After a chance encounter with a powerful Senator on an airplane catapults him to fame, Ady and a motley crew of activists ignite a once-in-a-generation movement for universal healthcare, in a journey that transforms his belief in what is possible for the country and for his family.

These suggested readings provide a range of perspectives on issues raised by the POV documentaryNot Going Quietlyand allow for deeper engagement. This list of books was created by Constance Zack of the School Library Association of Rhode Island.

Barkan, Ady. Eyes to the Wind: a Memoir of Love and Death, Hope and Resistance. NewYork: Atria Books, 2019
At thirty-two, Ady Barkan had everything he wanted: a fulfilling career in the progressive movement, a brilliant wife, and a beautiful newborn son.

Then his luck ran out. What he thought might be carpal tunnel was in fact ALS, a neurological disease that would probably paralyze and kill him quickly. But then, with his life slipping away and American democracy under grave threat, he turned a devastating diagnosis into his most potent tool. [This book] is a rousing memoir featuring intertwining narratives about determination, perseverance, and now to live a life of purpose. The first traces Ady's battle with ALS. The second shows his journey from a goofy political nerd to a prominent figure in the progressive movement, becoming one of today's most vocal advocates for social justice.”

Brawley, Otis Webb. How We Do Harm: A Dr. Breaks Ranks about Being Sick in America.St. Martin’s Press. 2012
Dr. Otis Brawley is the chief medical and scientific officer of The American Cancer Society, How We Do Harm pulls back the curtain on how medicine is really practiced in America. Brawley tells of doctors who select treatment based on payment they will receive, rather than on demonstrated scientific results; hospitals and pharmaceutical companies that seek out patients to treat even if they are not actually ill (but as long as their insurance will pay); a public primed to swallow the latest pill, no matter the cost; and rising healthcare costs for unnecessary--and often unproven--treatments that we all pay for. Brawley calls for rational healthcare, healthcare drawn from results-based, scientifically justifiable treatments, and not just the peddling of hot new drugs.

Jobin-Leeds, Greg and AgitArte. When We Fight, We Win: Twenty-First Century Social Movements and the Activists That Are Transforming Our World. New York: The New Press, 2016
Same-sex marriage, Black Lives Matter, the Dream Act, the People's Climate March, End the New Jim Crow, Occupy Wall Street--these are just a few of the initiatives that have taken flight in the past decade, the most fertile and productive era of activism and reform this country has seen since the 1960s. Now, in a visually rich and deeply inspiring book, movement leaders and activists distill their wisdom, sharing lessons of what works and what hinders transformative social change.

Kirsch, Richard. Fighting for Our Health Care: The Epic Battle to Make Health Care a Right in the United States. Rockefeller Press, 2012.
This first-person account brings readers inside the biggest and most consequential issue campaign in American history. Fighting for Our Health recounts how a reform campaign led by grassroots organizers played a crucial role in President Obama’s signing historic health reform legislation in March of 2010—defeating the tea partiers, Republican Party, health insurance industry, and the US Chamber of Commerce. The action takes place inside the Beltway—the White House, Congressional anterooms, and the streets of DC—and at hundreds of town meetings, demonstrations, and confrontations in places like Danville, Virginia and Lincoln, Nebraska.

Mellander, Rochelle. Mightier Than the Sword : Rebels, Reformers, and Revolutionaries Who Changed the World Through Writing.Beaming Books, 2021.
Throughout history, people have picked up their pens and wielded their words--transforming their lives, their communities, and beyond. Now it's your turn! Representing a diverse range of backgrounds and experiences, Mightier Than the Sword connects over forty inspiring biographies with life-changing writing activities and tips, showing readers just how much their own words can make a difference. Readers will explore nature with Rachel Carson, experience the beginning of the Reformation with Martin Luther, champion women's rights with Sojourner Truth, and many more. These richly illustrated stories of inspiring speechmakers, scientists, explorers, authors, poets, activists, and even other kids and young adults will engage and encourage people to pay attention to their world, to honor their own ideas and dreams, and to embrace the transformative power of words to bring good to the world.

Reid, T.R. The Healing of America: a Global Quest for Better, Cheaper and Fairer Health Care.Penguin Press, 2009.
Reid provides a whirlwind tour of successful health care systems worldwide, revealing possible paths toward U.S. reform. Reid shows how all the other industrialized democracies have achieved something the United States can't seem to do: provide health care for everybody at a reasonable cost.

