All Through the Night: Important Jobs That Get Done at NightPolly Faber, illustrated by Harriet HobdayIn a city, a young girl completes her evening routine while her mother prepares to leave for work. As the night continues, the mother's trip introduces people whose jobs keep the city functioning, including nurses, cleaners, delivery workers, doctors, police officers, and journalists. The book places the girl's bedtime alongside the work undertaken by many people during the same nighttime hours.Kindergarten to Second GradeView book detailsNCSS/CBC Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People 2023
The 2023 edition contains 148 selections published by the National Council for the Social Studies. The source organizes the selections into Kindergarten to Second Grade, Third to Fifth Grade, Sixth to Eighth Grade, and Ninth to Twelfth Grade. It is one annual edition of the NCSS bibliography for social studies teaching and learning.
2023 Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young PeopleSee the original list
Selections148
Published byNational Council for the Social Studies
Sections4 sections
Browse sections4 sections
Kindergarten to Second Grade
64 selections
All Through the Night: Important Jobs That Get Done at NightPolly Faber, illustrated by Harriet HobdayIn a city, a young girl completes her evening routine while her mother prepares to leave for work. As the night continues, the mother's trip introduces people whose jobs keep the city functioning, including nurses, cleaners, delivery workers, doctors, police officers, and journalists. The book places the girl's bedtime alongside the work undertaken by many people during the same nighttime hours.Kindergarten to Second GradeView book details
An ABC of DemocracyNancy Shapiro, illustrated by Paulina MorganAn ABC of Democracy uses the alphabet to introduce ideas about politics and government. Each entry pairs a decorated letter with a related word and an encouraging slogan, moving from activism and ballots to country. The book includes the principle that everyone deserves fair treatment regardless of who they are, how they look, or where they come from. Simple explanations and artwork explore the shared world and ways of navigating it.Kindergarten to Second GradeView book details
Annette Feels Free: the True Story of Annette Kellerman, World-class Swimmer, Fashion Pioneer, and Real-life MermaidKatie Mazeika, illustrated by Katie MazeikaAnnette Feels Free recounts the life of Annette Kellerman, known as the Original Mermaid. As a girl, Annette loves dancing, twirling, and swimming, and she wants the freedom to pursue those interests. After overcoming a childhood disability, she becomes a famous swimmer. The book follows her determination to claim the rights she sought, portraying her as a forward-thinking feminist whose life was shaped by movement, swimming, and independence. Colorful digital illustrations accompany the account, with back matter and additional resources.Kindergarten to Second GradeView book details
The Best Kind of MooncakePearl AuYeung, illustrated by Pearl AuYeungSet in Hong Kong’s Tai Yuen Street market, this story follows a girl promised a prized mooncake with two yolks. The day initially feels uneventful to her, until a starving, exhausted stranger arrives at her family’s stall. Faced with his hunger, the girl gives him the mooncake she had been looking forward to. The book centers on the consequences of her generous choice and raises the question of whether kindness will be repaid. Digital illustrations accompany the story.Kindergarten to Second GradeView book details
Black Boy, Black BoyAli Kamanda, Jorge Redmond, illustrated by Ken DaleyBlack Boy, Black Boy is a picture book that presents Black boys as inventors, leaders, athletes, scholars, artists, sons, dreamers, and doers. Its focus is on their possibilities, pride, confidence, and cultural heritage. The book encourages Black boys to see themselves as the heroes of their own stories and draws inspiration from Black history’s heroes. It pairs that message with illustrations and rhythmic text intended to be read aloud.Kindergarten to Second GradeWord Count 327View book details
BlueNana Ekua Brew-HammondThis picture book traces blue’s place in history and across the world. It considers the color’s significance from ancient uses through more recent developments in making dyes. The text is written in free verse and uses wordplay, while acrylic-wash illustrations accompany the exploration. Back matter offers additional material beyond the main text.Kindergarten to Second GradeLexile Text Measure AD1060LATOS Book Level 7.3View book details
Cher Ami: Based on the World War I Legend of the Fearless PigeonMélisande Potter, illustrated by Giselle PotterSet in October 1918 during World War I, this picture book tells the true story of Cher Ami, a messenger pigeon. Nearly seven hundred American soldiers are trapped behind enemy lines without a prospect of rescue. Cher Ami carries messages and saves soldiers’ lives, placing an animal at the center of this wartime account.Kindergarten to Second GradeView book details
Curve & FlowAndrea J. LoneyThis biography follows Paul R. Williams, an orphaned Black boy who became the first Black architect certified in the region west of the Mississippi and later worked as an architect to the stars. It describes how he continued his work despite racist laws and other setbacks, drawing on his talent and vision. Digital illustrations also present his life, and the back matter contains photographs.Kindergarten to Second GradeView book details
Daddy Speaks LoveLeah HendersonWritten in rhythmic verse, this book portrays fathers whose love influences their children and the wider world. Its portraits depict different kinds of caring fathers, while the text also addresses unity and Black Lives Matter. E.B. Lewis illustrates the book. A child’s journey through adventures and difficulties is guided throughout by a father’s love.Kindergarten to Second GradeLexile Text Measure AD550LATOS Book Level 3.6View book details
GibberishYoung VoDat arrives in a new country and faces his first day at school surrounded by a language he does not understand. In unfamiliar surroundings, he struggles to adjust and feels out of place. The story portrays the challenge of learning a new language, while play becomes a way of connecting across the barriers he encounters. Dat’s experience focuses on navigating a new environment when communication and belonging are still uncertain.Kindergarten to Second GradeWord Count 231View book details
Growing an Artist: the Story of a Landscaper and His SonJohn Parra, illustrated by John ParraJuanito joins his papi at work for the first time, helping with landscaping jobs alongside Javier, who has been teaching him Spanish. At each work site, Papi and Javier show Juanito how to help with tasks, while Juanito keeps reaching for his sketchbook. He draws birds, plants, flowers, and whatever else catches his attention. A difficult encounter with a boy from school stays on his mind and leads him to ask Papi whether he likes his job.Kindergarten to Second GradeView book details
Hair to ShareSylvia WalkerHair to Share explores natural textured hair alongside friendship, generosity, and inner confidence. It addresses childhood medical hair loss and considers the effect that empathy and giving can have on a child’s self-esteem. The book connects an appreciation of natural hair with a story about how children respond to one another when hair loss becomes part of their lives. Its focus remains on relationships, self-worth, and acts of generosity in the face of a medical challenge.Kindergarten to Second GradeView book details
A History of MeAdrea TheodoreInspired by a mother’s experience as the only Black child in her classroom, this book asks readers to consider whom they see in the mirror. It follows the difficulty of being the only brown girl among white classmates while emphasizing strength, creativity, and courage passed through generations. The story connects pride in personal history with hope for the future and offers a perspective on how history can shape a sense of self.Kindergarten to Second GradeView book details
Hold Them CloseJamilah Thompkins-BigelowThis poetic picture book celebrates Black past, present, and future. Through collage and gold-painted pages, it encourages Black children to hold onto happy moments and the good things that come to them. The book is framed as a message of joy and affirmation, centering Black children and the value of keeping meaningful moments close.Kindergarten to Second GradeView book details
I am Muhammad AliBrad Meltzer, illustrated by Christopher EliopoulosThis picture-book biography introduces Muhammad Ali as an American heavyweight boxing champion and a civil rights activist. It covers his refusal to accept the military draft during the Vietnam War, an action that made him an icon for many people. The book considers Ali’s continuing influence in both sports and the Civil Rights Movement, connecting his public life as a boxer with his activism.Kindergarten to Second GradeLexile Text Measure 560LATOS Book Level 3.6View book details
I’ll Go and Come BackRajani LaRoccaJyoti, who lives in America, visits her grandmother Sita Pati in India. At first, India feels so different from home that Jyoti struggles to enjoy the visit, especially when her cousins are at school. Although Jyoti speaks English and her grandmother speaks Tamil, they connect through rangoli designs, games, and warm drinks at bedtime. The following summer, Sita Pati visits America and feels lonely and out of place until she and Jyoti reconnect through familiar activities.Kindergarten to Second GradeView book details
