Love Generation Brave? Readers share 100 books like Generation Brave...

By Kate Alexander,

Here are 100 books that Generation Brave fans have personally recommended if you like Generation Brave. Shepherd is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of Girl Warriors: How 25 Young Activists Are Saving the Earth

Catherine Thimmesh Author Of Girls Solve Everything: Stories of Women Entrepreneurs Building a Better World

From my list on youā€™ve-got-this-girl young readers.

Why am I passionate about this?

Iā€™m someone who believes the accomplishments of women have been glossed over for far too long. I'm passionate about sharing the stories of women and girls that the world at large still tends to ignore. Itā€™s critical to share these stores and to give face and voice to women. Social entrepreneurship, the topic of my recent book Girls Solve Everything, has fascinated me for some time:  creative problem solving, tackling problems in our communities and the world, creating a business to find and facilitate the solution. Representation matters. Iā€™m determined to write about and share the stories of strong, innovative, creative women and girls. Our future depends on them.

Catherine's book list on youā€™ve-got-this-girl young readers

Catherine Thimmesh Why did Catherine love this book?

By now, we all know the Earth needs saving. And most of us try to do our part ā€“ recycling, composting, using less plastic, etc. But itā€™s hardly enough...yet still, what more can we as individuals do? That question didnā€™t stop the young activists in Girl Warriors. These young women have Stepped Up! Over and over again, I found myself awed at the stories that included speaking at a UN Climate Change Conference (Isabella Fallahi) and organizing a Global Cleanup Day that included 27 countries (Lilly Platt). The young women profiled are not afraid to tackle large, seemingly insurmountable problems if it means saving the Earth. I loved how in-depth the profiles went on the various actions being undertaken. If they can do it, why not me? Or you?

By Rachel Sarah,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Girl Warriors as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

"It gives me true hope to read about the phenomenal young women of Girl Warriors. Their fierce commitment to the future of our precious planet is as inspiring as it is vital." ā€”Kate Schatz, New York Times bestselling author of Rad American Women A-Z and Rad Women Worldwide 

2021 Skipping Stones Honors Book in Nature and Ecology

Girl Warriors: How 25 Young Activists Are Saving the Earthtells the stories of 25 climate leaders under age 25.They've led hundreds of thousands of people in climate strikes, founded non-profits, given TED talks, and sued their governments. These young eco-activistspresenta hopeful picture ofā€¦


Book cover of We Got Game! 35 Female Athletes Who Changed the World

Rochelle Melander Author Of Mightier Than the Sword: Rebels, Reformers, and Revolutionaries Who Changed the World Through Writing

From my list on anthologies for young activists.

Why am I passionate about this?

As a writer, Iā€™ve found that learning about other writers and their processes helps me. Over the years, Iā€™ve devoured the memoirs and letters of writers like Madeleine Lā€™Engle, Audre Lorde, and Zora Neal Hurston. In 2006, when I started a writing program for young people in my city, I brought these writersā€™ words to use as writing prompts. When I researched my book, Mightier Than the Sword, I read dozens of anthologies to find people who used writing to make a difference in their fieldsā€”science, art, politics, music, and sports. I will always be grateful for those anthologiesā€”because they broadened my knowledge and introduced me to so many interesting people.

Rochelle's book list on anthologies for young activists

Rochelle Melander Why did Rochelle love this book?

Over the years, Iā€™ve met many young people who are more interested in sports than social studies. I was so excited to find this bookā€”because it helps sports-minded kids see the tremendous contribution young women have made to both sports and social change. Youā€™ll read about how these women overcame barriers, competed in challenging circumstances, and still broke records. You will also learn how they are still making a difference in the world. These multidimensional heroes help us want to be more like them! 

By Aileen Weintraub, Sarah Green (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked We Got Game! 35 Female Athletes Who Changed the World as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 8, 9, 10, and 11.

What is this book about?

Do you play sports? Maybe you dream about scoring a goal on the soccer field or hitting a home run in baseball. Perhaps you're thinking about trying a new sport, but you're still not sure.

In We Got Game you'll meet thirty-five female athletes who played hard, broke records, and inspired girls around the world. Some of these athletes have retired. Others are still competing. But they have one thing in common: they all got game! You'll read about the first woman horse jockey to compete in the Kentucky Derby, the number one tennis player in the world, a surferā€¦


Book cover of Shaking Things Up: 14 Young Women Who Changed the World

Rochelle Melander Author Of Mightier Than the Sword: Rebels, Reformers, and Revolutionaries Who Changed the World Through Writing

From my list on anthologies for young activists.