In his global quest to find a possible prescription, Reid visits wealthy, free market, industrialized democracies like our own--including France, Germany, Japan, the U.K., and Canada--where he finds inspiration in example. Reid shares evidence from doctors, government officials, health care experts, and patients the world over, finding that foreign health care systems give everybody quality care at an affordable cost. And that dreaded monster "socialized medicine" turns out to be a myth. Many developed countries provide universal coverage with private doctors, private hospitals, and private insurance.

Richards, Cecile. Make Trouble: Standing Up, Speaking Out, and Finding the Courage to Lead.Touchstone, 2018.
"To make change, you have to make trouble.” From Cecile Richards comes a story about learning to lead and make change, based on a lifetime of fighting for women's rights and social justice. Cecile Richards has been an activist since she was taken to the principal's office in seventh grade for wearing an armband in protest of the Vietnam War. She had an extraordinary childhood in ultra-conservative Texas, where her civil rights attorney father and activist mother taught their kids to be troublemakers. In the Richards household, the 'dinner table was never for eating--it was for sorting precinct lists. From the time Richards was a girl, she had a front-row seat to observe the rise of women in American politics. She watched her mother, Ann, transform from a housewife to an electrifying force in the Democratic party who made a name for herself as the straight-talking, truth-telling governor of Texas. But Richards also witnessed the pitfalls of public life that are unique to women. Her experiences paint a powerful portrait of the misogyny, sexism, fake news, and even the threat of violence confronting those who challenge authority. As a young woman, Richards worked as a labor organizer alongside women earning minimum wage, and learned that those in power don't give it up without a fight. Now, after years of advocacy, resistance, and progressive leadership, she shares her story for the first time--from the joy and heartbreak of activism to the challenges of raising kids, having a life, and making change, all at the same time. She shines a light on the people and lessons that have gotten her through good times and bad, and encourages readers to take risks, make mistakes, and make trouble along the way. Richards has dedicated her life to taking on injustice, and her memoir will inspire readers to hope and action.

Rosenthal, Elizabeth. An American Sickness: How Health Care Became Big Business and How You Can Take It Back. Penguin Press, 2017.
At a moment of drastic political upheaval, a shocking investigation into the dangerous, expensive, and dysfunctional American healthcare system, as well as solutions to its myriad of problems. In these troubled times, perhaps no institution has unraveled more quickly and more completely than American medicine. In only a few decades, the medical system has been overrun by organizations seeking to exploit for profit the trust that vulnerable and sick Americans place in their healthcare. Our politicians have proven themselves either unwilling or incapable of reining in the increasingly outrageous costs faced by patients, and market-based solutions only seem to funnel larger and larger sums of our money into the hands of corporations. Impossibly high insurance premiums and inexplicably large bills have become facts of life; fatalism has set in. Very quickly Americans have been made to accept paying more for less. How did things get so bad so fast?

Wen, Leanna. Lifelines: A Doctor’s Journey in the Fight for Public Health. Henry Holt, 2021.
Lifelines is an insider's account of public health and its crucial role--from opioid addiction to global pandemic--and an inspiring story of Wen’s journey from struggling immigrant to being one of Time's 100 Most Influential People. "Public health saved your life today--you just don't know it," is a phrase that Dr. Leana Wen likes to use. You don't know it because good public health is invisible. It becomes visible only in its absence, when it is underfunded and ignored, a bitter truth laid bare as never before by the devastation of COVID-19.Leana Wen--emergency physician, former Baltimore health commissioner, CNN medical analyst, and Washington Post contributing columnist--has lived on the front lines of public health, leading the fight against the opioid epidemic, outbreaks of infectious disease, maternal and infant mortality, and COVID-19 disinformation. Here, in gripping detail, Wen lays bare the lifesaving work of public health and its innovative approach to social ills, treating gun violence as a contagious disease, for example, and racism as a threat to health.

Imarisha, Walidah and Adrienne Maree Brown. Octavia's Brood : Science Fiction Stories from Social Justice Movements. AK Press, 2015.
An anthology of twenty short stories that explore the connections between radical speculative fiction and movements for social change.

Shem, Samuel. House of God.R.Marek Publishers, 1978
A novel of the healing arts that reveals everything your doctor never wanted you to know. Six eager interns who saw themselves as modern saviors-to-be that came from the top of their medical school class to the bottom of the hospital staff to serve a year in the time-honored tradition, racing to answer the flash of on-duty call lights and nubile nurses. But only the Fat Man --the Clam, all-knowing resident -- could sustain them in their struggle to survive, to stay sane, to love-and even to be doctors when their harrowing year was done.