If You Were a Princess: True Stories of Brave Leaders from Around the WorldHillary Homzie, illustrated by Udayana LugoThree girls imagine what being a princess could mean while the book introduces princesses from the past and present. Their ideas include fighting for the rights of girls and women around the world, studying at university to become a research scientist, and making music as a songwriter, rapper, or poet. The picture book uses these possibilities to frame true stories of leaders, presenting princesshood through work, learning, creativity, and advocacy rather than a single traditional role.Kindergarten to Second GradeView book details
If You’re a Kid Like GavinGavin Grimm, Kyle LukoffThis account follows Gavin Grimm, a trans boy who knew himself to be a boy even when others saw him as a girl. After he was barred from using the boys’ bathroom, Gavin became an activist for trans rights. The book centers his understanding of his own identity and his response to exclusion through activism for legal and social recognition.Kindergarten to Second GradeView book details
In the Spirit of a Dream: 13 Stories of American Immigrants of ColorAida Salazar, illustrated by Alina ChauAida Salazar honors American immigrants of color through thirteen stories. Written as poetry, the book is illustrated by thirteen artists who are themselves first- or second-generation immigrants. The poems and illustrations together pay tribute to the experiences of immigrants of color in the United States. The title identifies the work as a set of thirteen stories about American immigrants of color.Kindergarten to Second GradeView book details
Just Like Jesse OwensAmbassador Andrew Young as told to Paula Young SheltonIn 1930s New Orleans, a boy confronts racism and learns about resilience. When neighbors shout Nazi slogans, his father answers their hatred by taking him to a film about Jesse Owens, the 1936 Olympic champion. Owens’s achievement becomes a lasting source of inspiration for Andrew Young. The book links one family’s response to prejudice with the example of a Black athlete whose accomplishment continued to matter long afterward.Kindergarten to Second GradeLexile Text Measure 650LATOS Book Level 4.2View book details
Keepunumuk: Weeâchumun’s Thanksgiving StoryDanielle Greendeer, Anthony Perry, Alexis BuntenA Wampanoag grandmother tells how her people and guardian spirits helped make survival possible for English Pilgrims in Massachusetts four hundred years ago. The story engages with the history and traditions surrounding the first Thanksgiving from a Wampanoag perspective. Indigenous creators wrote and illustrated this picture book, which also includes back matter.Kindergarten to Second GradeView book details
A Land of Books: Dreams of Young Mexican Word PaintersDuncan TonatiuhA young Mexihcah girl tells her younger brother about the value of language, culture, and tradition. She describes how their parents create painted manuscripts, or codices, and connects their work to bookmaking among the Maya, Mixtecs, Mexica, and other peoples of Mesoamerica. The story centers on Mesoamerican storytelling and the making of books in a world the narrator calls a land of books.Kindergarten to Second GradeATOS Book Level 4.3AR Interest Level Lower Grades (LG K-3)View book details
A Life of Service: The Story of Senator Tammy DuckworthChristina SoontornvatThis picture-book biography traces Senator Tammy Duckworth's life of public service. It covers her childhood, including her family's struggle to avoid homelessness; her service in the U.S. Army; and her recovery after injuries sustained while serving. The book also recounts her election to Congress as the first Thai American woman and her service in both chambers as the first woman with a disability to do so.Kindergarten to Second GradeView book details
Lion Lights: My Invention That Made Peace with LionsRichard Turere, with Shelly PollockRichard Turere tells of his experience as a young Maasai herder responsible for his family’s cows. Living alongside nearby lions, he seeks a way to keep the cattle safe. His solution helps his family and community coexist more peacefully with the lions. The account centers on the challenge of protecting livestock while sharing a landscape with wild animals, and on the ingenuity and persistence involved in finding an answer.Kindergarten to Second GradeView book details
Lola Out Loud: Inspired by the Childhood of Activist Dolores HuertaJennifer Torres, illustrated by Sara PalaciosIn this imagined story inspired by Dolores Huerta’s childhood, Lola is called “Little Lola, Seven Tongues” by her grandfather because she is always trying to be heard. When she sees unfairness in her neighborhood, she decides that silence is no longer an option and looks for a way to make a difference with her voice.Kindergarten to Second GradeView book details
Lunch from HomeJoshua David Stein, illustrated by Jing LiWritten by Joshua David Stein, Lunch from Home places a child's preferred packed meal at a school lunch table, where it receives disparaging remarks. Four students are set apart in a classroom of sandwiches by the culturally specific lunches they bring from home. Penguin Young Readers Group published this edition on August 30, 2022. The book contrasts home-prepared lunches with the sandwiches around them.Kindergarten to Second GradeView book details
Mae JemisonMaria Isabel Sánchez Vegara, illustrated by Janna MortonThis illustrated biography recounts Mae Jemison's move from an early fascination with science and space to work as a doctor and astronaut. At sixteen she began college, later trained in medicine, and served in the Peace Corps using those medical skills. In 1992, she became the first Black woman to travel to space. Back matter includes a timeline, historical photographs, and further facts.Kindergarten to Second GradeView book details
Mama in CongressRashida Tlaib, illustrated by Olivia AserrYousif Tlaib asks whether the president becomes his mother’s boss when she starts her work in Congress. His older brother Adam explains her role, with Rashida Tlaib helping answer the question. The picture book tells of Tlaib, her family, and her election as among the earliest Muslim women to win election to Congress. It introduces civic engagement and how government works.Kindergarten to Second GradeLexile Text Measure 731LATOS Book Level 4.7View book details
Maya’s SongRenée WatsonTold in poems, this biography follows writer Maya Angelou from her 1928 birth through the many ways she made her voice heard. As a child, Maya lived with her grandmother in Stamps, Arkansas, spent time in a loving Black community, and found books at the local school. After a traumatic event left her silent for five years, encouragement and poetry helped her speak again. Her later life included singing internationally, civil-rights activism, teaching in Ghana, and writing articles, essays, and books.Kindergarten to Second GradeView book details
A Mermaid GirlSana Rafi, illustrated by Olivia AserrA Mermaid Girl follows Heba as she prepares for a summer visit to the community pool in her new yellow burkini. Eager to resemble the mermaid girls in her family, she is excited to wear it for the first time. At the pool, friends’ questions about her swimsuit make Heba feel conspicuous and unsure. The story focuses on her experience of a cultural garment amid familiar summer activities and on her connections with family across generations.Kindergarten to Second GradeLexile Text Measure AD570LATOS Book Level 3.7View book details
Mommy’s HometownHope LimMommy’s Hometown follows a boy who travels with his mother to Korea, the place where she grew up. His first encounter with the country’s urbanized landscape differs from the nostalgic hometown she has described. During the visit, he discovers that some connections endure even as places change. The story places a child’s expectations alongside his mother’s memories, exploring a family journey between a remembered childhood home and the Korea he finds.Kindergarten to Second GradeView book details
More Than Peach (Bellen Woodard Original Picture Book)Bellen Woodard, illustrated by Fanny LiemIn a school and classroom Bellen Woodard has always loved, classmates refer to a crayon as “the skin-color” crayon. The moment leads Bellen to recognize the importance of helping everyone understand the issue. This picture book centers a classroom experience involving language, skin color, and the need to acknowledge people beyond a single assumed color.Kindergarten to Second GradeView book details
Mother Goose Goes to IndiaKabir Sehgal, Surishtha SehgalMother Goose Goes to India reimagines fifteen classic European nursery rhymes with Hindi words and a contemporary Indian context. For example, London Bridge becomes Tunga Bridge. The accompanying artwork depicts the sights and sounds of modern India, while familiar rhymes take on new cultural and linguistic details. It is a collection of classic verse reshaped through Hindi and Indian settings.Kindergarten to Second GradeView book details
My BindiGita Varadarajan, illustrated by Archana SreenivasanA young girl wears a bindi for the first time and discovers its meaning for her sense of self and her connection to where she comes from. The story centers the experience of seeing herself with the bindi and explores the power she finds in wearing it. It brings together identity, cultural heritage, and self-acceptance through this personal first experience.Kindergarten to Second GradeView book details
Nana, Nenek & NinaLiza FerneyhoughNina lives with her parents in San Francisco and visits two grandmothers who live far away: one in Malaysia and one in England. During these visits, she notices differences and similarities between their homes and the two places. Mixed-media illustrations accompany Nina's experiences with both sides of her family.Kindergarten to Second GradeView book details
The Notebook KeeperStephen BriseñoBased on true events, this story follows Noemi and her mother after they are refused entry to the United States from Mexico. They seek the person responsible for a notebook, an unofficial record of people waiting to cross the border, and add their own names to it. Their experience of waiting at the border is framed through compassion and generosity among people facing the same uncertainty.Kindergarten to Second GradeLexile Text Measure AD490LATOS Book Level 2.2View book details
