An insider’s searing takedown of the criminal justice system and a children’s biography of a man who flung open the doors of reading have been honored with Goddard Riverside’s 2026 social justice book prizes.
The Price of Mercy: Unfair Trials, a Violent System, and a Public Defender’s Search for Justice in America by Emily Galvin Almanza for Crown won the Goddard Riverside Stephan Russo Book Prize for Social Justice. A former public defender, Almanza takes us behind the closed doors of America’s criminal courts, revealing how the institutions that claim to protect us are doing the exact opposite—and offering a blueprint for finally fixing the system.
“The Price of Mercy is an eye-opening but sobering account that exposes how the legal process itself can become the punishment, denying thousands of people each day—many of whom are innocent—justice and mercy,” wrote the book prize judges. “The book, however, also offers ideas for reforming the system and changing it for the better for both individuals and communities. It is a compelling and necessary read for anyone who wants to understand how the criminal legal system actually functions and what must be done if we are to truly provide justice for all.”
Talking Books: Audiobook Inventor Dr. Robert B. Irwin and a New Way to Read by Jenny Lacika, illustrated by Ashanti Fortson, for Simon and Schuster, won the Goddard Riverside CBC Youth Book Prize for Social Justice. It’s a captivating picture book about determined innovator Dr. Robert B. Irwin, whose invention of the audiobook revolutionized the way stories are shared and opened the door for people of all abilities to become readers.
“Talking Books is an important untold story of how audiobooks came to be,” wrote the youth judges. “Finding Braille cumbersome for books, Irwin came up with the idea of recording books to increase accessibility to a great many more people, and many years later, had the effect of launching a whole new way of experiencing books for everyone of all ages!”
The Goddard book prizes celebrate the power of the written word to create change in the name of justice for all. They reflect Goddard Riverside’s determination to not only ameliorate the impacts of poverty, but help create a more just society. The Stephan Russo prize, which debuted in 2017, is named in honor of Goddard’s former executive director and was inspired by his appreciation of books that help us understand the issues of our day. The CBC prize, established in 2020, is awarded in partnership with the Children’s Book Council.
Shortlists for both prizes were released on September 25. The remaining shortlisted adult books are:
- Advancing Peace: Ending Urban Gun Violence Through the Power of Redemptive Love, by Jason Corburn and DeVone Boggan for MIT Press. How a community-based approach to ending gun violence truly works, and how it holds out genuine hope and proven solutions for American cities.
- Before Their Crimes: What We’re Misunderstanding about Childhood Trauma, Youth Crime, and the Path to Healing by Dr. Wendy B. Smith for Bloomsbury. This ground-breaking book sheds new light on the relationship of childhood trauma and juvenile crime.
- In Our Future We Are Free: The Dismantling of the Youth Prison, by Nell Bernstein for The New Press. Over the past twenty years, one state after another has shuttered its youth prisons and stopped prosecuting kids as adults. Journalist Nell Bernstein offers an eye-opening and inspiring look at how this happened.
- Motherhood Discounted: Care Work in America Before and After Roe by Carolyn McConnelln for She Writes Press. This book interrogates the idea that independence is always good and dependence is always bad. It asks why America has such a problem offering social support for care work when mothering is the essential work of reproducing society.
- Somebody Should Do Something: How Anyone Can Help Create Social Change, by Michael Brownstein, Alex Madva and Daniel Kelly for MIT Press. This book paints a new picture of how social change happens, arguing that our most powerful personal choices are those that springboard us into working together with others
The remaining youth prize shortlist is:
- All About Us: 20 True Tales of Courage and Disability by Hannalora Leavitt Stef Wong for Orca Books. This beautiful book for middle-grade readers features profiles of twenty kids and adults who live with disabilities.
- From the Fields to the Fight: How Jessica Govea Thorbourne Organized for Justice by Angela Quezada Padron, illustrated by Sol Salinas for Simon and Schuster. A timely and inspiring picture book biography of Jessica Govea Thorbourne, a Latina labor activist who worked alongside Dolores Huerta to bring attention to the plight of migrant farmworkers.
- Learn Baby Learn: The Shindana Toy Factory’s Legacy of Black Pride by Charlotte Watson Sherman, illustrated by Esther Stimphat, for Reycraft Books. The story of Shindana Toy Factory, the first Black toy company in the US, dedicated to producing dolls and games that would build pride and spark the imagination of children who rarely saw themselves in the toys available at the time.
- A Trip to the Barbershop by Charles R. Smith Jr. for Reycraft Books. Author and photographer Charles R. Smith, Jr. invites readers to The Barber King, a local barbershop that brings him back to the days when he was a child visiting with his father and grandfather.
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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.
The Children’s Book Council (CBC) is the nonprofit trade association of children’s book publishers in North America, dedicated to supporting the industry and promoting children’s books and reading.