Embedded Files
We must make a concentrated effort to include diverse viewpoints in all curriculum and instruction. While many teachers currently work to do this in their classrooms, diverse representation in learning cannot be left to chance. Adding diverse texts in all classrooms - for all students - is a necessary step toward ensuring adequate and accurate representation and celebration of diverse cultures, specifically African-American culture. Titles purchased in 2016-17 were a good start but we cannot end there. Students, teachers, and parents will have a voice in decisions about future resource purchases.
Diverse texts listed below were purchased during the 2016-17 school year for elementary classrooms (1 title per class in each school).
Kindergarten
Kindergarten
- Max Goes to the Library, Klein
- Please Take Jake!, Powell
- Charlie's Boat, Holden
- Nothing in the Mailbox, Form
- Max Goes to the Barber, Klein
- Flying!, Luthardt
- Down in the Subway, Cohen
- If a Bus Could Talk: The Story of Rosa Parks, Ringgold
- Muhammad Ali: The People's Champion, Myers
- Draw What You See: The Life and Art of, Benny Andre. Benson
- Yo! Yes?, Raschka
Second Grade
Second Grade
- Pet Show!, Keats
- Jamaica's Find, Havill
- Those Shoes, Boelts
- Shortcut, Crews
- Something Beautiful, Wyeth
- Jamaica's Blue Marker, Havill
- Keena Ford and the Secret Journal Mix-Up, Thomson
- Barack Obama: Some of Promise, Child of Hope, Grimes
- Duke Ellington: The Piano Prince and His Orchestra, Pinkney
- Magic Trash, Shapiro
- Our Children Can Soar: A Celebration of Rosa, Barack, & The Pioneers of Change, Cook
Fourth Grade
Fourth Grade
- Election Madness, English
- Julian's Glorious Summer, Cameron
- Free Throw, Maddox
- Cheer Challenge, Maddox
- Go Fish, Stolz
- Julian, Secret Agent, Cameron
- Keepers, Watts
- Talkin' About Bessie: The Story of Aviator Elizabeth Coleman, Grimes
- Skit Scat Raggedy Cat: Ella Fitzgerald, Orgill
- Who Was Jackie Robinson?, Herman
- Poet, Tate
- Josephine: The Dazzling Life of Josephine Baker, Powell
First Grade
First Grade
- Messy Bessey and the Birthday Overnight, McKissack
- Molly the Brave and Me, O'Connor
- The Surprise Visitor, Holden
- Jamaica and Brianna, Havill
- So Much!, Cooke
- Lola at the Library, McQuinn
- Full, Full, Full of Love, Cooke
- Knock, Knock: My Dad's Dream for Me, Beaty
- C is for City, Grimes
- Mae Jemison, Shepherd
- Wind Flyers, Johnson
- Subway Ride, Miller
Third Grade
Third Grade
- The Stories Julian Tells, Cameron
- Meet Danitra Brown, Grimes
- Nikki and Deja, English
- Secrets! The Secret Life of David Mortimore Baxter, Tayleur
- Keena Ford and the Field Trip Mix-Up, Thomson
- Gloria Rising, Cameron
- Brand New School, Brave New Ruby, Barnes
- Firebird, Copeland
- Coretta Scott, Shange
- Salt in His Shoes: Michael Jordan in Pursuit of a Dream, Jordan
- Who was Jesse Owens?, Buckley
- Barack, Winter
Fifth Grade
Fifth Grade
- The Mighty Miss Malone, Curtis
- Junebug, Mead
- Bluish, Hamilton
- Brown Girl Dreaming, Woodson
- The Gift-Giver, Hansen
- Slam Dunk Shoes, Maddox
- Yellow Bird and Me, Hansen
- All of the Above, Pearsall
- Delivering Justice, Haskins
- When the Beat Was Born: DJ Kook Herc and the Creativion of Hip Hop, Hill
- Who Was Nelson Mandela?, Belviso
- Martin & Mahalia, Pinkney
In addition to classroom titles at the elementary level, multiple copies of diverse texts were purchased for use in book clubs and/or guided reading at the elementary, middle, and high school level. Titles listed below were added during the 2016-17 school year through district-level purchases. Many schools added diverse literature through teacher and/or building-level purchases.