One Sun and Countless StarsHena KhanA child’s day introduces Muslim customs, with each activity paired with a number. Beginning with one sun and moving toward countless stars, the book combines counting with traditions from the Muslim world. It includes a glossary and back matter, and its illustrations show the child’s world. The number sequence also invites attention to the many blessings represented through daily observances and cultural practices.Kindergarten to Second GradeLexile Text Measure AD510LATOS Book Level 3.4View book details
One Wish: Fatima al-Fihri and the World’s Oldest UniversityM. O. YukselThis book presents Fatima al-Fihri, an Islamic woman in ancient Morocco in 859 CE. Fatima loved learning and had one wish. Her story is linked to the creation of the world’s oldest continually functioning university. The account includes back matter and uses watercolor and gouache artwork to share this historical subject.Kindergarten to Second GradeView book details
Our Story Starts in AfricaPatrice LawrenceTante Janet takes her niece Paloma on a journey through family history, from Caribbean roots to ancient African origins. Their story includes African warrior queens, talking drums, treasures, and tales reaching back thousands of years. It also acknowledges slavery as part of that history. As Paloma listens, she learns that her own story is connected to Africa. The book explores cultural memory, heritage, and pride through a family member’s storytelling.Kindergarten to Second GradeView book details
The Poem Forest: Poet W. S. Merwin and the Palm Tree Forest He Grew from ScratchCarrie Fountain, illustrated by Chris TurnhamThis picture-book account follows former U.S. Poet Laureate W. S. Merwin and his long effort to grow a palm-tree forest in Hawaii. Drawn to wild places, Merwin planted thousands of palms from around the world over forty years. His work ultimately created an extensive collection of palm trees, which he gave away. Poetic narration and artwork tell the story of a poet whose life also became a sustained act of planting.Kindergarten to Second GradeView book details
Rise Up with a Song: The True Story of Ethel Smyth, Su ff ragette ComposerDiane Worthey, illustrated by Helena Perez GarciaThis picture-book biography follows Ethel Smyth, a composer and suffragette. As a girl, Ethel defies expectations placed on women: she climbs fences, explores graveyards, and hopes to become a recognized composer when music publishing is limited to men. Her story brings together her life in music and her role in the suffrage movement.Kindergarten to Second GradeView book details
Song in the CityDaniel BernstromEmmalene, a blind girl, notices music in the everyday sounds of her busy city. Her grandmother, Grandma Jean, initially hears those same sounds as noise. As they spend time together, Emmalene helps her grandmother attend to the sounds around them in a new way. Illustrated by Jenin Mohammed, the book centers on their shared experience of the city’s soundscape.Kindergarten to Second GradeView book details
Stacey Abrams and the Fight to VoteTraci N. Todd, illustrated by Laura FreemanStacey Abrams and the Fight to Vote introduces Abrams as a Black politician and voting-rights advocate. Ida B. Wells-Barnett, Fannie Lou Hamer, Sojourner Truth, and Septima Clark serve as the book’s narrators. Their accounts connect Abrams’s voting-rights efforts with the work of earlier Black women. The book presents that influence across generations of advocates for voting rights.Kindergarten to Second GradeView book details
Stand Up!: 10 Mighty Women Who Made a ChangeBrittney Cooper, illustrated by Cathy Ann JohnsonStand Up! is a 40-page picture book by Brittney Cooper, published by Scholastic, Inc. in 2022. It portrays ten historic female figures. This book is Cooper’s picture-book debut, beginning her planned seven-book publishing arrangement with Scholastic. That agreement encompasses both picture books and middle-grade titles, while this volume introduces its group of historic women.Kindergarten to Second GradeView book details
Sweet JusticeMara RockliffThis illustrated biography tells of Civil Rights leader Georgia Gilmore and her connection to the Montgomery Bus Boycott. After Rosa Parks is arrested for refusing to give up her bus seat to a white man, Gilmore supports the boycott through her Southern cooking and her commitment to the cause. The book centers food, fundraising, and one woman’s role in a major Civil Rights action.Kindergarten to Second GradeLexile Text Measure AD840LATOS Book Level 4.6View book details
The TalkAlicia D. WilliamsAs Jay grows from a little boy into a bigger one, he has an important conversation with his family. The picture book focuses on the difficult discussion many Black and Brown families have with children about staying safe in a world that treats them differently because of skin color. Jay’s everyday life includes time with friends and family, including his grandmother and parents.Kindergarten to Second GradeLexile Text Measure AD540LATOS Book Level 2.8View book details
This Little VoterAnn Bonnie, illustrated by Carol HerringA playful election-day variation on the nursery rhyme “This Little Piggy” follows little voters as they prepare to cast ballots. The book centers voting and the steps of getting ready for an election, using the familiar rhyme as its framework. It is part of a Nursery Rhyme board-book series, as well.Kindergarten to Second GradeView book details
‘Twas the Night Before PrideJoanna McClintick, illustrated by Juana MedinaFamilies get ready for Pride in a rhyming picture book modeled on “’Twas the Night Before Christmas.” Their anticipation of the celebration is set alongside Pride history, including people in LGBTQ+ communities who resisted injustice and inequality. The book addresses the Stonewall Riots and AIDS marches while emphasizing community, inclusion, unity, and self-expression.Kindergarten to Second GradeLexile Text Measure 491LATOS Book Level 3.3View book details
We All CelebrateChitra Soundar, illustrated by Jenny BloomfieldThis book looks at the many reasons people celebrate: birthdays, friendships, the beginning of seasons, religious events, and national holidays. Its celebrations come from around the world and include color, specially prepared food, and shared good cheer. Together, these occasions show how milestones, relationships, and traditions can be marked in community.Kindergarten to Second GradeView book details
When the Schools Shut DownYolanda Gladden, illustrated by Keisha MorrisThis autobiographical picture book follows Yolanda, a young African American girl in Farmville, Virginia, during the shutdown of public schools after Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka. It recounts how children in Prince Edward County were kept from formal schooling for five years, contrasting that experience with the 1954 decision’s promise of school integration.Kindergarten to Second GradeView book details
Wilma MankillerMaria Isabel Sánchez Vegara, illustrated by Alexandra BowmanThis book traces Wilma Mankiller’s life, from a childhood shaped by Cherokee heritage to her election as the first woman Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation. Her parents encourage pride in who she is and in those who came before her. When her family moves from Oklahoma’s Rocky Mountains to San Francisco, Wilma sees unfair treatment of Native Americans there.Kindergarten to Second GradeWord Count 546View book details
With Lots of LoveJenny Torres SanchezRocio and her family move from Central America to the United States, where she tries to adapt to a different life. She misses the home she left, especially her grandmother, along with her grandmother’s cooking, piñatas, and hugs. A birthday gift from Abuela, a star piñata, connects Rocio to the grandmother she longs for while she settles into new surroundings.Kindergarten to Second GradeLexile Text Measure AD610LATOS Book Level 3.4View book details
The Year We Learned to FlyJacqueline WoodsonTold in verse, this picture book centers on two Black siblings who turn to imagination when boredom sets in. Their African American grandmother encourages them to draw strength from their ancestors and use imagination in meeting difficult moments. The story connects a grandmother’s guidance with the siblings’ movement from boredom and anger toward adventure and peace.Kindergarten to Second GradeLexile Text Measure AD1010LATOS Book Level 6.8View book details
Yes We Will: Asian Americans Who Shaped This CountryKelly YangPoetic text introduces the accomplishments and contributions of Asian American changemakers in science, the arts, history, and politics. The people included range from Kamala Harris and Yo-Yo Ma to I. M. Pei and fifteen others. A different Asian American or Asian artist illustrates each spread. Brief biographies of people or historical moments appear alongside the text, with expanded biographies collected at the end.Kindergarten to Second GradeView book details
H is for HarlemDinah JohnsonAn alphabetical book explores Harlem’s Black history and culture through people, buildings, institutions, works of art, landmarks, performance spaces, museums, community centers, and traditions. Entries include places such as the Apollo Theatre, Liberation Bookstore, and Uptown. Different elements of Harlem’s past and present are brought together in an illustrated archive of a neighborhood that has shaped American culture across generations.Kindergarten to Second GradeView book details
HomeMatt de la Peña, illustrated by Loren LongLyrical text and warm illustrations consider what makes a home. Rather than treating home only as a physical place, the book connects it with the people who create belonging. It recognizes that families and homes can take many forms, and also includes community, safety, and the natural world in its vision of home.Kindergarten to Second GradeLexile Text Measure AD910LFountas & Pinnell Text Level OView book details