Why am I passionate about this?

As a writer, Iā€™ve found that learning about other writers and their processes helps me. Over the years, Iā€™ve devoured the memoirs and letters of writers like Madeleine Lā€™Engle, Audre Lorde, and Zora Neal Hurston. In 2006, when I started a writing program for young people in my city, I brought these writersā€™ words to use as writing prompts. When I researched my book, Mightier Than the Sword, I read dozens of anthologies to find people who used writing to make a difference in their fieldsā€”science, art, politics, music, and sports. I will always be grateful for those anthologiesā€”because they broadened my knowledge and introduced me to so many interesting people.

Rochelle's book list on anthologies for young activists

Rochelle Melander Why did Rochelle love this book?

This highly browsable picture book uses poems, quotes, and short bios to tell the stories of young change agents like spies Jacqueline and Eileen Nearne, student Ruby Bridges, and scientist Angela Zhang. Fourteen artists illustrated the book, providing readers with an exciting new image on each page. I love this book because itā€™s for younger childrenā€”and they are hungry to learn about history, too.

By Susan Hood, Sophie Blackall (illustrator), Emily Winfield Martin (illustrator) , Shadra Strickland (illustrator) , LeUyen Pham (illustrator) , Melissa Sweet (illustrator) , Oge Mora (illustrator) , Julie Morstad (illustrator) , Lisa Brown (illustrator) , Selina Alko (illustrator) , Hadley Hooper (illustrator) , Isabel Roxas (illustrator) , Erin Robinson (illustrator) , Sara Palacios (illustrator)

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Shaking Things Up as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 4, 5, 6, and 7.

What is this book about?

"Each poem and illustration shines with a personality all its own." -Shelf Awareness (starred review)

"This book has definitely made an impact on my life." -Kitt Shapiro, daughter of Eartha Kitt

Fresh, accessible, and inspiring, Shaking Things Up introduces fourteen revolutionary young women-each paired with a noteworthy female artist-to the next generation of activists, trailblazers, and rabble-rousers.

From the award-winning author of Ada's Violin and Lifeboat 12, Susan Hood, this is a poetic and visual celebration of persistent women throughout history.

In this book of poems, you will find Mary Anning, who was just thirteen when she unearthed a prehistoricā€¦


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Book cover of Tap Dancing on Everest: A Young Doctor's Unlikely Adventure

Tap Dancing on Everest by Mimi Zieman,

Tap Dancing on Everest, part coming-of-age memoir, part true-survival adventure story, is about a young medical student, the daughter of a Holocaust survivor raised in N.Y.C., who battles self-doubt to serve as the doctorā€”and only womanā€”on a remote Everest climb in Tibet.

The team attempts a new route upā€¦

Book cover of Modern HERstory: Stories of Women and Nonbinary People Rewriting History

Rochelle Melander Author Of Mightier Than the Sword: Rebels, Reformers, and Revolutionaries Who Changed the World Through Writing

From my list on anthologies for young activists.

Why am I passionate about this?

As a writer, Iā€™ve found that learning about other writers and their processes helps me. Over the years, Iā€™ve devoured the memoirs and letters of writers like Madeleine Lā€™Engle, Audre Lorde, and Zora Neal Hurston. In 2006, when I started a writing program for young people in my city, I brought these writersā€™ words to use as writing prompts. When I researched my book, Mightier Than the Sword, I read dozens of anthologies to find people who used writing to make a difference in their fieldsā€”science, art, politics, music, and sports. I will always be grateful for those anthologiesā€”because they broadened my knowledge and introduced me to so many interesting people.

Rochelle's book list on anthologies for young activists

Rochelle Melander Why did Rochelle love this book?

This book features 70 stories of women and nonbinary people who are making a difference in the world. I was delighted by the vast array of people covered in the book, which begins with a foreword by Canadian pop duo Tegan and Sara. Teens will be excited to find leaders from every part of society profiled in the book: performers, politicians, professors, and more. I could start name dropping, but I wonā€™tā€”because itā€™s much more fun for you to dig into the book and be surprised by how many really famous people are working hard to change the world.

