Glen Mar’s Social Justice Library is located in the Lower Gathering Place near the Youth Wing. It includes an assortment of books for all ages providing insight into various social issues, both fiction and non-fiction.
Stop by and choose a book that interests you and borrow it for as long as you need. Please fill out the card for the book you choose and leave it in the box so we know who has the book. Return books to the bottom shelf.
Here’s a listing of books in the collection. Each book has been read and recommended, and new books are added regularly. If you’re interested in donating a book, please contact the Social Justice Group.
Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates
In a profound work that pivots from the biggest questions about American history and ideals to the most intimate concerns of a father for his son, Ta-Nehisi Coates offers a powerful new framework for understanding our nation’s history and current crisis.
The Black Butterfly: The Harmful Politics of Race and Space in America by Lawrence T. Brown
In The Black Butterfly—a reference to the fact that Baltimore’s majority-Black population spreads out on both sides of the coveted strip of real estate running down the center of the city like a butterfly’s wings—Lawrence T. Brown reveals that ongoing historical trauma caused by a combination of policies, practices, systems, and budgets is at the root of uprisings and crises in hypersegregated cities around the country.
Caste: The Origins of our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson
The Pulitzer Prize–winning, bestselling author examines the unspoken caste system that has shaped America and shows how our lives today are still defined by a hierarchy of human divisions.
Christianity and World Religions by Adam Hamilton
Pastor and best-selling author Adam Hamilton explores four major world religions– Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, and Judaism–and compares the beliefs of each with those of Christianity. He deals openly and honestly with questions people ask about other religions
The Color of Compromise: The Truth About the American Church’s Complicity in Racism by Jemar Tisby
Churches remain racially segregated and are largely ineffective in addressing complex racial challenges. Jemar Tisby takes us back to the root of this injustice in the American church, highlighting the cultural and institutional tables we have to flip in order to bring about progress between black and white people.
The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America by Richard Rothstein
Richard Rothstein, a leading authority on housing policy, explores the myth that America’s cities came to be racially divided through de facto segregation—that is, through individual prejudices, income differences, or the actions of private institutions like banks and real estate agencies. Rather, The Color of Law incontrovertibly makes clear that it was de jure segregation—the laws andpolicy decisions passed by local, state, and federal governments—that actually promoted the discriminatory patterns that continue to this day.
A Council of Dolls by Mona Susan Power
From the mid-century metropolis of Chicago to the windswept ancestral lands of the Dakota people to the bleak and brutal Indian boarding schools, A Council of Dolls is the fictional story of three women, told in part through the stories of the dolls they carried.
Fear of the Other: No Fear in Love by William Willimon
In this no-nonsense book, spiritual guide Will Willimon invites readers to consider the gospel command to love (and not merely tolerate) those considered to be “Other” or outside mainstream Christian culture.
Gideon’s Trumpet by Anthony Lewis
The story of an extraordinary case, from the night of June 3, 1961, when the Bay Harbor Poolroom was robbed, to the moment that Clarence Earl Gideon walked out of the Panama City, Florida, Courthouse a free man, on August 5, 1963.
Governing Through Crime: How the War on Crime Transformed American Democracy and Created a Culture of Fear by Jonathon Simon
Across America today gated communities sprawl out from urban centers, employers enforce mandatory drug testing, and schools screen students with metal detectors. How and when did our everyday world become dominated by fear, every citizen treated as a potential criminal? Jonathan Simon traces this pattern back to the collapse of the New Deal approach to governing during the 1960s when declining confidence in expert-guided government policies sent political leaders searching for new models of governance.
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
Young Adult Fiction. A story in which sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer.
How To Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi
Ibram X. Kendi’s concept of antiracism reenergizes and reshapes the conversation about racial justice in America–but even more fundamentally, points us toward liberating new ways of thinking about ourselves and each other. In How to be an Antiracist, Kendi asks us to think about what an antiracist society might look like, and how we can play an active role in building it.
How to Fight Racism: Courageous Christianity and the Journey Toward Racial Justice by Jemar Tisby
In this follow-up to the New York Times Bestseller the Color of Compromise, Jemar Tisby offers an array of actionable items to confront racism. How to Fight Racism introduces a simple framework—the A.R.C. Of Racial Justice—that teaches readers to consistently interrogate their own actions and maintain a consistent posture of anti-racist behavior.
Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson
Bryan Stevenson was a young lawyer when he founded the Equal Justice Initiative, a legal practice dedicated to defending those most desperate and in need: the poor, the wrongly condemned, and women and children trapped in the farthest reaches of our criminal justice system. Just Mercy is at once an unforgettable account of an idealistic, gifted young lawyer’s coming of age, a moving window into the lives of those he has defended, and an inspiring argument for compassion in the pursuit of true justice.
Long Time Coming: Reckoning with Race in America by Michael Eric Dyson
Long Time Coming grapples with the cultural and social forces that have shaped our nation in the brutal crucible of race. In five chapters—each addressed to a black martyr from Breonna Taylor to Rev. Clementa Pinckney—Dyson traces the genealogy of anti-Blackness from the slave ship to the street corner where George Floyd lost his life—and where America gained its will to confront the ugly truth of systemic racism.
