Books About Activism for Teens
From volunteering and voting to raising awareness and protesting, these reads will inspire and instruct you on how you can change the world for the better.
Nonfiction Books on Elections, Voting, and Civic Engagement
One Person, No Vote: How Not All Voters Are Treated Equally by Carol Anderson and Tonya Bolden
Lifting as We Climb: Black Women’s Battle for the Ballot Box by Evette Dionne
She Represents: 44 Women Who Are Changing Politics . . . and the World by Caitlin Donohue
Votes of Confidence: A Young Person’s Guide to American Elections, 3rd edition by Jeff Fleischer
Vote! Women's Fight for Access to the Ballot Box by Coral Celeste Frazer
Stolen Justice: The Struggle for African-American Voting Rights by Lawrence Goldstone
Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom: My Story of the 1965 Selma Voting Right March by Lynda Blackmon Lowery
You Call This Democracy?: How to Fix Our Government and Return Power to the People by Elizabeth Rusch
Presidential Elections and Other Cool Facts by Syd Sobel
How You Can Become an Activist
Putting Peace First: 7 Commitments to Change the World by Eric Dawson
Marly Dias Gets It Done: And So Can You! by Marly Dias
Yes You Can! Your Guide to Becoming an Activist by Jane Drake and Ann Love
We Are Power: How Nonviolent Activism Changes the World by Todd Hasak-Lowy
What Are My Rights?: Q&A About Teens and the Law by Tom Jacobs
This Book Is Anti-Racist: 20 Lessons on How to Wake Up, Take Action, and Do the Work by Tiffany Jewell
How I Resist: Activism and Hope for a New Generation by Maureen Johnson
Youth to Power: Your Voice and How to Use It by Jamie Margolin
You Are Mighty: A Guide to Changing the World by Caroline Paul
Girls Resist!: A Guide to Activism, Leadership, and Starting a Revolution by KaeLyn Rich
Be A Changemaker: How to Start Something That Matters by Laurie Ann Thompson
Nonfiction and Memoirs about Changemakers & Their Causes
Shout: A Poetry Memoir by Laurie Halse Anderson
The March Against Fear: The Last Great Walk of the Civil Rights Movement and the Emergence of Black Power by Ann Bausum
Into the Streets: A Young Person’s Visual History of Protest in the United States by Marke Bieschke
Hope Nation: YA Authors Share Personal Moments of Inspiration edited by Rose Brock
Poisoned Water: How the Citizens of Flint, Michigan, Fought for Their Lives and Warned the Nation by Candy J. Cooper
Say Her Name by Zetta Elliot
Economic Inequality: The American Dream Under Siege by Coral Celeste Frazer
We Will Not Be Silent: The White Rose Student Resistance Movement That Defied Adolf Hitler by Russell Freedman
No More Excuses: Dismantling Rape Culture by Amber Keyser
When They Call You a Terrorist: a story of Black Lives Matter and the Power to Change the World by Patrisse Khan-Cullors
Glimmer of Hope: How Tragedy Sparked a Movement by The March of Our Lives Founders
Imaginary Borders by Xiuhtezcatl Martinez
Enough Is Enough: How Students Can Join the Fight for Gun Safety by Michelle Roehm McCann
On the Other Side of Freedom: The Case for Hope by DeRay Mckesson
Channel Kindness: Stories of Kindness and Community by Lady Gaga
We Say #NeverAgain: Reporting by the Parkland Student Journalists
The Stonewall Riots: Coming Out in the Streets by Gayle E. Pitman
Queer, There, and Everywhere: 23 People Who Changed the World by Sarah Prager
Our Stories, Our Voices: 21 YA Authors Get Real About Injustice, Empowerment, and Growing up Female in America by Amy Lynn Reed
Stamped: Racism, AntiRacism, and You by Jason Reynolds
Rad American History A-Z: 26 Movements that Demonstrate the Power of the People by Kate Schatz
Just Mercy: A True Story of the Fight for Justice (Adapted for Young Adults) by Bryan A. Stevenson
Girl Rising: Changing the World One Girl at a Time by Tanya Lee Stone
Steal This Country: A Handbook for Resistance, Persistence, and Fixing Almost Everything by Alexandra Styron
No One Is Too Small to Make A Difference by Greta Thunberg
I Am Malala: How One Girl Stood Up for Education and Changed the World by Malala Yousafzai
Nevertheless, We Persisted: 48 Voices of Defiance, Strength and Courage