Something I’ve been wanting to do more of is round-up links of interest for older posts we’ve written here at Stacked, as well as older posts you might be interested that Kimberly and I have written elsewhere. Being that we’re on year eight at STACKED, there are so many things we’ve touched upon and dug into, and much of it is perennially interesting.

In the spirit of a US administration bent on the idea of “alternative facts,” denial of climate change, the closing of the investigation into the Flint Water Crisis, and bills meant to restrict access to affordable health care, reproductive choice, and more, it’s hard to want to keep on fighting. It feels like every day is a set of new laws, new proposals, and new stories.

The one place that has been a light — teenagers.

 

 

We’re all aware that Teen Vogue is one of the best journalism sources out there right now, and that’s because they know their audience is smart, savvy, social justice minded teenagers. Teens have been at the forefront of leading marches and protests, and it’s teens who we keep seeing show up again and again to do the work.

I keep trying to find a way to build a booklist that adequately captures what it is teens are thinking and doing, and I realized that we’ve covered so many of these topics here on STACKED That it made a lot more sense to do a big round-up. So here, find yourself big book lists of YA reads covering topics of reproductive rights, social justice, climate change, doing what’s right, truth telling, journalism, and more.

Because the kids? They’re all right. Even in fiction.

And it might be that fiction is where we find the answers that allow us to fight on another day.

Please note: when we changed blog hosting services last summer, some of our older posts got a little weird in their formatting. We’re working on updating those where possible. They’re entirely readable and usable; just sometimes, the images look funny or uneven. Also note that this isn’t comprehensive.

 

 

On Science and Climate Change 

 

• Genre guide and book list to YA climate fiction (Cli-Fi).

 

• Monthly giving ideas and a book list for young eco lovers and conservationists.

 

• Book reviews of recent non-fiction for middle grade and young adult readers with a focus on the environment, climate change, and science history.

 

• Genre guide and book list to YA dystopia fiction (from 2013, when it was really big).

 

 

On Women’s Rights and Feminism

 

• Monthly giving ideas and a book list to YA featuring characters choosing abortion.

 

• Abortion in YA lit from Book Riot.

 

• Abortion, Choice, and Agency: A guest post and reading list for our “About The Girls” series from Tess Sharpe.

 

• In a guest post, Brandy Colbert talks about the importance of intersectional female friendships in YA lit.

 

• The challenges of being female with an opinion. You don’t have to be “nice.”

 

• Excellent nonfiction about girls and women for tween and teen readers.

 

 

On Journalism, Censorship, and Integrity

 

• Book list and discussion: Young journalists in YA fiction.

 

• Book list and discussion: Censorship, challenges, and protest in YA fiction.

 

• A guide to talking about tough books with teens. While this focuses on books relating to sexuality, violence, drugs, and more, the same principles are applicable to talking about the current media and political climate (and women’s/queer rights). This might be a post we revisit, with a focus specifically on those arenas.

 

• Defining “censorship” and differentiating it from criticism.

 

 

On Inclusivity/Race & Diversity 

 

• A round-up of kid lit featuring black girls, from the money raised to help Marley Dias create a library of #1000BlackGirlBooks.

 

• Making a commitment to diversity when you’re white.

 

• Book list and discussion: Refugees in YA lit. At Book Riot, 3 non-fiction titles that explore the refugee experience.

 

 

 

On Inclusivity/Queer & LGBTQ Rights and Issues

 

• Monthly giving ideas and a book list of middle grade and YA lit featuring trans and non-gender conforming teens.

 

• The minds behind The Gay YA website talk about their inspirations and why having a space to talk about queer issues in life and in books for teens matters.

 

• LGBTQIA+ books for middle grade readers: Discussion and book list.

 

• YA queer stories that aren’t tragic.

 

• LGBTQIA+ library and school book displays from around the world in honor of Pride month.

 

• On micraggressions and queer phobia in the public library.

 

 

Disability

 

• Solid disability stories in YA lit, along with a note of how important Disability in Kid Lit is.

 

 

Socioeconomic Class 

 

• Librarian Faythe Arrendondo wonders where are the poor kids in YA lit?

 

• How “free e-books” don’t help poor kids.