What's Your Philosophy?: Activate Your Politic

No civics class in your schedule? Wondering about current issues, politics, and/or how things are run? Unsure where you stand? Feeling side lined? Get informed! Below is a roundup of issue oriented books recently added to the teen collection. This list is organized alphabetically by title. Descriptions, sometimes paraphrased, are from the Library's online catalog. An "activate your politic" list is by nature (one trusts) nonfiction. Following the nonfiction there are some recently published biographies and memoirs and a short list of recently published relevant fiction. Titles are linked to their record in the catalog.
To get started, added here for encouragement and inspiration,
a poem from Jason Reynolds:

For Every One, by Jason Reynolds, 2018. New York Times bestselling author and National Book Award finalist Jason Reynolds's inspirational poem addressed to the dreamers of the world was originally performed at the Kennedy Center for the unveiling of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, and later as a tribute to Walter Dean Myers.


Blacklisted!: Hollywood, The Cold War, and the First Amendment, by Larry Brimner, 2018. Recounts the 1947 government investigation into the motion picture industry by the House Un-American Activities Committee.

Can Your Conversation Change The World?, by Erinne Paisley, 2018. From the Pop Activism series for teens this book looks at the importance of talking about feminism and continuing to fight for equal rights.

Economic Inequality: The American Dream Under Siege, by Coral Frazer, 2018. Millions of Americans don't earn enough money to pay for decent housing, food, health care, and education. Meanwhile the rich keep getting richer. Learn how governments, businesses, and citizens are fighting to close the economic gap.

Feminism from A to Z, by Gayle Pitman, 2017. An alphabetical primer on feminism examines 26 topics of feminist theory, from family life to violence and literacy. Includes call-to-action exercises for each topic.

Glimmer of Hope: How Tragedy Sparked a Movement, by the founders of March For Our Lives, 2018. From The March for Our Lives founders, Glimmer of Hope tells the story of how a group of teenagers raced to channel their rage and sorrow into action, and went on to create one of the largest youth-led movements in global history.

Globalization: Why We Care About Faraway Events, by Carla Mooney, 2018. Is your salad drizzled with olive oil imported from Italy? What country made the car that your parents drive? Globalization delves into the nature and history of interconnected relationships between governments, businesses, media, and industries all around the world and asks questions about the future.

Gun Violence and Mass Shootings, by Bradley Steffens, 2018. This book examines the prevalence of all types of gun violence in America and the factors-historical, cultural, and constitutional-that make this country an outlier among industrialized nations. It also explores possible solutions to reducing gun deaths and the controversies surrounding those proposals.

The Handy American Government Answer Book: How Washington, Politics, and Elections Work, by Gina Misiroglu, 2018. A comprehensive look at the history, systems, people, and policies that comprise American democracy through answers to nearly 800 questions, including Why is America's democratic system considered so precious? What does 'checks and balances' mean? Where do the party symbols of the donkey and the elephant come from? What is electoral realignment? What does it mean to lobby? Who pays for the campaigns of candidates?

How I Resist: Activism and Hope for a New Generation, edited by Maureen Johnson, 2018. In How I Resist, the voices represented are at turns personal, funny, irreverent, and instructive. Not just for a young adult audience, this collection will appeal to readers of all ages who are feeling adrift and looking for guidance.

The Little Book of Philosophy, by the Dorling Kindersly Publishing Staff, 2018. A compact guide that explores the history and concepts of philosophy, and demystifies its often-daunting subject matter. Explore feminism, rationalism, idealism, existentialism, and other influential movements in the world of philosophy from Ancient Greece to the modern day.

Modern HERstory: Stories of Women and Nonbinary People Rewriting History, by Blair Imani, 2018. An illustrated primer on the progressive social change movements of the last 60 years as told through the stories of 60 diverse female and non-binary leaders in those movements, from the Civil Rights Movement and Stonewall riots through today.

Our stories, our voices : 21 YA Authors Get Real About Injustice, Empowerment, and Growing Up Female in America, edited by Amy Reed, 2018. A collection of 21 essays from award-winning and bestselling YA writers that touch on a range of topics related to growing up female in today's America, and the intersection with race, religion, and ethnicity.

Putting Peace First: 7 Commitments to Change the World, by Eric Dawson, 2018. When he was 18, Eric co-founded the non-profit Peace First based on the idea that young people can change the world for the better--not someday, but right now. Twenty-five years later, Peace First has reached millions worldwide, teaching young people how to become peacemakers and create real change. Each chapter highlights an aspect of peacemaking, with explanations of how each peacemaker achieved their goals.

Steal This Country: A Handbook for Resistance, Persistence, and Fixing Almost Everything, by Alexandra Styron, 2018. Contents: The why -- The who -- The what. Climate change ; Immigration ; LGBTQIA rights ; Racial justice ; Religious understanding ; Women's rights ; Intersectionality ; Disability issues -- The how.

Street Spirit: The Power of Protest and Mischief, by Steve Crawshaw, 2017. Street Spirit is a celebration of some of the most remarkable protests from around the world that have used humour, courage and creativity to bring about change.

