October 2020-December 2021
Woke (slang): Aware of and actively attentive to important facts and issues (especially issues of racial and social justice) —Merriam-Webster
What is Read Woke? It’s a feeling. A form of education. A call to action, and our right as lifelong learners. It means arming yourself with knowledge to better protect your rights. Learning about others so you treat people with respect and dignity, no matter their religion, race, creed, or color. —Cicely Lewis
The Read Woke movement was created by Cicely Lewis, School Library Journal 2020 Librarian of the Year. To be included as suggested titles, the books must:
- Challenge a social norm
- Give voice to the voiceless
- Provide information about a group that has been disenfranchised
- Seek to challenge the status quo
- Have a protagonist from an underrepresented or oppressed group
Beginning October 19, register for the challenge on Beanstack and earn badges for reading books written by authors of various marginalized communities. For all ages!
Click here for a printable list of all Read WOKE youth picture book titles!
Click here for a printable list of all Read WOKE youth chapter book titles!
Suggested Picture Books
African American Voices
The Undefeated by Kwame Alexander | Black is a Rainbow by Angela Joy | Going Down Home with Daddy by Kelly Starling Lyons
Hands Up by Breanna McDaniel | In Your Hands by Carole Boston Weatherford | Shades of Black by Sandra Pinkney
Sulwe by Lupita Nyong’o | Back of the Bus by Aaron Reynolds | Superluminous by Ian De Haes
Boonoonoonous Hair by Olive Senior | Crown by Derrick Barnes | Lift As You Climb by Patricia Hruby Powell
Mixed Me by Taye Diggs | Magnificent Homespun Brown by Samara Cole Doyan | Not Quite Snow White by Ashley Franklin
Just Like a Mama by Alice Faye Duncan | Just Like Me by Vanessa Brantley-Newton | Don’t Touch My Hair by Sharee Miller
Grandma’s Purse by Vanessa Brantley-Newton | Princess Hair by Sharee Miller | Hair Love by Matthew Cherry
Asian American Voices
Ling & Ting Not Exactly the Same by Grace Lin | Grandfather’s Journey by Allen Say | The Proudest Blue by Ibtihaj Muhammad
Leila in Saffron by Rukhsanna Guidroz | Bilal Cooks Daal by Aisha Saeed | Hiromi’s Hands by Lynne Barasch
Mooncakes by Loretta Seto | When the Cousins Came by Katie Yamasaki | Yo Soy Muslim by Mark Gonzales
Diverse Abilities
Hello Goodbye Dog by Maria Gianferrari | My Ocean is Blue by Darren Lebeuf | Not so Different by Shane Burcaw
Intersection Allies by Chelsea Johnson | Autism and Me by Ouisie Shapiro | Moses Goes to a Concert by Isaac Millman
Let’s Talk About It by Fred Rogers | Some Kids Use Wheelchairs by Lola Schaefer
Hispanic American Voices
Islandborn by Junot Diaz | Carmela Full of Wishes by Matt de le Pena | Wachale!
Looking for Bongo by Eric Velasquez | Alma and How She Got Her Name by Juana Martinez-Neal | Imagine by Juan Felipe Herrera
Salsa Lullaby by Jen Arena | My Papi Has a Motorcycle by Isabel Quintero
Native American Voices
We Are Water Protectors by Carole Lindstrom | We Are Grateful by Traci Sorell | The People Shall Continue by Simon Ortiz
Fry Bread by Kevin Noble Maillard | Thunder Boy Jr. by Sherman Alexie | Powwow by Karen Pheasant-Neganigwane
Bowwow Powwow by Brenda J. Child | At the Mountain’s Base by Traci Sorell
Female Voices
Sweety by Andrea Zuill | Black Women Who Dared by Naomi M. Moyer | Firebird by Misty Copeland
A Girl Like Me by Angela Johnson | Girls Can Do Anything by Caryl Hart | Dress Like a Girl by Patricia Toht
Social Injustice
Something Happened In Our Town by Marianne Celano | Antiracist Baby by Ibram X. Kendi | Every Little Letter by Deborah Underwood
I Walk With Vanessa by Kerascoet | Be Who You Are by Todd Parr | M is for Movement by Innosanto Nagara
We March by Shane Evans | A is for Activist by Innosanto Nagara | An ABC of Equality by Channa Ginelle Ewing
Kid Activists by Robin Stevenson | Common Threads by Huda Essa | You Matter by Christian Robinson
Immigration
Where Are You From? by Yamile Saied Mendez | Sakura’s Cherry Blossoms by Robert Paul Weston | Mustafa by Marie-Louise Gay
The Big Umbrella by Amy June Bates | What is a Refugee? by Elise Gravel | The Day You Begin by Jacqueline Woodson
LGBTQ+ Voices
I’m Not a Girl by Maddox Lyons | When Aidan Became a Big Brother by Kyle Lukoff | Pride Colors by Robin Stevenson
I Am Jazz by Jessica Herthel | A Tale of Two Mommies by Vanita Oelschlager | Home at Last by Vera B. Williams
My Maddy by Gayle Pitman | The GayBCs by M.L. Webb | Jack (Not Jackie) by Erica Silverman
It Feels Good to Be Yourself by Theresa Thorn | Julian is a Mermaid by Jessica Love
Voices of those Experiencing Poverty & Homelessness
What is Given From the Heart by Pat McKissack | A Bike Like Sergio’s by Maribeth Boelts | Yard Sale by Eve Bunting
Last Stop on Market Street by Matt de la Pena
