Books that Inspire You to Make the World a Better Place

Sometimes, you just want to read a book that makes you feel empowered to make the change you want to see in the world.

I Am Malala: How One Girl Stood Up for Education and Changed the World

Let the teenage Nobel Prize winner share her story in her own words: Malala advocated for education for girls and was targeted — and shot — by the Taliban as a result. She survived to continue her work and inspire another generation of young people.

Just Mercy

In this stark look at the criminal justice system in the United States, Stevenson recounts his experience defending a Black man wrongly convicted of murdering a white woman. You’ll want to reform the entire U.S. judicial system by the time you’re done.

You’re More Powerful Than You Think: A Citizen’s Guide to Making Change Happen

Sometimes it feel like there’s no way for one person to make a difference, but this inspiring book gives lots of real-life examples of people who have managed to do just that. This is the book to pull out when you feel a little hopeless and overwhelmed by the problems of the world.

The 57 Bus: A True Story of Two Teenagers and the Crime That Changed Their Lives

It would be easy to tell this story of an agender teen and the young Black man who attacks her on a Los Angeles bus as a tale of good and evil, but Slater avoids oversimplification, creating a nuanced picture of two young people whose lives were changed forever by a bus ride.

This list was excerpted from our 2020 HSL Reading Challenge recommendations.

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