2026 Rise Book Project presents Top Ten feminist books for young readers

Rise: A Feminist Book Project for Ages 0-18, a subgroup of the ALA Social Responsibilities Round Table’s Feminist Task Force, announced its Top Ten feminist books for young readers.

Rise: A Feminist Book Project for Ages 0-18 recommends well-written and well-illustrated books with significant feminist content for young readers. We welcome submissions from publishers for consideration; please reach out to the committee co-chairs at risefeministbooks@gmail.com with any questions.

The bibliography is intended as a recommended reading list for children and teens. It may also be used by interested librarians, teachers, parents, and others who work with youth. The complete list can be found on the official Rise blog as well as on ALA's Feminist Task Force page. The 2026 Rise: A Feminist Book Project committee selected the following titles, listed in alphabetical order by author’s last name, as their Top Ten:

• One Step Forward by Marcie Flinchum Atkins
• Ollie in Between by Jess Callans
• The Black Mambas: The World’s First All-Woman Anti-Poaching Unit by Kelly Crull
• Loudmouth: Emma Goldman vs. America (A Love Story) by Deborah Heiligman
• Girls on the Rise by Amanda Gorman; illustrated by Loveis Wise
• Brown Girl, Brown Girl by Leslé Honoré; illustrated by Cozbi A. Cabrera
• Everything is Poison by Joy McCullough
• Truth Is by Hannah V. Sawyerr
• The Unexpected Consequence of Bleeding on a Tuesday by Kelsey B. Toney
• Up, Up, Ever Up! Junko Tabei: A Life in the Mountains by Anita Yasuda; illustrated by Yuko Shimizu

Members of the 2026 Rise: A Feminist Book Project committee are: Vicki Pietrus, (co-chair), Niles West High School, Skokie, IL; Ari Nussbaum, (co-chair), Hayward Public Library, Hayward, CA; Suzan Alteri, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL; Raynelda A. Calderon, Queens Public Library, Corona, NY; Rachel Chapman, New York City Public Schools, New York, NY; Kim Dare, Retired High School Librarian, Fairfax County Public Schools, VA; Whitney Etchison, Severn School, Severna Park, MD; Stephanie E. Mahar, Washington State University, WA; Shaunterria Owens, North Miami Public Library, North Miami, FL; Marta Monforte Perez, Dover Court International School, Singapore; and Sara Beth West, Chattanooga State Community College, Chattanooga, TN.