Contemporary Books on Social Justice

Social justice is the pursuit of fairness in society based on the belief that all people deserve equal opportunities and rights. We curated the following study guide collection (including books for middle-grade and young adult readers) to help readers get the most out of books that cover contemporary issues and topics in social justice.

Minor Feelings

by Cathy Park Hong

Publication year 2020

Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction

Themes Race, Gender Identity, Daughters & Sons

Tags Race & Racism, Social Justice, Relationships, Gender & Feminism, American Literature, Korean Literature, Women`s Studies, Asian Literature, Biography

... Read Minor Feelings Summary

More Than Just Race

by William Julius Wilson

Publication year 2009

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Community, Social Class

Tags Sociology, Black Lives Matter, Race & Racism, Education, Education, Urban Development, Social Justice, Poverty, Politics & Government

More Than Just Race: Being Black and Poor in the Inner City is a 2009 nonfiction book by William Julius Wilson, a Harvard University professor of sociology. In his book, Wilson examines the structural and, more controversially, the cultural contributors to the poverty, high incarceration rate, and social problems faced by inner-city African American males today. Wilson’s central contention is that African Americans have suffered disproportionately from the impacts of nonracial political and global economic... Read More Than Just Race Summary

Motorcycles and Sweetgrass

by Drew Hayden Taylor

Publication year 2010

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Race, Animals, Appearance & Reality, The Past, Place, Family, Colonialism, Community, Religion & Spirituality

Tags Humor, Magical Realism, Symbolic Narrative, Fantasy, Realistic Fiction, Addiction & Substance Abuse, Social Justice, Race & Racism, Religion & Spirituality, Trauma & Abuse, Education, Education

... Read Motorcycles and Sweetgrass Summary

Mountains Beyond Mountains

by Tracy Kidder

Publication year 2003

Genre Biography, Nonfiction

Themes Equality, Social Class, Economics

Tags Health, Science & Nature, Social Justice, World History, Biography

Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a Man Who Would Cure the World is a 2003 nonfiction book by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Tracy Kidder. It is an expansion of “The Good Doctor,” a 2000 article for The New Yorker and the winner of the 2004 Lettre Ulysses Award for the Art of Reportage. The book profiles Dr. Paul Edward Farmer, co-founder of Partners in Health, as he treats patients in Haiti and... Read Mountains Beyond Mountains Summary

Nickel and Dimed

by Barbara Ehrenreich

Publication year 2001

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Social Class, Economics, Globalization, Politics & Government, Community

Tags Sociology, Poverty, Social Justice, Politics & Government, Education, Education, Business & Economics

Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America is a 2001 nonfiction book written by Barbara Ehrenreich. This book is considered a classic of investigative journalism and was ranked #13 in The Guardian’s list of the 100 best books of the 21st century. Ehrenreich takes a series of low-paying, entry-level jobs in three cities (Key West, Florida; Portland, Maine; Minneapolis, Minnesota) to answer the question of whether one can survive on these wages and... Read Nickel and Dimed Summary

No Future Without Forgiveness

by Desmond Tutu

Publication year 2009

Genre Biography, Nonfiction

Themes Forgiveness, Shame & Pride, Justice

Tags History: African , Politics & Government, Social Justice, Race & Racism, African Literature, Biography, World History, Religion & Spirituality

Originally published in 1999, No Future Without Forgiveness is the memoir of Desmond Mpilo Tutu. Tutu won the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1984 for his efforts to end apartheid in South Africa. He served as Archbishop of the Anglican Church in Cape Town and later chaired the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), which President Mandela established to help address the atrocities of apartheid.Although Tutu’s memoir focuses on his work with the TRC between 1995... Read No Future Without Forgiveness Summary

No Matter How Loud I Shout

by Edward Humes

Publication year 1996

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Fate, Good & Evil, Community

Tags Sociology, Mystery & Crime Fiction, Social Justice, Politics & Government, Biography

No Matter How Loud I Shout is a work of nonfiction written by Pulitzer-Prize-winning journalist Edward Humes and published in 1996. This work comprises the author’s ethnographical observations and participations in the Los Angeles juvenile justice system for the year of 1994. Humes asserts that the names of juveniles have been changed in accordance with state laws regarding confidentiality; however, everything else is true, and reported in the allegedly unbiased style of 1990s investigative journalism... Read No Matter How Loud I Shout Summary

Notes of a Native Son

by James Baldwin

Publication year 1955

Genre Essay Collection, Nonfiction

Themes Race, Hate & Anger

Tags Sociology, Existentialism, Black Arts Movement, Black Lives Matter, Race & Racism, World History, Social Justice, Classic Fiction, Politics & Government, Biography

Notes of a Native Son is a collection of nonfiction essays by James Baldwin. Baldwin originally published the essays individually in various literary and cultural commentary magazines between 1948 and 1955. The Beacon Press first republished the essays as Notes of a Native Son in 1955. This study guide refers to the 2012 Beacon Press edition of Notes of a Native Son. Citations to page numbers, however, come from the volume The Price of the... Read Notes of a Native Son Summary

Noughts And Crosses

by Malorie Blackman

Publication year 2001

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Social Class, Equality, Justice

Tags Science Fiction, Romance, Race & Racism, Coming of Age, Incarceration, Relationships, Symbolic Narrative, Trauma & Abuse, Social Justice, Education, Education, Modern Classic Fiction, Dramatic Literature

... Read Noughts And Crosses Summary

No Visible Bruises

by Rachel Louise Snyder

Publication year 2019

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Shame & Pride, Masculinity, Community

Tags Trauma & Abuse, Gender & Feminism, Women`s Studies, Mystery & Crime Fiction, Sociology, Psychology, Psychology, Social Justice, Politics & Government

No Visible Bruises: What We Don’t Know About Domestic Violence Can Kill Us (2019) was written by Rachel Louise Snyder, an associate professor of creative writing and journalism at American University. A world traveler, longtime contributor to magazines and podcasts, and a 2020 Guggenheim Fellow, Snyder has won awards for both her fiction and nonfiction works, which include Fugitive Denim and What We’ve Lost is Nothing. No Visible Bruises, published by Bloomsbury Publishing, won the... Read No Visible Bruises Summary

Omar Rising

by Aisha Saeed

Publication year 2022

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Education, Social Class, Community, Self Discovery, Justice

Tags Children`s Literature, Education, Education, Modern Classic Fiction, Realistic Fiction, Coming of Age, Social Justice, Race & Racism

... Read Omar Rising Summary

One Person, No Vote

by Carol Anderson

Publication year 2018

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Tags Race & Racism, Black Lives Matter, US History, World History, Social Justice, Politics & Government

One Person, No Vote by writer and professor Carol Anderson is a current affairs book and finalist for the PEN/John Kenneth Galbraith Award for nonfiction. It was originally published in 2018; in 2019, Anderson added an Afterword to the paperback edition and released a young adult version. One Person, No Vote documents how Republican-led state governments exploit a weakened Voting Rights Act to tilt elections in their favor.Following Donald Trump’s surprise victory in the 2016... Read One Person, No Vote Summary