Adison Godfrey, English teacher in Pennsylvania It also models for students how they can stand up and speak out against injustice. One of my students said she thinks this is a book everyone should read, and I agree. It takes up issues of racial injustice and identity, both of which resonate with many students - and it feels particularly timely in the wake of countless police shootings of unarmed black men and women. “The Hate U Give” is one of the most important books I’ve ever read. The overall top pick: Angie Thomas novels In their own words, educators select 12 books, including a popular nonfiction pick, that are great reads and help continue the discussion around racial injustice in school and in life.

There’s a waiting list for these titles.” “They all have characters who look like my students and face issues plaguing our society.

“Our most popular books are ‘Dear Martin,’ ‘I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter,’ ‘The Book of Unknown Americans,’ and ‘The Hate U Give,’” wrote in Cicely Lewis, a library media specialist in Georgia who created a list of books she calls #ReadWoke. The stories, many of them more contemporary than “Mockingbird,” tackle the multitude of ways racism affects different marginalized groups in the U.S. When the PBS NewsHour asked educators from different parts of the country to share their picks for some alternatives, they offered books that shift the perspective from a white girl’s point of view to people of color. And in a way that’s meant to shock and horrify, the small town’s inhabitants - those with a gavel or not - continually fail Robinson and are unable to prevent his grisly death at the end.

Lee’s story of the fictional town of Maycomb, Alabama, focuses on the trial of Tom Robinson, a black man who’s been falsely accused of raping a white woman. It’s even been called “America’s Favorite Novel,” as in this PBS poll last year.īut such ubiquity and reverence belies an obvious point: It’s not the only great American novel about racial injustice, nor is it the only one being assigned to students. The 1960 novel is a perennial reading assignment for many students - when it’s not being banned - and has been a fixture in American consciousness for decades, lauded for its examination of racial injustice. Seeing stacks of Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird” set aside for easy grabbing at the local bookstore is a sign that school is out for the summer.

To kill a mockingbird books