All You Have To Do

Kevin and Gibran are two young Black men, a generation apart, who struggle to navigate racism and injustice while attending prestigious educational institutions during two important moments in the Black civil rights movement. Wanting to be a force for positive change, the young men consider acts of civil disobedience, and their complex, progressive, and socially minded characters help readers engage with the book’s powerful themes about the importance of activism and the risks and costs of creating meaningful change in society. In a senior secondary classroom, the novel lends itself well for independent study or in literature circles. Students may be challenged to examine the novel’s themes from different perspectives and think critically about the issues the story addresses.