The Hate U Give

Written by: Angie Thomas

First line: I shouldn't have come to this party.

Why you should read this book: This is the YA novel of 2017, a heart-wrenching, complex, and real story of a black teenage girl trying to navigate a world that can't even pretend to offer fairness or equality. After witnessing the death of her best friend in a drive by shooting, Starr is sent to a fancy suburban prep school, but not even her belief that she's now the Fresh Princess of Bel-Aire can protect her when she witnesses another friend murdered by the police. Starr wants justice for Khalil, but speaking out is scary, and now it feels like the cops, a gang lord, and even her white friends will turn against her no matter how hard she tries to do the right thing.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You've recently seen a child murdered by a police officer during a routine traffic stop.

Peace Is an Offering

Written by: Annette Le Box and Stephanie Graegin

First line: Peace is an offering.

Why you should read this book: A gentle introduction to the concepts of peace, love, friendship, and understanding, including a meaningful segment on how we can lean on these ideals in times of fear and trouble. Perfect for reading aloud to young children and teaching kindness, with simple, happy illustrations. A feel good book.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You're a terrible human being who enjoys starting fights and ruining everything for everyone else. Trigger warning for subtle 9/11 reference that hits you right in the feels.

East Dragon, West Dragon

Written by: Robyn Eversole
 
First line: East Dragon lived in a palace.

Why you should read this book: I loved this fresh take on the differences between eastern and western dragons, which demonstrates why we should learn about others ourselves instead of making assumptions about their differences. West Dragon thinks East Dragon is a snob, while East Dragon thinks West Dragon is a slob, and both dragons are terrified that they might not be the fiercest dragon. Eventually, of course, they must work together for a common cause and learn that two monsters can be different and still have plenty in common.

Why you shouldn’t read this book:  You’re trying to sow xenophobia into your child’s psyche.

Time for Outrage

Written by: Stéphane Hessel

First line: Ninety-three years old. The last leg of my journey. The end is in sight.

Why you should read this book: More of a small pamphlet, these are the thoughts of a veteran of the French Resistance who survived World War II and helped draft the U.N.’s Universal Declaration on Human Rights. With the perspective of years, he explains why the gap between rich and poor is unconscionable, how indifference is the most dangerous attitude, and why peaceful insurrection is required to fulfill the promise of human rights. Mass media, mass consumption, relentless competition, and an overall lack of respect, he argues, feed the injustices of our world, and must be resisted.

Why you shouldn’t read this book:  You refuse to compromise your support for aggression on either side of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. 

The Rebellious Alphabet

Written by: Jorge Diaz

First line: The Little General was the ruler of a very big village, even though he was very small.

Why you should read this book: A grown-up political story allegorized as a childrens’ picture book, it tells of an oppressive regime wherein reading, writing, and thinking is outlawed by an ignorant and childish tyrant. A freedom-loving intellectual discovers a way to create a natural printing press using clever canaries and an ink-soaked sponge, and is able to spread a message of liberty to his people, eventually eliminating the power of the oppressive regime. This is an intelligent story that be enjoyed by people of all ages who love freedom, liberty, and literacy, and bristly under the threat of censorship, tyranny, and lies.

Why you shouldn’t read this book: You oppose freedom of speech, freedom of thought, and freedom of expression.

Unplugging the Plug-in Drug

Author: Marie Winn

First line: "My problem with television began when Max was born and David was three years old," says Mary Taylor.

Why you should read this book: If you are concerned with the effect of video technology on your child's development, your home's atmosphere, or your own productivity, this book encourages you and everyone around you to turn the television off for a week. Complete with arguments for reduction of viewing time and plans to persuade those around you to participate in a "Turn-Off" during which an individual, family, class, school, or community all take the pledge not to watch and support each other with alternate activities and parties. Many appendices with resources, testimonials, handouts, and other materials help administrators turn these plans to reality.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You don't even own a TV.

An Open Heart: Practicing Compassion in Everyday Life

Author: The Dalai Lama

First line: I believe that every human being has an innate desire for happiness and does not want to suffer.

Why you should read this book: Comprising four days of teaching by his holiness in New York City in 1999, this book explains, to the Western reader, the basic tenets of Buddhism, along with increasingly complex instruction for setting oneself on the path to happiness and freedom from suffering. Beginning with the causes of suffering, he draws upon thousands of years of teaching to offer both secular and spiritual audiences a deeper understanding of meditation, clear thought, and compassion for all sentient beings. This book can be read on many levels, as a simple informational work about an ancient tradition, or a blueprint for ones own enlightenment, to be constructed within the framework of the modern world.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You enjoy your suffering.

What Does Peace Feel Like?

Author: Vladimir Radunsky

First line: How interesting! The word Peace is beautiful in all languages.

Why you should read this book: The authors asked a group of international schoolchildren to describe their ideas of peace in terms of their five senses, and they told him that peace smelled like pizza fresh from the oven, looked like a loving mother, sounded like singing, tasted like ice cream, and felt like a cat's fur, among other things. It's a thought-provoking book for young ones. The last page of the book provides a list of how to say "peace" in almost two hundred languages, and two percent of the profits from book sales go to CARE, an organization committed to effecting peace by creating sustainable solutions to poverty.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You're too busy praying for peace.

Karate Girl

Author: Mary Leary

First line: My brother, Eli, can be a pain sometimes, but I am patient with him.

Why you should read this book: Frustrated with her inability to help her little brother handle a group of bullies, a young girl listens to her best friend and begins attending karate class. Along with meditation, katas, blocks, punches, and kicks, she also learns self-confidence, and the lesson that karate is not to be used to show off or pick fights, but rather as a last resort, when fighting is unavoidable. With her new skills, she uses nonviolent confrontation to handle the bullies, and explains, "when you bow to the universe, the universe bows back."

Why you shouldn't read this book: You think violence solves everything.

Siddhartha

Author: Hermann Hesse

Quote: "Knowledge can be communicated, but not wisdom."

Why you should read this book: Siddhartha, son of a Brahmin, has every advantage in life, and yet he leaves his father's house to follow the path of the ascetic and learn of the Self. Soon, the young man begins to question the wisdom of following leaders, and continues the journey of his own existence, seeking his own knowledge and experience rather than passively believing what others tell him about the world. Throughout his life, he understands that he must follow his own path and that peace and acceptance are attained, not through mindless ritual or material gain, but through embrace of simplicity, through the ability to listen to the universe, to understand its circular nature, and to sense the individual's connection to the divine.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You're the kind of person who pickets the Dalai Lama with signs explaining why Buddhists go to hell.