Below you'll find books dealing with racism, discrimination, racial justice, and social justice. For print books in the SHS Learning Commons, see Ms. Melbourne, Ms. McCullough, or Ms. Reishus if you need help locating copies. To access eBooks & audiobooks in MackinVia, log in with your school credentials. To access print, eBooks, & audiobooks through the Scott County Library, use your Virtual Student Library Card.
Just Mercy (Adapted for Young Adults) by
Lawyer Bryan Stevenson shares his efforts to end racial and economic injustice through his organization Equal Justice Initiative. With personal stories from his work, he sheds light on a broken justice system he's working to change.
X by
Presents a fictionalized version of Malcolm X's life up until his incarceration that changed his life.
Watch Us Rise by
Frustrated by the way women are treated--even at their progressive New York City high school--two best friends start a Women's Rights Club, post their essays and poems online, and watch it go viral, attracting positive support as well as trolls.
How We Fight White Supremacy by
Presents the argument that Black men and women in America today are in danger of losing their hard-won civil rights in the midst of white supremacist attacks on U.S. democracy and dignity. Collects writings from prominent African American authors offering their stories of how they have fought white supremacy.
Shout by
Presents a memoir in poems from the author about her horrible experience as a thirteen-year-old when she was raped by a boy she trusted, offering poetic narration of what happened and how she found a path to recovery and now works and writes and advocates for other sufferers and survivors of sexual assault of any kind.
So You Want to Talk about Race by
Attempts to open an honest dialogue about race relations in America, bridging the gap between white people and people of color to explore the complexities of discussing race. Provides a frank understanding of basic questions about race some people are too afraid to ask.
Dig by
Five white teenage cousins who are struggling with the failures and racial ignorance of their dysfunctional parents and their wealthy grandparents, reunite for Easter.
Between the World and Me by
For Ta-Nehisi Coates, history has always been personal. At every stage of his life, he's sought in his explorations of history answers to the mysteries that surrounded him--most urgently, why he, and other black people he knew, seemed to live in fear. What were they afraid of? ... Coates takes readers along on his journey through America's history of race and its contemporary resonances through a series of awakenings--moments when he discovered some new truth about our long, tangled history of race, whether through his myth-busting professors at Howard University, a trip to a Civil War battlefield with a rogue historian, a journey to Chicago's South Side to visit aging survivors of 20th century America's 'long war on black people,' or a visit with the mother of a beloved friend who was shot down by the police.
The Hate U Give by
Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed. Soon afterward, his death is a national headline. Some are calling him a thug, maybe even a drug dealer and a gangbanger. Protesters are taking to the streets in Khalil's name. Some cops and the local drug lord try to intimidate Starr and her family. What everyone wants to know is: what really went down that night? And the only person alive who can answer that is Starr. But what Starr does-or does not-say could upend her community. It could also endanger her life.
Dear Martin by
Writing letters to the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., seventeen-year-old college-bound Justyce McAllister struggles to face the reality of race relations today and how they are shaping him.
After the Shot Drops by
Told from alternating perspectives, Bunny takes a basketball scholarship to an elite private school to help his family, leaving behind Nasir, his best friend, in their tough Philadelphia neighborhood.
The Game of Love and Death by
In Seattle in 1937 two seventeen-year-olds, Henry, who is white, and Flora, who is African-American, become the unwitting pawns in a game played by two immortal figures, Love and Death, where they must choose each other at the end, or one of them will die.
Anger Is a Gift by
Sixteen-year-old gay African-American student Moss Jeffries feels stuck in his run-down West Oakland High School. Still mourning the death of his father, shot by police years earlier, a violent incident at his school prompts Moss to channel his simmering anger into community activism against a corrupt authority system.
Born a Crime by
The compelling, inspiring, and comically sublime story of one man's coming-of-age, set during the twilight of apartheid and the tumultuous days of freedom that followed.
All American Boys by
When sixteen-year-old Rashad is mistakenly accused of stealing, classmate Quinn witnesses his brutal beating at the hands of a police officer who happens to be the older brother of his best friend.
On the Come Up by
Sixteen-year-old Bri hopes to become a great rapper, and after her first song goes viral for all the wrong reasons, must decide whether to sell out or face eviction with her widowed mother.
Kindred by
A graphic novel adaptation of Octavia E. Butler's "Kindred" in which a young African-American woman is mysteriously transferred back in time leading to an irresistible curiosity about her family's past.
