Gay, Roxane. Not That Bad: Dispatches from Rape Culture. Harper Perennial, 2018.

In this valuable and revealing anthology, cultural critic and bestselling author Roxane Gay collects original and previously published pieces that address what it means to live in a world where women have to measure the harassment, violence, and aggression they face, and where they are “routinely second-guessed, blown off, discredited, denigrated, besmirched, belittled, patronized, mocked, shamed, gaslit, insulted, bullied” for speaking out. Contributions include essays from established and up-and-coming writers, performers, and critics, including actors Ally Sheedy and Gabrielle Union and writers Amy Jo Burns, Lyz Lenz, and Claire Schwartz.

Harding, Kate. Asking For It: the Alarming Rise of Rape Culture—and What We Can Do About It. Da Capo Lifelong Books, 2015.

Every seven minutes, someone in America commits a rape. And whether that's a football star, beloved celebrity, elected official, member of the clergy, or just an average Joe (or Joanna), there's probably a community eager to make excuses for that person. In Asking for It, Kate Harding combines in-depth research with a frank, no-holds-barred voice to make the case that twenty-first-century America supports rapists more effectively than it supports victims.

Katz, Jackson. The Macho Paradox: Why Some Men Hurt Women and How All Men Can Help. Sourcebooks Inc, 2019.

Revised and updated to include current studies, politics, and discussions, The Macho Paradox by pioneering anti-violence educator Jackson Katz is the first book to show how violence against women is a male issue as well as a female one — and how we can come together to stop it. The Macho Paradox incorporates the voices and experiences of women and men who have confronted the problem from all angles, the discussions surrounding currents events in politics and pop-culture, and where the violence is ignored or encouraged in our upbringing.

Krakauer, Jon. Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town. Doubleday, 2015.

In these pages, acclaimed journalist Jon Krakauer investigates a spate of campus rapes that occurred in Missoula over a four-year period. Taking the town as a case study for a crime that is sadly prevalent throughout the nation, Krakauer documents the experiences of five victims: their fear and self-doubt in the aftermath; the skepticism directed at them by police, prosecutors, and the public; their bravery in pushing forward and what it cost them.

Luther, Jessica. Unsportsmanlike Conduct: College Football and the Politics of Rape. Edge Of Sports: Akashic Books, 2016.

This book is about a different kind of playbook: the one coaches, teams, universities, police, communities, the media, and fans seem to follow whenever a college football player is accused of sexual assault. It's a deep dive into how different institutions--the NCAA, athletic departments, universities, the media--run the same plays over and over again when these stories break. If everyone runs his play well, scrutiny dies down quickly, no institution ever has to change how it operates, and the evaporation of these cases into nothingness looks natural. In short, this playbook is why nothing ever changes.

Stryker, Kitty. Ask: Building Consent Culture. Thorntree Press, 2017.

In Ask, Kitty Stryker assembles a retinue of writers, journalists, and activists to examine how a cultural politic centered on consent can empower us outside the bedroom, whether it’s at the doctor’s office, interacting with law enforcement, or calling out financial abuse within radical communities. More than a collection of essays, Ask is a testimony and guide on the role that negated consent plays in our lives, examining how we can take those first steps to reclaim it from institutionalized power.

Traister, Rebecca. Good and Mad: The Revolutionary Power of Women’s Anger. Simon & Schuster, 2018.

With eloquence and fervor, Rebecca Traister tracks the history of female anger as political fuel—from suffragettes marching on the White House to office workers vacating their buildings after Clarence Thomas was confirmed to the Supreme Court. Here Traister explores women’s anger at both men and other women; anger between ideological allies and foes; the varied ways anger is perceived based on its owner; as well as the history of caricaturing and delegitimizing female anger; and the way women’s collective fury has become transformative political fuel—as is most certainly occurring today.

Chemaly, Soraya.Rage Becomes Her: The Power of Women's Anger. Atria Books, 2018.

As women, we’ve been urged for so long to bottle up our anger, letting it corrode our bodies and minds in ways we don’t even realize. Yet there are so, so many legitimate reasons for us to feel angry, ranging from blatant, horrifying acts of misogyny to the subtle drip, drip drip of daily sexism that reinforces the absurdly damaging gender norms of our society. In Rage Becomes Her, Soraya Chemaly argues that our anger is not only justified, it is also an active part of the solution. We are so often encouraged to resist our rage or punished for justifiably expressing it, yet how many remarkable achievements would never have gotten off the ground without the kernel of anger that fueled them?