KapaemahuHinaleimoana Wong-Kalu, Dean Hamer, Joe WilsonAn Indigenous Hawaiian legend recounts four mahu—people of dual female and male spirit—who travel from Tahiti to Hawai‘i with healing arts. In gratitude, islanders create a monument of four boulders; the mahu give the stones healing power before they disappear. Later, the stones’ sacred history is forgotten and subsequently recovered, though its erasure continues. The book is bilingual in Olelo Niihau and English.Kindergarten to Second GradeLexile Text Measure AD730LATOS Book Level 4.7View book details
My Town / Mi PuebloNicholas Solis, illustrated by Luisa UribeTwo cousins live in towns separated by a river, on opposite sides of a border. In this bilingual English-Spanish picture book, they visit one another’s communities and notice both their shared features and their differences. Their exchanges explore life across the border while finding unity amid distinct towns and experiences.Kindergarten to Second GradeLexile Text Measure AD490LATOS Book Level 3.3View book details
A Pandemic Is WorldwideSarah L. Thomson, illustrated by Taia MorleyThis illustrated nonfiction picture book examines the science of pandemics and ways people can stay safe during them. It begins from the familiar fact that people sometimes become ill, with symptoms such as a runny nose or sore throat, then places that experience within its discussion of pandemics. The book uses information and illustrations to explore the topic.Kindergarten to Second GradeView book details
Parks for the PeopleElizabeth PartridgeThis picture-book biography examines Frederick Law Olmsted’s life and work as a nineteenth-century thinker who helped create public spaces in the United States. It identifies him as the designer of Central Park and the landscape surrounding the U.S. Capitol building. The account focuses on his role in shaping parks and other shared outdoor places, with extensive back matter.Kindergarten to Second GradeLexile Text Measure AD920LATOS Book Level 5.7View book details
Pink, Blue, and You!Elise Gravel, Mykaell BlaisThis picture book addresses gender stereotypes and the right of every person to be their true self. Its direct approach opens conversations about expectations linked to gender, inviting readers to consider identity and self-expression. The book presents these subjects in a format intended to be read together and discussed with others openly.Kindergarten to Second GradeView book details
Something Happened to My DadAnn Hazzard, Vivianne Apponte Rivera, illustrated by Gloria FelixSomething Happened to My Dad follows Carmen after her Papi is detained because of his immigration status. As she deals with the separation, Carmen finds support in her community and in love. The story says this support helps her recognize strength within herself while she continues to maintain a connection with her father. Her ongoing connection with Papi remains an important part of her experience.Kindergarten to Second GradeView book details
A Song for the Unsung: Bayard Rustin, the Man Behind the 1963 March on WashingtonCarole Boston Weatherford, Rob SandersThis picture-book biography focuses on Bayard Rustin, a gay Black man whose work supported the 1963 March on Washington. Despite being marginalized because he was gay, Rustin organized and inspired nonviolent protest efforts and mentored Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The book includes extensive back matter about his life and role in the movement.Kindergarten to Second GradeView book details
That’s Betty!: The Story of Betty WhiteGregory Bonsignore, illustrated by Jennifer M. PotterThat’s Betty! is a picture-book biography of Betty White. It covers her life and achievements, presenting her as a television figure, a pioneer, and an activist. White is also described as a legend and an icon. The account focuses on her public work and the accomplishments associated with her career in television and activism.Kindergarten to Second GradeView book detailsThird to Fifth Grade
36 selections
18 Vats of WaterJi-Li JiangSet in fourth-century China, this book tells of Xian, a renowned calligrapher who wants to become skilled in the art practiced by his father. At six, he begins his studies, following his father’s approach and disciplined work habits. As he develops as an artist, Xian also forms a style of his own. Ink and digital illustrations accompany the account, which includes back matter.Third to Fifth GradeView book details
Baseball Around the World: How the World Plays the GameChris Singleton, Dean BurrellBaseball Around the World takes a multicultural tour of the nations and players that made baseball an international game. It looks at details of how the sport is played and experienced in different places, including food at Japanese stadiums and the gold-rush connection that brought baseball to Australia around the globe for fans.Third to Fifth GradeView book details
Because of You, John LewisAndrea Davis PinkneyTen-year-old Tybre Faw dreams of meeting Congressman John Lewis, and when this happens, their friendship begins. The book tells the story of the young activist alongside Lewis, a civil rights leader whose own youth included a consequential friendship with Martin Luther King Jr. It follows a bond between generations of activists and includes watercolor images, poetic text, photographs, and other back matter. It identifies both people as connected through activism and friendship.Third to Fifth GradeLexile Text Measure 720LATOS Book Level 3.9View book details
Black Trailblazers: 30 Courageous Visionaries Who Broke Boundaries, Made a Di ff erence, and Paved the WayBijan Bayne, illustrated by Joelle AvelinoBlack Trailblazers presents thirty brief biographies of Black thinkers, activists, and innovators. Full-color illustrations accompany the profiles, which also incorporate quotations from the people featured. The book considers the work these figures did and their influence on the world, bringing together history, biography, and visual portraiture in a collection of thirty lives. Each entry keeps attention on a different figure’s contribution.Third to Fifth GradeView book details
Carrimebac, the Town That WalkedDavid Barclay Moore, illustrated by John HolyfieldDavid Barclay Moore’s original tale intertwines historical material with wry folk wisdom, combining those elements within one narrative. Its use of metaphorical power gives figurative expression an explicitly noted role in the tale’s approach to storytelling. Alongside those elements, a splash of magic adds a fantastical strand to the tale and brings history, folk wisdom, and metaphor into the same narrative.Third to Fifth GradeView book details
Choosing Brave: How Mamie Till-Mobley and Emmett Till Sparked the Civil Rights MovementAngela JoyThis picture-book biography tells of Mamie Till-Mobley, the mother of Emmett Till. In 1955, Emmett, then fourteen, was murdered while visiting the South. The book follows how Mamie Till-Mobley turned her grief after his death into a call for action within the civil rights movement. It places her story in the history of racial violence and the movement for civil rights.Third to Fifth GradeLexile Text Measure 680LATOS Book Level 4.4View book details
History Smashers: The Underground RailroadKate Messner, Gwendolyn Hooks, illustrated by Damon SmythHistory Smashers: The Underground Railroad challenges a familiar account of abolitionists using quilts and lantern signals to direct enslaved people to freedom before the Civil War. It explains that the network was not highly organized and that many people seeking freedom acted on their own. Sidebars, illustrations, photographs, and graphic panels accompany its account of Black Americans’ struggle for freedom during this period.Third to Fifth GradeView book details
I Hate Borsch!Yevgenia NaybergA young Ukrainian girl cannot stand borsch, despite the expectation that Ukrainians should love the red soup. As she grows older, however, she comes to miss it and feels nostalgic for the food she once rejected. Told with whimsy and humor, the story considers how a familiar dish can carry complicated cultural ties. It follows the changing connection between one girl, borsch, and the place and heritage associated with it.Third to Fifth GradeView book details
It’s Up to UsChris Lloyd, illustrated by Multiple (33 di ff erent illustrators)It’s Up to Us, by Chris Lloyd, describes how nature works in a world without people. The book then addresses the damage human beings have done to the planet. Published by What on Earth Publishing in 2022, it contrasts a human-free natural world with the effects of people’s actions on Earth.Third to Fifth GradeView book details
Playing with LanternsWang Yage, illustrated by Zhu ChengliangDuring Chinese New Year in a snow-covered Shaanxi village, Zhao Di receives two colorful paper lanterns from her uncle. She carries one into the cold night, taking care to keep its candle lit as she joins friends outdoors. The girls walk together with their lanterns, relight candles that go out, and react to the boys’ unruly behavior. On the holiday’s final evening, the village celebrates beneath the moon. At the traditional call, Zhao Di and her friends break their lanterns and burn them before the candles are extinguished, because leaving them intact is believed to bring bad luck.Third to Fifth GradeLexile Text Measure AD610LATOS Book Level 4View book details
Sanctuary: Kip Tiernan and Rosie’s Place, the Nation’s First Shelter for WomenChristine McDonnell, illustrated by Victoria Tentler-KrylovSanctuary tells Kip Tiernan’s story and the creation of Rosie’s Place, described as the nation’s first shelter for women. Growing up during the Great Depression, Kip helps her grandmother feed men who come to their door for help. Later, while serving food to hungry people, she notices women standing at the back of lines dressed as men. The book connects these experiences with her compassion and vision.Third to Fifth GradeView book details
