This book list began with Book by Book: An Annotated Guide to Young People’s Literature with Peacemaking and Conflict Resolution Themes, prepared by Carol Spiegel and published by Educators for Social Responsibility (Cambridge, MA) in 2010. That information is shared with the author’s and publisher’s permission. We have added more recently published books. You will find classics and newer books among the recommendations.
Click on a book cover to order the book through Bookshop.org.
Big Talk: Poems for Four Voices
Paul Fleischman
illustrated by Beppe Giacobbe
Candlewick Press, 2008
A book for all ages in which four people read each poem. They’re funny. They’re rhythmic. They’re filled with high spirits.
Brothers in Hope:
The Story of the Lost Boys of Sudan
written by Mary Williams
illustrated by R. Gregory Christie
Lee & Low Books, 2013
Garang, an eight-year-old, is tending his family’s cattle far from home in South Sudan. Word arrives that war has come to their village. Returning home, he finds everything destroyed. He becomes one of 30,000 boys between the ages of 8 and 15 who banded together to walk out of their country. They end up in Ethiopia, but they must flee again to Kenya. Will America accept them as refugees?
Center Court Sting
Matt Christopher
Little, Brown, 1998
Daren McCall’s got a hot temper and a sarcastic mouth. His friends aren’t talking to him and his basketball coach is threatening to throw him off the team. Sportsmanship, pressure, and peer dynamics are all a part of the story. Ultimately, it’s about teamwork.
Farmer Will Allen and the Growing Table
Jacqueline Briggs Martin
illustrated by Shabazz Larkin
Readers to Eaters, 2016
Will Allen, a former basketball star, sees an abandoned city lot in Milwaukee and envisions a table full of food large enough to feed a community of people. He was named a MacArthur Foundation genius for his innovative urban farming techniques. He brought his community together to raise healthy food to feed themselves.
The Heart of a Chief
Joseph Bruchac
Penguin Random House, 2001
Eleven-year-old Chris Nicola lives on the Penacook Indian Reservation and goes to school in town. He’s heading up a committee to find alternate sports team names that don’t belittle anyone. At home, the community is deciding whether to build a casino on his favorite island. How can Chris and his friends stop the destruction of the island?
On Sand Island
written by Jacqueline Briggs Martin
illustrated by David A. Johnson
Houghton Mifflin, 2003
In the deep blue waters of Lake Superior lies a small island of hummingbirds, rabbits, and hardy Norwegian fishing folk. On that island lives a boy named Carl who wants nothing more than to be out on the water in a boat of his own making. So this is a story of sawing, nailing, and sanding. But because Sand Island neighbors are closer than cousins, this is also a story of picking strawberries, moving rocks, and mending fishing nets fine as lace.
Peach Heaven
written and illustrated by
Yangsook Choi
Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2024
The peaches grown in Bucheon are the best in all of South Korea, a rare treat for a young Yangsook. She dreams of growing a peach orchard so she can eat as much of the delicious fruit as she wishes. One day, after hours of a sudden heavy downpour, the sky begins to rain peaches. Yangsook finds herself in peach heaven ― until she remembers the farmers who have lost their harvest and decides she must help them.
Project Mulberry
Linda Sue Park
Clarion, 2022
Julia Song and her friend Patrick have worked on a lot of school projects together. They’d like to win blue ribbons at the State Fair but can’t decide on a project. Julia’s mom suggests raising silkworms. Patrick’s all for it, but Julia thinks maybe it will be too odd. Maybe it won’t fit in with the projects the other kids are doing. Julia is a Korean American seventh grader who learns, in funny and warm ways, how to work well with others.
Raising Yoder’s Barn
Jane Yolen
illustrated by Bernie Fuchs
Little, Brown, 1998
Eight-year-old Matthew is accustomed to a community of helpers in the Amish community in which he lives. When lightning burns his family’s barn to the ground, his community shows up to help. Then, working together, they build a new barn in one day.
Red
written and illustrated by
Jan De Kinder
Eerdmans, 2020
In this poignant story, a girl finds it funny when her classmate starts blushing on the school playground. One student takes the teasing too far. Torn between her sympathy for her classmate and her fear of the bully, the girl must find courage to take a stance and learn about compassion.
This is Just to Say: Poems of Apology and Forgiveness
written by Joyce Sidman
illustrated by Pamela Zagarenski
Clarion Books, 2007
Mrs. Merz’ classroom of sixth-graders is assigned to write poems of apology. What results is a captivating book of poetic forms, expressing a wide range of emotions, to a surprising array of subjects. Used in many classrooms to inspire writing and community.