Is there a social justice issue in your book?

Here are some questions that might help you locate where social justice issues might be lurking in your independent reading books...

1. Is this story fair? Why or why not?

2. How does this text deal with individuals and groups? Are the people acting alone and in competition with each other, or does the text help us imagine people working together?

3. What really hard things are happening in this book? Are these things happening in the world now? Where?

4. How different are people allowed to be in this text? Does it assume everyone is happy and good in the same ways?

5. Who has "power" in your book? How does it get shown? Is if fair?

6. At what points do you notice yourself resisting the book, characters or author? What does your resistance say about the book, and what does it say about you?