Even before my book came out, I heard from a blogger who highlights the issues of social justice in young adult literature. I was delighted to learn there was such a blog in the world, and was gratified by the attention they helped bring to my book. If you haven’t yet checked out Pirate Tree, I recommend you bookmark them and visit them regularly. They do amazing work.
One of the bloggers involved in that interview, Lyn Miller-Lachmann, is also a novelist in her own right, author of the highly acclaimed Gringolandia, among several others. It’s been my honor to get to know her better in the intervening years, and I’ve been amazed and a little humbled at how much she lives and breathes her commitment to social justice.
Yesterday, a group of us were sharing our thoughts on Facebook about the outcome of this election, and I mentioned to Lyn that it would be awesome to hear her recommendations about what books we can look to to shed historical light on our current situation. She pointed me to this post, which has just considerably enlarged my to-read pile. These are fascinating reading suggestions, and important in today’s climate. As Fran Leibowitz said, “Think before you speak. Read before you think.” These are some books to get you reading and thinking.
Click here to see Lyn’s post.
