Activism

For those marching or not, #NeverAgain  #marchforourlives

a few books for inspiration or contemplation..

Nonfiction

Witness to the Revolution: Radicals, Resisters, Vets, Hippies, and the Year America Lost its Mind and Found its Soul, by Clara Bingham, 2016. During the academic year 1969-70, there were 9000 protests and 84 acts of arson or bombings at schools across the country. Two and a half million students went on strike, and 700 colleges shut down. This oral history of the late 1960s tells of the most dramatic events of the day in the words of those closest to the action--activists, organizers, criminals, bombers, policy makers, veterans, hippies, and draft dodgers. 

Tank Man: How A Photograph Defined China's Protest Movement, by Michael Burgan, 2014. Discusses the iconic photo of a lone protester, Tank Man, stopping a row of tanks near Tiananmen Square during protests in 1989.

Philanthroparties!: A Party-Planning Guide for Kids Who Want to Give Back, by Lulu Cerone, 2017. Why just party when you can party with a purpose? Seventeen-year-old Lulu Cerone shows teens how to bring social activism into their daily lives--and have fun while doing it--with this colorful DIY party planning guide.


Eyes Wide Open: Going Behind the Environmental Headlines, by Paul Fleischman, 2014. A summary of today's environmental challenges also counsels teens on how to decode conflicting information, explaining the role of vested interests while identifying the sources behind different opinions, helping teens make informed choices.


Craftivism: The Art of Craft and Activism, edited by Betsy Greer, 2014. Essays, interviews, and images, from four continents, reveal how craftivists are changing the world with their art. Examples range from community embroidery projects, stitching in prisons, revolutionary ceramics, to AIDS activism, yarn bombing, and crafts that facilitate personal growth.

Going Blue: A Teen Guide to Saving Our Oceans & Waterways, by Cathryn Berger Kaye; with Philippe Cousteau and Earth Echo International, 2010. Practical suggestions to help plan and do a meaningful service project that benefits our planet's water system.

A People's Art History of the United States: 250 Years of Activist Art and Artists Working in Social Justice Movements, by Nocolas Lampert, 2013. Art history and the fight for justice from the colonial era through the present day. Combines historical sweep with detailed examinations of individual artists.

The Teen Guide to Global Action: How to Connect with Others (Near & Far) to Create Social Change, by Barbara A. Lewis, 2008. The Teen Guide to Global Action is a go-to source teens can use to put their volunteer spirit into practice and make an impact in their world.


Yes You Can!: Your Guide to Becoming an Activist, by Jane Drake & Ann Love, 2010. A 9 steps to social change guide. Discusses strategies on running an effective meeting, writing a petition, and lobbying government.


As the World Burns: 50 Simple Things You Can Do to Stay in Denial, by Derrick Jensen and Stephanie McMillan, 2007. A satirical view of social, cultural, political, and economic aspects of environmentalism in the United States in comic book format.

Can Your Smartphone Change the World?, by Erinne Paisley, 2017. Paisley looks at specific ways you can create social change through the tap of a screen. She provides examples of successful hashtag campaigns, viral videos and new socially conscious apps, as well as practical advice for using your smartphone as a tool for social justice. See also: Can Your Outfit Change the World?, 2018.

You Got This!: Unleash Your Awesomeness, Find Your Path, and Change Your World, by Maya Penn, 2016. Maya Penn is an entrepreneur, animator, eco-designer, and girls' rights activist. Her TEDWomen Talk has been viewed over 1,200,000 million times (and is one of the top 15 TEDWomen Talks of all time).

Be A Changemaker: How To Start Something That Matters, by Laurie Ann Thompson, 2014. Learn how to wield your passions, digital tools, and the principles of social entrepreneurship to affect real change in your school, community and beyond.

Columbine, by David Cullen, 2009. An award-winning journalist's definitive account of one of the most shocking massacres in American history.

Fiction

Hate List, by Jennifer Brown, 2009. Sixteen-year-old Valerie, whose boyfriend Nick committed a school shooting at the end of their junior year, struggles to cope with integrating herself back into high school life, unsure herself whether she was a hero or a villain.

The Plain Janes, by Castellucci, 2009. When Jane is forced to move from the big city to suburbia, she thinks that her life is over until she meets three other girls named Jane who decide to form a secret art gang and turn the town and high school upside down. Graphic novel.

For the Win, by Cory Doctorow, 2010. In a future where poor children and teenagers work for corrupt bosses as gold farmers, finding valuable items inside massively-multiplayer online games, a small group of teenagers work to unionize and escape this near-slavery.

Little Brother, by Cory Doctorow, 2008. After being interrogated for days by the Department of Homeland Security in the aftermath of a major terrorist attack on San Francisco, California, seventeen-year-old Marcus, released into what is now a police state, decides to use his expertise in computer hacking to set things right. Sequel: Homeland, 2013.


The Vigilante Poets of Selwyn Academy, by Kate Hattemer, 2014. Writing a vigilante poem to protest the filming of a reality television show at their elite but corrupt arts academy, a group of friends struggles to remain loyal to their cause and each other when one of their number becomes a contestant on the show.

Fat Boy vs. The Cheerleaders, by Geoff Herbach, 2014. When the high school cheerleading team takes over a soda vending machine's funds, which were previously collected by the pep band, Gabe Johnson, an overweight "band geek" tired of being called names and looked down on, declares war.

The Truth Commission, by Susan Juby, 2015. Normandy Pale writes about the Truth Commission, whose purpose is to ask a question and get an honest answer, as a project for her junior year of high school at Green Pastures Academy of Art and Applied Design.

V for Vendetta, by Alan Moore, 2005. In a near-future
Britain ruled by a totalitarian regime, Evey is rescued from certain death by a masked vigilante calling himself "V," a beguiling and charismatic figure who launches a one-man crusade against government tyranny and oppression. Graphic novel.

This is Where it Ends, by Marieke Nijkamp, 2016. Minutes after the principal of Opportunity High School in Alabama finishes her speech welcoming the student body to a new semester, they discover that the auditorium doors will not open and someone starts shooting as four teens, each with a personal reason to fear the shooter, tell the tale from separate perspectives.

The Hate U Give, by Angie Thomas, 2017. After witnessing her friend's death at the hands of a police officer, Starr Carter's life is complicated when the police and a local drug lord try to intimidate her in an effort to learn what happened the night Kahlil died.