The New Jim Crow: Young Readers’ Edition: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness

Named one of the “most influential books of the past decade” (The Chronicle of Higher Education), The New Jim Crow is one of the most important and acclaimed books to have been published in recent memory; it raised the consciousness of an entire nation about the human rights catastrophe of mass incarceration and helped make criminal justice reform one of the most talked-about and urgent social issues of our time. As Newsweek said, “Alexander is absolutely right to fight for what she describes as a ‘much-needed conversation’ about the wide-ranging social costs and divisive racial impact of our criminal-justice policies.”

Since its publication, the ceaseless, continuing stream of deadly encounters between law enforcement and people of color—and the Black Lives Matter movement—have made The New Jim Crow and its important ideas an essential text for younger readers. This adaptation does just that, making Alexander’s classic book—in all its brilliance and vision—available to a new generation of readers, ages 12–18.

The racism unleashed and revealed by the Trump era make this new edition more urgent and timely—and necessary—than ever. As rich in information and potency as the original text, The New Jim Crow: Young Readers’ Edition will be a vital tool for helping younger readers understand the relationship between the criminal justice system and race, as well as for inspiring commitment to working to challenge and change our criminal justice policies.