Books that cover some hard-hitting but necessary topics
Books have the all-important function of being an escape, allowing us to step outside of our own lives for a moment to be entertained and thrilled. However, often the books that stick with us are the ones that make us think. The ones that don’t take us outside of our world, but instead hold a mirror to our lives to make us re-think on our outlook on society. Whether these are history books meant to re-shape the way we view the world, memoirs that tell the stories of those who have lived through remarkable circumstances, or fictions that reflect harsh realities, each of these books covers a variety of hard-hitting but necessary topics. They are the books that will help you dig in and think critically of your own life and the world around you.
Stamped by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi
In this remix of Dr. Ibram X. Kendi’s National Book Award-winning Stamped from the Beginning, Jason Reynolds and Dr. Kendi take us through the history of racism in America. It shows you how we got to where we are, why we feel how we feel, and why the poison of racism still lingers. And it gives you the tools to combat racism, discredit racist ideas, and how to be actively antiracist.
Internment by Samira Ahmed
Set in a horrifying near-future United States, Internment is the story of Layla, a seventeen-year-old Muslim sent with her family to an internment camp for Muslim American citizens. Soon, Layla is at the heart of a resistance movement fighting for freedom, learning to speak up, speak out, and challenge complicit silence. While this book is fiction, the racism and hate that inspired it is not. And it is through Layla’s story we can begin to understand the injustices that hate leads to and the dangers of allowing those who spread fear go unchallenged.
We are Displaced by Malala Yousafzai
We are Displaced is a collection of stories of the lives of displaced girls around the globe. Nobel Peace Prize-winner Malala Yousafzai begins with her own story of displacement and then shares the personal stories of girls she has met around the globe on her various journeys to refugee camps. This book is an important reminder that, in a time of immigration crisis, every one of the statistics that flash across our screens is a person with hopes and dreams. And that every person deserves universal human rights.
The Astonishing Color of After by Emily X. R. Pan
Leigh Chen Sanders is absolutely certain about one thing: When her mother died by suicide, she turned into a bird. When Leigh travels to Taiwan to meet her maternal grandparents for the first time, she is determined to find her mother, the bird. Alternating between present and past, real and magic, friendship and romance, hope and despair, The Astonishing Color of After covers difficult but necessary topics like suicide, guilt, family, grief, and love in a beautiful, lyrical way.
Trans Mission: My Quest to Beard by Alex Bertie
Alex Bertie is a transgender YouTuber who started making videos on sexuality and gender identity at just 14. Trans Mission is his story. His memoir takes us through not only the emotional journey of transition, but also provides practical information and advice. Part memoir, part handbook, Trans Mission is one man’s account of his own transition and quest to a beard.
Little & Lion by Brandy Colbert
When Suzette returns to LA from the boarding school she was forced to spend the past semester, she’s not sure whether she wants to return to Massachusetts or stay in California. But her friends and family are all in Cali, and her step brother, Lionel, has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and needs her support. When Suzette and Lionel both begin to fall in love with the same girl however, Lionel’s disorder takes a turn for the worse and Suzette must face her own demons. Little & Lion is a Stonewall Book Award recipient and a fantastic read covering important issues of mental illness and homophobia.
They Went Left by Monica Hesse
Germany, 1945. The soldiers who liberated the Gross-Rosen concentration camp said the war was over, but nothing feels over to Zofia Lederman. Her body is only just healing, and her mind is still broken. The only family she has left, her little brother Abek, was separated from her. How can she find one boy in a sea of the missing, in the rubble of a broken continent? To find her brother, Zofia will have to delve into a mystery whose answers just might break her. Dealing with issues of trauma and recovery, They Went Left is unlike any WWII story I’ve read. This distinctly post-war tale shows the long road to recovery and the struggle in the immediate aftermath of one of the world’s most destructive wars, and the hope that buoyed so many in such dark times.