A book about a current issue

[Sara]

Are you struggling with what to read in the Choose-Your-Own-Adventure Challenge categories? We can help! Throughout the year, we will highlight several juvenile, YA, and adult fiction (or non-fiction) books in most of the categories.

These aren’t the only books we have available in each category but are ideas that can help you spark inspiration, help clarify the category, and (hopefully) make your decision easier.

We’re continuing our discussion of books with the category “A book about a current issue.”

This category is wide-ranging and the options are nearly limitless. The descriptor, “a current issue,” can cover politics, immigration, the legal system, race and race relations, and medical issues, to name just a few. While the majority of suggestions below are non-fiction titles, you shouldn’t feel restricted in what you choose. APL librarians can work with you to find a title that interests you.

Below are a few suggestions in various topics of books that fit the category “A book about a current issue.”

Community Involvement: Palaces for the People: How Social Infrastructure Can Help Fight Inequality, Polarization, and the Decline of Civic Life by Eric Klinenberg

Class: White Trash: The 400-Year Untold History of Class in America by Nancy Isenberg

Poverty and the Working Class: Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by J.D. Vance

Race: The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

Global Warming/Climate Change: This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The Climate by Naomi Klein

Poverty and the Working Class: Heartland: A Memoir of Working Hard and Being Broke in the Richest Country on Earth by Sarah Smarsh

Race: Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates

Opioids: Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company that Addicted America by Beth Macy

Criminal Justice: The Sun Does Shine: How I Found Life and Freedom on Death Row by Anthony Ray Hinton (Introduction), Lara Love Hardin, Bryan Stevenson (Foreword)

Poverty and the Working Class: Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by Matthew Desmond

Water: The Big Thirst: The Secret Life and Turbulent Future of Water by Charles Fishman

The South, Race, and the Civil War: In the Shadow of Statues: A White Southerner Confronts History by Mitch Landrieu

Criminal Justice: Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson

Feminism: Our Stories, Our Voices: 21 YA Authors Get Real About Injustice, Empowerment, and Growing Up Female in America edited by Amy Reed

Immigration: Enrique's Journey: The Story of a Boy's Dangerous Odyssey to Reunite with His Mother by Sonia Nazario

Technology: Irresistible: The Rise of Addictive Technology and the Business of Keeping Us Hooked by Adam Alter

Happy reading!