Shem, Samuel. Man’s 4th Best Hospital. Berkley, 2019.
In this sequel to The House of God, the Fat Man has been given leadership over a new Future of Medicine Clinic at what is now only Man's 4th Best Hospital, and has persuaded Dr. Roy Basch and some of his intern cohorts to join him to teach a new generation of interns and residents. In a medical landscape dominated by computer screens and corrupted by money, they have one goal- to make medicine humane again. What follows is a mesmerizing, heartbreaking, and hilarious exploration of how the health-care industry, and especially doctors, have evolved over the past thirty years.

Sun, Rivera. The Dandelion Trilogy: The People Will Rise. (Books One-Three)
Book One: The Dandelion Insurrection. Love and Revelation. Rising Sun Press Works, 2013
In a time that looms around the corner of today, in a place on the edge of our nation, it is a crime to dissent, a crime to assemble, a crime to stand up for one's life. Despite all this - or perhaps because of it - the Dandelion Insurrection appeared . . .

Under a gathering storm of tyranny, Zadie Byrd Gray whirls into the life of Charlie Rider and asks him to become the voice of the Dandelion Insurrection. With the rallying cry of life, liberty, and love, Zadie and Charlie fly across America leaving a wake of revolution in their path. Passion erupts. Danger abounds. The lives of millions hang by a thread. The golden soul of humanity blossoms . . . and wonders start to unfold!

Book Two: The Roots of Resistance: Love and Revelation. Rising Sun Press Works, 2013
Freedom and equality loom just out of reach as the outraged corporate oligarchy scrambles to take back power after the Dandelion Insurrection's successful nonviolent revolution. Everyone from schoolteachers to whistleblowers leaps into action to help them confront the forces of corrupt politics. But the struggle turns volatile when an armed group called the Roots shows up. They claim to be protecting the movement . . . but who do they really serve?

Book Three: The Winds of Change: A Revolution of Dandelions and Democracy. Rising Sun Press Works, 2020.
With the planet in peril and people struggling to survive, it's all hands on deck for the Dandelion Insurrection.

As natural - and human-made - disasters strike, the dandelions organize creative solutions all across the country: people-powered relief efforts, mutual aid groups, cooperative programs, community-wide potlucks, tool sharing, resilience plans, and more. Zadie Byrd Gray and Charlie Rider crisscross the United States, tracking down these hopeful and inspiring stories. Before long, a powerful shift starts growing in this fertile soil of love and resistance. Fed up with the lack of compassion in the halls of power, the dandelions launch real democracy projects in neighborhoods and communities, workplaces, schools, businesses, social clubs, and beyond.

But as ordinary people solve their problems without politicians, the rich and powerful fight back. The wealthy plot to thwart them. The corporations try to stall them. The politicians race to block them. When a megachurch preacher launches a doomsday mission to stop them, the Dandelion Insurrection faces a choice that threatens everything they stand for.

Winds of Change is a story like no other, a tale of resistance and resilience, hopeful and eerie all at once. The living Earth rises up for justice. The debts of the past come due. Teens and elders alike rebel for life and the future. With courage and love, the Dandelion Insurrection must navigate fires and floods to rise from the ashes and bloom in the wreckage. But they must act swiftly, for the clock is ticking . . . and the winds of change are blowing!

Sun, Rivera. The Dandelion Insurrection Study Guide: Making Change Through Nonviolent Action. Rising Sun Press Works, 2020.
This study guide covers the basic dynamics and strategies of nonviolent action. Discover how to plan and build campaigns, become familiar with Gene Sharp's 198 Methods of Nonviolent Action, envision how to weaken the pillars of support of your opponent and learn to develop effective strategy for the issues your community faces.

Taking lessons off the page and into our lives, award-winning author, activist and strategic nonviolence trainer Rivera Sun guides us through the skills and strategies that create the thrilling adventure of The Dandelion Insurrection. Drawing on historical examples of nonviolent political, economic, environmental and racial justice struggles around the world and using favorite scenes from the book, this study guide brings the novel and strategies of effective nonviolent resistance to life.

The Dandelion Insurrection Study Guide offers students and elders, parents and families, church groups and social justice organizations a fun and friendly way to dive into the reality of making change through nonviolent action. Featuring the newest research, the guide is useful for people just becoming interested in activism as well as seasoned life-long activists.