She Persisted: Coretta Scott KingJKelly Starling Lyons, Chelsea Clinton, illustrated by Alexandra Boiger, Gillian FlintThis biography centers on Coretta Scott King as a civil rights leader whose work extended beyond her marriage to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. It recounts her roles as an activist, singer, and author, and describes the lasting effects of her work for Black Americans and women. The book includes an introduction by Chelsea Clinton, black-and-white illustrations, and suggestions for readers who want to make a difference.Third to Fifth GradeView book details
She Persisted: Wangari MaathaiEucabeth Odhiambo, Chelsea Clinton, illustrated by Alexandra Boiger, Gillian FlintThis chapter-book biography introduces Wangari Maathai’s response to deforestation in Kenya, where she was from. After learning how many trees had been cut down, she founded the Green Belt Movement and enlisted friends, relatives, and strangers to plant trees and care for the environment. The book also notes that she received the Nobel Peace Prize for this work and includes an introduction, black-and-white illustrations, and action ideas.Third to Fifth GradeView book details
Standing in Need of PrayerCarole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Frank MorrisonReworked from classic song lyrics, this book traces more than four centuries of African American history. It includes milestones and hardships alongside achievements, from the 1619 arrival of enslaved people in Jamestown and Nat Turner’s rebellion to military integration, the Selma-to-Montgomery marches, and present-day peaceful protests. The account also recognizes musicians and athletes including Duke Ellington and Florence Griffith Joyner.Third to Fifth GradeView book details
Too Small Tola and the Three Fine GirlsAtinuke, illustrated by Onyinye IwuTola lives in Lagos with her sister Moji, brother Dapo, and Grandmommy. Three chapter stories follow her family: Tola searches for Grandmommy’s lost earring, joins Dapo in taking over Grandmommy’s groundnut-selling work when Grandmommy is ill, and confronts envy after seeing three girls with things she wishes she had. Tola’s small size and persistence shape her responses to family problems and surprises.Third to Fifth GradeLexile Text Measure 610LATOS Book Level 3.5View book details
We Have a Dream: Meet 30 Young Indigenous People and People of Color Protecting the PlanetMya-Rose Craig, illustrated by Sabrena KhadijaWe Have a Dream brings together thirty young environmental activists who share their dreams. It identifies Indigenous people and people of color as communities disproportionately affected by climate change. The book places young activists’ aspirations beside climate change’s unequal effects, naming both environmental action and the experiences of Indigenous people and people of color. Written by Mya-Rose Craig, it is 64 pages long.Third to Fifth GradeView book details
What Is Juneteenth?Kirsti Jewel, Who HQ, illustrated by Manuel GutierrezWhat Is Juneteenth? explains the United States holiday marking the end of chattel slavery. On June 19, 1865, enslaved people in Texas heard a Union soldier announce that they were free and that forced, unpaid labor was illegal throughout the United States. Their response included excitement, dancing, and tears of joy, turning the news into a cause for celebration. Kirsti Jewel and Who HQ created the book.Third to Fifth GradeLexile Text Measure 960LATOS Book Level 6.3View book details
Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me ‘RoundKathlyn J. Kirkwood, illustrated by Ste ffi WalthallIn this memoir told in verse, Kathlyn J. Kirkwood recounts a life shaped by activism. Drawn to protests as a child and participating as a teenager, she later joins years of petitions and demonstrations seeking federal recognition of Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday. Her account focuses on the people who did this organizing and on her work over time as an ordinary participant in racial-justice activism.Third to Fifth GradeView book details
Attack of the Black RectanglesAmy Sarig KingMac notices that words have been covered in his classroom copy of The Devil’s Arithmetic. Once he and his friends learn what has been removed, Mac is angry that someone at school is restricting access to the complete text. He decides to challenge that restriction, drawing on lessons from his mother and grandad, while also coping with his father’s worsening mental-health problems.Third to Fifth GradeView book details
Her Name was Mary Katharine: The Only Woman Whose Name Is on the Declaration of IndependenceElla Schwartz, illustrated by Dow PhumirukThis picture-book biography focuses on Mary Katharine Goddard, born in 1738 in colonial Connecticut as the country moved toward the American Revolution. It recounts how she became the only woman whose name appeared in print on the Declaration of Independence. Her story is set against the changing politics of the colonial era and the nation’s approach to revolution.Third to Fifth GradeView book details
Honey and MeMeira DrazinModern Orthodox best friends Milla and Honey are preparing for their bat mitzvahs during a school year that tests their relationship. Honey begins attending Milla’s school, where her popularity and outspoken presence make Milla feel overshadowed. At home, Milla enjoys Honey’s large family but wants more say over her own choices with her protective mother. Amid celebrations, a beloved teacher’s death, and a speech competition, the friends navigate change while beginning to form separate identities.Third to Fifth GradeLexile Text Measure 829LATOS Book Level 5.3View book details
Kids Fight Climate Change: Act now to be a #2minutesuperheroMartin Dorey, illustrated by Tim WessonThis illustrated guide presents sixty climate-focused missions for reducing carbon use in everyday life. Its activities range from gardening and gadgets to making a water-saving device for a toilet tank. Climate statistics, resources, and accounts of positive environmental change are woven throughout, including the return of Eurasian beavers through conservation efforts. The book centers practical responses to a planet facing climate trouble.Third to Fifth GradeView book details
Louisa June and the Nazis in the WavesL. M. ElliottSet after the attack on Pearl Harbor, this story follows Louisa June as World War II reaches the waters near her Virginia home. Hitler’s declaration of war brings German U-boats to attack American ships, turning a coastline once associated with fishing and wild swans into a dangerous place. When a German submarine kills Louisa June’s older brother, she resolves to do what she can from home against the Nazis. Her brothers’ ships also face the threat of U-boats.Third to Fifth GradeView book details
LoyaltyAviSet during the lead-up to the American Revolution, this novel follows Noah, a young Loyalist whose father is killed by rebel vigilantes. After fleeing to Boston with his family, Noah becomes a British spy in pursuit of revenge. His experiences bring him face-to-face with partisan rumors, people demanding liberty while enslaving others, and bonds that persist despite declared political loyalties. The story examines patriotism and personal responsibility amid war.Third to Fifth GradeLexile Text Measure 720LATOS Book Level 5.2View book details
A Mind Like MineRachael Davis, illustrated by Islenia MilA Mind Like Mine is a collection of biographies of people from history and public life who have lived with mental health conditions. Its subjects range from Charles Darwin, who experienced anxiety, and Florence Nightingale, who lived with PTSD, to Michelangelo, Ada Lovelace, Deepika Padukone, and Freddie Flintoff. The book emphasizes that mental health conditions affect people from many walks of life and that someone’s inner experience may not be visible to others.Third to Fifth GradeView book details
Morning Sun in WuhanYing Chang CompestineIn the first chaotic weeks of the pandemic in Wuhan, Mei’s father works long hours at a hospital. Mei turns to the things she loves—cooking and computer games—as she looks for ways to help her community come together. The story follows a young girl facing the disruption of a pandemic while finding hope and purpose through food, technology, and collective support.Third to Fifth GradeLexile Text Measure 800LATOS Book Level 5.09View book details
New from HereKelly YangTen-year-old Knox Wei-Evans and his siblings leave Hong Kong for California when coronavirus arrives. Their father remains in Hong Kong because of work, while the family has only two days to arrange the move. At Knox’s new school, classmates blame him for bringing the virus because he came from Asia. His mother loses her job and worries about health insurance as cancelled flights keep the family apart.Third to Fifth GradeLexile Text Measure 630LATOS Book Level 4.1View book details
Our World of DumplingsFrancie Dekker, illustrated by Sarah JungAt a dumpling festival in an apartment complex, children watch and help as each family prepares a different version of dumplings. Food aromas travel through the building’s stairwell: garlic is being sautéed while tomatoes stew on a stovetop. Excited to take part, the children follow the cooking as families make the treats in their apartments. Their anticipation comes from watching how the foods are made and lending a hand to the families cooking them.Third to Fifth GradeView book details
Rain RisingCourtne ComrieThirteen-year-old Rain relies on her older brother, Xavier, for joy while living with sadness, fears about the future, and painful feelings about her appearance. After Xavier is severely attacked by a group of white fraternity members, Rain’s distress intensifies; she struggles at school and uses self-harm to cope. When Xavier returns home with PTSD, Rain begins receiving support from a teacher, a group, therapy, and family conversations.Third to Fifth GradeLexile Text Measure 549LATOS Book Level 3.6View book details
