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SJPL Recommends: Antiracist Nonfiction for Grades 9-12

A collection of non-fiction anti-racist literature for high school students and young adults. Selected and curated by SJPL Librarians.

San José Public Library

28 items

  • Grades 9-12. Also available as an eBook. "From preschool to higher education and everything in between, Everything I Learned About Racism I Learned in School focuses on the experiences Black and Brown students face as a direct result of the racism…
    Book, 2024New York, NY : Versify, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, 2024. — YA 371.829 Jewell
  • Grades 9-12. Also available as an eBook and eAudiobook. "This young adult edition of the #1 New York Times best-seller empowers teen readers to help create a more just society, encouraging them to think critically and build a more equitable world in…
    Book, 2023New York : Kokila, 2023. — YA 305.8009 Kendi
  • The Sum of Us

    How Racism Hurts Everyone : Adapted for Young Readers

    McGhee, Heather, 1980-
    Grades 9-10. Also available as an eBook in a separate catalog entry under the same title. "This book is a call to action. McGhee examines how damaging racism is, not only to people of color but also to white people. She offers hope and real…
    Book, 2023New York : Delacorte Press, [2023] — YA 305.8009 McGhee
  • Accountable

    the True Story of a Racist Social Media Account and the Teenagers Whose Lives It Changed

    Slater, Dashka,
    Grades 9-12. Also available as an eBook and eAudiobook. "recounts the discovery of a racist social media account in the small town of Albany, California, that forever changes the lives of a group of high school students and leaves everyone wondering…
    Book, 2023New York : Farrar Straus Giroux, 2023. — YA 371.829 Slater
  • Rise Up!

    How You Can Join the Fight Against White Supremacy

    Fleming, Crystal Marie, 1981-
    Grades 9-10. Also available as an eBook and eAudiobook. "This urgent book explores the roots of racism and its legacy in modern day, all while empowering young people with actionable ways they can help foster a better world and become antiracists."…
    Book, 2021New York, NY : Henry Holt and Company, 2021. — YA 305.8009 Fleming
  • Resilient Black Girl

    52 Weeks of Anti-racist Activities for Black Joy and Resilience

    Fièvre, M. J. (Michèle-Jessica),
    Grades 7-12. As a social justice book for teens and a book about racism, it provides Black teen girls a better understanding of the effects of racism and equips them with skills for navigating spaces in their daily lives. An antiracist book for…
    Book, 2021Coral Gables : Mango Publishing, [2021] — YA 305.809 Fievre
  • The Racial Trauma Handbook for Teens

    CBT Skills to Heal From the Personal & Intergenerational Trauma of Racism

    Hill, Tamara,
    Grades 8-12. Also available as an eBook. "The Racial Trauma Handbook for Teens presents evidence-based cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) skills to help you overcome personal and intergenerational trauma, increase self-awareness, and build lasting…
    Book, 2023Oakland, CA : Instant Help Books, an imprint of New Harbinger Publications, Inc., [2023] — YA 305.8009 Hill
  • Grades 9-12. Also available as an eBook in a separate catalog entry under the same title. "Going beyond the story of America as a country "discovered" by a few brave men in the "New World," Indigenous human rights advocate Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz…
    Book, 2019Boston : Beacon Press, [2019] — YA 970.0049 Mendoza
  • Grades 6-12. Also available as an eBook in a separate catalog entry under the same title. "In the United States, racial profiling affects thousands of Americans every day. Both individuals and institutions--such as law enforcement agencies,…
    Book, 2017Minneapolis : Twenty-First Century Books, 2017. — YA 363.2308 Behnke
  • Sigh, Gone

    a Misfit's Memoir of Great Books, Punk Rock, and the Fight to Fit in

    Tran, Phuc, 1974-
    Grades 9+ (Adults books for young adults). Also available as an eBook and eAudiobook. "In 1975, during the fall of Saigon, Phuc Tran immigrates to America along with his family. By sheer chance they land in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, a small town where…
    Book, 2020New York, NY : Flatiron Books, 2020. — 305.8009 TRAN Tran
  • Grades 9+ (Adult books for young adults. Print only. "A study of the Arab- and Muslim-American experience as reflected by the lives of seven young men and women in Brooklyn evaluates their daily encounters with such factors as prejudice, the…
    Book, 305.8927 Bayoumi
  • Stamped

    Racism, Antiracism, and You

    Reynolds, Jason,
    Grades 7-12. Also available as an eAudiobook, and available as an eBook in a separate catalog entry under the same title. "Stamped traces the history of racism and the many political, literary, and philosophical narratives that have been used to…
    Book, 2020New York : Little, Brown and Company, 2020. — YA 305.8009 Reynolds
  • Grades 5-12. Also available as an eBook, and available as an eAudiobook in a separate catalog entry under the same title. "Who are you? What is racism? Where does it come from? Why does it exist? What can you do to disrupt it? Learn about social…
    Book, 2020Minnneapolis, Mn. : Frances Lincoln Children's Books, 2020. — J 305.8 Jewell
  • Grades 9+ (Adults books for young adults). Also available as an eBook and eAudiobook. "A memoir by the co-founder of the Black Lives Matter movement explains the movement's position of love, humanity, and justice, challenging perspectives that have…
    Book, 2018New York : St. Martin's Press, 2018. — 305.4889 KHANCULL KhanCull
  • This Land Is Our Land

    the History of American Immigration

    Osborne, Linda Barrett, 1949-
    Grades 6-10. Also available as an eBook in a separate catalog entry under the same title. "American attitudes toward immigrants are paradoxical. On the one hand, we see our country as a haven for the poor and oppressed; anyone, no matter his or her…
    Book, 2016New York : Abrams Books for Young Readers, 2016. — YA 304.8097 Osborne
  • Grades 9-12. Also available as an eBook. "From the end of the Civil War to the tumultuous issues in America today, an acclaimed historian reframes the conversation about race, chronicling the powerful forces opposed to black progress in America." --…
    Book, 2019New York : Bloomsbury, 2019. — YA 323.1196 Anderson
  • The Black Friend

    on Being a Better White Person

    Joseph, Frederick (Activist),
    Grades 7-12. Also available as an eBook. "Presents race-related anecdotes from the author's past, weaving in his thoughts on why they were hurtful and how he might handle things differently now, in hopes of bringing more race awareness to…
    Book, 2020Somerville, Massachusetts : Candlewick Press, 2020. — YA 305.8 Joseph
  • Grades 9+ (Adults books for young adults). Book one of three. Also available as an eBook. "This autobiographic graphic novel series in three volumes shares the story of the Civil Rights Movement through the eyes of U.S. Congressman John Lewis, one…
    Book, 2013Marietta, GA : Top Shelf Productions, [2013] — YA 328.7309 Lewis
  • Grades 9+ (Adults books for young adults). Also available as an eBook and eAudiobook. "A Seattle-based writer, editor and speaker tackles the sensitive, hyper-charged racial landscape in current America, discussing the issues of privilege, police…
    Book, 2019New York, NY : Seal Press, 2019. — 305.8009 Oluo
  • Born a Crime

    Stories From a South African Childhood

    Noah, Trevor, 1984-
    Grades 9+ (Adults books for young adults). Also available as an eBook and eAudiobook. "Trevor Noah, host of The Daily Show, shares his remarkable story of growing up in South Africa, with a black South African mother and a white European father at a…
    Book, 2019New York : Spiegel & Grau, an imprint of Random House, [2019] — 791.4502 NOAH Noah