Protests, Justice, And More Great Kids’ Books!

This picture book is inspired by real events, specifically when a statue of the slave trader Edward Colston was pulled down during an antiracist protest. Co-author Jen Reid was one of the protestors and, like on the cover, climbed onto that empty space, fist raised. The picture book follows a child who sees so many statues on walks of historical figures some claim to be “heroes” but who actively harmed people who looked like her. She wonders where the real heroes are, and then she realizes that she can help to make a difference by making her voice heard. Back matter includes more details about the events shown in the book as well as discussion questions.

This powerful picture will be released in one month. Set in 1970, it’s a fictionalized account of how San Diego’s Chicano Park came to be. A young girl and her mami live in Barrio Logan, a Chicane neighborhood. When the two see construction beneath the bridge, Mami sighs in relief, explaining that the city is finally building a much-promised park. However, it turns out that the city is building a police station, not a park. The community rallies together to protest at the construction site. They protest for 12 days before the city grants their request for a park at a town meeting. This is a wonderful picture book about the power and importance of protests.

This is the second book in the Frankie and Friends chapter book series, one of my favorite new chapter book series. Frankie’s mom is a news reporter. When a protest for justice sweeps the news, Mama is called in to report. In her absence, Frankie wonders what a protest is and why people are protesting. To get to the bottom of it, she decides to do her own journalistic investigation with the help of her toys. She interviews her father and sister—learning about racial injustice and activism—and then her toys participate in their own protest. This is an engaging introduction to protests, activism, and journalism. A glossary is included at the end.

This heartwarming middle grade novel releases in two weeks. Jamie, who is nonbinary, and their friends are entering secondary school in Nottingham, England. When it’s time to choose schools, Jamie realizes the schools are divided by gender. There’s a boy’s school and a girl’s school, neither of which applies to Jamie. Many of the adults in Jamie’s life don’t understand their problem and encourage them to just pick. But thankfully Jamie has supportive friends and family who help them protest the unfair binary division of students.