the front of the bus, to be among the first to integrate the public schools, and to face violence, arrest, and even death for the cause of freedom. "Thrilling...Nothing short of wonderful."-The New York Times Awards- ( A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year ( A Booklist Editors' Choice
- Rest in Power (in print plus ebook on Overdrive) byISBN: 9780812997231Publication Date: 2017-01-31Trayvon Martin's parents take readers beyond the news cycle with an account only they could give: the intimate story of a tragically foreshortened life and the rise of a movement. "A reminder--not only of Trayvon's life and death but of the vulnerability of black lives in a country that still needs to be reminded they matter."--USA Today Now a docuseries on the Paramount Network produced by Shawn Carter Years after his tragic death, Trayvon Martin's name is still evoked every day. He has become a symbol of social justice activism, as has his hauntingly familiar image: the photo of a child still in the process of becoming a young man, wearing a hoodie and gazing silently at the camera. But who was Trayvon Martin, before he became, in death, an icon? And how did one black child's death on a dark, rainy street in a small Florida town become the match that lit a civil rights crusade? Rest in Power, told through the compelling alternating narratives of his parents, Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin, answers those questions from the most intimate of sources. The book takes us beyond the news cycle and familiar images to give the account that only his parents can offer: the story of the beautiful and complex child they lost, the cruel unresponsiveness of the police and the hostility of the legal system, and an inspiring journey from grief and pain to power, and from tragedy and senselessness to purpose.
- Backfield Boys (in print) byISBN: 9780374305925Publication Date: 2017-08-29In Backfield Boys, renowned sports journalist and New York Times-bestselling author John Feinstein tells a thrilling story of friendship, football, and a fight for justice. Freshman footballers Jason Roddin and Tom Jefferson are a perfect pair: Jason is a blazing-fast wide-receiver, while his best friend Tom has all the skills a standout quarterback needs. After summer football camp at an elite sports-focused boarding school, the boys are thrilled to be invited back with full-ride scholarships. But on day one of practice, they're shocked when the team's coaching staff makes Tom, a black kid, a receiver and Jason, a white kid, a quarterback. Confronted with mounting evidence of deep-seated racial bias, the boys speak out, risking their scholarships and chances to play. As tensions ratchet up with coaches and other players, Tom and Jason must decide how much they're willing to lose in a conflict with powerful forces that has nothing--and everything--to do with the game they love.
- Votes for Women! (in print plus ebook and e-audio on Hoopla) byISBN: 9781616207342Publication Date: 2018-02-13"Lively . . . Defiant . . . Pulling back the curtain on 100 years of struggle . . . The women who shaped the American narrative come to life with refreshing attention to detail."--The New York Times Book Review For nearly 150 years, American women did not have the right to vote. On August 18, 1920, they won that right, when the 19th Amendment to the Constitution was ratified at last. To achieve that victory, some of the fiercest, most passionate women in history marched, protested, and sometimes even broke the law--for more than eight decades. From Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, who founded the suffrage movement at the 1848 Seneca Falls Convention, to Sojourner Truth and her famous "Ain't I a Woman?" speech, to Alice Paul, arrested and force-fed in prison, this is the story of the American women's suffrage movement and the private lives that fueled its leaders' dedication. Votes for Women! explores suffragists' often powerful, sometimes difficult relationship with the intersecting temperance and abolition campaigns, and includes an unflinching look at some of the uglier moments in women's fight for the vote. By turns illuminating, harrowing, and empowering, Votes for Women! paints a vibrant picture of the women whose tireless battle still inspires political, human rights, and social justice activism.
- Profiles #4: Freedom Heroines (in print plus ebook on Hoopla) byISBN: 9780545425186Publication Date: 2012-12-01There are six bios in one in this full-color series!Profiles is so much more than just your typical biography series. The next book in this six-in-one, full-color bio series will focus on Civil Champions--some of the incredible women who worked tirelessly to ensure equal rights for all. Kids will learn all of the biographical information they need to know--background, family, education, accomplishments, etc., about: Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Ida B. Wells, Alice Paul, Rosa Parks, and Jane Addams.