Gay, Roxane. Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body. HarperCollins, 2017.

Roxane Gay has written with intimacy and sensitivity about food and bodies, using her own emotional and psychological struggles as a means of exploring our shared anxieties over pleasure, consumption, appearance, and health. As a woman who describes her own body as “wildly undisciplined,” Roxane understands the tension between desire and denial, between self-comfort and self-care. In Hunger, she casts an insightful and critical eye on her childhood, teens, and twenties—including the devastating act of violence that acted as a turning point in her young life—and brings readers into the present and the realities, pains, and joys of her daily life.

Sebold, Alice. Lucky. Scribner, 1999.

In a memoir hailed for its searing candor, as well as its wit, Alice Sebold reveals how her life was transformed when, as an eighteen-year-old college freshman, she was brutally raped and beaten in a park near campus. What ultimately propels this chronicle of sexual assault and its aftermath is Sebold’s indomitable spirit, as she fights to secure her rapist’s arrest and conviction and comes to terms with a relationship to the world that has forever changed.

Bond, Cynthia. Ruby. Hogarth, 2015.

When a telegram from her cousin forces her to return home, thirty-year-old Ruby finds herself reliving the devastating violence of her girlhood. With the terrifying realization that she might not be strong enough to fight her way back out again, Ruby struggles to survive her memories of the town’s dark past. Meanwhile, Ephram must choose between loyalty to the sister who raised him and the chance for a life with the woman he has loved since he was a boy.

Knoll, Jessica. Luckiest Girl Alive.Simon and Schuster, 2015.

As a teenager at the prestigious Bradley School, Ani FaNelli endured a shocking, public humiliation that left her desperate to reinvent herself. Now, with a glamorous job, expensive wardrobe, and handsome blue blood fiancé, she’s this close to living the perfect life she’s worked so hard to achieve. But Ani has a secret. There’s something else buried in her past that still haunts her, something private and painful that threatens to bubble to the surface and destroy everything.

Novey, Idra. Those Who Knew. Viking Press, 2018.

On an unnamed island country ten years after the collapse of a U.S.-supported regime, Lena suspects the powerful senator she was involved with back in her student activist days is taking advantage of a young woman who's been introducing him at rallies. When the young woman ends up dead, Lena revisits her own fraught history with the senator and the violent incident that ended their relationship. Why didn't Lena speak up then, and will her family's support of the former regime still impact her credibility? What if her hunch about this young woman's death is wrong?

Wolitzer, Meg. The Female Persuasion.Riverhead Books, 2018.

Greer Kadetsky is a shy college freshman when she meets the woman she hopes will change her life. Faith Frank, dazzlingly persuasive and elegant at sixty-three, has been a central pillar of the women’s movement for decades, a figure who inspires others to influence the world. Upon hearing Faith speak for the first time, Greer—madly in love with her boyfriend, Cory, but still full of longing for an ambition that she can’t quite place—feels her inner world light up.

Anderson, Laurie Halse. Shout. Viking Children’s Books, 2019.

Bestselling author Laurie Halse Anderson is known for the unflinching way she writes about, and advocates for, survivors of sexual assault. Now, inspired by her fans and enraged by how little in our culture has changed since her groundbreaking novel Speak was first published twenty years ago, she has written a poetry memoir that is as vulnerable as it is rallying, as timely as it is timeless. In free verse, Anderson shares reflections, rants, and calls to action woven between deeply personal stories from her life that she's never written about before.

Prout, Chessy with Jenn Abelson. I Have the Right To: A High School Survivor’s Story of Sexual Assault, Justice and Hope. Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2019.

In 2014, Chessy Prout was a freshman at St. Paul’s school, a prestigious boarding school in New Hampshire, when a senior boy sexually assaulted her as part of a ritualized game of conquest. Chessy bravely reported her assault to the police and testified against her attacker in court. Then, in the face of unexpected backlash from her once-trusted school community, she shed her anonymity to help other survivors find their voice.

Keyser, Amber J. No More Excuses: Dismantling Rape Culture. Twenty-First Century Books, 2019.

Learn about the patriarchal constructs that support rape culture and how to dismantle them: redefining healthy manhood and sexuality, believing victims, improving social and legal systems and workplace environments, evaluating media with a critical eye, and standing up to speak out. Case studies provide a well-rounded view of real people on all sides of the issues.

