Hunger, immigration and education were the topics of the winning books in this year’s Goddard Riverside social justice book prizes.
Just One Pebble. One Boy’s Quest to End Hunger by Dianna Wilson Sirkovsky for Clavis Publishing won the Goddard Riverside CBC Youth Book Prize for Social Justice. Illustrated in warm colors by Sara Casilda, Just One Pebble is the true story of a boy who ignites awareness and provides aid for hunger relief in his community.
The Goddard Riverside Stephan Russo Book Prize for Social Justice was shared by two titles: Punished For Dreaming: How School Reform Harms Black Children and How We Heal by Bettina L. Love for St. Martin`s Press and Everyone Who Is Gone Is Here: the United States, Central America, and the Making Of A Crisis, by Jonathan Blitzer for Penguin Press.
Punished for Dreaming argues that Reagan’s presidency ushered in a War on Black Children, punishing schools with policing, closure, and loss of funding in the name of reform. Everyone Who Is Gone Is Here is a history of the humanitarian crisis at our southern border—told through the lives of the migrants forced to risk everything and the policymakers who determine their fate.
“Every year we honor books that take a fresh look at the issues our community faces,” said Goddard Riverside President Roderick L. Jones. “These works offer insights that truly help create change in the name of justice for all.”
Six books were named to the shortlist for the Goddard Riverside Stephan Russo Book Prize for Social Justice. The remaining titles are:
- Mass Supervision: Probation, Parole, and the Illusion Of Safety and Freedom by Vincent Schiraldi for The New Press. How probation and parole have become a “recidivism trap” for people trying to lead productive lives in the wake of a criminal conviction.
- Radical Acts Of Justice: How Ordinary People Are Dismantling Mass Incarceration by Jocelyn Simonson for The New Press. This book argues that the answer to mass incarceration lies not with experts and pundits, but with ordinary people taking extraordinary actions together.
- Relinquished: the Politics Of Adoption and the Privilege Of American Motherhood by Gretchen Sisson for St. Martin’s Press. The stories of mothers who give their children up for adoption are stories about our country’s refusal to care for families at the most basic level, and to instead embrace an individual, private solution to a large-scale, social problem.
- The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring Of Childhood Is Causing An Epidemic Of Mental Illness by Jonathan Haidt for Penguin Press. A social psychologist explores how “play-based childhood” has been replaced by “phone-based childhood,” and how this “great rewiring of childhood” has interfered with children’s social and neurological development.
Four books were shortlisted for the Goddard Riverside CBC Youth Book Prize for Social Justice, which partners with the Children’s Book Council to recognize works for children and youth. The remaining titles are:
- City Girls by Loretta Lopez for Triangle Square Books for Young Readers. A story of finding sanctuary with friends who understand the enormous changes life can throw you when you’re 11.
- Everywhere Beauty Is Harlem: The Vision of Photographer Roy DeCarava by Gary Golio, Calkins Creek. A deeply researched picture book about Roy DeCarava, who captured life in 1940s Harlem with his camera.
- Rhythm by Jackie Azua Kramer for American Psychological Association Magination Press. In this powerful story of resilience and hope, one girl observes her community through the changing rhythm of each season.
The Goddard Riverside Stephan Russo Book Prize for Social Justice, which is named for a former Executive Director of Goddard Riverside, was founded in 2017 and has been awarded annually since then. The Goddard Riverside CBC Youth Book Prize for Social Justice was launched in 2020. A complete list of winners for each year can be found at goddard.org/bookprizes.
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Goddard Riverside strives toward a fair and just society where all people can make choices that lead to better lives for themselves and their families. Our programs serve more than 20,000 people annually, preparing children and youth for success; supporting self-sufficiency; enriching the lives of older adults; promoting behavioral health; fighting homelessness; and strengthening families and communities.