- Clarina Nichols (in print plus ebook on Hoopla) byISBN: 9780966925883Publication Date: 2016-02-16In 1827, when Clarina Nichols was a teenager, she remembers having "a longing desire to do good." But America wasnt ready for an ambitious, intelligent young woman. Clarina was supposed to get married and start a family. But then her husband turned out to be abusive and a deadbeat. The law was of little help. Her situation seemed hopeless. And then, the young woman found her voice and her calling. This is the amazing true story of how Clarina Nichols turned tragedy into triumph, and went on to help fuel the movement that created a brighter future for women everywhere. Named to the Amelia Bloomer List for outstanding young adult feminist books by the American Library Association.
- 33 Things Every Girl Should Know about Women's History (in print) byISBN: 9780375911224Publication Date: 2002-02-12Here’s the perfect book for anyone interested in learning more about girls and women in the United States from the 18th century to the present. Featuring contributions from a wide variety of women, including well-known nonfiction writers, a children’s librarian, historians, and many more, this latest addition to the 33 Things series provides an engaging, inspiring, informative look at the role women have played in shaping American history. From the Trade Paperback edition.
- Because They Marched (in print plus e-audio on Overdrive) byISBN: 9780823429219Publication Date: 2014-08-31The struggle for voting rights was a pivotal event in the history of civil rights. For the fiftieth anniversary of the march for voting rights from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, Newbery Medalist Russell Freedman has written a riveting account of African-American struggles for the right to vote. In the early 1960s, tensions in the segrated South intensified. Tired of reprisals for attempting to register to vote, Selma's black community began to protest. In January 1965, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. led a voting rights march and was attacked by a segregationist. In February, the shooting of an unarmed demonstrator by an Alabama state trooper inspired a march from Selma to the state capital. The event got off to a horrific start on March 7 as law officers brutally attacked peaceful demonstrators. But when vivid footage and photographs of the violence was broadcast throughout the world, the incident attracted widespread outrage and spurred demonstrators to complete the march at any cost. Illustrated with more than forty archival photographs, this is an essential chronicle of events every American should know. A Kirkus Best Book of the Year A Junior Library Guild Selection
- They Called Us Enemy (in print plus ebook on Overdrive) byISBN: 9781603094504Publication Date: 2019-07-16A stunning graphic memoir recounting actor/author/activist George Takei's childhood imprisoned within American concentration camps during World War II. Experience the forces that shaped an American icon -- and America itself -- in this gripping tale of courage, country, loyalty, and love. New York Times Bestseller! A stunning graphic memoir recounting actor/author/activist George Takei's childhood imprisoned within American concentration camps during World War II. Experience the forces that shaped an American icon -- and America itself -- in this gripping tale of courage, country, loyalty, and love. George Takei has captured hearts and minds worldwide with his captivating stage presence and outspoken commitment to equal rights. But long before he braved new frontiers in Star Trek, he woke up as a four-year-old boy to find his own birth country at war with his father's -- and their entire family forced from their home into an uncertain future. In 1942, at the order of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, every person of Japanese descent on the west coast was rounded up and shipped to one of ten "relocation centers," hundreds or thousands of miles from home, where they would be held for years under armed guard. They Called Us Enemy is Takei's firsthand account of those years behind barbed wire, the joys and terrors of growing up under legalized racism, his mother's hard choices, his father's faith in democracy, and the way those experiences planted the seeds for his astonishing future. What does it mean to be American? Who gets to decide? When the world is against you, what can one person do? To answer these questions, George Takei joins co-writers Justin Eisinger & Steven Scott and artist Harmony Becker for the journey of a lifetime.
- Uprooted (in print plus ebook on Overdrive) byISBN: 9780553509366Publication Date: 2016-10-25On the 75th anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor comes a harrowing and enlightening look at the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II- from National Book Award finalist Albert Marrin Just seventy-five years ago, the American government did something that most would consider unthinkable today- it rounded up over 100,000 of its own citizens based on nothing more than their ancestry and, suspicious of their loyalty, kept them in concentration camps for the better part of four years. How could this have happened? Uprooted takes a close look at the history of racism in America and carefully follows the treacherous path that led one of our nation's most beloved presidents to make this decision. Meanwhile, it also illuminates the history of Japan and its own struggles with racism and xenophobia, which led to the bombing of Pearl Harbor, ultimately tying the two countries together. Today, America is still filled with racial tension, and personal liberty in wartime is as relevant a topic as ever. Moving and impactful, National Book Award finalist Albert Marrin's sobering exploration of this monumental injustice shines as bright a light on current events as it does on the past.
