Build Your Child’s Feminist Bookshelf With These 7 Novels for Young Readers

Goodbye Stranger, by Rebecca Stead
This novel by award-winning author Rebecca Stead is about three middle school friends and an anonymous narrator navigating her first year of high school. Not only does it portray an inspiring friendship between three very different girls, but one proudly wears the label of “feminist”. There’s also an important thread about the fallout from a classmate who broadcasts a photo of one of the girls on the internet.

Are You There God, It’s Me Margaret, by Judy Blume
This classic stands the test of time as it tells the story of Margaret Simon, an eleven-year-old girl who moves to a new town on the verge of adolescence. We hear directly from Margaret as she deals with boys, her first period, and asks all kinds of healthy questions about how her body will change as she goes from young girl to teenager.

Brown Girl Dreaming, by Jacqueline Woodson
In moving verse, Woodson shares her coming of age during the civil rights movement. Her perspectives on God, family, and the world around her depict her love of words and story, and masterfully reveal her place as a young girl in the beautiful space of becoming.

The Evolution of Calpurnia, Tate by Jacqueline Kelly
At the turn of the 20th century, curious Callie Vee explores the rivers, woods, and natural world around her and begins to question everything, from why the yellow grasshoppers are larger than the green ones, to why she must learn to sew and cook. The lone girl among six brothers, she feels like they have lives of their choosing while she must do as she’s told. Despite opposition, she continues to feed her intellectual curiosity and independence.

Flygirl, by Sherri L. Smith
Flygirl is about Ida Mae Jones, a young black girl in the 1940’s who wants to fly just like her pilot father whom, since his death, she feels closest to in the air. When the Army forms WASP—Women Airforce Service Pilots—during World War II, Ida decides to pose as a white girl in order to join, but soon learns that being true to herself is more important.
For older readers, who are venturing into Young Adult territory:

Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson
At the start of high school, Melinda is a friendless outcast all because she called the cops and busted up an end-of-summer party. With no one listening or speaking to her, she becomes increasingly silent about what happened to her: she was raped by an upperclassman. This powerful novel is about a girl who finds her voice and speaks up about her experience, refusing to be silenced by the people around her.

The Wandering Son series, by Shamura Takako
Written with honesty and sensitivity, with art just as nuanced, this manga is about the fifth grade friendship between Shuichi, a boy who wants to be a girl, and Yoshina, a girl who wants to be a boy. As they struggle through personal and societal ideas of gender identity, their journeys of self-discovery are enlightening.
For a list of terrific recommendations by age, you can also visit The B&N Teen Blog for Birthday by Birthday, a Starter Library for Young Feminists!