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Race Relations...

rise up & readIn our troubled times, we turn to books to try to understand and for guidance. There are several new important titles to explore, and many that are considered classics. We'll be adding to this list as we discover more. What books do you recommend?

(Please note: Due to demand, some are backordered at the publisher, but we have lots on order and will fill requests as they come in.)

Speaking of Race: How to Have Antiracist Conversations That Bring Us Together By Patricia Roberts-Miller Cover Image
$7.95
ISBN: 9781615197323
Availability: Backordered (email to check availability)
Published: The Experiment - January 12th, 2021

“Readers of all levels and backgrounds will appreciate the clarity with which Roberts-Miller approaches a topic so often driven by powerful emotion.”—Choice


March: Book One By John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, Nate Powell (Illustrator) Cover Image
By John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, Nate Powell (Illustrator)
$14.95
ISBN: 9781603093002
Availability: On Our Shelves Now (call to confirm availability)
Published: Top Shelf Productions - August 13th, 2013

#1 New York Times Bestseller


How to Be an Antiracist By Ibram X. Kendi Cover Image
$27.00
ISBN: 9780525509288
Availability: Usually Available in 2-10 Business Days
Published: One World - August 13th, 2019

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the National Book Award–winning author of Stamped from the Beginning comes a “groundbreaking” (Time) approach to understanding and uprooting racism and inequality in our society—and in ourselves.


Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You: A Remix of the National Book Award-winning Stamped from the Beginning By Jason Reynolds, Ibram X. Kendi Cover Image
$18.99
ISBN: 9780316453691
Availability: On Our Shelves Now (call to confirm availability)
Published: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers - March 10th, 2020

This crucial, empowering, #1 New York Times bestselling exploration of racism—and antiracism—in America makes critical ideas accessible for teen readers, adapted from Ibram X. Kendi's National Book Award-winning Stamped from the Beginning.

This is NOT a history book.This is a book about the here and now.


Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America By Ibram X. Kendi Cover Image
$19.99
ISBN: 9781568585987
Availability: Usually Available in 2-10 Business Days
Published: Bold Type Books - August 15th, 2017

 The National Book Award winning history of how racist ideas were created, spread, and deeply rooted in American society.

Some Americans insist that we're living in a post-racial society. But racist thought is not just alive and well in America -- it is more sophisticated and more insidious than ever. And as award-winning historian Ibram X.


Between the World and Me By Ta-Nehisi Coates Cover Image
$26.00
ISBN: 9780812993547
Availability: On Our Shelves Now (call to confirm availability)
Published: One World - July 14th, 2015

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNER • NAMED ONE OF TIME’S TEN BEST NONFICTION BOOKS OF THE DECADE • PULITZER PRIZE FINALIST • NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD FINALIST • ONE OF OPRAH’S “BOOKS THAT HELP ME THROUGH” • NOW AN HBO ORIGINAL SPECIAL EVENT


White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism By Dr. Robin DiAngelo, Michael Eric Dyson (Foreword by) Cover Image
$16.00
ISBN: 9780807047415
Availability: On Our Shelves Now (call to confirm availability)
Published: Beacon Press - June 26th, 2018

The New York Times best-selling book exploring the counterproductive reactions white people have when their assumptions about race are challenged, and how these reactions maintain racial inequality.


So You Want to Talk About Race By Ijeoma Oluo Cover Image
$18.99
ISBN: 9781580058827
Availability: On Our Shelves Now (call to confirm availability)
Published: Seal Press - September 24th, 2019

In this #1 New York Times bestseller, Ijeoma Oluo offers a revelatory examination of race in America

Protests against racial injustice and white supremacy have galvanized millions around the world. The stakes for transformative conversations about race could not be higher.


Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption By Bryan Stevenson Cover Image
$18.00
ISBN: 9780812984965
Availability: On Our Shelves Now (call to confirm availability)
Published: One World - August 18th, 2015

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE STARRING MICHAEL B. JORDAN AND JAMIE FOXX • A powerful true story about the potential for mercy to redeem us, and a clarion call to fix our broken system of justice—from one of the most brilliant and influential lawyers of our time.