By Blair Imani, Monique Le (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Modern HERstory as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

An inspiring and radical celebration of 70 women, girls, and nonbinary people who have changedā€”and are still changingā€”the world, from the Civil Rights Movement and Stonewall riots through Black Lives Matter and beyond.

With a radical and inclusive approach to history, Modern HERstory profiles and celebrates seventy women and nonbinary champions of progressive social change in a bold, colorful, illustrated format for all ages. Despite making huge contributions to the liberation movements of the last century and today, all of these trailblazers come from backgrounds and communities that are traditionally overlooked and under-celebrated: not just women, but people of color,ā€¦


Book cover of Micro Activism: How You Can Make a Difference in the World (without a Bullhorn)

Kat Calvin Author Of American Identity in Crisis: Notes from an Accidental Activist

From my list on how to change the world.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am an activist and always have been. My organizations, Spread The Vote + Project ID and Project ID Action Fund work on the ground and on impactful policy nationwide. I would never have been able to build a movement or an organization that makes a real impact without the lessons that I have learned from the past. Every book I have read about how change was made before me has helped me do the work I do and my hope is that future leaders will learn these lessons too.

Kat's book list on how to change the world

Kat Calvin Why did Kat love this book?

Real change happens one person and one act at a time. Micro Activism teaches you how to make a difference wherever you are and whatever your circumstances.

This beautifully illustrated, friendly, and readable book is the perfect way to learn how to get started as an activist and how to build activism into your life every day.

By Omkari L. Williams,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Micro Activism as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In this age of social justice, those who don't necessarily want to lead a movement or join a protest march are left wondering, "How can I make an impact?"

In Micro Activism, former political consultant turned activism coach Omkari Williams shares her expertise in empowering introverts and highly sensitive people to help each of us, no matter our temperament, find our most satisfying and effective activist role. Using Williams's Activist Archetype tool, readers discover their unique strengths and use this to develop a personal strategy. To ensure sustainable involvement, Williams encourages starting small, working collaboratively, and beginning locally.

Advice onā€¦


Book cover of Give Me Liberty: The True Story of Oswaldo PayĆ” and his Daring Quest for a Free Cuba

Ilan Ehrlich Author Of Eduardo ChibƔs: The Incorrigible Man of Cuban Politics

From my list on biographies peeking into the lives of Cuban people.

Why am I passionate about this?

I was weaned on Cuban stories by my Havana-born mother and first visited the island in 1998. Since then, I earned a PhD in history from the Graduate Center, City University of New Yorkā€“where I studied twentieth-century Cuban politics. While conducting research in Havana and Miami, I confirmed that legends were imbibed with the same fervor as cafĆ© cubano. All histories are marked by tall tales, but Cubans are governed by theirs, inside and out, more than most. 

Ilan's book list on biographies peeking into the lives of Cuban people

Ilan Ehrlich Why did Ilan love this book?

To some, Cuba is a plucky, embargo-defying success story, with top educational and medical systems ā€“ the latter of which ensures Cubans live longer on average than Americans. Hoffmanā€™s biography of Oswaldo PayĆ” lays bare the regimeā€™s darkest depths. As a young man, PayĆ” was harassed and persecuted for his Catholic faith. He later devised the Varela Project, which sought to legally change Cubaā€™s 1976 constitution and allow democratic freedoms. PayĆ” remained an outspoken critic of Cubaā€™s one-party state and refused to leave despite constant threats from state security agents. In 2012, they ran his car off the road and he was killed in the ensuing crash.  

By David E. Hoffman,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Give Me Liberty as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

From the Pulitzer Prizeā€“winning Washington Post reporter David E. Hoffman comes the riveting biography of Oswaldo PayĆ”, a dissident who dared to defy Fidel Castro, inspiring thousands of Cubans to fight for democracy.

Oswaldo PayĆ” was seven years old when Fidel Castro seized power in Cuba, promising to create a ā€œfree, democratic, and just Cuba.ā€ But Castro instead created an authoritarian regime with little tolerance of free speech or thought. His secret police were trained to crush dissent by East Germanyā€™s ruthless Stasi.

Throughout Cubaā€™s 20th century history, the dream of democracy was often just within reach, only to beā€¦


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Book cover of The Coaching Habit: Say Less, Ask More & Change the Way You Lead Forever

The Coaching Habit by Michael Bungay Stanier,

The coaching book that's for all of us, not just coaches.

