Linda Soules Releases 'So You Want To Be An Activist,' a Kids' Guide to Social Justice and Community Organizing

Author Linda Soules has released So You Want To Be An Activist: A Kids' Guide to Activism, Social Justice, Community Organizing, and the Courageous Changemakers Who Stand Up and Speak Out to Make the World Better, a 42-page children's nonfiction book for readers ages 10 to 14. The book is available at https://www.amazon.com/dp/1972766457 (ISBN 978-1-972766-45-3). It is also suited to shared reading with children ages 8 and 9. It presents activism as a learnable craft built on listening, writing, organizing and patience, rather than as a matter of volume or temperament. The title has won the Literary Titan Gold Book Award, the Grand Prize in the 2026 Purple Dragonfly Book Awards, and the Silver Award in Children's Nonfiction at the 2026 CIPA EVVY Book Awards. It is the latest entry in Soules's So You Want To Be A… series of career and curiosity guides.

Children often notice unfairness before they have any formal way to respond to it. Schools teach civics and government largely as structure: three branches, a voting age, an election calendar. Fewer resources explain what ordinary people do between elections, or how a petition, a phone call or a community meeting can add up to change. For a ten-year-old who is upset about a local park closing, a school policy or a climate headline, the usual answer is to wait until adulthood. Parents and teachers looking for age-appropriate material on peaceful protest, advocacy and leadership have limited options that avoid both oversimplification and lecturing. So You Want To Be An Activist is written for that gap, for the child who notices a problem and can't let it go.

The book opens with a plain question: what does an activist actually do, day to day, and where does the real work happen? Soules answers it by describing the tools of the trade, among them the petition, the megaphone, the spreadsheet and the handmade sign. The spreadsheet's place on that list is deliberate. The book treats organizing as logistics as much as passion, involving lists of supporters, phone calls and follow-up. A section titled "A Day in the Life" follows a working organizer through an ordinary day, including quiet hours at a kitchen table making calls that nobody will see. The book also covers the best and hardest parts of the work, including the thrilling wins and the slow middle that most accounts of social movements skip.

The second half of the book builds on that foundation with history, vocabulary and practical next steps. It profiles four changemakers: Frederick Douglass, Wangari Maathai, Malala Yousafzai and Mohandas Gandhi. It also traces how movements to end child labor and to win women the right to vote began with a few determined people. A kid-friendly glossary defines civic terms including advocacy, boycott, grassroots, solidarity and civil disobedience. Fun facts break up the narrative, and a chapter on the qualities of an activist includes a few skills readers might not expect to need. The book closes with concrete first steps a young reader can take immediately and a "Could this be you?" self-assessment that helps children picture themselves in the work.

Most children's books on social justice are either biography collections or inspirational picture books. This title combines the two with a how-to approach. Its biographical profiles sit alongside a description of the work itself: what organizers do, which skills matter, and what the process feels like when progress is slow. The book does not promise that passion alone produces results. It tells readers that change often depends on repetition, coordination and patience, and that those qualities can be learned. It is written at the level of its intended audience, ages 10 to 14, and avoids simplified moralizing. That approach follows the editorial rule Soules applies across her series: never talk down to young readers.

"Kids notice unfairness early. I wanted to show them the honest work, including the slow parts, because they don't have to wait until they can vote to have a voice," said Linda Soules, author of the So You Want To Be A… series.

The book is aimed at several groups of readers. Children who are already concerned about their community, their planet or the people around them get a practical introduction to how others have acted on similar concerns. Parents get a gift option for a justice-minded child that does not require a political position to explain. Teachers and librarians can pair it with lessons on civics, government, social studies, peaceful protest, leadership and how change really happens. A middle school class studying the suffrage movement could use the book to connect that history to present-day organizing. A school librarian could add it to a community-engagement display. A parent could read it aloud with a younger sibling, since the author notes it works as a shared read for ages 8 and 9.

The book has received recognition from three independent award programs. The Literary Titan Gold Book Award, the Purple Dragonfly Book Awards Grand Prize for 2026, and the CIPA EVVY Book Awards Silver Award in Children's Nonfiction for 2026 each assess entries on their own criteria. For librarians, educators and parents weighing a purchase, the awards offer outside signals about the book's content and production quality. The title is also part of an established series, which means readers who respond to its approach can find dozens of related guides covering other careers and passions.

So You Want To Be An Activist is available now through Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/dp/1972766457. The book runs 42 pages and carries ISBN 978-1-972766-45-3. It is categorized as children's nonfiction. Readers can use the ISBN to request the book through libraries, schools or bookstores that order through standard channels. Pricing and available formats are listed on the product page. Educators and librarians interested in classroom or collection use can find the purchasing details there as well. The book is positioned as a home, classroom or library title and as a gift for children who care about fairness and community.

The book belongs to a series that Soules envisions spanning more than 180 titles, with more than 60 published to date and new releases arriving on a steady cadence. Existing volumes cover careers as varied as astronaut, marine biologist, magician, stunt performer and roller coaster designer. Each title aims to pull back the curtain on a real line of work, including its rewards, its challenges and the path to get there. Adding activism to that list extends the series from jobs into civic life, treating the work of changing a community as something a young reader can study and eventually practice. Further releases will continue to cover a wide range of passions and curiosities.

About Linda Soules and the So You Want To Be A… series: Linda Soules is the author and creator of the So You Want To Be A… series, a growing collection of career-exploration books for readers ages 10 to 14 and beyond. The series is envisioned to span more than 180 titles, with more than 60 published to date. Before turning to children's publishing, Soules spent 25 years in law and finance, advising hedge funds. Her stated philosophy is that young readers are smarter, more curious and more capable than the publishing world often assumes, and that they deserve books that respect their intelligence. So You Want To Be An Activist is available at https://www.amazon.com/dp/1972766457.