This Book Is Anti-Racist: 20 Lessons on How to Wake Up, Take Action, and Do The Work (Empower the Future #1) By Tiffany Jewell, Aurelia Durand (Illustrator) Cover Image
By Tiffany Jewell, Aurelia Durand (Illustrator)
$14.99
ISBN: 9780711245211
Availability: Usually Available in 2-10 Business Days
Published: Frances Lincoln Children's Books - January 7th, 2020

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

Recommended by Oprah's Book Club, ESSENCE, We Need Diverse Books, ellentube, Brit + Co, PureWow, Teen Vogue, Time, New York, USA TODAY, and TODAY.com

Also available: This Book Is Anti-Racist Journal, a guided journal with more than 50 activities to support your anti-racism journey


Raising White Kids: Bringing Up Children in a Racially Unjust America By Jennifer Harvey, Tim Wise (Foreword by) Cover Image
By Jennifer Harvey, Tim Wise (Foreword by)
$19.99
ISBN: 9781501878077
Availability: Usually Available in 2-10 Business Days
Published: Abingdon Press - February 5th, 2019

This New York Times best-selling book is a guide for families, educators, and communities to raise their children to be able and active anti-racist allies.


Me and White Supremacy: Combat Racism, Change the World, and Become a Good Ancestor By Layla Saad, Robin DiAngelo (Foreword by) Cover Image
By Layla Saad, Robin DiAngelo (Foreword by)
$25.99
ISBN: 9781728209807
Availability: On Our Shelves Now (call to confirm availability)
Published: Sourcebooks - January 28th, 2020

The New York Times and USA Today bestseller! This eye-opening book challenges you to do the essential work of unpacking your biases, and helps white people take action and dismantle the privilege within themselves so that you can stop (often unconsciously) inflicting damage on people of color, and in turn, help other white people do better, too.


Our Time Is Now: Power, Purpose, and the Fight for a Fair America By Stacey Abrams Cover Image
$27.99
ISBN: 9781250257703
Availability: Special Order (email to check availability)
Published: Henry Holt and Co. - June 9th, 2020

From New York Times bestselling author of Lead From The Outside and political leader Stacey Abrams, a blueprint to end voter suppression, empower our citizens, and take back our country.


The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness By Michelle Alexander Cover Image
$18.99
ISBN: 9781620971932
Availability: On Our Shelves Now (call to confirm availability)
Published: New Press - January 7th, 2020

Named one of the most important nonfiction books of the 21st century by Entertainment Weekly' Slate' Chronicle of Higher Education' Literary Hub, Book Riot' and Zora


Something Happened in Our Town: A Child's Story about Racial Injustice By Marianne Celano, Marietta Collins, Ann Hazzard Cover Image
$16.99
ISBN: 9781433828546
Availability: Usually Available in 2-10 Business Days
Published: Magination Press - March 1st, 2018

A Minneapolis Children's Theatre Company Original World Premiere Production
A NEW YORK TIMES and #1 INDIEBOUND BEST SELLER
American Library Association's Office of Intellectual Freedom's Top 10 Most Challenged Books
A Little Free Library Action Book Club Selection
National Parenting Product Award Winner (NAPPA)


White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide By Carol Anderson Cover Image
$17.99
ISBN: 9781632864130
Availability: Usually Available in 2-10 Business Days
Published: Bloomsbury USA - September 5th, 2017

National Book Critics Circle Award Winner
New York Times Bestseller
A New York Times Notable Book of the Year
A Washington Post Notable Nonfiction Book of the Year
A Boston Globe Best Book of 2016
A Chicago Review of Books Best Nonfiction Book of 2016


Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race By Reni Eddo-Lodge Cover Image
$18.00
ISBN: 9781635572957
Availability: Usually Available in 2-10 Business Days
Published: Bloomsbury Publishing - March 5th, 2019

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

"This is a book that was begging to be written. This is the kind of book that demands a future where we’ll no longer need such a book. Essential." --Marlon James

“The most important book for me this year.” --Emma Watson

Selected by Emma Watson as the Our Shared Shelf Book Club Pick for January/February 2018


Open Season: Legalized Genocide of Colored People By Ben Crump Cover Image
$26.99
ISBN: 9780062375094
Availability: Backordered (email to check availability)
Published: Amistad - October 15th, 2019

Genocide—the intent to destroy in whole or in part, a group of people.

TIME's 42 Most Anticipated Books of Fall 2019

Book Riot's 50 of the Best Books to Read This Fall


Citizen: An American Lyric By Claudia Rankine Cover Image
$20.00
ISBN: 9781555976903
Availability: On Our Shelves Now (call to confirm availability)
Published: Graywolf Press - October 7th, 2014

* Finalist for the National Book Award in Poetry *
* Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award in Poetry * Finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award in Criticism * Winner of the NAACP Image Award * Winner of the L.A. Times Book Prize * Winner of the PEN Open Book Award *

ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR:


A More Perfect Reunion: Race, Integration, and the Future of America By Calvin Baker Cover Image
$28.00
ISBN: 9781568589237
Availability: Special Order (email to check availability)
Published: Bold Type Books - June 30th, 2020

A provocative case for integration as the single most radical, discomfiting idea in America, yet the only enduring solution to the racism that threatens our democracy.


