ABOUT
The Hard Truths Initiative

My name is Anne Peel, and I am an Associate Professor of Literacy in the School of Education at The College of New Jersey.  As a former high school English teacher in both Philadelphia and New Jersey, I now teach literacy education and children's literature classes, primarily to future teachers.

 

Like many of my fellow teachers and teacher-educators, I am deeply alarmed by the recent push in many states to censor curriculum, historical information, and well-established theoretical lenses. Many school boards and legislatures have labeled these oppressive initiatives as an agenda to limit Critical Race Theory which they perceive to be dangerous to the status quo. 

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MORE TO EXPLORE: What is Critical Race Theory?

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I see these as anti-truth initiatives--the truth about our country's history and the truth about the lives that many of our children are currently living. Anti-CRT initiatives are right about one thing--stories that tell the truth, even the hardest truths, are dangerous to the status quo.  And that is exactly why they must be embraced by teachers. The status quo has failed so many of our children.

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I reached out to many of my colleagues here at TCNJ and asked for their recommendations for picture books that tell the truth about some difficult aspect of children's lives here in America: the history of enslavement and trauma so many have inherited; the pain of leaving behind everything they knew as recent immigrants who might be met with hostility rather than welcome; the rejection of their family and community practices when they come to schools where they might feel like an outsider to a dominant culture, and so many other difficult courses children must navigate. 

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MORE TO EXPLORE: Where anti-racism instruction is under attack

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My colleagues enthusiastically and generously replied with dozens of books that tell these hard truths without despair, recrimination, or bitterness. All of the stories we have collected here represent the best of American optimism. They model for youth how to maintain a sense of joy in the face of adversity without abandoning a hope for a more just and equitable world. 

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The list is by no means exhaustive, comprehensive, or finished. It is a sampling of some great books that tell some hard truths. 

 

We hope you will find a book in this collection to share with a youth in your life. We hope that truth, no matter how painful, never becomes something to fear, but a beacon keeping us on the path to a brighter future.

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MORE TO EXPLORE: How teachers are coping

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CONTACT: peela@tcnj.edu   609-771-2321