Human Relations Book Lists

"Not My Idea: A Book About Whiteness is a a picture book that invites white children and parents to become curious about racism, accept that it's real, and cultivate justice."

"Years before the landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling Brown v. Board of Education, Sylvia Mendez, an eight-year-old girl of Mexican and Puerto Rican heritage, played an instrumental role in Mendez v. Westminster, the landmark desegregation case of 1946 in California."

A moving and inspiring nonfiction picture book about Jackie Robinson's court martial trial--an important lesser-known moment in his lifetime of fighting prejudice with strength and grace.

"An introduction to the life and achievements of the first American female doctor describes the limited career prospects available to women and opposition faced in the early nineteenth-century."

"Recounts the life of William Powell, an African American golfer discriminated against because of his race, and how his perseverance and spirit helped him rise from a caddy to the first African American owner of a public golf course."

"Ida B. Wells was an extraordinary woman. Long before boycotts, sit-ins, and freedom rides, Ida B. Wells was hard at work to better the lives of African Americans. An activist, educator, writer, journalist, suffragette, and pioneering voice against the horror of lynching, she used fierce determination and the power of the pen to educate the world about the unequal treatment of blacks in the United States."

"Journalist Ida B. Wells, a tireless crusader for justice and civil rights, faced her greatest challenge when she confronted the heinous practice of lynching."

Two groups of people live separated by a barbed wire fence. One group has plenty of water and the other plenty of bread, but they have difficulty sharing their resources with each other. What happens when a third group arrives that has neither?

"In Mexico, a little girl goes on a journey to learn to be a glassblower and gains confidence along the way."

"A young girl's grandmother tells her of her love for baseball and the day they let her play in the game even though she was a girl."

"In segregated 1950s Nashville, a young African American girl braves a series of indignities and obstacles to get to one of the few integrated places in town: the public library."

"In this historical fiction picture book, Ella Mae and her cousin Charlotte, both African American, start their own shoe store when they learn that they cannot try on shoes at the shoe store"

"Ikarus Jackson, the new boy in school, is outcast because he has wings. But his resilient spirit inspires one girl to speak up for him in this thought provoking story about celebrating individuality."

"When Ruth and her parents take a motor trip from Chicago to Alabama to visit her grandma, they rely on a pamphlet called "The Negro Motorist Green Book" to find places that will serve them."

"A story about two types of creatures separated by having or not having stars on their bellies."

"Clover's mom says it isn't safe to cross the fence that segregates their African-American side of town from the white side where Anna lives. But the two girls strike up a friendship, and get around the grown-ups' rules by sitting on top of the fence together."
**Note: There are additional copies in the Watson Collection, also under YE WOO.

"Featuring five famous trials, this book examines the way an individual's right to a fair trial can be threatened when people are tempted to abandon their principles in the name of safety."

"Gives voice to all those who fought for their unalienable rights."

"Up until the 1970s, if you were a girl, you were told you shouldn't play team sports, or go to college. But, in 1972, Title IX changed that, by ensuring that girls have the same opportunities as boys to participate in sports and classes. But that change did not come without a fight."

"Although Tommy, a Japanese-American sixth grader, has serious doubts when his mother starts organizing a rally to fight racism, once he and his friends find a cause of their own he gains more understanding of her motives."

"An incident at school forces sixth grader Phil Morelli, a white boy, to become aware of racial discrimination and segregation, and to seriously consider if he himself is prejudiced."

"When a burning cross set by the Klan causes panic and fear in 1932 Bumblebee, North Carolina, fifth-grader Stella must face prejudice and find the strength to demand change in her segregated town."

"The arrival of new student Marwa, a fellow sixth-grader who's a strict Muslim, helps Aliya come to terms with her own lukewarm practice of the faith and her embarrassment over others' reactions to their beliefs."

"In 1955, in Caroline County, Virginia, amidst segregation and prejudice, injustice and cruelty, two teenagers fell in love. Their life together broke the law, but their determination would change it."

"Race. You know it at a glance: he's black; she's white. They're Asian; we're Latino. Racism. I'm better; she's worse. Those people do those kinds of things. We all know it's wrong to make these judgments, but they come faster than thought. Why? Where did those feelings come from? Why are they so powerful?"

"This is the story of how a secret terrorist group took root in America's democracy. Filled with chilling and vivid personal accounts unearthed from oral histories, congressional documents, and diaries, this account from Newbery Honor-winning author Susan Campbell Bartoletti is a book to read and remember."

"An award-winning author examines the history of American immigration--a critical topic in 21st century America--particularly those lesser-known stories of immigrants who were denied entrance into the States or detained for security reasons."

"From the struggles of Native Americans at the country's birth to the African American civil rights movement of the 1960s, from the vote for women to the internment of the Japanese during World War II, To Establish Justice shows how the Supreme Court has paved the way for both justice and discrimination, and how this important arm of our government has impacted all of our lives."

"In the United States, racial profiling affects thousands of Americans every day. Combining rigorous research with powerful personal stories, Racial Profiling explores the history, the many manifestations, and the consequences of this form of social injustice."

"Loosely based on a school explosion that took place in New London, Texas in 1937, this is the story of two teenagers: Naomi, who is Mexican, and Wash, who is black, and their dealings with race, segregation, love, and the forces that destroy people."

"When fourteen-year-old Anthony "Ant" Jones from the ghetto of East Cleveland, Ohio, gets a scholarship to a prep school in Maine, he finds that he must change his image and adapt to a world that never fully accepts him, but when he goes home he discovers that he no longer truly belongs there either."

"An account of the lesser-known contributions of African-American women during World War II reveals how they helped lay the foundations for the Civil Rights Movement by challenging racial and gender barriers at home and abroad." (Bonus: Iowa author!)

"In a stirring chronicle, Doreen Rappaport brings to light the courage of countless Jews who organized to sabotage the Nazis and help other Jews during the Holocaust."

"Culling information from extensive, previously unpublished interviews and oral histories with Japanese American survivors of internment camps, Martin W. Sandler gives an in-depth account of their lives before, during their imprisonment, and after their release."

"The pink triangle sewn onto prison uniforms became the symbol of the persecution of homosexuals, a persecution that would continue for many years after the war. A mix of historical research, first-person accounts and individual stories brings this time to life for young readers."

"Examines the role of African-Americans in the military through the history of the Triple Nickles, America's first black paratroopers, who fought against attacks perpetrated on the American West by the Japanese during World War II."