- Exposing Hate (ebook on Hoopla) byISBN: 9781541539259Publication Date: 2019-01-01Experts have documented an explosive rise in the number of hate groups since the turn of the century, driven by anger over immigration and demographic projections showing that whites will no longer hold majority status in the United States by 2040. The rise accelerated with the elections of presidents Obama and Trump. Extremists are increasingly diffuse, moving to the web and away from organized, on-the-ground activities. What is a hate group and how does it operate? How do we legally define hate speech and hate crimes? What is the history of organizing around hate and how do we recognize and confront it? These are the salient issues readers will investigate in this overview.
- How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents (in print plus ebook and e-audio on Hoopla plus ebook on Overdrive/Libby byISBN: 9780945575573Publication Date: 1991-01-04"A joy to read."--The Cleveland Plain Dealer Acclaimed writer Julia Alvarez's beloved first novel gives voice to four sisters as they grow up in two cultures. The García sisters--Carla, Sandra, Yolanda, and Sofía--and their family must flee their home in the Dominican Republic after their father's role in an attempt to overthrow brutal dictator Rafael Trujillo is discovered. They arrive in New York City in 1960 to a life far removed from their existence in the Caribbean. In the wondrous but not always welcoming U.S.A., their parents try to hold on to their old ways as the girls try find new lives: by straightening their hair and wearing American fashions, and by forgetting their Spanish. For them, it is at once liberating and excruciating to be caught between the old world and the new. Here they tell their stories about being at home--and not at home--in America.
- Monster (ebook on Hoopla) byISBN: 9780060280772Publication Date: 1999-04-21This New York Times bestselling novel from acclaimed author Walter Dean Myers tells the story of Steve Harmon, a teenage boy in juvenile detention and on trial. Presented as a screenplay of Steve's own imagination, and peppered with journal entries, the book shows how one single decision can change our whole lives. Monster is a multi-award-winning, provocative coming-of-age story that was the first-ever Michael L. Printz Award recipient, an ALA Best Book, a Coretta Scott King Honor selection, and a National Book Award finalist. Monster is now a major motion picture called All Rise and starring Jennifer Hudson, Kelvin Harrison, Jr., Nas, and A$AP Rocky. The late Walter Dean Myers was a National Ambassador for Young People's Literature, who was known for his commitment to realistically depicting kids from his hometown of Harlem.
- Race Relations (ebook on Hoopla) byISBN: 9781619305526Publication Date: 2019-04-16How could a country founded on the honorable ideals of freedom and equality have so willingly embraced the evils of enslavement and oppression? America's history of race relations is a difficult one, full of uncomfortable inconsistencies and unpleasant truths. Although the topic is sensitive, it is important to face this painful past unflinchingly--knowing this history is key to understanding today's racial climate and working towards a more harmonious society. In Race Relations: The Struggle for Equality in America, kids ages 12 to 15 follow the evolution of race relations in America from the country's earliest beginnings until present day. The book examines how the concept of race was constructed in the seventeenth century and how American colonists used racial differences to justify slavery, discrimination and the persecution of people of color. Through links to online primary sources such as newspaper articles, letters, poems, and songs, young readers will explore how race relations changed--and didn't--through the eras of Reconstruction, Jim Crow, and Civil Rights, and under the presidencies of Barack Obama and Donald Trump. The book introduces students to people from four different centuries--some famous, some ordinary citizens--who took great risks to fight for freedom, equality, and social justice. It also fosters discussions of contemporary racial issues and social justice movements, including Black Lives Matters, and encourages students to consider steps they can take to help improve race relations. Race Relations: The Struggle for Equality in America teaches students about American race relations in a fact-based way that promotes empathy and understanding. Projects such as identifying the influences that contributed to the reader's own view of other races, writing journal entries from the perspective of student of color at a newly-integrated school in the 1960s, and investigating implicit racial bias in newspaper photographs or news articles helps students to think critically and creatively about their own position and role in society and gain a broader understanding of the world they live in. Interesting facts, links to online primary sources and other supplemental material, and essential questions take readers on an exploration of the past, present, and future of race relations. Race Relations is part of a set of four books called Inquire & Investigate Social Issues of the Twenty-First Century, which explores the social challenges that have faced our world in the past and that continue to drive us to do better in the future. Other titles in this set are Gender Identity, Feminism, and Immigration Nation. Nomad Press books integrate content with participation, encouraging readers to engage in student-directed learning as opposed to teacher-guided instruction. This student-centered approach provides readers with the tools they need to become inquiry-based learners. Common Core State Standards and National Curriculum Standards for Social Studies all place project-based learning as key building blocks in education. Combining content with inquiry-based projects stimulates learning and makes it active and alive. As informational texts, our books provide key ideas and details from which readers can make their own inferences. Nomad's unique approach simultaneously grounds kids in factual knowledge while allowing them the space to be curious, creative, and critical thinkers.