Sanders, Jayneen. Let's Talk About Body Boundaries, Consent and Respect.Educate2Empower Publishing, 2017.

A child growing up knowing they have a right to their own personal space, gives that child ownership and choices as to what happens to them and to their body. It is equally important a child understands, from a very young age, they need to respect another person’s body boundary and ask for their consent when entering their personal space. This book explores these concepts with children in a child-friendly and easily-understood manner, providing familiar scenarios for children to engage with and discuss.

Wallis, Pete and Thalia Wallis. What Does Consent Really Mean?Singing Dragon, 2017.

Following the sexual assault of a classmate, a group of teenage girls find themselves discussing the term consent, what it actually means for them in their current relationships, and how they act and make decisions with peer influence. Joined by their male friends who offer another perspective, this rich graphic novel uncovers the need for more informed conversations with young people around consent and healthy relationships. Accompanying the graphics are sexual health resources for students and teachers, which make this a perfect tool for broaching the subject with teens.

Anderson, Laurie Halse. Speak. Farrar Straus & Giroux, 1999.

In Laurie Halse Anderson's powerful novel, an utterly believable heroine with a bitterly ironic voice delivers a blow to the hypocritical world of high school. She speaks for many a disenfranchised teenager while demonstrating the importance of speaking up for oneself.

Kiely, Brandon. Tradition. Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2018.

Attending an elite prep school where outdated and permissive sexual traditions allow the school's athletes to seduce female students while the administration looks the other way, a girl who wants only to keep her head down and a scholarship athlete enduring high expectations recognize their pain in each other and forge a relationship that is complicated by brutal peer dynamics.

Backman, Fredrik. Beartown. Washington Square Press, 2018.

Beartown’s junior ice hockey team is about to compete in the national semi-finals, and they actually have a shot at winning. All the hopes and dreams of this place now rest on the shoulders of a handful of teenage boys. Being responsible for the hopes of an entire town is a heavy burden, and the semi-final match is the catalyst for a violent act that will leave a young girl traumatized and a town in turmoil. Accusations are made and, like ripples on a pond, they travel through all of Beartown, leaving no resident unaffected. Beartown explores the hopes that bring a small community together, the secrets that tear it apart, and the courage it takes for an individual to go against the grain.

Leung, Hilary. Will Ladybug Hug?Cartwheel Books, 2018.

Meet Ladybug. Ladybug loves to hug! Now Ladybug is getting ready to go on a trip and wants to say good-bye to her friends. . . but will her friends want to receive a hug? Find out in this surprising and memorable storybook all about friendship, high-fives, consent, and of course, hugs.

Lynch, Chris. Inexcusable. Simon & Schuster, 2015.

Having always been considered an all-around good guy with a strong reputation in his community, Keir's life is forever changed when his childhood friend, Gigi, accuses him of rape—forcing Keir to reevaluate the events of their evening together and come to terms with the truth.

Morrison, Eleanor. C is for Consent. Phonics with Finn, 2018.

Finn goes to a party with family and friends. His parents encourage him to make his own choices about receiving and offering physical affection. At the end of the story, Finn waits for consent before holding the hand of his female best friend. C is for Consent follows expert recommendations about letting kids make their own decisions regarding physical affection. The book teaches babies, toddlers, parents, and grandparents that it is okay for kids to say no to hugs and kisses, and that what happens to a person's body is up to them.

O’Neill, Louise. Asking For It. Quercus, 2016.

After beautiful eighteen-year-old Emma O'Donovan is found on her doorstep disheveled, bleeding, and disoriented, with no memory of the party she attended the night before, viral photographs from the party set off a criminal investigation that divides her quiet Irish town.

Padian, Maria. Wrecked. Algonquin Books, 2017.

On the same night college freshman Haley sustains a career-ending concussion on the soccer field, her bookish roommate Jenny arrives home shell-shocked from a wild party. The next morning, on the other side of campus, Jordan brags to his housemate, Richard, about the cute freshman he hooked up with. When Jenny formally accuses Jordan of rape, gossip spreads like wildfire through the campus.

Summers, Courtney. All the Rage.St. Martin's Griffin, 2015.

After being assaulted by the sheriff's son, Kellan Turner, Romy Grey was branded a liar and bullied by former friends, finding refuge only in the diner where she works outside of town, but when a girl with ties to both Romy and Kellan goes missing and news of him assaulting another girl gets out, Romy must decide whether to speak out again or risk having more girls hurt.