#2021BookChallenge Review: This Book Is Anti-Racist by Tiffany Jewell

This Book Is Anti-Racist: 20 Lessons on How to Wake Up, Take Action, and Do the Work by Tiffany Jewell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Tiffany Jewell's book for young people offers a guide for thinking about racial identity and antiracist action. It feels most like a "getting started" book, designed to being the conversation (mostly internal with oneself) about race and privilege. I think the book lends itself best to a social-emotional learning or social justice curriculum that isn't graded and that allows students to work independently, to a book club, or simply to individual readers. Many of the activities call for very personal reflection, and I couldn't imagine grading students those reflections other than to give credit just for doing it.

Readers are encouraged to grab a notebook and write down their thoughts for each of the 20 activities. Most of the activities are introspective - thinking about all the aspects that make up your identity and creating an identity map, writing your family history, visualizing how to call in or out racist words or actions - while a few are more active, like noting all microaggressions you encounter in the course of a day. In a way, I wish it were structured more like a workbook where readers could do the activities in the book itself, but I also like the idea of readers getting to be creative with where they record their thinking (in a physical notebook? online?), decorating their own creations with personal doodles and art or even with images from the web, and having a separate personal record.

I like the book's clear, conversational tone, which I think young readers will find appealing. I also like the color illustrations by Aurelia Durand that pop off the page and give the book a modern, pop sensibility. I also appreciate the helpful bibliography and "further reading" section at the end.

On the whole, I think educators and parents would find this book to be a useful addition to their tool kit for talking with young people about race, and I think that young readers will enjoy the text. I would love a follow up text from Tiffany Jewell that takes the next step into conversation and collective action.

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