The ACLU of Southern California's reading guide is not just a list of books, but rather a collection of stories, experiences, and thoughts from people with lived experiences, academics, and those imagining the world we want to see.
Our reading guides feature titles that deepen our collective understanding and marshal our shared humanity to inspire a better world.
We’ve selected books that illuminate issues central to our work and uplift underrepresented voices—and that we ourselves enjoyed. We hope these books encourage our readers to spark conversation, debate, and education, as we work and grow together in our respective activist journey.
This year, the list features several books hand-picked by ACLU SoCal staff. You’ll hear from advocates who work on gender and reproductive justice, police accountability, education equity, and economic justice about books that have helped guide their work.
DIVERSE STORIES
America is Not the Heart: A Novel, by Elaine Castillo
This family saga about three generations of documented and undocumented Filipinas in the Bay Area explores the costs of emigrating, the scars of colonization and dictatorship, and the elusiveness of the American Dream.
Wandering Stars: A Novel, by Tommy Orange
The highly-anticipated follow-up to Pulitzer finalist There, There focuses on the Cheyenne ancestors of one of his characters, examining in epic form the atrocities they experienced—and the ripple effects of those traumas across generations.
Tell Me How It Ends: An Essay in 40 Questions, by Valeria Luiselli
This poignant account of Luiselli’s work as a translator for child asylum seekers highlights the contrast between the idea of America many immigrants hold and the cruel realities of our immigration system.
ECONOMIC EQUITY
Homelessness is a Housing Problem: How Structural Factors Explain U.S. Patterns, by Gregg Colburn and Clayton Page Aldern
Tracing public policy from the 1970s to now, this book reveals that the heart of America’s houselessness crisis is vast income inequality and lack of access to affordable housing. Imploring readers to view the structural failure as one that affects all of us, the authors provide insight into how safe and stable housing is essential to a healthy life. - Kath Rogers, staff attorney at ACLU SoCal
POLICING
Badges without Borders: How Global Counterinsurgency Transformed American Policing, by Stuart Schrader
What is the relationship between empire abroad and the repressive policing we observe daily on American streets? This groundbreaking exposé reveals how the United States government’s post-WW2 attempts to professionalize the oppressive police forces of Cold War despots and dictators came home to roost domestically, laying the foundation for the tactics and strategies domestic cops use
across the country. - Mohammad Tajsar, senior staff attorney, ACLU SoCal
Abolition Geography: Essays Towards Liberation, by Ruth Wilson Gilmore, Edited by Brenna Bhandar and Alberto Toscano
This collection of writings by a foremost abolitionist thinker addresses the intersection of racism, geography, and incarceration—and illuminates what it means to advocate for freedom for all.
Kent State: Four Dead in Ohio, by Derf Backderf
A resonant read in our current moment, Backderf’s acclaimed graphic novel examines the events of May 4, 1970, when the National Guard opened fire on anti-war student protesters at Kent State University.
EDUCATION EQUITY
Punished for Dreaming: How School Reform Harms Black Children and How We Heal, by Bettina L. Love
Steeped in history, this book reframes the “achievement gap” between Black and white students that has remained constant despite extensive reforms. As we approach the 70-year anniversary of Brown v Board, Dr. Love highlights the harms of these reforms to Black students and families while laying out a path for educational repair and healing. - Amir Whitaker, senior counsel at ACLU SoCal
Our History Has Always Been Contraband: In Defense of Black Studies, Edited by Colin Kaepernick, Robin D.G. Kelley, and Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor
Black Studies has been under relentless attack since its founding. Featuring new and historical writing by titans of Black thought and scholarship, this collection explains how we got here—and how to fight back.
YOUNG READERS
Separate Is Never Equal: Sylvia Mendez and Her Family’s Fight for Desegregation, by Duncan Tonatiuh
Seven years before Brown v. Board, 8-year-old Sylvia Mendez and her family won a landmark lawsuit to end segregated schooling in California. This award-winning picture book tells her story.
My Lost Freedom: A Japanese American World War II Story, by George Takei
Star Trek actor and activist George Takei’s beautifully illustrated children’s book looks back at his own memories to help today’s children understand a dark chapter in our country’s history.
GENDER AND REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE
Inverse Cowgirl, by Alicia Roth Weigel
Weigel evokes New York City clubs, South African street corners, and the Texas Statehouse, as she recalls finding her voice as an intersex woman in a world where most people don’t know what that means. From this memoir full of joy, growth, and struggle, readers will come away having learned why the “I” in LGBTQIA+ is important to name. - Amanda Goad, director of LGBTQ, Gender, and Reproductive Justice project at ACLU SoCal.
We Were Once a Family: A Story of Life, Death, and Child Removal in America, by Roxanna Asgarian
Ending on the Pacific Coast Highway, this devastating true story highlights how the structural racism and family policing of the foster care system makes tragedy possible.
The Story of Jane: The Legendary Underground Feminist Abortion Service, by Laura Kaplan
From 1969 until Roe was decided in 1973, the Jane Collective helped more than 11,000 women obtain safe abortions. With the horrific results of Roe’s fall playing out across the country, this firsthand account feels newly relevant.
Your Wound / My Garden, by Alok Vaid-Manon
What does it mean to live and die with dignity in a world utterly opposed to it? Written during COVID lockdown, this poetry collection by a recent winner of the ACLU SoCal Bill of Rights Award is an argument for beauty in the face of grief, loss, and chronic pain.
Red Clocks, by Leni Zumas
Published in 2018, this dystopian novel about an America in which abortion is banned, in-vitro is illegal, and embryonic personhood is enshrined in the Constitution feels disturbingly close to our 2024 reality.