Belinha S. De Abreu. Media Literacy for Justice: Lessons for Changing the World. Chicago: ALA Neal-Schuman, 2022, 184 p. $54.99 ($49.49 ALA members) ISBN: 978-0-8389-4892-7

Abstract

There can be no doubt that the contributors to this work understand the gravity of media literacy and its connection to social justice. As Asha Rangappa, former FBI agent and senior lecturer at Yale University’s Jackson Institute for Global Affairs, notes in the preface, “Media literacy–the ability to discern the accuracy, credibility, or evidence of bias in media content–is now literally a matter of life and death in America.” Written in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, this book offers “school library media specialists, classroom teachers of various subject areas, higher educators, and non-profits that do work in K–12 and higher education” a space to discuss and share resources surrounding media literacy and its intersection with social justice, given the quickly changing landscape of media and the role it played during the pandemic (xix). As is the case with many broad reaching and quickly produced collections, the content is, at times, uneven and surface level. However, there are valuable resources here, especially for those who are interested in lesson and activity planning.