Stuck inside? Dive into this fair housing reading list.

fair-housing-reading-list

Each April, National Fair Housing Month is celebrated to reaffirm our commitment to ending housing discrimination and commemorate the passage of the federal Fair Housing Act in 1968, which prohibits discrimination in the sale or rental of housing on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status or disability.

At the Fair Housing Center for Rights & Research, we’ve put together a list of our favorite reads that tackle important topics relating to fair housing, inequality, and discrimination. From children’s books celebrating diversity to more advanced reading detailing the history of racist ideas in America, there’s something on the list for everyone in the family. As you’re likely spending more time at home than usual, join us in celebrating Fair Housing Month by learning more about fair housing and social justice. Dive into our 2020 Fair Housing Reading List today!

Download the Reading List

2020 Fair Housing Reading List

FOR ADULTS

1. The Lines Between Us: Two Cities Families and a Quest to Cross the Racial Divide, Lawrence Lanahan

2. The Color of Law, Richard Rothstein

3. Segregation by Design, Jessica Trownstein

4. Moving Toward Integration, Richard H. Sander, Yana A. Kucheva, Jonathan M. Zasloff

5. Derelict Paradise: Homelessness and Urban Development in Cleveland, OH, Daniel R. Kerr

6. A Ghetto Takes Shape: Black Cleveland, 1870 – 1930, Kenneth Kusmer

7. Surrogate Suburbs, Todd Michney

8. Democratizing Cleveland, Randy Cunningham

9. Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America, Ibram X. Kendi

10. How to Be an Antiracist, Ibram X. Kendi

11. Sundown Towns, James Loewen

12. Show Me A Hero: A Tale of Murder, Suicide, Race, and Redemption, Lisa Belkin 

13. A Stronger Kinship: One Town’s Extraordinary Story Of Hope And Faith, Anna-Lisa Cox

14. Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood, Trevor Noah

15. White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism, Robin DiAngelo, foreword by Michael Eric Dyson

16. Stealing Buddha’s Dinner, Bich Minh Nguyen

17. The Book of Unknown Americans, Cristina Henriquez

18. The Tortilla Curtain, T. Coraghessan Boyle

19. The Fight for Fair Housing, Gregory Squires

20. Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City, Matthew Desmond

21. Some of My Best Friends Are Black: The Strange Story of Integration in America, Tanner Colby

22. Them: A Novel, Nathan McCall

23. The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration, Isabel Wilkerson

24. South of Broad: A Novel, Pat Conroy

25. Zeitoun, Dave Eggers

26. A Man Called Ove: A Novel, Fredrik Backman

27. All the Way Home, Ann Tatlock

28. Furiously Happy: A Funny Book About Horrible Things, Jenny Lawson

29. Until Tuesday: A Wounded Warrior and the Golden Retriever Who Saved Him, Former Captain Luis Carlos Montalvan

FOR YOUNG ADULTS

30. The House on Mango Street, Sandra Cisneros

31. Esperanza Rising, Pam Munoz Ryan

32. Wonder, R.J. Palacio

33. Out of My Mind, Sharon Draper

FOR CHILDREN

34. One Crazy Summer, Rita Williams-Garcia

35. All are Welcome, Alexandra Penfold and Suzanne Kaufman

36. Something Happened in Our Town, Marianne Celano

37. Separate is Never Equal: Sylvia Mendez and Her Family’s Fight for Desegregation, Duncan Tonatiuh

38. A Chair for My Mother, Vera B. Williams

39. Last Stop on Market Street, Matt de la Pena

40. It’s Okay to Be Different, Todd Parr

41. Child of the Civil Rights Movement, Paula Young Shelton

42. What If the Zebras Lost Their Stripes, John Reitano

43. The Berenstain Bears’ New Neighbors, Stan Berenstain, Jan Berenstain

44. The Other Side, Jacqueline Woodson

45. Tuesday Tucks Me In, Former Captain Luis Carlos Montalva

Get your copies from these local libraries and book stores!

Although local libraries and book stores may currently have their doors closed to the public, our partners offer some alternatives (digital access, online ordering, curbside pick-up, etc.). When we’re open again, you can borrow from our in-office library, too. Check out the websites below for more information on how to get your hands on these books today!

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