- Gender Identity (ebook on Hoopla) byISBN: 9781619307599Publication Date: 2019-04-16An informative and project-filled book for middle graders to explore the meaning and history behind LGBTQ rights movements, including biographies of key figures in gender and gay/lesbian history, the context behind today's transgender "bathroom wars" and dozens of activities and research ideas for perspectives and further learning. What does it mean to think of gender as being a range instead of being simply male or female? In Gender Identity: Beyond Pronouns and Bathrooms, middle school readers unpack the cultural significance of gender identity in the United States and around the world. Written using #ownvoices and with editors trained in the sensitivities of today's gender discussions, the book is filled with interesting facts, primary sources, a range of text features, and more to engage readers. Highlights include: * Introductions to concepts crucial to understanding the basics of gender identity, including how gender identity differs from physical sex and sexual orientation, the importance of gender-specific and gender-neutral pronouns, and more * Short biographies of gender activists and other important public figures throughout the text, filled with personal stories to help readers form social-emotional connections to the subject - including Renee Richards, Chaz Bono, and gender rights pioneers Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P. Johnson, plus early transgender individuals including Lili Elbe and Christine Jorgensen. * In-depth information on famous gay/lesbian rights protests and movements, detailing the cultural and legal struggles for gay rights and gender acceptance, from the Compton Cafeteria riots to the Stonewall Riots to the Transgender Day of Remembrance, and more. Sidebars throughout on how books and popular TV shows and movies helped expand gay/lesbian awareness and rights, from 1970s shows such as The Jeffersons to the contemporary show Meet Polkadot. Projects and activities encourage teens to form their own, well-informed opinions on the many facets of gender perspectives and issues. Gender Identity is part of a set of four books called Inquire & Investigate Social Issues of the Twenty-First Century, which explores the social challenges that have faced our world in the past and that continue to drive us to do better in the future. Other titles in this set are Feminism, Immigration Nation, and Race Relations. About the series and Nomad Press Nomad Press books in the Inquire & Investigate series integrate content with participation, encouraging readers to engage in student-directed learning as opposed to teacher-guided instruction. This student-centered approach provides readers with the tools they need to become inquiry-based learners. Combining content with inquiry-based projects stimulates learning and makes it active and alive. As informational texts, our books provide key ideas and details from which readers can make their own inferences. Nomad's unique approach simultaneously grounds kids in factual knowledge while allowing them the space to be curious, creative, and critical thinkers. All books are leveled for Guided Reading level and Lexile, and meet Common Core State Standards and National Curriculum Standards for Social Studies. All titles are available in paperback, hardcover, and ebook formats.
