A Wedding in Haiti

Written by: Julia Alvarez

First line: My husband and I have an ongoing debate about how old Piti was when we first met him. 

Why you should read this book: The novelist recalls two meaningful trips she and her husband Bill took to Haiti with Piti, a charming and capable young man they befriended years earlier, along with a delightful assortment of other characters. In the first half of the book, they travel to Haiti to attend Piti's wedding, a comically difficult trip in both directions; after falling in love with the people they met on the previous journey, they feel the need to visit again in the wake of the 2010 earthquake that devastated Port-au-Prince. Haiti is a foreign land to Alvarez, despite the fact that she is from the Dominican Republic next door, and she is equally enchanted and inconvenienced at every turn, capturing the land and its people, their trials, tragedies, and triumphs with a clear eye.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You're shocked--Shocked!--to learn that some people take bribes. 

From Dictatorship to Democracy: A Conceptual Framework for Liberation

Written by: Gene Sharp

First line: One of my major concerns for many years has been how people could prevent and destroy dictatorships.

Why you should read this book: Based on a study of numerous countries that made a shift from dictatorship to democracy, Sharp outlines the process of employing proven tactics of nonviolent struggle to overthrow fascist regimes. His findings can be summarized in two words—solidarity and persistence—and the very short book does an excellent job of explaining how to employ these tactics, and why they work. The appendix comprises a list of 198 nonviolent actions that can be employed by the resistance to chip away at a regime's power, generate sympathy for the cause, and cause oppressive governments to crumble and cede power to the people.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You support a fascist dictator.

Warriors 4: Rising Storm

Written by: Erin Hunter

First line: An agonized groan echoed across the moon-bleached floor of the forest clearing.

Why you should read this book: Summer has arrived in the forest, and ample prey with it, but all in not well in Thunder Clan. While Fireheart struggles to serve as a competent deputy, his leader Bluestar, is increasingly withdrawing from clan life and tradition, and his apprentice, Whitepaw, is increasingly refusing to follow orders or honor the Warrior's Code. When Whitepaw is kidnapped by twolegs, Fireheart finds his mind and body stretched increasingly thin as he tries to fulfill all his duties and Bluestar's as well, while holding the clan together and proving his loyalty with every step, and meanwhile, his old nemesis. Tigerclaw, is still on the loose.

Why you shouldn't read this book: The body count is kind of high in this one.

Not My Idea: A Book about Whiteness

Written by: Anastasia Higginbottom

First line: When grown-ups try to hide scary things from kids...it's usually because they're scared too.

Why you should read this book: This book, written specifically for white children, begins to unpack the casual assumptions that lead to white people dismissing systemic racism, embracing "color blindness" as an alternative to confronting racism, and looking away from things that make them uncomfortable as acceptable responses to a problem they don't believe belongs to them. Racism, the little girl in this book comes to understand, is very much a white person's problem, and that ignoring it makes one complicit in inequality and human suffering. Understanding racism may feel uncomfortable, but, it is only the first step: opposing racism requires a series of conscious decisions to look at things that you might not want to see, be honest about truths that might be unpleasant, and to take action in the name of justice whenever and wherever the situation arises.

Why you shouldn't read this book: If you think you definitely shouldn't read this book, you definitely should.