Heavy Medal
Tag: Social Justice in YA Literature
A roundup of books on activism, social justice, and histories of protest
Hello from Minnesota. Here are some books that have helped me learn, unlearn, and grow.
#SJYALit: Walk A Mile In Their Shoes, a guest post by Christina June
When I was in grad school, a required course for my degree was Multicultural Counseling. An assignment in that class was to do something outside “your box” so you could experience what it feels like to be uncomfortable, maybe even upset, at what was happening around you. It could be something as small as watching […]
Introducing Asexuality, a guest post by Laura Perenic
Sometimes being Asexual feels like something I’m not instead something I am. I am not heterosexual. I am not homosexual. I am not gay, lesbian, transgender, or bisexual. I am the A at the end of LGBTQIA that many interpret to mean ally; the A for Asexual that sometimes gets left off. It is confusing […]
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#SJYALit: Ten Young Adult Novels for Sexual Assault Awareness Month, a guest post by Clara Kensie
April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month. The statistics are horrifying, staggering, alarming, shameful: One in five women and one in 71 men will be raped at some point in their lives. One in four girls and one in six boys will be sexually abused before they turn 18 years old. The National Sexual Violence Resource […]
#SJYALit: Breaking Taboos, Telling Secrets, a conversation between Isabel Quintero and Elana K. Arnold
Introduction In the introduction to Here We Are: Feminism for the Real World, Kelly Jensen writes, “What unites feminists is the belief that every person–regardless of gender, class, education, race, sexuality, or ability–deserves equality.” This intersection between multiple social justice movements characterizes what we call Third Wave feminism, a term coined in the 1990s, and […]
#SJYALit: Good Girls Don’t Wear That! a guest post by Kim Baccellia
As a child I remember my church leaders sharing stories of how girls had a responsibility to dress and act appropriately or else they’d cause boys to have indecent thoughts. This is true in some fundamental conservative groups. If those boys acted on these impulses, the blame was placed on the girl. Not the boy. […]
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Spotlight on Salaam Reads
Last year it was announced that Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing would launch a Muslim children’s book imprint called Salaam Reads. From the S&S website, a Feb 24, 2016 post says this about the imprint: “Salaam Reads will introduce readers of all faiths and backgrounds to a wide variety of Muslim children and families, and offer Muslim kids […]
For National Poetry Month: A Social Justice Poetry Project for Teens, a guest post by Laura Shovan
Well. Here we are, educators and librarians. The teens we work with are consuming the same polarizing news media, current events stories, and government spin that we adults struggle to cope with every day. How can we help teens interact with the news in a way that gives them some control over the language […]
Book Review: The Inexplicable Logic of My Life by Benjamin Alire Sáenz
Publisher’s description From the multi-award-winning author of Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe comes a gorgeous new story about love, identity, and families lost and found. Sal used to know his place with his adoptive gay father, their loving Mexican-American family, and his best friend, Samantha. But it’s senior year, and suddenly […]
Book Review: Leaving Kent State by Sabrina Fedel
Publisher’s description On May 4, 1970, the campus of Kent State University became the final turning point in Americans’ tolerance for the Vietnam War, as National Guardsmen opened fire on unarmed student protesters, killing four and wounding nine. It was one of the first true school shootings in our nation’s history. A new young adult […]
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