International Youth Day focuses on tweens and teens and their place in society. It’s not just to protect them, but to include them in the development of communities around the world, whether they’re rich or poor.

Among the focal areas for youth development and protection with this UN initiative include education, employment, the environment, delinquency, girls and young women, HIV/AIDS and intergenerational relations. Beginning in the year 2000, it is an initiative that celebrates the qualities of young people and that recognises the challenges that today’s youth can face. Here are some incredible books, some adult literature, but most from youths themselves, inspiring change.

📚 We Fight to Win: Inequality and the Politics of Youth Activism by Hava Rachel Gordon

📚 The Whole World is Texting: Youth Protest in the Information Age by Irving Epstein

📚 Gettin’ My Word Out: Voices of Urban Youth Activists by Leonisa Ardizzone

📚 I Am Change by Suzy Zail

📚 We Are Displaced: My Journey and Stories from Refugee Girls Around the World by Malala Yousafzai

📚 Slam Your Poetry – Start a Revolution by Miles Merrill and Narcisa Nozica

📚 Noisemakers – 25 Women Who Raised Their Voices & Changed the World by Kazoo Media

📚 Start Now! You Can Make a Difference by Chelsea Clinton

📚 No One Is Too Small to Make a Difference by Greta Thunberg

📚 Hope Nation: YA Authors Share Personal Moments of Inspiration edited by Rose Brock

📚 Putting Peace First: 7 Commitments to Change the World by Eric Dawson

📚 Nevertheless, We Persisted: 48 Voices of Defiance, Strength and Courage foreword by Amy Klobuchar

📚 We Say #NeverAgain: Reporting by the Parkland Student Journalists edited by Melissa Falkowski and Eric Garner

Read: Best reads for your kids on International Children’s Day.

Check out episode 50 on being informed about the climate around us.