DEI Digital Library

Missing Daddy
by Mariame Kaba

“This book is a crucial tool for parents, educators, and anyone who cares about the well-being of children who, through no fault of their own, are forced to bear the consequences of our country’s obsession with incarceration. For children who desperately miss their parents, feel confused, or are… Read More »

Something Happened in Our Town
by Marianne Celano 

Emma and Josh heard that something happened in their town. A Black man was shot by the police. "Why did the police shoot that man?" "Can police go to jail?" Something Happened in Our Town follows two families -- one White, one Black -- as they discuss a police shooting of a Black man in their… Read More »

An ABC of Equality
by Chana Ginelle Ewing and Paulina Morgan

A is for Ability, B is for Belief, C is for Class. All people have the right to be treated fairly, no matter who they are, what they look like, or where they come from. An ABC of Equality introduces complicated concepts surrounding social justice to the youngest of children. From A to Z, simple… Read More »

The Skin You Live In
by Michael Tyler and David Lee Csicsko

With the ease and simplicity of a nursery rhyme, this lively story delivers an important message of social acceptance to young readers. Themes associated with child development and social harmony, such as friendship, acceptance, self-esteem, and diversity are promoted in simple and straightforward… Read More »

Brick by Brick
by Heidi Woodward Sheffield

Winner of the Ezra Jack Keats New Illustrator Award! A striking debut celebrating the warm bond between a little boy and his dad as they work hard to achieve their dreams Papi is a bricklayer, and he works hard every day to help build the city, brick by brick. His son, Luis, works hard too--in… Read More »

Skin Again
by bell hooks, Chris Raschka

From legendary author and critic bell hooks and multi-Caldecott Medalist Chris Raschka comes a new way to talk about race and identity that will appeal to parents of the youngest readers. The skin I'm in is just a covering. It cannot tell my story. If you want to know who I am, you have got to come… Read More »

 The Colors of Us
by Karen Katz

A positive and affirming look at skin color, from an artist's perspective. Seven-year-old Lena is going to paint a picture of herself. She wants to use brown paint for her skin. But when she and her mother take a walk through the neighborhood, Lena learns that brown comes in many different shades… Read More »

Let’s Talk About Race
by Julius Lester and Karen BarBour

Julius Lester says, "I write because our lives are stories. If enough of those stories are told, then perhaps we will begin to see that our lives are the same story. The differences are merely in the details." Now Mr. Lester shares his own story as he explores what makes each of us special. Karen… Read More »

The Power Book : What is it Who Has it and Why?
by Roxanne Gay

With this inspiring and brightly illustrated guide to power, learn about the different types of power, what it means to have power, and what you can do with your own power to create positive change in the world, no matter who or how old you are. What makes you the boss of me? What makes a king a… Read More »

A is for Activist
by Innosanto Nagara

“Reading it is almost like reading Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States, but for two-year olds—full of pictures and rhymes and a little cat to find on every page that will delight the curious toddler and parents alike.”—Occupy Wall Street A is for Activist is an ABC board… Read More »

Begin Again, James Baldwin’s America And Its Urgent Lessons For Our Own
by Eddie S. Glaude Jr

Begin Again is one of the great books on James Baldwin and a powerful reckoning with America’s ongoing failure to confront the lies it tells itself about race. Just as in Baldwin’s “after times,” argues Eddie S. Glaude Jr., when white Americans met the civil rights movement’s call for truth… Read More »

The Princeton Fugitive Slave: The Trials I was  said of James Collins Johnson
by Lolita Buckner Inniss

James Collins Johnson made his name by escaping slavery in Maryland and fleeing to Princeton, New Jersey, where he built a life in a bustling community of African Americans working at what is now Princeton University. After only four years, he was recognized by a student from Maryland, arrested,… Read More »