Use this study guide on your own, or gather friends, neighbors, and associates. Divided into easy to use sections you can use this book as a wonderful way to build community or take your book club on a great new adventure. Together you will discover how ordinary people can make extraordinary change

Gay, Kathryn. Activism: the Ultimate Teen Guide. Rowman and Littlefield, 2016.
The Ultimate Teen Guide explains why people become activists, the types of causes they advocate or oppose, and how teenagers can get involved. While students often volunteer for a short period of time for school credit, many want to continue doing more outside of the classroom. This book assists those young adults who want to learn more about specific issues and organizations.

Halpin, Mikki. It’s Your World–If You Don’t Like It, Change It: Activism For Teens. Simon Pulse, 2004.
Addresses the basics of activism to address free speech, racism, the environment, gay rights, bullying, school safety, animal welfare, war, women's rights.

It's Your World will show you how to act on your beliefs, no matter what they are, and make a difference.

The information inside includes:

* The basics of activism

* Activism projects and outreach ideas

* The 5-minute activist

* How to be an activist at home, at school, and in your community

* Stories from teenagers who have taken on the world -- and won

* Resources including books, movies, and Web sites

Johnson, Maureen. How I Resist: Activism and Hope for a New Generation. Wednesday Books, 2018.
A book for young people who are motivated to make a difference in the world they will inherit. They're ready to stand up and be heard but where to begin? This is a collection of essays, songs, illustrations, and interviews about activism and hope to show readers that they are not helpless, and that anyone can be the change.

Johnson, Maureen. Young Revolutionary: A Teen’s Guide to Activism.YBF Publishing, 2018.
A book for teenagers aspiring to make changes in their community or beyond. Designed to give teens the confidence, tools, and resources needed to be a successful activists. Written by a teenager, for teenagers. This guide is a mixture of personal experiences from the author herself and real-life stories of several teen activists. Addresses how to organize events, reaching out to your local officials, and spreading the word about your cause.

Thunberg, Greta. No One is Too Small to Make a Difference.Penguin Press, 2019.
An illustrated edition of the groundbreaking speeches of Greta Thunberg, Time's Person of the Year and the young climate activist who has become the voice of a generation.

Yousafzai, Malala. I Am Malala: How One Girl Stood Up for Education and Changed the World.Little, Brown, 2014.
This is the memoir of a remarkable teenage girl who risked her life for the right to go to school. Raised in a changing Pakistan by an enlightened father from a poor background and a beautiful, illiterate mother from a political family, Malala was taught to stand up for what she believes. I Am Malala tells her story of bravery and determination in the face of extremism, detailing the daily challenges of growing up in a world transformed by terror. Written for her peers with critically acclaimed author Patricia McCormick, this important book is about the value of speaking out against intolerance and hate. It's a message of hope from one girl who dreams of education for every girl in every country.

Reynolds, Jason. All-American Boys.Atheneum, 2015.
In this New York Times bestselling novel, two teens--one black, one white--grapple with the repercussions of a single violent act that leaves their school, their community, and, ultimately, the country bitterly divided by racial tension.

Reynolds, Jason. A Long Way Down. Atheneum, 2017.
Fifteen-year-old Will, immobilized with grief when his older brother Shawn is shot and killed, slowly comes to mull The Rules in his head. There are three: don’t cry, don’t snitch, and if someone you love gets killed, find the person who killed them and kill them. So Will locates Shawn’s gun, leaves his family’s eighth-floor apartment, and--well, here is where this intense verse novel becomes a gripping drama, as on each floor of the descending elevator, Will is joined by yet another victim or perpetrator in the chain of violence that took his brothers life. Shawn’s best friend Buck gets into the elevator on seven; Dani, Will’s friend from childhood, gets in on six; Will and Shawn’s uncle Mark gets in on five, in a cloud of cigarette smoke. And so it goes, each stop of the elevator adding to the chorus of ghosts (including Will and Shawn’s father), each one with his or her perspective on The Rules.

