Book Finder

This collection of more than 100 poems that honestly and artfully confront topics ranging from poverty and motherhood to Van Gogh and Mandela is presented in Tupac Shakur’s own handwriting on one side of the page, with a typed version on the opposite side. 

This posthumously published memoir tells of young Sara’s resistance to anti-Semitism while growing up in Romania. For a while, she was able to escape the Nazis by her blonde hair and blue eyes but eventually was caught and sent to Ravensbruck, a German concentration camp for female prisoners.

“A measured, journalistic approach to a critical topic that affects our society. Henderson explores a variety of extremist groups, their origins, how they recruit, and the ways they communicate…The internet, especially the dark web, is examined for how it is used to spread hostility. The personal stories of those who turned away from their involvement in hate groups are compelling, giving insight into what attracted and then repelled them. Finally, suggestions for how to monitor, respond to, and confront groups and individuals are provided. This valuable narrative is enhanced by photographs and information sidebars. The book is well-sourced, providing an overall look at the topic while pointing to additional resources for more in-depth study.” — Kirkus Reviews

West Indian Lolly Rachpaul, twelve, still reeling from the shooting death of his older brother, begins to find his own way—without gang alliances—when his mother’s girlfriend’s gift of Legos allows him to build a fantastical city at a Harlem community center.

Natasha: I’m a girl who believes in science and facts. Not fate. Not destiny. Or dreams that will never come true. I’m definitely not the kind of girl who meets a cute boy on a crowded New York City street and falls in love with him. Not when my family is twelve hours away from being deported to Jamaica. Falling in love with him won’t be my story.

Daniel: I’ve always been the good son, the good student, living up to my parents’ high expectations. Never the poet. Or the dreamer. But when I see her, I forget about all that. Something about Natasha makes me think that fate has something much more extraordinary in store—for both of us.

The Universe: Every moment in our lives has brought us to this single moment. A million futures lie before us. Which one will come true?

National Book Award Finalist

Teens Haruko, a Japanese American, and Margot, a German American, form a life-changing friendship as everything around them starts falling apart in the Crystal City family internment camp during World War II.

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 actor George 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. American Book Award.

Every week, 17-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?

“STARRED REVIEW: A guidebook for taking action against racism. The clear title and bold, colorful illustrations will immediately draw attention to this book, designed to guide each reader on a personal journey to work to dismantle racism….Organized in four sections—identity, history, taking action, and working in solidarity—each chapter builds on the lessons of the previous section. Underlined words are defined in the glossary, but Jewell unpacks concepts around race in an accessible way, bringing attention to common misunderstandings. Activities are included at the end of each chapter; they are effective, prompting both self-reflection and action steps from readers.” ― Excerpt from Kirkus Reviews

In 1935, ten-year-old Japanese American Alex Maki of Bainbridge Island, Washington, is horrified to discover that his new pen pal, Charlie Lévy of Paris, France, is a girl. In spite of his initial reluctance, their letters continue over the years and they fight for their friendship even as Jewish Charlie endures the Nazi occupation and Alex leaves his family in an internment camp and joins the Army.

Trevor Noah, host of The Daily Show on Comedy Central, shares his remarkable story of growing up in South Africa with a black South African mother and a white European father at a time when it was against the law for a mixed-race child to exist. But he did exist — and from the beginning, the often-misbehaved Trevor used his keen smarts and humor to navigate a harsh life under a racist government. In a country where racism barred blacks from social, educational, and economic opportunity, Trevor surmounted staggering obstacles and created a promising future for himself thanks to his mom’s unwavering love and indomitable will. 

As the youngest marcher in the 1965 voting rights march from Selma to Montgomery, Albama, Lynda Blackmon Lowery proved that young adults can be heroes. Jailed eleven times before her fifteenth birthday, Lowery fought alongside Martin Luther King, Jr. for the rights of African-Americans. In this illustrated memoir, she shows today’s young readers what it means to fight nonviolently (even when the police are using violence, as in the Bloody Sunday protest) and how it felt to be part of changing American history.

When Monique gets into a prestigious ballet training program and Rasheeda is left behind to help her deeply religious and strict aunt at their close-knit church, the thirteen-year-old best friends spend the summer without each other to lean on for support.

When Marvin Johnson’s twin brother, Tyler, is shot and killed by a police officer, Marvin must fight injustice to learn the true meaning of freedom.

Celebrated author Carole Boston Weatherford and illustrator Floyd Cooper provide a powerful look at the Tulsa Race Massacre, one of the worst incidents of racial violence in our nation’s history. The book traces the history of African Americans in Tulsa’s Greenwood district and chronicles the devastation that occurred in 1921 when a white mob attacked the Black community. News of what happened was largely suppressed, and no official investigation occurred for seventy-five years. This picture book sensitively introduces young readers to this tragedy and concludes with a call for a better future.

Despite fierce prejudice and abuse, even being beaten to within an inch of her life, Fannie Lou Hamer was a champion of civil rights from the 1950s until her death in 1977. Integral to the Freedom Summer of 1964, Ms. Hamer gave a speech at the Democratic National Convention that, despite President Johnson’s interference, aired on national TV news and spurred the nation to support the Freedom Democrats. Featuring vibrant mixed-media art full of intricate detail, Voice of Freedom celebrates Fannie Lou Hamer’s life and legacy with a message of hope, determination, and strength. 2016 Caldecott Honor Book.

Biracial sixth-grader Stephen questions the limitations society puts on him after he notices the way strangers treat him when he hangs out with his White friends and learns about the Black Lives Matter movement.

Seventeen-year-old Morgan is a Black teen triumphantly figuring out her identity when her conservative town deems depression as a lack of faith, and blackness as something to be politely ignored.

Rue, a Black teen from inner-city Houston, learns to use her ancestral magic to protect her sister and her East Row neighborhood and bring the truth about the origins of magic to the people of Ghizon.

Ever since she got pregnant freshman year, Emoni Santiago’s life has been about making the tough decisions — doing what has to be done for her daughter and her abuela. The one place she can let all that go is in the kitchen, where she adds a little something magical to everything she cooks, turning her food into straight-up goodness. Even though she dreams of working as a chef after she graduates, Emoni knows that it’s not worth her time to pursue the impossible. Yet despite the rules she thinks she has to play by, once Emoni starts cooking, her only choice is to let her talent break free. Golden Kite Award for Young Adult Fiction.

Using a complicated literary format (heroic crown of sonnets) and wrenching subject matter (the lynching of Emmett Till) poet Marilyn Nelson creates a work of complete beauty. Each of the 15 sonnets feature a part of Till’s story, using imagery and metaphor rather than straightforward graphic language. The illustrations by Philippe Lardy are a lovely complement to the poetry.

It is 1970 in Red Grove, Alabama, and Latina sixth-grader Lu Olivera just wants to get along with everyone, but growing racial tensions will not let Lu stay neutral about the racial divide in school. 

Two 15 year olds — one black one white — meet and fall in love at an exclusive New York prep school. Both deal with their family issues as well as with how their growing relationship is received. This difficult novel is told in the couple’s alternating voices — until the wrenching and tragic conclusion.