The Fire This Time: A New Generation Speaks about Race By Jesmyn Ward Cover Image
$17.00
ISBN: 9781501126352
Availability: Usually Available in 2-10 Business Days
Published: Scribner - June 20th, 2017

The New York Times bestseller, these groundbreaking essays and poems about race—collected by National Book Award winner Jesmyn Ward and written by the most important voices of her generation—are “thoughtful, searing, and at times, hopeful.


Tears We Cannot Stop: A Sermon to White America By Michael Eric Dyson Cover Image
$24.99
ISBN: 9781250135995
Availability: Special Order (email to check availability)
Published: St. Martin's Press - January 17th, 2017

NOW A NEW YORK TIMES, PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY, INDIEBOUND, LOS ANGELES TIMES, WASHINGTON POST, CHRONICLE HERALD, SALISBURY POST, GUELPH MERCURY TRIBUNE, AND BOSTON GLOBE BESTSELLER | NAMED A BEST/MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK OF 2017 BY: The Washington PostBustleMen's JournalThe Chicago Re


We Keep Us Safe: Building Secure, Just, and Inclusive Communities By Zach Norris, Van Jones (Foreword by) Cover Image
By Zach Norris, Van Jones (Foreword by)
$24.95
ISBN: 9780807029701
Availability: Usually Available in 2-10 Business Days
Published: Beacon Press - February 4th, 2020

A groundbreaking new vision for public safety that overturns more than 200 years of fear-based discrimination, othering, and punishment


The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America By Richard Rothstein Cover Image
$17.95
ISBN: 9781631494536
Availability: On Our Shelves Now (call to confirm availability)
Published: Liveright - May 1st, 2018

New York Times Bestseller • Notable Book of the Year • Editors' Choice Selection
One of Bill Gates’ “Amazing Books” of the Year
One of Publishers Weekly’s 10 Best Books of the Year
Longlisted for the National Book Award for Nonfiction
An NPR Best Book of the Year
Winner of the Hillman Prize for Nonfiction


Good Talk: A Memoir in Conversations By Mira Jacob Cover Image
$22.00
ISBN: 9780399589065
Availability: Usually Available in 2-10 Business Days
Published: One World - March 24th, 2020

NATIONAL BESTSELLER A “beautiful and eye-opening” (Jacqueline Woodson), “hilarious and heart-rending” (Celeste Ng) graphic memoir about American identity, interracial families,  and the realities that divide us, from the acclaimed author of The Sleepwalker’s Guide to Dancing.


Black Is the Body: Stories from My Grandmother's Time, My Mother's Time, and Mine By Emily Bernard Cover Image
$18.00
ISBN: 9781101972410
Availability: Special Order (email to check availability)
Published: Vintage - December 3rd, 2019

“Blackness is an art, not a science. It is a paradox: intangible and visceral; a situation and a story. It is the thread that connects these essays, but its significance as an experience emerges randomly, unpredictably. . . . Race is the story of my life, and therefore black is the body of this book.” 


This Is My America By Kim Johnson Cover Image
$17.99
ISBN: 9780593118764
Availability: Usually Available in 2-10 Business Days
Published: Random House Books for Young Readers - July 28th, 2020

"Incredible and searing." --Nic Stone, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Dear Martin

The Hate U Give meets Just Mercy in this unflinching yet uplifting first novel that explores the racist injustices in the American justice system.


The Loud Minority: Why Protests Matter in American Democracy (Princeton Studies in Political Behavior #9) By Daniel Q. Gillion Cover Image
$29.95
ISBN: 9780691181776
Availability: Usually Available in 2-10 Business Days
Published: Princeton University Press - March 10th, 2020

How political protests and activism influence voters and candidates


Not My Idea: A Book about Whiteness (Ordinary Terrible Things) By Anastasia Higginbotham Cover Image
$18.95
ISBN: 9781948340007
Availability: Usually Available in 2-10 Business Days
Published: Dottir Press - September 4th, 2018

An honest explanation about how power and privilege factor into the lives of white children, at the expense of other groups, and how they can help seek justice. --THE NEW YORK TIMES