I Am Alfonso Jones by
The ghost of fifteen-year-old Alfonso Jones travels in a New York subway car full of the living and the dead, watching his family and friends fight for justice after he is killed by an off-duty police officer while buying a suit in a Midtown department store.
Good Talk by
Presents a graphic novel memoir in which the author tries to answer her young biracial son's questions about race, and in the process explores her own upbringing and her own thoughts on the reality of American identity today.
Look Both Ways by
A collection of ten short stories that all take place in the same day about kids walking home from school.
The Fire This Time by
A collection of eighteen essays, memoir pieces, and poems addressing race in the United States and written in response to James Baldwin's 1962 "Letter to My Nephew" in which the author lamented that 100 years after the Emancipation Proclamation, it felt like African Americans were celebrating too soon.
Loving vs. Virginia by
Presents in blank verse the story of Mildred Loving, an African American girl, and Richard Loving, a Caucasian boy, who fell in love and challenged the Virginia law forbidding interracial marriages in the 1950s.
Let Me Hear a Rhyme by
After their friend Steph is murdered, Quadir, Jarrell, and Steph's sister Jasmine promote his music under a new rap name, the Architect, but when his demo catches a music label rep's attention, the trio must prove his talent from beyond the grave.
Fire Starters by
Looking for a little mischief after finding an old flare gun, Ron and Ben suddenly find themselves in trouble when the local gas bar on Agamiing Reserve goes up in flames, and they are wrongly accused of arson by the sheriff's son. As the investigation goes forward, community attitudes are revealed, and the truth slowly comes to light.
X by
Presents a fictionalized version of Malcolm X's life up until his incarceration that changed his life.
material type: eBook
The Hate U Give (Digital Audio) by
Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter is trying to balance her suburban prep school life with the poor, black neighborhood where she lives when she witnesses her childhood best friend Khalil get shot and killed by a police officer. As tensions mount and her city erupts in protests, the only person who knows the truth of that night is Starr, and what she does or doesn't say can change everyone's lives forever.
The Hate U Give by
Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter is trying to balance her suburban prep school life with the poor, black neighborhood where she lives when she witnesses her childhood best friend Khalil get shot and killed by a police officer. As tensions mount and her city erupts in protests, the only person who knows the truth of that night is Starr, and what she does or doesn't say can change everyone's lives forever.
Dear Martin (Digital Audio) by
Writing letters to the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., seventeen-year-old college-bound Justyce McAllister struggles to face the reality of race relations today and how they are shaping him.
Dear Martin by
Writing letters to the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., seventeen-year-old college-bound Justyce McAllister struggles to face the reality of race relations today and how they are shaping him.
After the Shot Drops (eBook) by
When Bunny takes a scholarship to a prestigious prep school with a championship basketball team, his relationship with his best friend Nasir is ruined. When Nasir learns that his cousin, Wallace, and his grandmother are being evicted, he tries to get over Bunny's betrayal. But as Wallace's situation becomes desperate, both Bunny and Nasir will have to face bigger and bigger consequences and decide just how much they're willing to risk.
Tyler Johnson Was Here by
When Marvin Johnson's twin, Tyler, goes to a party, Marvin decides to tag along to keep an eye on his brother. But what starts as harmless fun turns into a shooting, followed by a police raid. The next day Tyler is missing, and it's up to Marvin to find him. But when Tyler is found dead, a video leaked online tells an even more chilling story: Tyler has been shot and killed by a police officer. Terrified as his mother unravels, mourning a brother who is now a hashtag, Marvin must learn what justice and freedom really mean.
Born a Crime by
The compelling, inspiring, and comically sublime story of one man's coming-of-age, set during the twilight of apartheid and the tumultuous days of freedom that followed.
Color Outside the Lines by
This modern, groundbreaking YA anthology explores the complexity and beauty of interracial and LGBTQ+ relationships where differences are front and center.
I'm Not Dying with You Tonight by
Lena has her killer style, her awesome boyfriend, and a plan. She knows she's going to make it big. Campbell, on the other hand, is just trying to keep her head down and get through the year at her new school.
When both girls attend the Friday-night football game, what neither expects is for everything to descend into sudden mass chaos. Chaos born from violence and hate. Chaos that unexpectedly throws them together.
They aren't friends. They hardly understand the other's point of view. But none of that matters when the city is up in flames, and they only have each other to rely on if they're going to survive the night.
Dream Country by 
Dream Country (Digital Audio) by 
Born a Crime by
The compelling, inspiring, and comically sublime story of one man’s coming-of-age, set during the twilight of apartheid and the tumultuous days of freedom that followed.