Books on Justice & Injustice

James Baldwin said, "It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have." In this collection, we've compiled texts that explore the idea of what justice is — and how it can thrive.

The Mis-Education of the Negro

by Carter Woodson

Publication year 1933

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Race, Justice

Tags Black Lives Matter, Race & Racism, Education, Education, US History, Sociology, World History, Social Justice, Classic Fiction, Politics & Government

Carter Godwin Woodson’s The Mis-Education of the Negro is a social critique that addresses the inherent structural and institutional racism represented by the United States education system. Originally written and published in 1933, this study guide refers to a republication of the text from 2010 by IAP (Las Vegas, Nevada). The book traces Woodson’s arguments regarding how the United States education system reproduces White supremacy and fails to educate Black students; this failure, Woodson contends... Read The Mis-Education of the Negro Summary

The Mistake

by Elle Kennedy

Publication year 2015

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Perseverance, Forgiveness, Grief, Guilt, Hope, Love, Regret, Shame & Pride, Femininity, Masculinity, Mental Health, Sexual Identity, Coming of Age, Future, Appearance & Reality, Daughters & Sons, Family, Fathers, Friendship, Marriage, Mothers, Siblings, Teamwork, Self Discovery, Social Class, Community, Education, Politics & Government, Beauty, Fame, Fate, Justice, Loyalty & Betrayal, Trust & Doubt, Truth & Lies, Wins & Losses

Tags New Adult, Romance

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The Moment of Lift

by Melinda French Gates

Publication year 2019

Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction

Themes Safety & Danger, Science & Technology, Justice, Equality, Community, Globalization, Economics, Education, Teamwork, Family

Tags Gender & Feminism, Social Justice, Inspirational, Women`s Studies, Business & Economics, Self-Improvement, Biography

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The Mountain in the Sea

by Ray Nayler

Publication year 2022

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Animals, Apathy, Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Perseverance, Forgiveness, Gratitude, Hope, Loneliness, Memory, Future, Appearance & Reality, Climate, Environment, Place, Friendship, Teamwork, Self Discovery, Social Class, Colonialism, Community, Globalization, Politics & Government, Fate, Good & Evil, Justice, Loyalty & Betrayal, Order & Chaos, Power & Greed, Safety & Danger, Science & Technology, Trust & Doubt

Tags Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror & Suspense, Science & Nature, Animals

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The Mountains We Call Home

by Kim Michele Richardson

Publication year 2026

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Race, Family, Justice

Tags Historical Fiction, American Literature

The Mountains We Call Home (2024) is a historical novel by New York Times bestselling author Kim Michele Richardson. It is the third book in a series that includes The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek and The Book Woman’s Daughter, serving as a conclusion to the story of protagonist Cussy Mary Carter Lovett. In 1953, Cussy, the legendary blue-skinned “Book Woman” of Kentucky, is arrested along with her husband for violating the state’s laws against... Read The Mountains We Call Home Summary

The Mountaintop

by Katori Hall

Publication year 2011

Genre Play, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Perseverance, Fear, Race, Death, Community, Justice

Tags Drama, Historical Drama, African American Literature, Race & Racism, Education, Education, American Literature, Dramatic Literature, Historical Fiction

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The New Jim Crow

by Michelle Alexander

Publication year 2010

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Justice

Tags Sociology, Social Justice, African American Literature, Black Lives Matter, Race & Racism, World History, Politics & Government

The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness is a nonfiction book published in 2010 by American author and legal scholar Michelle Alexander. The book argues that the War on Drugs and mass incarceration operate as tools of racialized social control and oppression, not unlike the system in place during the Jim Crow era in the American South. The winner of the NAACP Image Award for Nonfiction, The New Jim Crow continues... Read The New Jim Crow Summary

The Night She Disappeared

by Lisa Jewell

Publication year 2021

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Conflict, Grief, Mothers, Justice, Safety & Danger, Truth & Lies

Tags Horror & Suspense, Mystery & Crime Fiction, Finance, LGBTQ+, Love & Sexuality, Parenting, Relationships, Trauma & Abuse, Grief & Death, Social Class, Modern Classic Fiction

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The Night Thoreau Spent In Jail

by Jerome Lawrence, Robert E. Lee

Publication year 1970

Genre Play, Fiction

Themes Nation, Justice, Power & Greed

Tags Drama, Historical Fiction, Incarceration, Philosophy, Education, Education, Dramatic Literature, Philosophy, Classic Fiction

The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail is a two-act play by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee. First performed in 1970, it dramatizes a historical event: The night in 1846 that Henry David Thoreau—American writer, transcendentalist, and naturalist—spent in jail for refusing to pay his poll tax. Since the American government sought to fund the war in Mexico in a bid to extend the territory of enslavement, Thoreau protested by refusing to pay the tax... Read The Night Thoreau Spent In Jail Summary

The Nose

by Nikolai Gogol

Publication year 1836

Genre Short Story, Fiction

Themes Social Class, Justice, Politics & Government

Tags Satirical Literature, Classic Fiction, Magical Realism, Russian Literature, World History, Fantasy, Humor

This guide refers to the story as it appears in the 1965 Norton Library edition of The Overcoat & Other Tales of Good and Evil, translated by David Magarshack.Nikolai Gogol’s short story “The Nose,” written between 1835 and 1836, was originally published in The Contemporary, a literary journal owned by famed Russian Romantic poet Alexander Pushkin. A satire on bureaucratic life in the Tsarist capital of St. Petersburg, “The Nose” has since become an important... Read The Nose Summary