The Secret Battle of Evan PaoWendy Wan-Long ShangEvan Pao moves with his mother and sister from California to Haddington, Virginia, while hoping to keep his father’s notoriety private. In the tradition-focused Southern town, Brady Griggs singles Evan out and makes him feel unwelcome because he is Chinese American. Evan’s research into Chinese American history leads to classroom discussions about systemic racism in a community preoccupied with the Civil War.Third to Fifth GradeLexile Text Measure 669LATOS Book Level 4.3View book details
To the Front: Clara Barton Braves the Battle of AntietamClaudia Friddell, illustrated by Christopher CyrThis biography follows Clara Barton’s work as a Civil War nurse during the Battle of Antietam. It describes the efforts that led people to call her “The Angel of the Battlefield” and places that work near the beginning of her later path as a humanitarian. The account also links Barton’s service during the battle to her role as founder of the American Red Cross, tracing a formative moment in her public life.Third to Fifth GradeView book details
Two DegreesAlan GratzFour children confront dangerous natural events in different places. Akira is riding her horse in California woods when a wildfire ignites and rapidly spreads around her. In the snowy Canadian tundra, Owen and his friend George encounter a polar bear at close range. Natalie stays at home as a huge hurricane approaches Miami. The story follows these children as they try to survive threats from fire, wildlife, and severe weather.Third to Fifth GradeWord Count 64734View book details
Unlawful Orders: A Portrait of Dr. James B. Williams, Tuskegee Airman, Surgeon, and ActivistBarbara BinnsThis nonfiction portrait recounts Dr. James B. Williams’s struggle for racial equality in both military service and medicine. It spans generations, from the Jim Crow era through the present. Williams is presented as a pioneering Black American alongside other important figures whose efforts against racism have often been overlooked. The account includes his roles as a Tuskegee Airman, surgeon, and activist.Third to Fifth GradeView book details
The Waiting Place: When Home Is Lost and a New One Not Yet FoundDina Nayeri, photographed by Anna Bosch MiralpeixThe Waiting Place portrays ten young refugees from Afghanistan and Iran as they wait for asylum at the Katsikas refugee camp in Greece. Ranging in age from five to thirteen, their lives are suspended between a lost home and an uncertain new one. The book situates their experiences within displacement caused by war, famine, and floods, and includes full-color photographs and extensive back matter. It focuses on young people living through forced migration and waiting.Third to Fifth GradeView book details
We Are WolvesKatrina NannestadNear the end of World War II, Russian soldiers enter East Prussia and the Wolf family leaves its village. After their father is reported missing, Liesl, Otto, and toddler Mia become separated from their mother during an attack. The siblings seek shelter, are taken to a Russian camp, and work for food before fleeing together. They scavenge while facing hunger and eventually travel toward Lithuania, becoming part of the German children known as Wolfskinder.Third to Fifth GradeView book details
Wishing Upon the Same StarsJacquetta Nammar FeldmanYasmeen, a Palestinian American seventh grader, moves with her family to San Antonio and tries to find friendship and a clearer sense of herself. There she meets Ayelet, a Jewish Israeli American classmate. Their potential friendship is challenged by their parents’ prejudices and by bullying at school. The novel follows Yasmeen’s adjustment to a new place while the two girls confront the obstacles between them and consider whether they can become friends.Third to Fifth GradeView book detailsSixth to Eighth Grade
27 selections
Alte Zachen / Old ThingsZiggy HanaorEleven-year-old Benji shops in New York with his grandmother, Bubbe Rosa, for a Shabbat dinner. As they travel through Brooklyn and Manhattan gathering ingredients, Benji learns about Rosa’s past in Nazi Germany, a lost love, and her immigration. Rosa feels estranged from a city that no longer matches her memories, while Benji sees both the city and his grandmother differently. This intergenerational graphic novel links their shared errand with family history and memory.Sixth to Eighth GradeView book details
The Bluest SkyChristina Diaz GonzalezIn the summer of 1980, Héctor lives in Cuba with a mother who disagrees politically with his pro-Castro grandmother. His father was arrested and exiled years earlier and now lives in Florida. When the port of Mariel opens to people who wish to leave Cuba, Héctor learns that his mother plans for the family to depart. She tells him and his older brother, Rodrigo, to keep the plan secret from friends and relatives. Héctor must navigate divided family loyalties, political conflict, and an impending departure from home.Sixth to Eighth GradeLexile Text Measure 650LATOS Book Level 4.2View book details
Dragonfly EyesCao WenxuanAh-Mei shares a close relationship with her French grandmother, Nainai, in a family saga that extends across three generations and fifty years. The family’s wealth once brings social standing, but during China’s Cultural Revolution their mixed heritage and possessions make them targets of mistreatment and persecution. The story follows a family confronting the consequences of political upheaval across generations.Sixth to Eighth GradeView book details
Evicted: the Struggle for the Right to VoteAlice Faye DuncanThis book examines Tennessee’s Fayette County Tent City movement, an event in Civil Rights history during the late 1950s. It looks at a community’s campaign for the vote, showing people joining together to press for that right. The account brings this struggle in Tennessee to the page with impressionistic acrylic paintings. Back matter accompanies its portrayal of a movement in which people organized around voting rights.Sixth to Eighth GradeView book details
Exploring Civil Rights: The Movement: 1955Nel YomtovThis volume examines major events in the U.S. civil rights movement during 1955. It recounts the August murder of Emmett Till, a Black teenager, in Mississippi. It also describes Rosa Parks’s December refusal to relinquish her Alabama bus seat to a white passenger. That action led to the Montgomery bus boycott, which continued for a year and brought major change to the city.Sixth to Eighth GradeView book details
Exploring Civil Rights: The Movement: 1965Jay LeslieThis volume examines key events of the Civil Rights Movement in 1965, a year marked by assassination, violent attacks, and efforts to suppress Black Americans’ voting rights. It recounts the killing of Malcolm X in February. It also describes Bloody Sunday in March, when six hundred civil rights demonstrators attempted to march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, in opposition to restrictions on Black voting.Sixth to Eighth GradeView book details
The Founders UnmaskedJennifer SabinThis nonfiction book examines people connected to the founding of the United States, including both men and women. Its account begins in Philadelphia during the summer of 1776, when Thomas Jefferson came to sign the Declaration of Independence and its statement that all men are created equal. Part of a series that investigates overlooked United States history through an anti-racist perspective, it looks beyond the familiar founders.Sixth to Eighth GradeView book details
Garvey in the DarkNikki GrimesTold in verse, this novel follows Garvey during the COVID-19 pandemic. Garvey has recently found happiness and feels closer to his father because they share a love of music. The pandemic brings shock and disruption to his life, while bullies are also part of his experience. Through Garvey’s perspective, the story addresses difficult times and the search for hope.Sixth to Eighth GradeView book details
History Comics: The Stonewall Riots: Making a Stand for LGBTQ RightsArchie Bongiovanni, illustrated by A. AndrewsThree teenagers from the present day—Natalia, Jax, and Rashad—are magically transported to the Stonewall Inn in the summer of 1969. In this graphic novel, they encounter the Stonewall Riots and activists including Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera. Their time-traveling experience places them inside a major moment in the history of LGBTQ rights, connecting contemporary teenagers with the people and events of Stonewall.Sixth to Eighth GradeView book details
I Will Protect You: A True Story of Twins Who Survived AuschwitzEva Mozes Kor with Danica DavidsonA true story recounts the lives of identical twin sisters Eva and Miriam, who had a mostly happy childhood before surviving Nazi experimentation during the Holocaust. The account identifies Eva as one of the sisters and records their survival despite that persecution. Their relationship as twins places sisterhood alongside the history and violence of the Holocaust. The book is credited to Eva Mozes Kor with Danica Davidson.Sixth to Eighth GradeView book details
The Legacy of Jim CrowClarence A. HaynesThe Legacy of Jim Crow explores the laws and ideas that shaped African American life for generations. It explains how white lawmakers in the United States created policies known collectively as Jim Crow in the late nineteenth century. In the South, these policies established segregated public facilities, including schools and parks, for African Americans. The book centers the historical origins and lasting discriminatory effects of these laws and the system they created.Sixth to Eighth GradeView book details
