Inspired by the work of Muhammad (2020) and building upon the previous work of Hays (2021) in using young adolescent literature as a tool for social change, the authors highlight the ways in which educators such as Amardeep Bajwa can cultivate students' intellect through literature circle-based activities. More specifically, Hays worked with local ELA teachers to create social justice literature circle units that leveraged young adult literature as a means to explore current social justice issues and scaffold an approach to leveraging skills to cultivate intellect. In this short article, the authors use and give a practical example of social justice-themed literature circles as one path toward reestablishing and centering Muhammad's notion of intellectualism. To this end, these social justice-themed literature circles and discussion guides can serve as a pathway toward action.