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.

This Is the Fire

by Don Lemon

Publication year 2021

Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction

Themes Race, Sexual Identity, Justice

Tags Race & Racism, Black Lives Matter, Social Justice, Civil Rights & Jim Crow South, African American Literature, American Literature, World History, Politics & Government, Biography

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Tightrope

by Sheryl WuDunn, Nicholas D. Kristof

Publication year 2020

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Justice, Politics & Government, Education, Community

Tags Sociology, Politics & Government, Poverty, Business & Economics, World History, Social Justice

Tightrope: Americans Reaching For Hope (Alfred A. Knopf, 2020) is a nonfiction book written by the journalists Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, who are also married. The book chronicles the individual impact of the American approach to poverty and offers prescriptions for how the United States can adopt a more human approach to those who are struggling with deprivation, addiction, and despair. Upon its release, the book was a New York Times best seller.Plot SummaryThe... Read Tightrope Summary

Utopia for Realists

by Rutger Bregman

Publication year 2014

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Economics, Social Class, Community, Globalization, Politics & Government, Immigration, Education, Power & Greed, Equality, Justice

Tags Science & Nature, Sociology, Philosophy, Philosophy, Politics & Government, Business & Economics, World History, Social Justice, Education, Technology, Military & War

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Valentine

by Elizabeth Wetmore

Publication year 2020

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Friendship, Community, Safety & Danger, Coming of Age, Forgiveness, Revenge, Love, Mothers, Family, Guilt, Hate & Anger, Fear, Justice, Equality, Good & Evil, Marriage, Truth & Lies, Perseverance, Conflict, Loneliness, Hope, Gratitude

Tags Historical Fiction, Mystery & Crime Fiction, Coming of Age, Relationships, Race & Racism, Trauma & Abuse, Love & Sexuality, Social Justice, Modern Classic Fiction, World History

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Voices from Chernobyl

by Svetlana Alexievich

Publication year 1997

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Science & Technology, Order & Chaos, Truth & Lies, Politics & Government, Economics, Death, Grief, Environment

Tags European History, Journalism, Natural Disaster, Science & Nature, Agriculture, Business & Economics, Food, Education, Grief & Death, World History, Military & War, Poverty, Politics & Government, Social Justice, Russian Literature, Biography

Voices from Chernobyl: The Oral History of a Nuclear Disaster by Svetlana Alexievich is a collection of 35 first-person oral accounts of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster in the former Soviet Union. Originally published in Russian in 1997, the book was translated into English by Keith Gessen in 2005; it has been translated into almost every European language. Alexievich, a Belarusian investigative journalist, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature for Voices from Chernobyl in... Read Voices from Chernobyl Summary

Waiting For Lefty

by Clifford Odets

Publication year 1935

Genre Play, Fiction

Themes Justice, Community, Social Class

Tags Drama, Social Class, Social Justice, Education, Education, American Literature, World History, Dramatic Literature, Historical Fiction, Classic Fiction

Waiting for Lefty is a one-act play by Clifford Odets. It initially premiered in January 1935, performed by the Group Theatre, a company started in 1931 by Harold Clurman, Cheryl Crawford, and Lee Strasburg with the goal of revolutionizing American theater as a means for social change. Lefty was Odets’s first produced play, written in response to a call by the New Theatre League for a piece to perform in union halls or meeting spaces... Read Waiting For Lefty Summary

We Are Displaced

by Malala Yousafzai

Publication year 2018

Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction

Themes Immigration, War, Community, Safety & Danger, Femininity, Politics & Government, Family, Education, Gender Identity, Fear, Grief, Memory, Perseverance, Conflict

Tags Politics & Government, Social Justice, World History, Immigration & Refugeeism, Gender & Feminism, Education, Biography

... Read We Are Displaced Summary