A Children's Book that Focuses on Social Issues

The first book I thought of for this topic was again To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.  However, I'm not confident that To Kill a Mockingbird is considered a children's book.  Another book that I very recently read is Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis.  To me, Elijah of Buxton focuses on similar social issues as To Kill a Mockingbird with the same warmth and humor.  Perhaps, To Kill a Mockingbird is widely considered a young adult book.  Elijah of Buxton is a popular historical fiction children's book that even won the 2008 Newbery Honor.  The novel is narrated by the title character, 11-year-old Elijah Freedman, a first generation free-born child living in the free-black community Buxton County, Canada.  Elijah and his family just escaped the oppression of a pre-Emancipation Proclamation and pre-Civil War United States.  Nevertheless, Elijah of Buxton is a about a boy growing up, especially as an unexpected adventure takes him into the United States and he sees racial injustice so openly.

The obvious social issue this novel focuses on is racism.  Elijah was born free and lives in a free community, but in a time when African Americans are slaves in the United States.  There are some great moments in this novel that can be used as an opportunity for parents and teachers to talk about racism.  For example, when Elijah calls himself and his classmates the N-word.  Even though his parents and his teachers have taught him that the N-word is disrespectful, it's not until his neighbor, Mr. Leroy, scolds him that he understands that it's a derogatory term.  Mr. Leroy has a powerful moment when he tells Elijah that it doesn't matter who says the N-word because it's still hateful and disrespectful.  I find this scene in the novel very relevant to today because is word is still prevalent, sometimes among African Americans.  When reading this with children, I think it would be a great opportunity to talk about the N-word.  

To connect this to Getting Beyond "I Like the Book" by Vivian Vasquez, it's clear that this issue is not above children.  Children are able to make these connections at very young ages and if we can't create an open environment in which children can express their feelings, they will just feel isolated.  In particular, I read To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee at a very young age.  Some strong social issues were above me when I first read it, but the racism I read about deeply saddened me and opened my eyes to injustices that I hadn't yet experienced.  It also put me on a path that opposed such injustices that I have since carried with me.  I read Elijah of Buxton years after I read To Kill a Mockingbird, but I think Elijah of Buxton has a similar affect as To Kill a Mockingbird that is specifically targeted to younger audiences.