Books to Help Kids Make Sense of Challenging Current Events
by Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich
My seventh grader would probably go through the roof for a signed poster of the “PBS NewsHour’s” Gwen Ifill, and regularly checks to make sure I’m still a “sustaining member” of our local public radio station. Her humanities homework includes presidential debate watching, and she and her friends often discuss sustainability activities and the latest on standardized testing (in between watching Drake memes on YouTube). I’m glad that she’s engaged, but also sometimes have to squelch my inclination to shield her from news that I’m not comfortable discussing. Today’s news reports or political discussions can sometimes be more disturbing or demoralizing than anything else. So how do we encourage young people to pay attention to the world we live in without feeling powerless in the face of what often seem to be enormous challenges?
Resources created to help parents and educators share current events with children and teens abound, from youth-created newspapers like IndyKids and classroom-oriented newsmagazines like Upfront. The Morningside Center for Teaching Social Responsibility offers some helpful tips for how adults and children can discuss tough topics “in constructive, thoughtful, and sensitive ways.” And the books below can also provide a pathway for conversation, reflection, and action.
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Conflict, Terrorism, War
Recent attacks in Lebanon, France, Mali, and Nigeria are among the latest in a long line of horrors that leave families with questions, fears, and challenges as we try to comfort, empower, and guide our children through a difficult world. Along with resources like “Empowering Children in the Aftermath of Hate” and “How To Help Kids Feel Safe After Tragedy,” try these reads:
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Why?
A frog sits on a rock smelling a flower; a mouse snatches it away, and a battle begins. This wordless picture book on the senselessness and ugliness of war makes a powerful point about the cycle of violence that seems to dominate the headlines.
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The Librarian of Basra: A True Story from Iraq
Based on the true story of librarian Alia Muhammad Baker, who, along with neighbors and friends, saved thousands of library books during the conflict in Iraq in 2003. A study guide to aid discussion of the war, heroism, and the value of literature is also available.
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Stella by Starlight
When the Ku Klux Klan threatens to terrorize a segregated town in the American South, Stella leads her community to bravery in the face of injustice and violence.
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Code Talker
Available from:Ned Begay, a 16-year-old Navajo boy, was told that his Native language was useless — but it’s that very language and culture that empowers him to serve in World War II by transmitting coded messages to outwit the enemy.
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Immigration and Displacement
Stories of Syrian refugees, of unaccompanied minors making dangerous and desperate journeys to the U.S., and of people all over the world searching and fighting for homeland can bring up questions of identity, belonging, and power. If your child is interested in conversations about diverse and changing communities, try:
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I’m New Here
Available from:Three students from three countries — Korea, Somalia, and Guatemala — struggle to belong in a new school. Through art, sports, language, and more, a celebration of inclusion and diversity emerges. An author’s note includes resources for discussion of immigration.
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Mama’s Nightingale: A Story of Immigration and Separation
Available from:Award-winning author Danticat tells a finely wrought tale in English and Kreyol of a mother in detention and the daughter who is empowered to become an advocate on her mother’s behalf.
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The Arrival
Tan’s award-winning wordless story challenges readers as it captures the triumphs and struggles of the immigrant experience with haunting, intricate, and thought-provoking details. As one reviewer notes, “This could electrify a curriculum, provoke conversation if shared within a family, or simply bring a reader a startling new way of seeing a familiar story."
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Criminal Justice and Incarceration
Recent reports of the “school to prison pipeline” and debates about our links between race, economics, and punishment can seem dehumanizing; if your child has questions about how we engage with the criminal justice system, try:
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Visiting Day
Available from:Jacqueline Woodson’s tender picture book reminds readers that those who are incarcerated are human beings, with lives and connections that go beyond prison walls. Ultimately a hopeful celebration of a father-daughter bond, Visiting Day offers hope to children dealing with separation or loss.
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House Arrest
Holt’s poignant and funny novel in verse tells the very real story of a young boy’s struggle to “stay out of trouble” while he deals with the challenges of the juvenile justice system and family life.
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All-American Boys
Two teens — one Black, one White — are forced to grapple with issues of police brutality and racial tension in America in this hard-hitting novel told from two points of view.
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Gender Identity and Discrimination
As issues of discrimination, students’ rights at school and school sports dominate the headlines, children with questions about transgender youth might try:
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Large Fears
Jeremiah Nebula believes that he might find acceptance on Mars, but has to contend with his fears about traveling there. This gorgeously illustrated picture book was crowdfunded and independently published.
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Gracefully Grayson
Grayson is a quiet sixth grader who lives with an uncle and aunt, and a secret — though the outside world might see her as a boy, her true self is desperate to break free in this middle grade novel about identity and the power of friendship.
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Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out
Six transgender or gender-neutral youth are presented honestly and robustly as individuals, members of families, and communities, and as young people living full lives in this lovingly photographed book.
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Environment and Conservation
President Obama’s decision to reject the Keystone XL pipeline, continues the conversation on climate change and sustainability issues. For exploring the natural world and our relationship to it, try:
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All the World
This quietly lovely book celebrates our connections in and to the world around us, and all the ways that small moments link up to become something large and meaningful.
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A Boy and a Jaguar
Time magazine called Rabinowitz “the Indiana Jones of wildlife conservation,” and his heroics shine in this powerful story of his attempt to “speak for” the animals when, as someone who stutters, he struggled to speak at all.
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Eye of the Storm
Messner’s adventure brings meteorology to the forefront of a fight for justice in a near-future tale of bio-engineered food and shady business practices that feels uncomfortably possible.
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Racism in America
#BlackLivesMatter has prompted a national conversation on the legacy of American slavery, segregation, and government policy. Help your child connect the past to the present with books like:
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The Amazing Age of John Roy Lynch
In just ten years, John Roy Lynch went from enslaved teenager to state representative during the period of Reconstruction. An honest and inspirational story of Lynch’s path to becoming a justice of the peace and member of the Mississippi House of Representatives in the midst of troubled and violent times.
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A Wish After Midnight
Elliot’s time-travel adventure takes 15-year-old Genna from modern-day Brooklyn to Civil-War era New York City where she must fight to assert her humanity and use all of her strength to survive.
What other books and resources have helped you and your kids talk about the challenging issues we’re faced with?