Grades 5–8 (Ages 10 and up)

It’s Trevor Noah: Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood is a young readers’ version of Trevor Noah’s memoir about growing up mixed-race in apartheid and post-apartheid South Africa. Because his mother was Black and his father was white, Trevor’s birth was illegal under the systemically racist apartheid laws of the time. The book shares powerful stories from Trevor’s childhood, a mix of funny and serious, about trying to fit in, getting in trouble, and learning to use humor to survive. Trevor struggled with his mixed race identity, and feeling like he wasn’t white enough or black enough; like he didn’t belong to any one group. Trevor describes how his mother, Patricia, helped make him strong, by teaching him to think for himself and stand up for what’s right. Noah uses these personal stories to help young readers explore important themes such as racism, poverty, faith, and identity.

It’s Trevor Noah: Born a Crime helps young readers to see the world through someone else’s eyes, someone who grew up mixed-race in South Africa during and after apartheid. Trevor’s stories help kids understand important topics like racism, identity, poverty, and resilience in a way that feels personal and real. The book also helps young people to develop empathy and critical thinking skills, encouraging readers to think about why things were the way they were. It is also an important reminder on how we can find strength and humor in difficult moments. This book can also be used to encourage social-emotional development, allowing for conversations about family, courage, and standing up for what’s right. This book also provides young readers with a global and cultural perspectives that may be different from there own. It shares the perspective of someone who is black, South African, multilingual, and has a lot to say. It also supports the ALA’s commitment to intellectual freedom by encouraging students to not shy away from difficult or unfamiliar topics.

It’s Trevor Noah: Born a Crime (Young Readers Edition) has been challenged in several schools because of its discussion of racism, poverty, and violence during apartheid in South Africa. Some parents say the topics are too mature for kids, even though the book was written for middle-grade readers. In Putnam County, Florida, it was removed from a summer reading list after complaints of “indoctrination,” without any specific reason or formal review (McLean, 2021). In Needham, Massachusetts, school officials pulled it from a schoolwide reading program after some families objected to things Noah said on The Daily Show, as well as some old tweets, not the book itself (Ballantyne, 2021). There has been some concern about a chapter where Noah’s mother is shot by her abusive ex-husband. The scene is emotional but is important because it shows the strength of family and resilience (Random House, 2023).

“Powerful prose . . . told through stories and vignettes that are sharply observed, deftly conveyed and consistently candid. Growing organically from them is an affecting investigation of identity, ethnicity, language, masculinity, nationality and, most of all, humanity.”  —Mail & Guardian (South Africa) 

“By turns alarming, sad and funny . . . not just an unnerving account of growing 

up in South Africa under apartheid, but a love letter to the author’s remarkable 

mother.”  —Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times

“Noah’s childhood stories are told with all the hilarity and intellect that 

characterizes his comedy, while illuminating a dark and brutal period in South 

Africa’s history that must never be forgotten.”  —Esquire

YALSA Best Books for Young Adults (2020)

Chicago Public Library Best Books (2019)

Rebecca Caudill Young Readers Award Nominee (2022)

Arizona Young Reader’s Award Nominee (2022) 

Rhode Island Children’s Book Award Nominee (2022)

New York Times Bestseller

Ballantyne, T. (2021). Needham schools remove Trevor Noah’s book from summer reading assignment. Wicked Local. https://www.wickedlocal.com/story/needham-times/2021/07/07/needham-schools-cancel-trevor-noahs-book-required-summe-reading/7890183002/

Corcoran, J. (2019). Trevor Noah’s lesson to young readers: It’s freeing to define yourself on your own terms. WAMU. https://wamu.org/story/19/06/04/trevor-noahs-lesson-to-young-readers-its-freeing-to-define-yourself-on-your-own-terms/

McLean, J. (2021). Trevor Noah book about apartheid among 3 removed from Putnam reading list after outcry. WJXT. https://www.news4jax.com/news/local/2021/06/28/trevor-noah-book-about-apartheid-among-3-removed-from-putnam-reading-list-after-outcry/

Meehan, K. (2024). Banned in the USA: Beyond the shelves. PEN America; PEN America. https://pen.org/report/beyond-the-shelves/

Random House. (2023). It’s Trevor Noah: Born a crime by Trevor Noah. PenguinRandomhouse.com. https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/575367/its-trevor-noah-born-a-crime-by-trevor-noah/

When Stars Are Scattered by Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed 

Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson

Just Mercy (Adapted for Young Readers) by Bryan Stevenson 

Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes 

Grades 4–8 (Ages 9–13).

Ghost Boys is about Jerome, a 12-year-old Black boy who is shot and killed by a white police officer who thinks his toy gun is real. After he dies, Jerome becomes a ghost and watches what happens to his family and the people around him. He meets other ghost boys, including Emmett Till, who were also killed because of racism. Jerome also meets Sarah, the police officer’s daughter. She’s the only living person who can see him. The book talks about racism, how people see each other, and how we can make things better by listening and understanding.

Ghost Boys helps kids talk and think about important topics like racism, fairness, and understanding others. The story makes the young reader think about racial violence in a less abstract way, and how it can affect people and communities. The National Coalition Against Censorship (2021) says the book “encourages meaningful classroom discussions about race, policing, and history.” Author Jewell Parker Rhodes says she wrote the book to help young people ask hard questions and feel empathy for others, even people they may not agree with (Rhodes, 2022). 

Ghost Boys has been challenged and banned in schools across the country. In 2021, a school district in Florida removed it after a police group said it made police look bad (NCAC, 2021). Some censors also said the book talks about things that might be too hard for kids, like racism and violence. But the book doesn’t say all police are bad, it shows how unfair systems can hurt people, and it includes characters that different sides of the story. 