Muhammad Najem, War Reporter; How One Boy Put the Spotlight on SyriaMuhammad Najem, Nora Neus, illustrated by Julie RobineThis graphic memoir portrays teenager Muhammad Najem’s effort to report the truth while putting his life at risk. Najem is identified as a youth activist, and CNN producer Nora Neus is credited alongside him. Its title places the reporting in Syria, and it presents journalism carried out in dangerous circumstances. The book was published by Little, Brown Ink in 2022.Sixth to Eighth GradeView book details
A New History of ImmigrationJaclyn BackhausTrue History: A New History of Immigration presents the United States as a nation shaped by immigrants and by people described as dreamers. It examines the familiar idea of America as a place where people may arrive and pursue the American Dream through grit and determination. The book focuses on this national narrative of immigration and aspiration. Written by Jaclyn Backhaus, it was published by Penguin Young Readers Group in 2022.Sixth to Eighth GradeView book details
Omar RisingAisha SaeedOmar receives a scholarship to Ghalib Academy Boarding School, an opportunity he sees as a way to change his future. He hopes to join science club and the soccer team, but first-year scholarship students are barred from both and assigned menial chores. Omar then learns that the school requires scholarship students to earn much higher grades than students who pay tuition, making graduation extremely difficult.Sixth to Eighth GradeLexile Text Measure HL540LATOS Book Level 3.6View book details
A Seed in the SunAida SalazarSet in Delano, California, A Seed in the Sun portrays Lula working the grape harvest with her older siblings amid unsafe conditions. She also cares for younger siblings and her mysteriously ill Mamá while avoiding her father’s volatile temper. Lula encounters labor-rights activists Dolores Huerta and Larry Itliong. Her family must decide whether to join farmworkers striking over wages and treatment.Sixth to Eighth GradeWord Count 29609View book details
Seen and Unseen: What Dorothea Lange, Toyo Miyatake, and Ansel Adams’s Photographs Reveal About the Japanese American IncarcerationElizabeth PartridgeThis nonfiction account examines the World War II imprisonment of people of Japanese descent in the United States through photographs and firsthand accounts. It follows Dorothea Lange, Toyo Miyatake, and Ansel Adams, whose work reflected different circumstances and constraints. Lange documented injustice, though the military censored many candid photographs. At Manzanar, imprisoned photographer Toyo Miyatake secretly made a camera and recorded camp life, later photographing events there under government restrictions.Sixth to Eighth GradeView book details
Star ChildIbi ZoboiThis biography traces the early life of Octavia E. Butler through prose and poetry. It follows a Black child who loved speculative and science fiction but did not find herself represented in much of what she read and watched. Butler went on to invent worlds and create stories centered on Black and brown characters, often women. Her work helped shape Afrofuturism. Stars and the universe provide a recurring framework throughout the book: prose sections and connecting poems return to those ideas, while concrete poems also use their visual form to engage with them.Sixth to Eighth GradeLexile Text Measure 1029LATOS Book Level 7View book details
ThirstVarsha BajajMinni lives in a poor area of Mumbai where communal water taps operate only for a few hours each day and people wait in long lines. Severe shortages worsen when thieves steal water, a crime Minni sees one night. At the high-rise where she has begun working, she encounters plentiful running water and a rooftop pool. While studying for exams and handling family responsibilities, Minni investigates the theft ring affecting her neighborhood.Sixth to Eighth GradeLexile Text Measure 700LATOS Book Level 4.4View book details
This Book Will Save the PlanetDany Sigwalt, illustrated by Aurélia DurandThis Book Will Save the Planet investigates the climate crisis, its causes, and its effects on people most vulnerable to it. The book connects climate change with climate justice and considers how people can fight for those bearing its greatest consequences. Its illustrated nonfiction approach focuses on the forces behind the crisis as well as action in response to it. The subject matter combines environmental change with questions of fairness and collective action.Sixth to Eighth GradeView book details
We Were the Fire: Birmingham 1063Shelia P. MosesEleven-year-old Rufus Jackson Jones lives in Birmingham, Alabama, and is determined to stand up for his rights. Set in 1963, the story draws him into the city’s civil rights demonstrations. Rufus is a Black boy whose personal resolve unfolds amid a major struggle for civil rights in Birmingham, connecting his experiences to the events and activism around him.Sixth to Eighth GradeView book details
When Winter Robeson CameBrenda WoodsSet in Los Angeles during 1965, this novel in verse brings cousins Eden and Winter together for a two-week visit. Eden anticipates an easy, happy time, but Winter arrives determined to find his missing father. Their search sends them gathering facts while the Watts Rebellion unfolds around them. As they investigate, the cousins encounter family secrets amid the unrest and discord of that historical moment.Sixth to Eighth GradeView book details
The Witness Blanket: Truth, Art and ReconciliationCarey Newman, Kirstie HudsonFor over 150 years, residential schools across Canada separated thousands of Indigenous children from their families. Artist Carey Newman made the Witness Blanket so that this history would not be forgotten. The book connects the artwork with the history of residential schools and the children who were sent to them. It addresses remembrance through art while recognizing the lasting harm of forced separation.Sixth to Eighth GradeView book details
Alias AnnaSusan Hood, with Greg DawsonThis true account follows Ukrainian Jewish sisters Zhanna Arshanskaya and Frina during World War II. After the Nazi invasion, their family is detained, and Zhanna escapes while being marched toward Drobytsky Yar. The sisters later reunite, obtain papers identifying them as Christian orphans named Anna and Marina, and perform as musicians for Nazi officers while hiding their identities. After the war, they perform for Jewish survivors before immigrating to the United States.Sixth to Eighth GradeLexile Text Measure 910LATOS Book Level 5.9View book details
Bold Words from Black Women: Inspiration and Truths from 50 Extraordinary Leaders Who Helped Shape Our WorldTamara Pizzoli, illustrated by Monica AhanonuBold Words from Black Women collects quotations from fifty Black women who are activists, artists, and leaders. The women are presented through their own words, alongside bold illustrations. The book highlights modern women who raised their voices and persevered through hardship, bringing together statements on their lives, work, and leadership. Its focus is on Black womanhood and the words of women who made their voices heard in public and creative life.Sixth to Eighth GradeView book details
Lines of CourageJennifer A. NielsenFive children living in Europe experience World War I’s shortages and difficulties in different ways. Their stories are connected, and each holds something important to the others’ future as they try to find one another. Felix, who is from Austria-Hungary, hopes to resist Jewish deportations before his own family is taken. The novel brings together young lives shaped by war, uncertainty, and the need for courage.Sixth to Eighth GradeLexile Text Measure 740LATOS Book Level 5.1View book details
Peace Is a Chain Reaction: How World War II Japanese Balloon Bombs Brought People of Two Nations TogetherTanya Lee StoneTwo groups of teenagers, living on different sides of the world, become permanently linked through an act of war. The book also follows Yuzuru John Takeshita, whose commitment to truth and openness helps repair relationships between two communities affected by that conflict. Black-and-white illustrations, archival photographs, and additional end material accompany this account of wartime consequences and efforts toward reconciliation.Sixth to Eighth GradeView book details
Some Kind of HateSarah Darer LittmanAn arm injury brings Declan Taylor’s baseball plans to an end. An online gaming friend then steers him toward white-nationalist beliefs. As Declan’s behavior intensifies, it targets the family of his Jewish best friend. The book addresses how propaganda, hatred, and fear affect his choices, while also raising questions of accountability and the possibility of redemption.Sixth to Eighth GradeLexile Text Measure 781LATOS Book Level 5View book detailsNinth to Twelfth Grade
21 selections
African TownIrene Latham, Charles Waters, introduction by Jocelyn M. DavisAfrican Town is a historical fiction novel by Irene Latham and Charles Waters about the Clotilda, identified as the final known ship to transport enslaved people to the United States. Survivors who were illegally brought to America establish a community despite adversity. The account uses free verse and fourteen distinct voices, and includes a map, spot illustrations in black and white, and substantial back matter.Ninth to Twelfth GradeLexile Text Measure 790LATOS Book Level 5View book details
Better Than We Found It: Conversations to Help Save the WorldFrederick Joseph, Porsche JosephDrawing on the authors’ lived experiences and interviews with twenty-five experts, this book examines the ways social-justice issues overlap. It is framed around social and political progressivism and involvement beyond performative activity on social media. The conversations bring together expert perspectives to clarify intersectionality and consider how people can engage more directly with social issues and political change.Ninth to Twelfth GradeView book details