March (Trilogy Slipcase Set) by John Lewis
A vivid first-hand account of John Lewis’ lifelong struggle for civil and human rights, meditating in the modern age on the distance traveled since the days of Jim Crow and segregation. Rooted in Lewis’ personal story, it also reflects on the highs and lows of the broader civil rights movement.
The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander
Former litigator-turned-legal-scholar Michelle Alexander argues that we have not ended racial caste in America: we have simply redesigned it. Alexander shows that, by targeting Black men and decimating communities of color, the U.S. criminal justice system functions as a contemporary system of racial control, even as it formally adheres to the principle of color blindness. The New Jim Crow challenges the civil rights community–and all of us–to place mass incarceration at the forefront of a new movement for racial justice in America.
Punishment and Inequality in America by Bruce Western
Over the last thirty years, the prison population in the United States has increased more than sevenfold to over 2 million people, including vastly disproportionate numbers of minorities and people with little education. Punishment and Inequality in America profiles how the growth in incarceration came about and the toll it is taking on the social and economic fabric of many American communities
The Reason I Jump: The Inner Voice of a Thirteen-Year-Old Boy with Autism by Naoki Higashida
Written by Naoki Higashida, a very smart, very self-aware, and very charming thirteen-year-old boy with autism, this book is a one-of-a-kind memoir that demonstrates how an autistic mind thinks, feels, perceives, and responds in ways few of us can imagine. Parents and family members who never thought they could get inside the head of their autistic loved one, at last, have a way to break through to the curious, subtle, and complex life within.
Rosa Parks: My Story by Rosa Parks
Rosa Parks is best known for the day she refused to give up her seat on a segregated bus, sparking the Montgomery, Alabama, bus boycott. Yet there is much more to her story than this one act of defiance. In this straightforward, compelling autobiography, Rosa Parks talks candidly about the civil rights movement and her active role in it.
Solito by Javier Zamora
A young poet tells the inspiring story of his migration from El Salvador to the United States at the age of nine in this memoir of bravery, hope, and finding family.
So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo
In this breakout book, Ijeoma Oluo explores the complex reality of today’s racial landscape–from white privilege and police brutality to systemic discrimination and the Black Lives Matter movement–offering straightforward clarity that readers need to contribute to the dismantling of the racial divide.
Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi
Kendi chronicles the entire story of anti-Black racist ideas and their power over the course of American history. Stamped from the Beginning uses the lives of five major American intellectuals to offer a window into the contentious debates between assimilationists and segregationists and between racists and anti-racists.
Strength in What Remains: A Journey of Remembrance and Forgiveness by Tracy Kidder
An inspiring account of one man’s American journey and of the ordinary people who helped him – a testament to the power of will and of second chances.
They Called Us Enemy (3 Book Series) by George Takei, Justin Elsinger, and Steven Scott
A graphic memoir recounting actor/author/activist George Takei’s childhood imprisoned within American concentration camps during World War II. Experience the forces that shaped an American icon–and America itself.
This is How it Always Is by Laurie Frankel
A novel about a family accepting, but hiding, the secret that the youngest son wants to be a girl. It’s a story of revelations, transformations, fairy tales, and family.
The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson
Pulitzer Prize–winning author Isabel Wilkerson presents a definitive and dramatic account of one of the great untold stories of American history: the Great Migration of six million Black citizens who fled the South for the North and West in search of a better life, from World War I to 1970.
White Awake: An Honest Look at What it Means To Be White by Daniel Hill
Hill writes about his journey of understanding his own white identity. Today he is an active participant in addressing and confronting racial and systemic injustices. And in this compelling and timely book, he shows the seven stages to expect on your own path to cultural awakening. It’s crucial to understand both personal and social realities in the areas of race, culture, and identity. This book will give you a new perspective on being white and also empower you to be an agent of reconciliation in our increasingly diverse and divided world.
White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism by Robin DiAngelo
Referring to the defensive moves that white people make when challenged racially, white fragility is characterized by emotions such as anger, fear, and guilt and by behaviors including argumentation and silence. These behaviors, in turn, function to reinstate white racial equilibrium and prevent any meaningful cross-racial dialogue. In this in-depth exploration, anti-racist educator Robin DiAngelo examines how white fragility develops, how it protects racial inequality, and what can be done to engage more constructively.
Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria by Beverly Daniel Tatum
Walk into any racially mixed high school and you will see Black, White, and Latino youth clustered in their own groups. Is this self-segregation a problem to address or a coping strategy? Beverly Daniel Tatum, a renowned authority on the psychology of racism, argues that straight talk about our racial identities is essential if we are serious about enabling communication across racial and ethnic divides.
Children’s Books:
Baby’s First Book of Banned Books: Special Lessons for Rebellious Young Readers by Mudpuppy (author) and Laura Korzon (illustrator)
A board book that introduces beloved classics and cherished stories like The Diary Of Anne Frank and To Kill A Mockingbird to little learners.
