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.

All the Sinners Bleed

by S. A. Cosby

Publication year 2023

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Politics & Government, Race, Good & Evil, Religion & Spirituality, Justice

Tags Mystery & Crime Fiction, Horror & Suspense, Southern Literature, Race & Racism, Trauma & Abuse, African American Literature, Social Justice, Modern Classic Fiction

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Amal Unbound

by Aisha Saeed

Publication year 2018

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Education, Coming of Age, Gender Identity, Family

Tags Coming of Age, Social Class, Social Justice, Asian History, Children`s Literature, Realistic Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction, Arts & Culture

Twelve-year-old Amal’s dreams of becoming a teacher are shattered when she disrespects the powerful landlord of her Pakistani village and is forced into a life of servitude in the New York Times bestselling Amal Unbound (2018). Author Aisha Saeed is a Pakistani-American teacher, writer, and attorney as well as a founder of the We Need Diverse Books organization. In Amal Unbound, Saeed calls attention to contemporary global inequities, exploring themes of social injustice, education, and... Read Amal Unbound Summary

American Like Me

by America Ferrera

Publication year 2018

Genre Essay Collection, Nonfiction

Themes Race, Immigration, Community

Tags Immigration & Refugeeism, Race & Racism, Social Justice, Biography

American Like Me: Reflections on Life Between Cultures (2018) is an essay collection edited by actress and activist America Ferrera with E. Cayce Dumont. The collection contains essays from notable individuals in movie and TV entertainment, food, publishing, public service, comedy, music, and self-help content creation. These first-person accounts all address the often troublesome question of what it means to be American, especially when growing up between different cultures. American Like Me is a New... Read American Like Me Summary

American Prison

by Shane Bauer

Publication year 2018

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Race, Power & Greed, Justice

Tags Incarceration, Social Justice, Journalism, Race & Racism, American Literature, Post-War Era, Mystery & Crime Fiction, Sociology, World History, Politics & Government

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American Slavery, American Freedom

by Edmund S. Morgan

Publication year 1975

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Tags US History, Race & Racism, American Literature, World History, American Revolution, Social Justice, Politics & Government

Edmund S. Morgan’s American Slavery, American Freedom: The Ordeal of Colonial Virginia was originally published in 1975 by W. W. Norton & Company Inc. This summary references the Norton paperback edition reissued in 2003. Morgan seeks to discover how America’s Founding Fathers came to advocate for freedom and equality when many of them owned slaves. Morgan chose to study Virginia’s Founding Fathers because they were among the most vocal in their opposition to the monarchy, because... Read American Slavery, American Freedom Summary

America on Fire

by Elizabeth Hinton

Publication year 2021

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Race, Justice, Politics & Government, Community

Tags US History, Politics & Government, Race & Racism, Social Justice, Civil Rights & Jim Crow South, Mystery & Crime Fiction, Sociology, World History

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Amity and Prosperity

by Eliza Griswold

Publication year 2018

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Environment

Tags Journalism, Science & Nature, Sociology, World History, Social Justice, Politics & Government

Amity and Prosperity: One Family and the Fracturing of America, is a Pulitzer Prize-winning nonfiction book by journalist and poet Eliza Griswold. This study guide follows the book’s first edition, which was published in 2018. Griswold is a journalist known for investigative reporting into political issues, having previously published articles in The New York Times Magazine and The Nation. In Amity and Prosperity, Griswold investigates natural gas companies drilling in Pennsylvania’s western Washington County. The... Read Amity and Prosperity Summary

Angela Davis

by Angela Y. Davis

Publication year 1974

Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction

Themes Race, Community, Equality

Tags Gender & Feminism, Social Justice, Race & Racism, Politics & Government, Civil Rights & Jim Crow South

Angela Davis: An Autobiography, originally published in 1974, is a political autobiography focused on the imprisonment and trial of activist and scholar Angela Davis in the early 1970s. In 1970, after guns belonging to Davis were used in an uprising at the Marin County Courthouse in California, Davis was accused and convicted of conspiracy, kidnapping, and murder. A jury acquitted Davis of all charges in 1972. She published her autobiography two years later to center... Read Angela Davis Summary

Angel Of Greenwood

by Randi Pink

Publication year 2021

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Perseverance, Love, Race, Family, Friendship, Community, Equality, Good & Evil, Justice, Order & Chaos, Power & Greed, Safety & Danger

Tags Race & Racism, Social Justice, World History, Historical Fiction, Romance

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Animal Liberation

by Peter Singer

Publication year 1977

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Environment

Tags Philosophy, Animals, Science & Nature, Philosophy, Social Justice, Food, Politics & Government

Animal Liberation: A New Ethics for Our Treatment of Animals is a book by renowned Australian philosopher Peter Singer. Published in 1975 and re-released most recently in 2009, with an additional preface by the author, the book is widely recognized as a foundational text within the animal liberation movement. Singer tries to persuade the reader of his or her own implicit “speciesism,” a term he popularized, and he argues that the discrimination against other species... Read Animal Liberation Summary

An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States

by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz

Publication year 2014

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Conflict, Perseverance, Nation, Politics & Government, Power & Greed, War, Equality, Education, Race, The Past, Future, Community, Place, Colonialism

Tags US History, Race & Racism, Social Justice, Politics & Government, Education, Military & War, Anthropology, Colonial America, Social Class, Colonialism & Postcolonialism, World History

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An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States for Young People

by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, Jean Mendoza, Debbie Reese

Publication year 2019

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Race, Equality, Colonialism

Tags US History, Race & Racism, Social Justice, Military & War, American Revolution, Colonial America, Colonialism & Postcolonialism, Education, Education, World History

An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States for Young People is a 2019 adaptation of Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz’s 2015 nonfiction book. Jean Mendoza and Debbie Reese adapted the material for middle-grade audiences. The original publication received the American Book Award, and this version is a 2020 American Indian Youth Literature Young Adult Honor Book with recognition from the National Council for the Social Studies and the Children’s Book Council. This book tells the perspective of... Read An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States for Young People Summary

Annihilation of Caste

by B. R. Ambedkar

Publication year 1936

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Religion & Spirituality, Equality, Social Class, Community

Tags Philosophy, Politics & Government, Social Justice, Asian Literature, Sociology, World History, Philosophy, Indian Literature, Classic Fiction, Religion & Spirituality

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Another Country

by James Baldwin

Publication year 1962

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Friendship, Sexual Identity, Race, Love

Tags LGBTQ+, Race & Racism, Love & Sexuality, Depression & Suicide, Relationships, Grief & Death, Trauma & Abuse, Social Justice, American Literature, Classic Fiction

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