Book Review: Marley Dias Gets It Done: And So Can You! by Marley Dias

Publisher’s description

Marley Dias, creator of the #1000BlackGirlBooks campaign, talks to young readers about social activism and what YOU can do in this engaging, visually striking new book.

The book looks at Marley’s backstory and the things that led to her creating a social action movement. As a fifth grader, she was disgusted that their reading list consisted of the same old tired classics featuring lots of white boys. She wondered where were the books with kids like her, with black girls, and thus the movement was born. We learn about her parents and their backgrounds, moments from Marley’s life that have shaped who she is (like a trip to Ghana and her involvement in the GrassROOTS Community Foundation), her fashion sense (including her glasses and her hair), her social media presence (and tips for managing a safe, sane life on social media), and so much more. Her book offers tips on how to be woke (and help others to be, too), how to make a difference in your community, how to be an activist, how to be a better reader, how to find books featuring minority characters, and how to effectively do book talks. The book ends with a handy list of about 500 books for middle grade and YA readers featuring black girls. For people who don’t live on Twitter and didn’t see this all unfold in real life, or who have somehow missed all of the media attention surrounding Marley’s project, this will be an especially inspiring read. Young readers will love seeing someone their own age make such a big impact and will be able to walk away from this book with plenty of ideas on how to undertake their own projects. Nicely laid out with lots of fantastic, colorful pictures of Marley and moments from her life, this book focusing on activism, literacy, and diversity is a must-have for school library collections. 

Review copy courtesy of the publisher

ISBN-13: 9781338136890
Publisher: Scholastic, Inc.
Publication date: 01/30/2018

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