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Change Agents: Middle/High School Book Club Sets

Books that build empathy and inspire action. Made possible by a gift from Paula Silver.

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31 items

All American boys [BOOK DISCUSSION]
Reynolds, Jason, author.
Format:

When sixteen-year-old Rashad is mistakenly accused of stealing, classmate Quinn witnesses his brutal beating at the hands of a police officer who happens to be the older brother of his best friend. Told through Rashad and Quinn's alternating viewpoints.

Americanized [BOOK DISCUSSION] : rebel without a green card
Saedi, Sara, author.
Format:

At thirteen, bright-eyed, straight-A student Sara Saedi uncovered a terrible family secret: she was breaking the law simply by living in the United States. Only two years old when her parents fled Iran, she didn't learn of her undocumented status until her older sister wanted to apply for an after-school job, but couldn't because she didn't have a Social Security number. From discovering that her parents secretly divorced to facilitate her mother's green card application to learning how to tame her unibrow, Sara pivots gracefully from the terrifying prospect that she might be kicked out of the country to the almost-as-terrifying possibility that she might be the only one without a date to the prom.

As the crow flies [BOOK DISCUSSION]
Gillman, Melanie, author, illustrator.
Format:

A queer, black teenager finds herself stranded in a dangerous and unfamiliar place: an all-white Christian youth backpacking camp.

Being Jazz [BOOK DISCUSSION] : my life as a (transgender teen)
Jennings, Jazz.
Format:

Teen activist and trailblazer Jazz Jennings--named one of "The 25 most influential teens" of the year by Time--shares her very public transgender journey, as she inspires people to accept the differences in others while they embrace their own truths.

Between the world and me [BOOK DISCUSSION]
Coates, Ta-Nehisi.
Format:

Coates takes readers along on his journey through America's history of race and its contemporary resonances through a series of awakenings--moments when he discovered some new truth about our long, tangled history of race, whether through his myth-busting professors at Howard University, a trip to a Civil War battlefield with a rogue historian, a journey to Chicago's South Side to visit aging survivors of 20th century America's 'long war on black people,' or a visit with the mother of a beloved friend who was shot down by the police.

Electric arches [BOOK DISCUSSION]
Ewing, Eve L., author.
Format:

Blending stark realism with the surreal and fantastic, Eve L. Ewings narrative takes us from the streets of 1990s Chicago to an unspecified future, deftly navigating the boundaries of space, time, and reality. Ewing imagines familiar figures in magical circumstances; blues legend Koko Taylor is a tall-tale hero; LeBron James travels through time and encounters his teenage self. She identifies everyday objects: hair moisturizer, a spiral notebook as precious icons.

Enchanted air [BOOK DISCUSSION] : two cultures, two wings : a memoir
Engle, Margarita.
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In this memoir, Margarita Engle, the first Latina woman to receive a Newbery Honor, tells of growing up as a child of two cultures during the Cold War.

Here we are [BOOK DISCUSSION] : feminism for the real world

Format:

A scrapbook-style teen guide to understanding what it really means to be a feminist packed with contributions from a diverse range of voices, including celebrities and public figures, and featuring more than forty-four pieces, including an eight-page insert of full-color illustrations.

History is all you left me [BOOK DISCUSSION]
Silvera, Adam, 1990- author.
Format:

Secrets are revealed as OCD-afflicted Griffin grieves for his first love, Theo, who died in a drowning accident.

How dare the sun rise [BOOK DISCUSSION] : memoirs of a war child
Uwiringiyimana, Sandra, author.
Format:

The author shares the story of her survival of the Gatumba massacre, despite losing her sister, and how after moving to America she found healing through art and activism.