Teen Books for Racial Equity
Here is a list of books owned by the Elmwood Park Public Library that can hopefully help educate and inform us, help us talk to our children and students, and create more awareness and understanding of these critical issues facing our society.
 
Just click on a title to check availability & place a hold in the SWAN Online Catalog.
 
Fiction & Nonfiction for Teens
Dark Sky Rising : Reconstruction and the dawn of Jim Crow
by Henry Louis Gates

The National Humanities Medal recipient shares real-life accounts from the periods spanning the end of the Civil War, Reconstruction and the rise of Jim Crow segregation, in a scholarly tribute to the resiliency of the African American people at times of progress and betrayal.
Anger is a Gift
by Mark Oshiro

A young adult debut by the popular social media personality and critic reflects the racial and economic struggles of today's teens in the story of high school junior Moss, who in the face of a racist school administration decides to organize a protest that escalates into violence. 
All American Boys
by Jason Reynolds

When sixteen-year-old Rashad is mistakenly accused of stealing, classmate Quinn witnesses his brutal beating at the hands of a police officer who happens to be the older brother of his best friend.
Stamped : racism, antiracism, and you
by Jason Reynolds

A timely reimagining of Dr. Ibram X. Kendi’s National Book Award-winning Stamped From the Beginning reveals the history of racist ideas in America while explaining their endurance and capacity for being discredited. 
Just Mercy : adapted for young adults : a true story of the fight for justice
by Bryan Stevenson

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.
Dear Martin
by Nic Stone

Teen Fiction - Profiled by a racist police officer in spite of his excellent academic achievements and Ivy League acceptance, a disgruntled college youth navigates the prejudices of new classmates and his crush on a white girl by writing a journal to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., in the hopes that his iconic role model's teachings will be applicable half a century later. A first novel. 
The Hate U Give
by Angie Thomas

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.
Piecing Me Together
by Renée Watson

Tired of being singled out at her mostly-white private school as someone who needs support, Jade would rather participate in the school's Study Abroad program than join Women to Women, a mentorship program for at-risk girls.
Black Enough : stories of being young & black in America
by Ibi Zoboi

Edited by the National Book Award finalist and featuring contributions by a prestigious group of best-selling, award-winning and emerging African American young-adult authors, a timely literary collection shares modern insights into what it is like to be young and black in today's America.