Elementary Titles (5 copies each, per school)
Elementary Titles (5 copies each, per school)
- Bessie Coleman: Daring to Fly, Walker
- Bravo, Grace, Hoffman
- Donavan's Word Jar, DeGross
- A Gift for Mama, Hautzig
- Lily and Miss Liberty, Stevens
- My Name is Maria Isabel, Ada
- The Shadow of the Wolf, Whelan
- Benjamin Banneker: Pioneering Scientist, Wadsworth
- EllRay Jakes the Dragon Slayer!, Warner
- More Stories Huey Tells, Cameron
- The Most Beautiful Place in the World, Cameron
- A Mouse Called Worf, King-Smith
- Tamika and the Wisdom Rings, Yarbrough
- Cody and the Fountain of Happiness, Springsteen
- Lost in the Tunnel of Time, Draper
- Shadow's of Caesar's Creek, Draper
- The Case of the Haunted History Museum, Brezenoff
- The Case of the Missing Museum Archives, Brezenoff
- Dumpling Days, Lin
- How Tia Lola Came to Stay, Alvarez
- The Jacket, Clements
- Song of the Trees, Taylor
- The Friendship, Taylor
- The Gold Cadillac, Taylor
- Junebug, Mead
- Salsa Stories, Delacre
- What Was the March on Washington?, Krull
- The Blossoming Universe of Violet Diamond, Woods
- It's Not the End of the World, Blume
- Joey Pigza Loses Control, Gantos
- The Righteous Revenge of Artemis Bonner, Myers
Photo Credit: Kennedy Limpert
Photo Credit: Claudia Matthews
Nipher Middle School Titles
Nipher Middle School Titles
- All American Boys
- The Other Boy
- How It Went Down
- Dumplin
- Forge
- Ashes
- Orbiting Jupiter
- House Arrest
- Positive
- I love I hate I miss my Sister
- Anything but Typical
- George
- The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time
- Out of my Mind
- Wonder
- Blackbird Fly
- Tankborn
- Noughts and Crosses
- Legend
- Camo Girl
- Playground
- Will Grayson, Will Grayson
- If a Tree Falls at Lunch Period
- You Know Where to Find Me
- Beyond Magenta
- Alex as Well
- Almost Perfect
- Popular
- Hidden Figures (Young Readers Edition)
- Well, That was Awkward
- Watched
- All We Have Left
- The Five Stages of Andrew Brawley
- I Lived on Butterfly Hill
- Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom
- In the Footsteps of Crazy Horse
- Flying Lessons & Other Stories
- Ghost
- The Key to Extraordinary
- Life in Motion: An unlikely Ballerina Young Readers Edition
- Trash
- Positive
- The Dark Days of Hamburger Halpin
NKMS Titles
NKMS Titles
- Ashes
- Blackbird, Fly
- Watched
- All We Have Left
- The Five Stages of Andrew Brawley
- I Lived on Butterfly Hill
- Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom
- Abby Spencer Goes to Bollywood
- The Red Pencil
- The Way Home Looks Now
- In the Footsteps of Crazy Horse
- Flying Lessons & Other Stories
- Nine, Ten: a 9/11 story
- Ghost
- Booked
- The Key to Extraordinary
- Hidden Figures (Young Readers Edition)
- Life in Motion: An unlikely Ballerina Young Readers Edition
- The Final Four
- Trash
- Crossover
- The Fire Next Time
- Coming of Age in Mississippi
- Positive
- Popular
- Save Me a Seat
- The Dark Days of Hamburger Halpin
- George
- Gracefully Grayson
- Dumplin
- Beyond Magenta
- Azzi In Between
- Diverse Energies
- I Beat The Odds
- A Matter of Souls
- I Love, I Hate, I Miss My Sister
- On A Clear Day
- Lies We Tell Ourselves
- Taking Flight
- Rethinking Normal
- We Beat The Streets
- Otherbound
Kirkwood High School Titles
Kirkwood High School Titles
- Hidden Figures
- All-American Boys
- Counting Descent
- Black Panther: A Nation Under Our Feet - Book 1
- The Color Purple
- We should All Be Feminists
- Sweet Summer: Growing Up With & Without My Dad
- Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption
- Between the World and Me
- The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
- Kindred
- In the Time of the Butterflies
- Breath, Eyes, Memory: A Novel
- Of Poetry and Protest: From Emmett Till to Trayvon Martin
- Persepolis: A Story of a Childhood (graphic novel)
- How It Went Down
- Black Boy, White School
- Fences
- The Crossover
- Chinese Cinderella
- Little Bee
- In the Midst of Loving
- The Collected Poems of Audre Lorde
- Black Panther: A Nation Under Our Feet - Book 2
- Americanah
- For White Folks Who Teach in the Hood
- Starglass
- Believe
- Playing with Matches
- The Rabbi's Cat, Volume 1: The Bar Mitzvah
- Fifth Chinese Daughter
- This Bridge Called My Back: Writing by Radical Women of Color
- An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States
- Hands on the Freedom Plow: Personal Accounts by Women in SNCC
- A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America
- Understanding ISIS and the New Global War on Terror
- The Black History of the White House
- This Nonviolent Stuff'll Get You Killed
- The Half Has Never Been Told: Slavery and the Making of American Capitalism
- The Counter- Revolution of 1776: Slave Resistance and the Origins of the United States of America
- Race to Incarcerate: A Graphic Retelling
- You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train: A Personal History of Our Times
- Understanding Mass Incarceration
- Gender Outlaws: The Next Generation
- Enrique's Journey: The True Story of a Boy Determined to Reunite with His Mother
- This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs the Climate
- When We Fight We Win!
- If I Ever Get Out of Here
- Half of a Yellow Sun
- Born Palestinian Born Black
- A Tale for the Time Being: A Novel
- Beauty is a Verb: The New Poetry of Disability
- The Resurrection of Nat Turner, Part 1: The Witness
- The Collected Poems of E. Ethelbert Miller
- Purple Hibiscus: A Novel
- How Jews Became White Folks and what that says about Race in America
- Silent Covenants: Brown v. Board of Education and the Unfulfilled Hopes for Racial Reform
- The Education of Blacks in the South 1860-1935
- Feminism is For Everyone: Passionate Politics
- On Lynchings
- Creating Black Americans: African American History and Its Meaning, 1619 to Present
- Blue Chip Black: Race, Class, and Status in the New Black Middle Class
- African American Family Life: Ecological and Cultural Diversity
- The Crown Ain’t Worth Much
Report abuse