CElebrate DIVERSITY
and Justice through Books
Books Lists with Diverse Characters
Commonsense Media List for kids of all ages
Brightly's list of 11 Contemporary Diverse Novels for Middle Schoolers
Great Diverse Middle Grade Books for a Welcoming School
PBS 10 Children's Books with Diverse Characters
School Library Journal's Top Tween Realistic Fiction 2020
"The Resiliant Educator's Suggested List of Diverse YA and Middle Grade Novels
Relevant stories for teens
In the throes of adolescence, literature can deeply impact one’s emotional development and the way you see the world. “I think teen readers of realistic fiction want to read books where what is going on in the world is reflected back to them,” says Renée Watson, author of numerous books including Piecing Me Together, which received a Coretta Scott King Award and a Newbery Honor. “As an author, I want to create work that helps young people face and cope with reality, not escape it. I believe books that center around children who are often underrepresented in literature affirms their experiences and whispers to them, ‘You are not alone, your story matters.’”
Suggested YA novels
All American Boys by Jason Reynolds
American Street by Ibi Zoboi
Calling My Name by Liara Tamani
Dear Martin by Nic Stone
I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L Sánchez
Little & Lion by Brandy Colbert
Love, Hate & Other Filters by Samira Ahmed
Marcelo in the Real World by Francisco X. Stork
The 57 Bus: A True Story of Two Teenagers and the Crime That Changed Their Lives by Dashka Slater
The Astonishing Color of After by Emily X.R. Pan
The Education of Margot Sanchez by Lilliam Rivera
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon
Piecing Me Together by Renée Watson
The Dangerous Art of Blending In by Angelo Surmelis
To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han
Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan
Wrong in All the Right Ways by Tiffany Brownlee
Suggested middle-grade novels
Amal Unbound by Aisha Saeed
Amina’s Voice by Hena Khan
Betty Before X by Ilyasah Shabazz and Renée Watson
Esperanza Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan
Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt
Front Desk by Kelly Yang
Habibi by Naomi Shihab Nye
Harbor Me by Jacqueline Woodson
Marcus Vega Doesn’t Speak Spanish by Pablo Cartaya
The Crossover by Kwame Alexander
The House That Lou Built by Mae Respicio
The First Rule of Punk by Celia C. Pérez
The Gauntlet by Karuna Riazi
The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
The Stars Beneath Our Feet by David Barclay Moore"
The SHARE Team. "Why Kids and Teens Need Diverse Books and Our Recommended Reads." The Resilient
Educator, 2020, resilienteducator.com/classroom-resources/diverse-childrens-books/.