- Immigration Nation (ebook on Hoopla) byISBN: 9781619307605Publication Date: 2019-04-16What does it mean to be an immigrant today? Has the immigrant experience changed since the last century? Immigration Nation: The American Identity in the Twenty-First Century invites middle and high schoolers to explore the history of immigration in the United States, along with immigration law and statistics through the perspectives of immigrants, citizens, policy makers, and border agents. For more than a century, an immigrant from France has stood vigil in the New York Harbor. At 350 feet tall, with a majestic spiked crown upon her head, a tablet of laws clutched in one hand and a torch held aloft in the other, the lady is hard to miss. She cries out to the world, "Give me your tired, your poor...I lift my lamp beside the golden door!" Millions of immigrants have answered the Statue of Liberty's call, passing over, under, or through the Golden Door to become Americans. However, on the eve of its 250th birthday, the United States is in the middle of an identity crisis. Should this land of immigrants open the door open to outsiders, people hungry for opportunity and desperate for freedom? Or should the country shut the golden door, barring entry to all but a select few? And what does it mean to be an American? How citizens answer these questions in the early twenty-first century will determine the future of America's identity. Immigration Nation includes critical-thinking activities and research exercises to encourage readers to dive deep into the topic and consider viewpoints from many different identities. Interesting facts, links to online primary sources and other supplemental material, and essential questions take readers on an exploration of the past, present, and future of immigration. Immigration Nation is part of a set of four books called Inquire & Investigate Social Issues of the Twenty-First Century, which explores the social challenges that have faced our world in the past and that continue to drive us to do better in the future. Other titles in this set are Gender Identity, Feminism, and Race Relations. Nomad Press books integrate content with participation, encouraging readers to engage in student-directed learning as opposed to teacher-guided instruction. This student-centered approach provides readers with the tools they need to become inquiry-based learners. Common Core State Standards and National Curriculum Standards for Social Studies all place project-based learning as key building blocks in education. Combining content with inquiry-based projects stimulates learning and makes it active and alive. As informational texts, our books provide key ideas and details from which readers can make their own inferences. Nomad's unique approach simultaneously grounds kids in factual knowledge while allowing them the space to be curious, creative, and critical thinkers.
- Feminism (ebook on Hoopla) byISBN: 9781619307537Publication Date: 2019-04-16Why are women treated differently from men? What is feminism? Why is this movement such an important part of the history of civic rights, and why is it still important today? Feminism: The March Toward Equal Rights for Women invites middle and high schoolers to examine the different stages of the feminist movement, from early mentions in history through the suffragettes' fight for the vote to today's evidence of feminism in the struggle for equal pay and equal rights around the world. As social justice movements gain more traction in the national news media, many students are evolving into activist citizens who are working towards bettering humanity and the planet. This history of feminism gives them an introduction to the ways and means of community activism, which can be applied to a multitude of causes. Feminism: The March Toward Equal Rights for Women introduces readers to some of the icons of feminism, including Simone De Bouvier, Gloria Steinem, and Angela Davis. By examining and deconstructing writings and other arts, readers gain a deeper understanding of the struggles women and men have undertaken for the deceptively simple goal of equal rights for all. Issues such as domestic violence and the fight for equal pay for equal work, plus a discussion of the more recent #metoo movement, all encourage kids to pay close attention to the world in which we live and insist on justice at every turn. Feminism includes critical-thinking activities and research exercises to encourage readers to dive deep into the topic and consider viewpoints from many different identities. Fun facts, links to online primary sources and other supplemental material, and essential questions take readers on an exploration of the past, present, and future of feminism. Feminism is part of a set of four books called Inquire & Investigate Social Issues of the Twenty-First Century, which explores the social challenges that have faced our world in the past and that continue to drive us to do better in the future. Other titles in this set are Gender Identity, Immigration Nation, and Race Relations. Nomad Press books integrate content with participation, encouraging readers to engage in student-directed learning as opposed to teacher-guided instruction. This student-centered approach provides readers with the tools they need to become inquiry-based learners. Common Core State Standards and National Curriculum Standards for Social Studies all place project-based learning as key building blocks in education. Combining content with inquiry-based projects stimulates learning and makes it active and alive. As informational texts, our books provide key ideas and details from which readers can make their own inferences. Nomad's unique approach simultaneously grounds kids in factual knowledge while allowing them the space to be curious, creative, and critical thinkers.