ONE OF HUFFPOST'S RECOMMENDED ANTI-RACIST BOOKS FOR KIDS AND TEENS

**A WHITE RAVEN 2019 SELECTION**


The Black and the Blue: A Cop Reveals the Crimes, Racism, and Injustice in America's Law Enforcement By Matthew Horace Cover Image
$16.99
ISBN: 9780316440097
Availability: Usually Available in 2-10 Business Days
Published: Legacy Lit - August 6th, 2019

During his 28-year career, Matthew Horace rose through the ranks from a police officer working the beat to a federal agent working criminal cases in some of the toughest communities in America to a highly decorated federal law enforcement executive managing high-profile investigations nationwide.


Skin Deep: Dispelling the Science of Race By Gavin Evans Cover Image
$27.95
ISBN: 9781786076229
Availability: Special Order (email to check availability)
Published: Oneworld Publications - August 13th, 2019

The dark heart of race science… and why it’s nonsense.

Racial differences are rooted in biological reality, right? That’s certainly what a small group of anthropologists, psychologists and pundits would have you believe.


Highway of Tears: A True Story of Racism, Indifference, and the Pursuit of Justice for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls By Jessica McDiarmid Cover Image
$28.99
ISBN: 9781501160288
Availability: Usually Available in 2-10 Business Days
Published: Atria Books - November 12th, 2019

“These murder cases expose systemic problems...


How to Be Less Stupid About Race: On Racism, White Supremacy, and the Racial Divide By Crystal M. Fleming Cover Image
$14.95
ISBN: 9780807039847
Availability: Usually Available in 2-10 Business Days
Published: Beacon Press - August 20th, 2019

A unique and irreverent take on everything that's wrong with our “national conversation about race”—and what to do about it


Self-Portrait in Black and White: Unlearning Race By Thomas Chatterton Williams Cover Image
$25.95
ISBN: 9780393608861
Availability: Special Order (email to check availability)
Published: W. W. Norton & Company - October 15th, 2019

A meditation on race and identity from one of our most provocative cultural critics.


Race Relations: The Struggle for Equality in America (Inquire & Investigate) By Barbara Diggs, Richard Chapman (Illustrator), Vincent Southerland (Foreword by) Cover Image
By Barbara Diggs, Richard Chapman (Illustrator), Vincent Southerland (Foreword by)
$17.95
ISBN: 9781619305557
Availability: Special Order (email to check availability)
Published: Nomad Press (VT) - April 16th, 2019

How could a country founded on the honorable ideals of freedom and equality have so willingly embraced the evils of enslavement and oppression?


Waking Up White, and Finding Myself in the Story of Race By Debby Irving Cover Image
$19.99
ISBN: 9780991331307
Availability: Usually Available in 2-10 Business Days
Published: Elephant Room Press - January 9th, 2014

For twenty-five years, Debby Irving sensed inexplicable racial tensions in her personal and professional relationships. As a colleague and neighbor, she worried about offending people she dearly wanted to befriend. As an arts administrator, she didn't understand why her diversity efforts lacked traction.


Each Kindness By Jacqueline Woodson, E. B. Lewis (Illustrator) Cover Image
By Jacqueline Woodson, E. B. Lewis (Illustrator)
$18.99
ISBN: 9780399246524
Availability: Usually Available in 2-10 Business Days
Published: Nancy Paulsen Books - October 2nd, 2012

WINNER OF A CORETTA SCOTT KING HONOR AND THE JANE ADDAMS PEACE AWARD!

Each kindness makes the world a little better


The ABCs of Diversity: Helping Kids (and Ourselves!) Embrace Our Differences By Carolyn Helsel, Y. Joy Harris-Smith Cover Image
$19.99
ISBN: 9780827200937
Availability: Special Order (email to check availability)
Published: Chalice Press - June 19th, 2020

Learn the language of diversity and raise kids who respect differences and honor similarities. The ABCs of Diversity equips parents, teachers, and community leaders to have intergenerational and intercultural conversations about the differences between us.


Resist: 35 Profiles of Ordinary People Who Rose Up Against Tyranny and Injustice By Veronica Chambers, Paul Ryding (Illustrator), Cory Booker (Foreword by) Cover Image
By Veronica Chambers, Paul Ryding (Illustrator), Cory Booker (Foreword by)
$16.99
ISBN: 9780062796257
Availability: Usually Available in 2-10 Business Days
Published: HarperCollins - September 25th, 2018

A perfect tool for young readers as they grow into the leaders of tomorrow, Veronica Chambers’s inspiring collection of profiles—along with Senator Cory Booker’s stirring foreword—will inspire readers of all ages to stand up for what’s right.

