Given the terrifying speed at which things have been moving in the political realm these days, it’s hard not to feel helpless and hopeless. As my sister pointed out to me right after the November election, things have always been bad (see: unclean water in Flint, wars abroad and police brutality at home – the list goes on), and now things are just… worse, in a way that affects everyone and certain groups of people in particular.
I love YA and reading, and I will fight anyone who dismisses it as shallow nonsense. Stories have power. At the same time, it’s frustrating to watch people (myself included!) be all talk and no action. To be clear, any action that you can contribute, however small, to making things less awful is always valuable.
In that vein, here’s a list of YA fiction starring people most vulnerable right now – immigrants, religious and racial minorities, and LGBTQIA people – and organizations that are doing good work and could use your volunteer hours, money, or signal boosting:
March: Book One by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, Nate Powell – March tells the story of John Lewis’s work at the height of the Civil Rights movement. Given the racial inequality and current attack on voting rights happening today, his comic book series is a necessary primer on American history.
If I Ever Get Out of Here by Eric Gansworth – Music, cross-cultural friendship, and life on the Tuscarora Indian reservation in the 1970s — you’ll want to read this.
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz – Rare is the book that features gay and PoC characters, but that’s what this is. Dante and Aristotle’s love story is just the sweetest, and I’ve been love with this book since day one.
Lucy and Linh by Alice Pung – This is an Australian YA book that I honestly wish was way more popular in America. It tells the story of Lucy, a girl from a working class immigrant family, who ends up navigating the treacherous waters of an all-girls private school.
Written in the Stars by Aisha Saeed – I’ll let the book blurb do the talking: “Has Naila’s fate been written in the stars? Or can she still make her own destiny?” As a Muslim Pakistani-American girl, Naila comes face to face with love and her cultural heritage.
Organizations that could use your money or time:
Southern Poverty Law Center
International Refugee Assistance Project
#NoDAPL Standing Rock
Trans Lifeline
Council on American-Islamic Relations
Road to 2018: The book community in politics
What are you doing and reading these days? How do you stay informed without getting overwhelmed? How is your bookshelf meeting your activism?