- The 57 Bus (in print plus e-audio on hoopla) byISBN: 9780374303235Publication Date: 2017-10-17The riveting New York Times bestseller and Stonewall Book Award winner that will make you rethink all you know about race, class, gender, crime, and punishment. Artfully, compassionately, and expertly told, Dashka Slater's The 57 Bus is a must-read nonfiction book for teens that chronicles the true story of an agender teen who was set on fire by another teen while riding a bus in Oakland, California. Two ends of the same line. Two sides of the same crime. If it weren't for the 57 bus, Sasha and Richard never would have met. Both were high school students from Oakland, California, one of the most diverse cities in the country, but they inhabited different worlds. Sasha, a white teen, lived in the middle-class foothills and attended a small private school. Richard, a Black teen, lived in the economically challenged flatlands and attended a large public one. Each day, their paths overlapped for a mere eight minutes. But one afternoon on the bus ride home from school, a single reckless act left Sasha severely burned, and Richard charged with two hate crimes and facing life imprisonment. The case garnered international attention, thrusting both teenagers into the spotlight. But in The 57 Bus, award-winning journalist Dashka Slater shows that what might at first seem like a simple matter of right and wrong, justice and injustice, victim and criminal, is something more complicated--and far more heartbreaking. Awards and Accolades for The 57 Bus: A New York Times Bestseller Stonewall Book Award Winner YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults Finalist A Boston Globe-Horn Book Nonfiction Honor Book Winner A TIME Magazine Best YA Book of All Time A Los Angeles Times Book Prize Finalist Don't miss Dashka Slater's newest propulsive and thought-provoking nonfiction book, Accountable: The True Story of a Racist Social Media Account and the Teenagers Whose Lives It Changed, the YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction Winner which National Book Award winner Ibram X. Kendi hails as "powerful, timely, and delicately written."
- A Very Large Expanse of Sea (in print plus ebook and e-audio on hoopla) byISBN: 9780062866561Publication Date: 2018-10-16Longlisted for the National Book Award for Young People's Literature! From the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Shatter Me series comes a powerful, heartrending contemporary novel about fear, first love, and the devastating impact of prejudice. It's 2002, a year after 9/11. It's an extremely turbulent time politically, but especially so for someone like Shirin, a sixteen-year-old Muslim girl who's tired of being stereotyped. Shirin is never surprised by how horrible people can be. She's tired of the rude stares, the degrading comments--even the physical violence--she endures as a result of her race, her religion, and the hijab she wears every day. So she's built up protective walls and refuses to let anyone close enough to hurt her. Instead, she drowns her frustrations in music and spends her afternoons break-dancing with her brother. But then she meets Ocean James. He's the first person in forever who really seems to want to get to know Shirin. It terrifies her--they seem to come from two irreconcilable worlds--and Shirin has had her guard up for so long that she's not sure she'll ever be able to let it down.
- Brown Girl Dreaming (in print plus ebook and e-audio on Overdrive/Libby) byISBN: 9780147515827Publication Date: 2016-10-11Jacqueline Woodson's National Book Award and Newbery Honor winner is a powerful memoir that tells the moving story of her childhood in mesmerizing verse. A President Obama "O" Book Club pick Raised in South Carolina and New York, Woodson always felt halfway home in each place. In vivid poems, she shares what it was like to grow up as an African American in the 1960s and 1970s, living with the remnants of Jim Crow and her growing awareness of the Civil Rights movement. Touching and powerful, each poem is both accessible and emotionally charged, each line a glimpse into a child's soul as she searches for her place in the world. Woodson's eloquent poetry also reflects the joy of finding her voice through writing stories, despite the fact that she struggled with reading as a child. Her love of stories inspired her and stayed with her, creating the first sparks of the gifted writer she was to become. Includes 7 additional poems, including "Brown Girl Dreaming." Praise for Jacqueline Woodson: "Ms. Woodson writes with a sure understanding of the thoughts of young people, offering a poetic, eloquent narrative that is not simply a story . . . but a mature exploration of grown-up issues and self-discovery."--The New York Times Book Review
- On the Come Up (in print plus ebook and e-audio on hoopla) byISBN: 9780062498564Publication Date: 2019-02-05The YA love letter to hip-hop--streaming on Paramount+ September 23, 2022! Starring Sanaa Lathan (in her directorial debut), Jamila C. Gray, Da'Vine Joy Randolph, Lil Yachty, Method Man, Mike Epps, GaTa (Davionte Ganter), Miles Gutierrez-Riley, Titus Makin Jr., and Michael Anthony Cooper Jr. #1 New York Times bestseller · Seven starred reviews · Boston Globe-Horn Book Award Honor Book Sixteen-year-old Bri wants to be one of the greatest rappers of all time. Or at least win her first battle. As the daughter of an underground hip hop legend who died right before he hit big, Bri's got massive shoes to fill. But it's hard to get your come up when you're labeled a hoodlum at school, and your fridge at home is empty after your mom loses her job. So Bri pours her anger and frustration into her first song, which goes viral . . . for all the wrong reasons. Bri soon finds herself at the center of a controversy, portrayed by the media as more menace than MC. But with an eviction notice staring her family down, Bri doesn't just want to make it--she has to. Even if it means becoming the very thing the public has made her out to be. Insightful, unflinching, and full of heart, On the Come Up is an ode to hip hop from one of the most influential literary voices of a generation. It is the story of fighting for your dreams, even as the odds are stacked against you; and about how, especially for young black people, freedom of speech isn't always free. "For all the struggle in this book, Thomas rarely misses a step as a writer. Thomas continues to hold up that mirror with grace and confidence. We are lucky to have her, and lucky to know a girl like Bri."--The New York Times Book Review Plus don't miss Concrete Rose, Angie Thomas's powerful prequel to her phenomenal bestseller, The Hate U Give!