Caste (Adapted for Young Adults)Isabel WilkersonThis young adult adaptation examines hidden social hierarchies that separate people according to race and class. Isabel Wilkerson’s nonfiction book considers how those divisions shape society and the ways people are sorted within it. It brings the subject of caste to a younger edition while keeping its focus on racial and class-based inequality, social structures, and the divisions that affect people’s lives.Ninth to Twelfth GradeView book details
Code Breaker – Young Readers Edition: Jennifer Doudna and the Race to Understand Our Genetic CodeWalter IsaacsonWritten by Walter Isaacson, this 336-page young readers’ adaptation examines a scientific revolution involving CRISPR, gene editing, and research into the code of life. It presents Jennifer Doudna in connection with efforts to understand genetic code. The book treats CRISPR and gene editing as central to a broader period of scientific change and inquiry into how life is encoded.Ninth to Twelfth GradeView book details
Don’t Look Back: A Memoir of War, Survival, and My Journey from Sudan to AmericaAchut Deng, Keely HuttonAchut Deng recounts her childhood amid political upheaval and violence in southern Sudan. When soldiers invaded her Dinka village, she fled with her grandmother and relatives, leaving her home behind. After her grandmother died protecting her, Achut survived with other children, was cared for by her mother’s friend Adual in a military prison camp, and eventually escaped. Together with Adual and other women and children, she traveled on foot toward a refugee camp in Kenya.Ninth to Twelfth GradeView book details
Fight: How Gen Z Is Channeling Their Fear and Passion to Save AmericaJohn Della VolpeThis exploration of Generation Z considers the issues that matter to young Americans and how they may influence the future. It describes a generation born from the late 1990s through the early 2000s that has lived through turmoil, destruction, and instability since 9/11. Drawing on the author’s meetings with groups of young people across the country, it also addresses stress, anxiety, and depression among this generation.Ninth to Twelfth GradeView book details
HangedSarah MillerThis account centers on Mary Surratt, who was convicted by a military tribunal of conspiring to kill Abraham Lincoln. Public opinion also held her responsible, while the question of her innocence remains part of the story. Surratt was executed by the United States government on July 7, 1865, making her the first woman it executed. Archival photographs and back matter accompany the examination of her case and its aftermath.Ninth to Twelfth GradeView book details
The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee (Young Readers Adaptation)David TreuerAdapted from an adult nonfiction book, this young readers edition considers Native American resilience and reinvention. It addresses the long-standing belief, dating from the late nineteenth century, that Native American civilization had been erased from the United States. The book instead centers Native American life and continuing presence, using that history to examine how ideas about disappearance have shaped public understanding.Ninth to Twelfth GradeView book details
How We Can Win: Race, History and Changing the Money Game That’s RiggedKimberly JonesInspired by Kimberly Jones’s video “How Can We Win,” this book examines economic and social injustices affecting Black people and other marginalized citizens. It focuses on the unequal systems that shape money and opportunity, connecting questions of race and history to the rules of the economic game. The discussion addresses the barriers experienced by communities that have been marginalized and the structural inequities behind them.Ninth to Twelfth GradeView book details
Isla to IslandAlexis CastellanosIn this wordless graphic novel, Marisol leaves Cuba and her family to begin a new life in Brooklyn through Operation Peter Pan. Her journey requires her to redefine what home means after moving from one island to another. Black-and-white illustrations, accented with color, convey the emotions and spirit of her transition. The story centers on separation from family, migration, and the challenge of building a life in an unfamiliar place.Ninth to Twelfth GradeView book details
Lioness of PunjabAnita Jari KharbandaLioness of Punjab recounts Sikh history through the voice of Mai Bhago, portrayed as a warrior-saint. Mai Bhago orders her warriors to make their stand where they are. She calls them strong and without fear, and says their role as Sikh warriors is to fight for justice. Anita Jari Kharbanda wrote this 204-page book, published by Yali Books in 2025.Ninth to Twelfth GradeView book details
My Nest of SilenceMatt Faulkner, illustrated by Matt FaulknerMy Nest of Silence is a 384-page book by Matt Faulkner, published by Atheneum Books for Young Readers in 2023. Mari and her family are required to live in a relocation center. This happens after a government decision judges Japanese Americans as not sufficiently American. The account concerns a family’s forced relocation under that government action.Ninth to Twelfth GradeView book details
Respect the MicHanif Abdurraqib, Franny Choi, Peter Kahn, Dan “Sully” Sullivan, foreword by Tyehimba JessRespect the Mic compiles poetry written across two decades by students and alumni of a Chicago high school’s spoken-word club. The collection comes from a long-running school writing and poetry-slam project, and its poems vary in subject and voice. Black-and-white spot illustrations appear with the verses. The anthology gathers work from both current and former student participants.Ninth to Twelfth GradeView book details
Revolution in Our Time: The Black Panther Party’s Promise to the PeopleKekla MagoonThis nonfiction history places the founding of the Black Panther Party in 1966 within the longer experience of Black people in America, beginning in 1619 and continuing into the early 1960s. It examines the organization in chronological and thematic ways, covering its structure, political beliefs, protests, and community-outreach work. The book also addresses actions by police departments and the U.S. government that sought to undermine, attack, frame, and kill Party members. Accounts of leaders from around the country include many women.Ninth to Twelfth GradeView book details
Rima’s Rebellion: Courage in a Time of TyrannyMargarita EngleSet in 1920s Cuba, this free-verse novel follows Rima, a multiracial girl who is illegitimate and shunned. As women from varied backgrounds organize voting clubs to seek suffrage and equality, Rima confronts people who do not support equal rights for everyone. She fights for laws intended to protect and empower women. Historical back matter accompanies this story of exclusion, political action, and women’s rights.Ninth to Twelfth GradeView book details
Spearhead (Adapted for Young Adults)Adam MakosSet in Cologne in 1944, this young readers edition brings together an American gunner, a German gunner, and a civilian whose lives meet violently. Their intersecting paths unfold during wartime. The book includes substantial back matter and draws on original sources, providing material connected to the events and people it presents. It is an adaptation for young adults.Ninth to Twelfth GradeView book details
Three Sisters: A NovelHeather MorrisThree Slovakian sisters—Livia, Magda, and Cibi—survive years of imprisonment at Auschwitz, a Nazi death camp. They remain together while facing starvation, exhausting labor, and the cruelty of guards. Their shared ordeal is defined by the effort to endure the conditions of the camp and stay connected to one another. The novel centers the sisters’ experience of survival during the Holocaust.Ninth to Twelfth GradeView book details
Unbreakable: The Spies Who Cracked the Nazis’ Secret CodeRebecca E. F. BaroneThis true account follows the codebreakers, spies, and naval personnel who worked to decipher the Nazis’ Enigma machine during World War II. Allied forces intercepted messages that initially seemed meaningless, while people from Poland, France, and Britain contributed to solving the complex military codes. Their efforts to understand encrypted communications form the book’s central story, with back matter adding further context to this wartime intelligence work.Ninth to Twelfth GradeView book details
Vinyl MoonMahogany L. BrowneAfter a violent incident with her former boyfriend leaves her physically and emotionally harmed, Angel stays with her uncle in Brooklyn. There she meets people who support her, including a teacher who encourages young women to express themselves and respect one another. Introduced to writers including Toni Morrison, Zora Neale Hurston, and Maya Angelou, Angel finds connections between their characters and her own life as she moves toward self-affirmation.Ninth to Twelfth GradeView book details
What the Fact?: Finding the Truth in All the NoiseSeema YasminThis nonfiction discussion examines facts, truth, and how information is shared. It asks readers to consider how human behavior and big business can manipulate content and ideas. Using historical examples, visual sidebars, and highlighted vocabulary, it covers contagious information, bias and beliefs, journalism’s development, social media, debunking, and disagreement. It also explains the inverted-pyramid structure of news reporting and connects the history of headlines with contemporary hashtags and character limits.Ninth to Twelfth GradeView book details
You Sound Like a White Girl: The Case for Rejecting AssimilationJulissa ArceJulissa Arce writes about assimilation imposed on a brown immigrant from Mexico after she arrived in San Antonio in 1994. She describes working to erase her accent so that English would not be recognized as her second language, and the complicated reaction when someone said she sounded like a white girl. The book examines language, identity, and the pressure to conform across cultural and racial lines.Ninth to Twelfth GradeView book details