In the spring of 2021, I began reading a book titled When You Know What I Know by Sonja K. Solter. This book followed ten-year-old Tori in the aftermath of being sexually assaulted by her uncle. The novel was captivating as it focused on Tori's subsequent trauma and recovery. When I finished the book, it occurred to me that I had never read a children's novel with that kind of representation, despite the unfortunate amount of cases just like Tori's. The more research I did, the more I noticed a trend in the data: the majority of children's literature is represented by white cisgender heterosexual main characters. This left large groups of people unaccounted for, with even animal characters surpassing these marginalized groups as the main characters in children's novels.
Working in a bookstore, I often get requests for specific kinds of characters and storylines, and it occurred to me that I had no way of finding a list of recommendations for these underrepresented groups. I decided that this would be an opportunity for me to create that very list, and immediately got to work.
With this website, I have compiled a list of children's books that feature characters that are often not given the recognition they deserve: characters with disabilities, characters of color, LGBTQ+ characters, and characters who are dealing with their own traumas and mental health issues. Using recommendations from others, social media, and simply browsing my local bookstore, I have made this list as expansive as possible. It is far from exhaustive, but my hope is that this catalog can be used to help children find books with characters that they can relate to.