Resources // Blog

Read Woke reading challenge

Teens

Read Woke is a movement. It is a feeling. It is a style. It is a form of education. It is a call to action; it is our right as lifelong learners. It means arming yourself with knowledge in order to better protect your rights. Knowledge is power and no one can take it away. It means learning about others so that you can treat people with the respect and dignity that they deserve no matter their religion, race, creed, or color.

I concluded that a Woke Book must:

• Challenge a social norm
• Give voice to the voiceless
• Provide information about a group that has been disenfranchised
• Seek to challenge the status quo
• Have a protagonist from an underrepresented or oppressed group”

Cicely Lewis, founder of Read Woke

Teens in grades 6-12 are tasked to complete the Read Woke challenge by reading a total of 12 books, one for each category. Categories include: Black voices, Hispanic American voices, Asian American voices, Native American voices, Jewish voices, Muslim voices, LGBTQ+ voices, female voices, voices of those experiencing homelessness and poverty, diverse abilities, social injustice, and immigration. Once they have read all 12 books they will earn a Read Woke t-shirt!

Sign up for the Read Woke challenge here.

Need help finding books? Check out these lists:

Middle Grade titles