- Internment (in printplus ebook and e-audio on Ovierdrive/Libby) byISBN: 9780316522694Publication Date: 2019-03-19An instant New York Times bestseller! "Internment sets itself apart...terrifying, thrilling and urgent." -Entertainment Weekly Rebellions are built on hope. Set in a horrifying near-future United States, seventeen-year-old Layla Amin and her parents are forced into an internment camp for Muslim American citizens. With the help of newly made friends also trapped within the internment camp, her boyfriend on the outside, and an unexpected alliance, Layla begins a journey to fight for freedom, leading a revolution against the camp's Director and his guards. Heart-racing and emotional, Internment challenges readers to fight complicit silence that exists in our society today.
- Slay (in print) byISBN: 9781534445420Publication Date: 2019-09-24A Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2019! "Gripping and timely." --People "The YA debut we're most excited for this year." --Entertainment Weekly "A book that knocks you off your feet while dropping the kind of knowledge that'll keep you down for the count. Prepare to BE slain." --Nic Stone, New York Times bestselling author of Dear Martin and Odd One Out Ready Player One meets The Hate U Give in this dynamite debut novel that follows a fierce teen game developer as she battles a real-life troll intent on ruining the Black Panther-inspired video game she created and the safe community it represents for Black gamers. By day, seventeen-year-old Kiera Johnson is an honors student, a math tutor, and one of the only Black kids at Jefferson Academy. But at home, she joins hundreds of thousands of Black gamers who duel worldwide as Nubian personas in the secret multiplayer online role-playing card game, SLAY. No one knows Kiera is the game developer, not her friends, her family, not even her boyfriend, Malcolm, who believes video games are partially responsible for the "downfall of the Black man." But when a teen in Kansas City is murdered over a dispute in the SLAY world, news of the game reaches mainstream media, and SLAY is labeled a racist, exclusionist, violent hub for thugs and criminals. Even worse, an anonymous troll infiltrates the game, threatening to sue Kiera for "anti-white discrimination." Driven to save the only world in which she can be herself, Kiera must preserve her secret identity and harness what it means to be unapologetically Black in a world intimidated by Blackness. But can she protect her game without losing herself in the process?
- We Are Here to Stay: Voices of Undocumented Young Adults (in print plus ebook on Overdrive/Libby) byISBN: 9780763678845Publication Date: 2019-01-08The Stonewall Honor-winning author of Beyond Magenta shares the intimate, eye-opening stories of nine undocumented young adults living in America. "Maybe next time they hear someone railing about how terrible immigrants are, they'll think about me. I'm a real person." Meet nine courageous young adults who have lived in the United States with a secret for much of their lives: they are not U.S. citizens. They came from Colombia, Mexico, Ghana, Independent Samoa, and Korea. They came seeking education, fleeing violence, and escaping poverty. All have heartbreaking and hopeful stories about leaving their homelands and starting a new life in America. And all are weary of living in the shadows. We Are Here to Stay is a very different book than it was intended to be when originally slated for a 2017 release, illustrated with Susan Kuklin's gorgeous full-color portraits. Since the last presidential election and the repeal of DACA, it is no longer safe for these young adults to be identified in photographs or by name. Their photographs have been replaced with empty frames, and their names are represented by first initials. We are honored to publish these enlightening, honest, and brave accounts that encourage open, thoughtful conversation about the complexities of immigration -- and the uncertain future of immigrants in America.