It's the best-selling book on coaching this century, with 15k+ online reviews. BrenƩ Brown calls it "a classic". Dan Pink said it was "essential".

It is practical, funny, and short, and "unweirds" coaching. Whether you're a parent, a teacher,ā€¦

Book cover of Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right

Anita Bartholomew Author Of Siege: An American Tragedy

From my list on plots to overthrow the US government.

Why am I passionate about this?

I'm a long-time contributor to Reader's Digest (and former contributing editor), specializing in narrative nonfiction who has covered social and geopolitical issues for the magazine. I'm also a political junkie who loves to dig into little-known aspects of history and current events. 

Anita's book list on plots to overthrow the US government

Anita Bartholomew Why did Anita love this book?

Itā€™s quite a trick to overthrow a government without firing a shot. Itā€™s an even better trick to do it without most people noticing what youā€™ve done. Dark Money shows how a cadre of American oligarchs, who believed the US had gone too far in reining in people like them, poured barrels of cash into undermining the average Americanā€™s economic, labor, and civil rights progress. They created think tanks. They bankrolled TV pundits. They funded departments at top universitiesā€”and micro-managed the curriculumā€”intent on influencing new generations of politicians, economists, and judges. In the end, they completely reshaped American thought and jurisprudence.

Ever wonder how the US of FDR and JFK could have taken such a sharp turn to the extreme right? I recommend you read Dark Money.

By Jane Mayer,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Dark Money as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

NATIONAL BESTSELLER
ONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES 10 BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR

Who are the immensely wealthy right-wing ideologues shaping the fate of America today? From the bestselling author of The Dark Side, an electrifying work of investigative journalism that uncovers the agenda of this powerful group.

In her new preface, Jane Mayer discusses the results of the most recent election and Donald Trump's victory, and how, despite much discussion to the contrary, this was a huge victory for the billionaires who have been pouring money in the American political system.

Why is America living in an ageā€¦


Book cover of Making History/Making Blintzes: How Two Red Diaper Babies Found Each Other and Discovered America

Paul Lauter Author Of Our Sixties: An Activist's History

From my list on how we made change in the 1960's.

Why am I passionate about this?

Over the past 50 years, I've been one of those ā€œtenured radicalsā€ the right-wing loved to bash. But before that, during the 1960s, I worked, often full-time, in the social movements that did change America: civil rights, anti-war, feminism. I was older, so I became a ā€œprofessor-activist.ā€ As a teacher, I applied what I had learned in the movements to reconstruct ideas about which writers matteredā€”women as well as men, minorities as well as whites: Zora Neale Hurston, Frederick Douglass, Adrienne Rich as well as Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, Ernest Hemingway. Using that principle, I led a team that created a very successful collection, The Heath Anthology of American Literature.     

Paul's book list on how we made change in the 1960's

Paul Lauter Why did Paul love this book?

Mickey and Dick Flacks enjoyed a 60-year marital and political partnership that featured blintzes along with activism. Their joint memoir traces a century of American left history as they and their families created and lived it. Raised in the rich but insulated culture of the communist ā€œold leftā€ in the Bronx and Brooklyn, these founding figures of the "new left,ā€ helped construct a post-sixties progressive movement in a once-conservative region of California. They have been trailblazers in the struggles for affordable housing, and leaders and mentorsā€”including meā€”in the on-going efforts to democratize higher education. Their activist left perspective on American possibilityā€”unimaginable for too many Americansā€”belongs on our bookshelves. 

By Mickey Flacks, Dick Flacks,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Making History/Making Blintzes as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Making History/Making Blintzes is a chronicle of the political and personal lives of progressive activists Richard (Dick) and Miriam (Mickey) Flacks, two of the founders of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS). As active members of the Civil Rights movement and the anti-Vietnam War movement in the 1960s, and leaders in today's social movements, their stories are a first-hand account of progressive American activism from the 1960s to the present.

Throughout this memoir, the couple demonstrates that their lifelong commitment to making history through social activism cannot be understood without returning to the deeply personal context of their family history-ofā€¦


Book cover of Moments of Silence: The Unforgetting of the October 6, 1976, Massacre in Bangkok

Shane Strate Author Of The Lost Territories: Thailand's History of National Humiliation

From my list on how states manipulate historical memory.

Why am I passionate about this?