Threads: From the Refugee Crisis, by Kate Evans, 2017. In the French town of Calais, famous for its historic lace industry, a city within a city arose. This new town, known as the Jungle, was home to thousands of refugees, mainly from the Middle East and Africa, all hoping, somehow, to get to the UK. Into this squalid shantytown of shipping containers and tents, full of rats and trash and devoid of toilets and safety, the artist Kate Evans brought a sketchbook and an open mind. (graphic format)

The Untold History of the United States, Volume 1, 1898-1945: Young Readers' Edition, (Note: Volume 2 publication date is January 15, 2019.) A young readers' companion to the ten-part documentary series outlines provocative arguments against official American historical records to reveal the origins of conservatism and the obstacles to progressive change.

Verax: The True Story of Whistleblowers, Drone Warfare, and Mass Surveillance, by Pratap Chatterjee, 2017. A history of the use of electronic surveillance and drone strikes by the United States, as well as the journalists and whistle blowers who helped to expose the truth about these activities. (graphic format)

Votes for Women!: American Suffragists and the Battle for the Ballot, by Winifred Conkling, 2018. Relates the story of the 19th Amendment and the nearly eighty-year fight for voting rights for women, covering not only the suffragists' achievements and politics, but also the private journeys that led them to become women's champions.

We Are Not Yet Equal: Understanding Our Racial Divide, by Carol Anderson, 2018. Young Adult adaptation of Anderson's book White Rage. When America achieves milestones of progress toward full and equal black participation in democracy, the systemic response is a consistent racist backlash that rolls back those wins. We Are Not Yet Equal examines five of these moments.

We Say #NeverAgain: Reporting by the Parkland Student Journalists, edited by Melissa Falkowski and Eric Garner, 2018. This collection of essays looks at the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland and the fight for gun control-- as told by the student reporters for the school's newspaper and TV station.

Biography:

Americanized: Rebel Without a Green Card, by Sara Saedi, 2018. In San Jose, California, in the 1990s, teenaged Sara keeps a diary of life as an Iranian American and her discovery that she and her family entered as undocumented immigrants.

The Beloved World of Sonia Sotomayor, by Sonia Sotomayor, 2018.  An adaptation of her memoir, My Beloved World, in which Sotomayor, the first Hispanic and third woman appointed to the Supreme Court of the United States, details her achievements, which serve as testament that no matter the obstacles, dreams can come true.

The Dead Eye and the The Deep Blue Sea: A Graphic Memoir of Modern Slavery, by Vannak Anan Prum, 2018. In a testament to the lives of Cambodian fishermen trapped on boats in the Indian Ocean, the author, a survivor of human trafficking, shares his ordeal through raw, vivid, detailed illustrations, which serve as some of the first records of what happens to the men and boys who end up working on fishing boats in Asia. (graphic format)

Deep Dark Blue: A Memoir of Survival, by Polo Tate, 2018. A Young Adult memoir of a former United States Air Force Academy student chronicles the physical, sexual, and emotional abuse she suffered at the hands of her superiors and the harassment she received from peers who did not believe her story.

Eleanor Roosevelt: Fighter For Justice: Her Impact on the Civil Rights Movement, The White House, and the World, by Ilene Cooper, 2018. Shows how this former First Lady evolved to be a protector and advocate for those without a voice, including aiding in the fight for Civil Rights and other important causes. There is a timeline, biography, index, and many historic photographs.

I Have the Right To: A High School Survivor's Story of Sexual Assault, Justice, and Hope, by Chessy Prout, 2018. The memoir of a young survivor of a sexual assault when she was a freshman in a prestigious boarding school shares her story of survival, advocacy, and hope.

John McCain: An American Hero, by John Perritano, 2018. This biography covers McCain's life, from growing up as the son of a four-star admiral to his own time at the Naval Academy, his service as a pilot, and his experience as a prisoner of war. It explores McCain's 30 years as a senator, as well as his two bids for the presidency.

Rendez-Vous in Phoenix, by Tony Sandoval, 2016. Sandoval was born and raised in northwestern Mexico, where the temptation to cross the border in the US ultimately becomes a matter of the heart. Drawn by the need to reunite with his American girlfriend and faced with an insurmountable visa process standing in the way of their relationship, he makes the ultimate romantic gesture: smuggling himself across the border, despite the dangers he'll face. (graphic format)

Fiction:

Alpha: Abidjan to Paris, by Bessora, 2018. Determined to reunite with his family, Alpha sets off from his home in Cote d'Ivoire. Alpha's wife and son left for France months ago, and he has heard nothing from them since. Without a visa he is adrift for over a year, encountering human traffickers in the desert, refugee camps in Mali and Algeria, overcrowded boats carrying migrants between the Canary Islands and Europe's southern coast, and a cast of  companions lost and found along the way. (graphic format)

Dream Country, by Shannon Gibney, 2018. Spanning two centuries and two continents, Dream Country is the story of five generations of young people caught in a spiral of death and exile between Liberia and the United States.

Here to Stay, by Sara Farizan, 2018. When a cyberbully sends the entire high school a picture of basketball hero Bijan Majidi, photo-shopped to look like a terrorist, the school administration promises to find and punish the culprit, but Bijan just wants to pretend the incident never happened and move on.

Illegal, by Eoin Colfer, 2018. Resolved to join the siblings who left months earlier, 12-year-old Ebo ventures through the Sahara and the dangerous streets of Tripoli before embarking on a hazardous voyage from Ghana to a safe haven in Europe. (graphic format)

Your Own Worst Enemy, by Gordon Jack, 2018. For fans of Andrew Smith and Frank Portman and the movies Election and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off comes a hilarious and satirical novel about the highs and (very low) lows of the electoral process, proving that the popular vote is the one that matters most.