- Long Way Down (ebook plus e-audio on Overdrive/Libby) byISBN: 9781481438261Publication Date: 2019-04-02"An intense snapshot of the chain reaction caused by pulling a trigger." --Booklist (starred review) "Astonishing." --Kirkus Reviews (starred review) "A tour de force." --Publishers Weekly (starred review) A Newbery Honor Book A Coretta Scott King Honor Book A Printz Honor Book A Time Best YA Book of All Time (2021) A Los Angeles Times Book Prize Winner for Young Adult Literature Longlisted for the National Book Award for Young People's Literature Winner of the Walter Dean Myers Award An Edgar Award Winner for Best Young Adult Fiction Parents' Choice Gold Award Winner An Entertainment Weekly Best YA Book of 2017 A Vulture Best YA Book of 2017 A Buzzfeed Best YA Book of 2017 An ode to Put the Damn Guns Down, this is New York Times bestselling author Jason Reynolds's electrifying novel that takes place in sixty potent seconds--the time it takes a kid to decide whether or not he's going to murder the guy who killed his brother. A cannon. A strap. A piece. A biscuit. A burner. A heater. A chopper. A gat. A hammer A tool for RULE Or, you can call it a gun. That's what fifteen-year-old Will has shoved in the back waistband of his jeans. See, his brother Shawn was just murdered. And Will knows the rules. No crying. No snitching. Revenge. That's where Will's now heading, with that gun shoved in the back waistband of his jeans, the gun that was his brother's gun. He gets on the elevator, seventh floor, stoked. He knows who he's after. Or does he? As the elevator stops on the sixth floor, on comes Buck. Buck, Will finds out, is who gave Shawn the gun before Will took the gun. Buck tells Will to check that the gun is even loaded. And that's when Will sees that one bullet is missing. And the only one who could have fired Shawn's gun was Shawn. Huh. Will didn't know that Shawn had ever actually USED his gun. Bigger huh. BUCK IS DEAD. But Buck's in the elevator? Just as Will's trying to think this through, the door to the next floor opens. A teenage girl gets on, waves away the smoke from Dead Buck's cigarette. Will doesn't know her, but she knew him. Knew. When they were eight. And stray bullets had cut through the playground, and Will had tried to cover her, but she was hit anyway, and so what she wants to know, on that fifth floor elevator stop, is, what if Will, Will with the gun shoved in the back waistband of his jeans, MISSES. And so it goes, the whole long way down, as the elevator stops on each floor, and at each stop someone connected to his brother gets on to give Will a piece to a bigger story than the one he thinks he knows. A story that might never know an END...if Will gets off that elevator. Told in short, fierce staccato narrative verse, Long Way Down is a fast and furious, dazzlingly brilliant look at teenage gun violence, as could only be told by Jason Reynolds.
- Moxie (in print plus e-audio on hoopla) byISBN: 9781626726352Publication Date: 2017-09-19Now a Netflix Original Film directed by Amy Poehler! "Moxie is sweet, funny, and fierce. Read this and then join the fight."--Amy Poehler An unlikely teenager starts a feminist revolution at a small-town Texas high school in this novel from Jennifer Mathieu, author of The Truth About Alice. MOXIE GIRLS FIGHT BACK! Vivian Carter is fed up. Fed up with an administration at her high school that thinks the football team can do no wrong. Fed up with sexist dress codes, hallway harassment, and gross comments from guys during class. But most of all, Viv Carter is fed up with always following the rules. Viv's mom was a tough-as-nails, punk rock Riot Grrrl in the '90s, and now Viv takes a page from her mother's past and creates a feminist zine that she distributes anonymously to her classmates. She's just blowing off steam, but other girls respond. As Viv forges friendships with other young women across the divides of cliques and popularity rankings, she realizes that what she has started is nothing short of a girl revolution. Moxie is a book about high school life that will make you wanna riot!