You may only be one person, but you have the power to change the world.


Who Do You Serve, Who Do You Protect?: Police Violence and Resistance in the United States By Alicia Garza (Foreword by), Maya Schenwar (Editor), Joe Macaré (Editor) Cover Image
By Alicia Garza (Foreword by), Maya Schenwar (Editor), Joe Macaré (Editor)
$18.00
ISBN: 9781608466122
Availability: Usually Available in 2-10 Business Days
Published: Haymarket Books - June 21st, 2016

Explores the reality of US police violence against Black, Brown and Indigenous communities.


Missing Daddy By Mariame Kaba, Bria Royal (Illustrator) Cover Image
By Mariame Kaba, Bria Royal (Illustrator)
$16.95
ISBN: 9781642590364
Availability: Usually Available in 2-10 Business Days
Published: Haymarket Books - September 17th, 2019

"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.


From #Blacklivesmatter to Black Liberation By Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor Cover Image
Email or call for price
ISBN: 9781608465620
Availability: Out of Print (email to check availability of used copies)
Published: Haymarket Books - February 23rd, 2016

An indispensable contribution to the movement for racial justice in "postracial" America.


A World of Kindness By Ann Featherstone (Editor), Suzanne del Rizzo (Illustrator), Brian Deines (Illustrator) Cover Image
By Ann Featherstone (Editor), Suzanne del Rizzo (Illustrator), Brian Deines (Illustrator)
$12.95
ISBN: 9781772781090
Availability: On Our Shelves Now (call to confirm availability)
Published: Pajama Press - February 11th, 2020

Nine celebrated children's picture book illustrators, including Rebecca Bender, Wallace Edwards, and Suzanne Del Rizzo, unite to illustrate an empowering text that celebrates the ways young children can show kindness.

Are you kind?


I'm Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness By Austin Channing Brown Cover Image
$25.00
ISBN: 9781524760854
Availability: Usually Available in 2-10 Business Days
Published: Convergent Books - May 15th, 2018

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • REESE’S BOOK CLUB PICK • From a leading voice on racial justice, an eye-opening account of growing up Black, Christian, and female that exposes how white America’s love affair with “diversity” so often falls short of its ideals.


When They Call You a Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir By Patrisse Cullors, asha bandele Cover Image
$16.99
ISBN: 9781250306906
Availability: Usually Available in 2-10 Business Days
Published: St. Martin's Griffin - January 14th, 2020

THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER.
New York Times Editor’s Pick.

Library Journal Best Books of 2019.
TIME Magazine's "Best Memoirs of 2018 So Far."
O, Oprah’s Magazine’s “10 Titles to Pick Up Now.”
Politics & Current Events 2018 O.W.L. Book Awards Winner
The Root Best of 2018


Vermont Women, Native Americans & African Americans: Out of the Shadows of History (American Heritage) By Cynthia D. Bittinger Cover Image
$19.99
ISBN: 9781609492625
Availability: On Our Shelves Now (call to confirm availability)
Published: History Press - May 15th, 2012

In the earliest days of America's founding, Vermont stands out: a consitution that banned slavery outright and allowed those without land the right to vote, created a fertile ground for those cast aside in neighboring states--women, native american and african american people--to thrive and to to lead.


March: Book Two By John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, Nate Powell (Illustrator) Cover Image
By John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, Nate Powell (Illustrator)
$19.95
ISBN: 9781603094009
Availability: Usually Available in 2-10 Business Days
Published: Top Shelf Productions - January 20th, 2015

Congressman John Lewis, an American icon and one of the key figures of the civil rights movement, continues his award-winning graphic novel trilogy with co-writer Andrew Aydin and artist Nate Powell, inspired by a 1950s comic book that helped prepare his own generation to join the struggle.


March: Book Three By John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, Nate Powell (Illustrator) Cover Image
By John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, Nate Powell (Illustrator)
$19.99
ISBN: 9781603094023
Availability: Usually Available in 2-10 Business Days
Published: Top Shelf Productions - August 2nd, 2016

Welcome to the stunning conclusion of the award-winning and best-selling MARCH trilogy. Congressman John Lewis, an American icon and one of the key figures of the civil rights movement, joins co-writer Andrew Aydin and artist Nate Powell to bring the lessons of history to vivid life for a new generation, urgently relevant for today's world.


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