Thomas, Angie. The Hate U Give.HarperCollins, 2017.
Sixteen-year-old Starr lives in two very different worlds: one is her home in a poor black urban neighborhood; the other is the tony suburban prep school she attends and the white boy she dates there. Her bifurcated life changes dramatically when she is the only witness to the unprovoked police shooting of her unarmed friend Khalil and is challenged to speak out though with trepidation about the injustices being done in the event's wake. As the case becomes national news, violence erupts in her neighborhood, and Starr finds herself and her family caught in the middle. Difficulties are exacerbated by their encounters with the local drug lord for whom Khalil was dealing to earn money for his impoverished family. If there is to be hope for change, Starr comes to realize, it must be through the exercise of her voice, even if it puts her and her family in harm's way. Thomas' debut, both a searing indictment of injustice and a clear-eyed, dramatic examination of the complexities of race in America, invites deep thoughts about our social fabric, ethics, morality, and justice.

Easton, Emily: Enough! 20 Protesters Who Loved America. Crown Books for Young Readers. 2018
From Samuel Adams to the students from Parkland, march through history with the heroic revolutionary protesters who changed America. These heroic protesters were not afraid to stand up for what they believed in. They are among the twenty change-makers in this book who used peaceful protests and brave actions to rewrite American history.

McDaniel, Breanna. Hands Up!Dial Books for Young Readers, 2019.
A young black girl lifts her baby hands up to greet the sun, reaches her hands up for a book on a high shelf, and raises her hands up in praise at a church service. She stretches her hands up high like a plane's wings and whizzes down a hill so fast on her bike with her hands way up. As she grows, she lives through everyday moments of joy, love, and sadness. And when she gets a little older, she joins together with her family and her community in a protest march, where they lift their hands up together in resistance and strength.

Nagaro, Innosanto. A is For Activist. Seven Stories Press, 2013.
A book written and illustrated for the next generation of progressives: families who want their kids to grow up in a space that is unapologetic about activism, environmental justice, civil rights, LGBTQ rights and everything else that activists believe in and fight for. The alliteration, rhyming and vibrant illustrations make the book exciting for children, while the issues depicted resonate with their parents' values of community, equality and justice. This book carries huge messages as it inspires hope for the future.

Stevenson, Robin and Allison Steinfeld. Kid Activists: True Tales of Childhood from Childhood to Champion. Quirk Books, 2019.
Every activist started out as a kid-and in some cases they were kids when their activism began! But even the world's greatest champions of civil liberties had relatable interests and problems--often in the middle of extraordinary circumstances. Martin Luther King, Jr. loved fashion, and argued with his dad about whether or not dancing was a sin. Harvey Milk had a passion for listening to opera music in different languages. Dolores Huerta was once wrongly accused of plagiarizing in school. Kid Activists tells these childhood stories and more through kid-friendly texts and full-color cartoon illustrations on nearly every page. The diverse and inclusive group encompasses Susan B. Anthony, James Baldwin, Ruby Bridges, Frederick Douglass, Alexander Hamilton, Dolores Huerta, Helen Keller, Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela, Iqbal Masih, Harvey Milk, Janet Mock, Rosa Parks, Autumn Peltier, Emma Watson, and Malala Yousafzai.

Thunberg, Greta. No One is Too Small to Make a Difference.Penguin Press, 2020.
Greta in her own words alongside moving images from her game-changing protests. Collecting her speeches that have made history across the globe, from the United Nations to mass street protests, her book is a rallying cry for why we must all wake up and fight to protect the living planet, no matter how powerless we feel.

Tucker, Zoe and Zoe Persico. Greta and the Giants.Quarto Group, 2019.
Greta is a little girl who lives in a beautiful forest threatened by Giants. When the Giants first came to the forest, they chopped down trees to make houses. Then they chopped down more trees and made even bigger homes. The houses grew into towns and the towns grew into cities, until now there is hardly any forest left. Greta knows she has to help the animals who live in the forest, but how? A section at the back explains that, in reality, the fight against the "giants" isn't over and explains how you can help Greta in her fight.

Weintraub, Allen. Never Too Young: 50 Unstoppable Kids Who Made a Difference. Sterling Children’s Books, 2018.
Young readers are sure to find inspiration as they read about unique children from all over the world who were able to change the world around them and be encouraged to follow their dreams and fight for what is right.

Yousafzai, Malala. Malala’s Magic Pencil. Little, Brown and Company, 2017.
As a child in Pakistan, Malala made a wish for a magic pencil. She would use it to make everyone happy, to erase the smell of garbage from her city, to sleep an extra hour in the morning. But as she grew older, Malala saw that there were more important things to wish for. She saw a world that needed fixing. And even if she never found a magic pencil, Malala realized that she could still work hard every day to make her wishes come true.