As a teacher and historian, Iā€™m interested in the collision of cultures that resulted from western intervention in Asia during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. For young Asian nationalists, historical writing was a weapon to be wielded in the fight against imperialism. It is equally important for us to understand the forces that shape our collective memories and to recognize that historians donā€™t just uncover the pastā€”they produce it. 

Shane's book list on how states manipulate historical memory

Shane Strate Why did Shane love this book?

What happens when a society is unwilling to acknowledge acts of barbarism in its past? In 1976, while leading a student protest at Thammasat University, Thongchai Winichakul watched in horror as government forces and rightist elements stormed the campus, killing over eighty of his fellow students and committing unspeakable acts on the living and the dead. He wrote this book to help process memories of an atrocity that took the lives of his friends and haunted his career as a Thai historian. To this day, the Thammasat massacre is marked only by silence from official sources. As a result, Thongchai observes that Thai society is trapped in a state of ā€˜unforgetting,ā€™ unable to either remember or forget the trauma.

By Thongchai Winichakul,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Moments of Silence as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The massacre on October 6, 1976, in Bangkok was brutal and violent, its savagery unprecedented in modern Thai history. Four decades later there has been no investigation into the atrocity; information remains limited, the truth unknown. There has been no collective coming to terms with what happened or who is responsible. Thai society still refuses to confront this dark page in its history.

Moments of Silence focuses on the silence that surrounds the October 6 massacre. Silence, the book argues, is not forgetting. Rather it signals an inability to forget or remember-or to articulate a socially meaningful memory. It isā€¦


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Book cover of Benghazi! A New History of the Fiasco that Pushed America and its World to the Brink

Benghazi! A New History of the Fiasco that Pushed America and its World to the Brink by Ethan Chorin,

Benghazi: A New History is a look back at the enigmatic 2012 attack on the US mission in Benghazi, Libya, its long-tail causes, and devastating (and largely unexamined) consequences for US domestic politics and foreign policy. It contains information not found elsewhere, and is backed up by 40 pages ofā€¦

Book cover of We Could Have Been Friends, My Father and I: A Palestinian Memoir

Rebecca Gould Author Of Erasing Palestine: Free Speech and Palestinian Freedom

From my list on Palestinian liberation.

Why am I passionate about this?

The year I spent in Palestine from 2011 to 2012 was the first time in my life that I encountered racism firsthand. Growing up in America, I was aware of my countryā€™s racist history and I knew that my countryā€™s history was indelibly marked by prejudice. But in Palestine I witnessed racism in action. It reminded me of segregation in the American South. Every aspect of daily life in Israel and in the territories it occupied is segregated: buses, roads, lines waiting to pass through checkpoints. After I witnessed a Palestinian man being refused entry into an Israeli tourist site simply because he was Palestinian, I knew this was a book I had to write.

Rebecca's book list on Palestinian liberation

Rebecca Gould Why did Rebecca love this book?

Raja Shehadeh is the author of many important books on Palestine.

He has a unique ability to interweave the personal into the political in his writing. That talent shines through in this recent book, a memoir about his relationship to his father, an influential attorney and defender of Palestinian rights who was murdered outside his home in Ramallah in 1985. In telling the story of this relationship, which was marked by mutual misunderstanding and unarticulated love, Shehadeh also tells a story about the history of the Palestine people.

He shows how the conflicts and displacements inflicted on Palestinians have torn apart millions of lives and destroyed the human connections that many of us take for granted.

By Raja Shehadeh,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked We Could Have Been Friends, My Father and I as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A subtle psychological portrait of the authorā€™s relationship with his father during the twentieth-century battle for Palestinian human rights.

Aziz Shehadeh was many things: lawyer, activist, and political detainee, he was also the father of bestselling author and activist Raja. In this new and searingly personal memoir, Raja Shehadeh unpicks the snags and complexities of their relationship.

A vocal and fearless opponent, Aziz resists under the British mandatory period, then under Jordan, and, finally, under Israel. As a young man, Raja fails to recognize his fatherā€™s courage and, in turn, his father does not appreciate Rajaā€™s own efforts in campaigningā€¦


Book cover of Girl Warriors: How 25 Young Activists Are Saving the Earth
Book cover of We Got Game! 35 Female Athletes Who Changed the World
Book cover of Shaking Things Up: 14 Young Women Who Changed the World

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