“Deftly woven and poignantly told, this a story about society, biases both conscious and unconscious, and trying to right the wrongs of the world. Rhodes captures the all-too- real pain of racial injustice and provides an important window for readers who are just beginning to explore the ideas of privilege and implicit bias.”  —School Library Journal

“Ghost Boys gently walks readers through the minefield of young black boys who have been killed due to racism, dating back to the murder of Emmett Till. By exploring the fear that is at the core of these murders, Jewell Parker Rhodes suggests ways the living can crack that fear and, eventually, end this epidemic of death.”  —Nikki Grimes, bestselling and award-winning author

“Rhodes has achieved something remarkable here: a kid’s-eye-view of violence and racism that balances innocence and outrage, wrenching loss and hard-won hope.”  —Chicago Tribune

“The voice of Ghost Boys is nothing less than prophetic: it rings out in its plot lines, in its characters, in its tones, in its images. And here is what that voice says: ‘Bear witness.’ Parker Rhodes undergirds the urgency of that call with the sweetness of grace-filled hope, so that, dear reader, you will come away from this tale, made larger–which, of course, is what truly great stories do.”  —Gary Schmidt, two-time Newbery Honor-Winning Author

2019 Walter Dean Myers Award for Outstanding Children's Literature 

2019 Jane Addams Children's Book Award for Older Children 

2019 E.B. White Read-Aloud Middle Reader Award 

2020–2021 William Allen White Children's Book Award (Grades 6–8) 

2020–2021 Nebraska Golden Sower Award (Grades 7–8) 

2020–2021 Pennsylvania Young Readers Choice Award Nominee (Grades 6–8) 

2020–2021 MASL Truman Readers Award Final Nominee (Grades 6–8) 

2020–2021 Young Hoosier Book Award Nominee 

2019 Black-Eyed Susan Book Award 

2019 Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People 

2019 Sakura Medal Award Nominee 

2019 Charlotte Huck Honor Award for Outstanding Children's Fiction 

2019 Texas Lone Star Reading List 

2019 Texas Bluebonnet Award List 

2019 One Book, One Philadelphia Middle Grade Selection 

2019 Brilliant Book Award Shortlist 

2019 Longlist, CILIP Carnegie Medal 

2019 Longlist, United Kingdom Literary Association Book Awards 

2022 Trinity Schools Book Award 

All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

A Good Kind of Trouble by Lisa Moore Ramée

New Kid by Jerry Craft

NCAC. (2021). NCAC objects to removal of Ghost Boys from Broward County School in Florida. National Coalition against Censorship. https://ncac.org/news/ghost-boys-florida-remove?

Parker Rhodes, J. (2022). Ghost Boys. Children’s Fiction by Jewell Parker Rhodes. https://jewellparkerrhodes.com/children/books/ghost-boys/

Wilton, S. (2023). Ghost Boys banned. Children’s Fiction by Jewell Parker Rhodes. https://jewellparkerrhodes.com/children/ghost-boys-banned/

Grades 3–6 (ages 7–12)

Michelle Obama: Political Icon is a book about Michelle Obama’s life. It tells how she grew up in Chicago, worked hard in school, and went on to study at Princeton and Harvard. She became a lawyer, helped her community, and later became First Lady of the United States. The book shares her work on projects like 'Let’s Move!' to help kids stay healthy, and 'Reach Higher', which encourages students to go to college. It also talks about how she continues to speak publicly, write books, and support young people after leaving the White House.

This book shows kids how someone can work hard, care about others, and make a difference in the world. Michelle Obama’s story can teach children important lessons about setting goals, staying strong, and helping your community. As the first Black First Lady, and someone who  speaks out for kids and families, she is a great role model, especially for students of color. The book also helps all kids learn about different people and their experiences. As the publisher says, this book shows how Michelle became “a powerful voice for women, education, and equality” (Lerner Publishing Group, 2021).

This book was challenged in 2022 by a parent in Katy, Texas, who wanted it removed from school libraries. The parent said it pushed "leftist ideas" and made white girls feel “ashamed” of how they talk (Balevic, 2022). They also didn’t like that it mentioned Donald Trump in a negative way. But the book is written in a calm, fact-based way that’s appropriate for kids. The school district reviewed it and chose not to remove it because it followed all the rules for what books are allowed in schools.

“This series spotlights women who took charge of their lives and careers...Michelle Obama's motivation to succeed helped her to graduate from Princeton and Harvard... Readers are encouraged to be their own boss. The texts feature inspirational quotes from the subjects, and the simple narratives are direct. Each woman is presented in a positive light, although the volume on Copeland references the custody battle between her mother and ballet teachers.” —School Library Journal

“This is a non-biased, fact-based book for children, and is part of a series featuring women of diverse ethnicities who have made a difference in our world, across a broad spectrum of disciplines. The book is well-written on approximately a 5th grade reading level.” — Stephanie Flessert

No major awards noted

Becoming: Adapted for Young Readers by Michelle Obama

Who Is Michelle Obama? by Megan Stine

She Persisted: Michelle Obama by Andrea Davis Pinkney

Barnes & Noble. (2020). Michelle Obama: Political Icon. Barnes & Noble. https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/michelle-obama-heather-e-schwartz/1135456829

Lerner Publishing Group. (2021). Michelle Obama: Political Icon. Lerner Publishing Group. https://lernerbooks.com/shop/show/20518?srsltid=AfmBOorNBDj91y8runB9l4M8Lu-PNNIyY-Xf4byMq-mnQ7Oo_LhiEr4V

Schwartz, H. E. (2020). Michelle Obama: Political icon. Millbrook Press.