Browse Items · Windows and Mirrors: Diversity in Books for Young Readers

Lee, Emery

Emery Lee is a transmasc kidlit author, artist, creative writing graduate, and YouTuber. From a Black/Asian/Latinx background, e wants to diversify fiction and fight for equality. Emery uses neo-pronouns (e/em/eir) as well as he/him pronouns.

Tags: artist; author; LGBTQ+ (author); multiracial (author); transgender (author)

Silvera, Adam

Adam Silvera is a gay Puerto Rican author of young adult fiction novels who is known for his best-selling novels They Both Die at the End,More Happy Than Not,and Infinity Son.

Tags: author; Latinx (author); LGBTQ+ (author); man (author); young adult fiction

They Both Die at the End

They Both Die at the End is a story about two young men named Mateo and Rufus whose lives intersect when each gets a call telling him he is going to die that day and they connect via an app called Last Friend. This book allows readers to follow along…

Tags: Black/African (secondary characters); boy/man (primary character); boy/man (secondary characters); girl/woman (secondary characters); human (primary character); language: English; Latinx (primary character); Latinx (secondary characters); LGBTQ+ (primary character); young adult fiction

Oxley, Jennifer

An American creative behind the writing and illustration of several iconic animated series for PBS Kids and Nickelodeon Jr. Oxley is the co-creator of the televised show and Peg+Cat books. Jennifer Oxley is well recognized for her works which have…

Tags: author; illustrator; unspecified sexuality (author); white (author); woman (author)

Zara Hossain Is Here

Pakistani immigrant Zara Hossain and her family have waited nine years in Texas for their green card approval. As the only Muslim girl at her catholic school, Zara tries not to create trouble for her family. But after a threatening note, the…

Tags: boy/man (secondary characters); brown skin (primary character); brown skin (secondary characters); Christian (secondary characters); girl/woman (primary character); human (primary character); human (secondary characters); language: English; LGBTQ+ (primary character); LGBTQ+ (secondary characters); Muslim (primary character); straight (secondary characters); white, assumed (secondary characters); young adult fiction

The Extraordinaries

This queer coming-of-age story follows Nick Bell, an ultimate fanboy with ADHD. Nick strives to be extraordinary to impress his biggest crush: Shadow Star, Nova City's mightiest hero. But, he finds that his best friend Seth could be the true love of…

Tags: boy/man (primary character); boy/man (secondary characters); cognitive/neurological disability/condition (author); cognitive/neurological disability/condition (primary character); girl/woman (secondary characters); human (primary character); human (secondary characters); language: English; LGBTQ+ (author); LGBTQ+ (primary character); LGBTQ+ (secondary characters); man (author); unspecified gender (secondary characters); white (author); white, assumed (primary character); white, assumed (secondary characters); young adult fiction

Meet Cute Diary

Self-proclaimed trans romance expert Noah Ramirez is known for his blog of trans love stories, “Meet Cute Diary.” When the fictionality of the stories is revealed, Noah, who is white and Japanese on his mom’s side and Afro-Caribbean on his dad’s,…

Tags: Black/African (secondary characters); boy/man (secondary characters); girl/woman (secondary characters); human (primary character); human (secondary characters); language: English; LGBTQ+ (author); LGBTQ+ (primary character); LGBTQ+ (secondary characters); multiracial (author); multiracial (primary character); straight (secondary characters); transgender (author); transgender (primary character); white, confirmed (secondary characters); young adult fiction

Charles-Williams, Cathy

Charles-Williams is an artist. She goes by Cathy Charles or by Cathy Charles-Williams. She is Haitian, and much of her work is of the BIPOC community. She is married to Devin Williams, a professional baseball pitcher for the Milwaukee Brewers.

Tags: artist; Black/african (illustrator); Christian (illustrator); illustrator; unspecified sexuality (illustrator); woman (illustrator)

Peg+Cat: The Sleepover

Sleepover time! Peg +Cat invites their 4 Pirate + parrot friends over for a slumber soiree. Unfortunately, the pirates get homesick! This causes a big problem… What will they do to save the sleepover?

Tags: Black/African (secondary characters); boy/man (secondary characters); brown skin (secondary characters); girl/woman (primary character); girl/woman (secondary characters); human (primary character); human (secondary characters); language: English; non-human (secondary characters); picture book; unspecified sexuality (primary character); unspecified sexuality (secondary characters); white, assumed (primary character); white, assumed (secondary characters)

Soo Ping Chow, Frances J.

Frances J. Soo Ping Chow is the Creative Director of Running Press Books. She has done cover designs and illustrations for various books, including Natasha Deen'sIn the Key of Nira Ghani.

Tags: BIPOC unspecified (illustrator); creative director; graphic designer; illustrator; unspecified sexuality (illustrator); woman (illustrator)

Deen, Natasha

Natasha Deen is the Chinese-Guyanese multi-award-winning author of In the Key of Nira Ghani.Though born in Canada, she spent her early childhood in Guyana before returning in order to escape the worsening racial climate. She is the author of almost…

Tags: author; multiracial (author); professor; unspecified sexuality (author); woman (author)

In the Key of Nira Ghani

Nira, an aspiring trumpeter, fights to pursue her musical passions, which oppose the expectations of her traditional Guyanese parents. With its themes of family, friendship, and romance, this coming-of-age story explores the realities of a…

Tags: Black/African (primary character); Black/African (secondary characters); boy/man (secondary characters); girl/woman (primary character); girl/woman (secondary characters); human (primary character); human (secondary characters); language: English; unspecified sexuality (primary character); unspecified sexuality (secondary characters); white, assumed (secondary characters); young adult fiction

Paas-Lang, Sophie

Sophie Paas-Lang is a multidisciplinary creative from Toronto, Ontario. She works as an illustrator and comic artist, as well as being a designer at Penguin Random House Canada Young Readers.

Tags: artist; graphic designer; illustrator; unspecified sexuality (illustrator); white (illustrator); woman (illustrator)

Jerreat-Poole, Adan

Jerreat-Poole is an author from Kingston, Ontario. Interested in fantasy and feminism, they "study disability and queerness in popular culture" ("Adan Jerreat-Poole").

Tags: author; LGBTQ+ (author); non-binary (author); white (author)

Goffi, Nina

Nina Goffi is a "freelance creative," specialising in children's illustration and book design.

Tags: graphic designer; illustrator; straight (designer); white (designer); woman (designer)

Gratz, Alan

Gratz is a bestselling author of young adult literature who comes from Tennessee.

Tags: author; man (author); straight (author); white (author)

Hardinge, Frances

Frances Hardinge is a children's author from Kent, England, who has a love for dark stories. Highly praised, she has written eight books to date and has been part of the Royal Society of Literature since 2018.

Tags: author; unspecified sexuality (author); white (author); woman (author)

Chong, Vincent

Chong, who lives and works in the United Kingdom, is an "award-winning freelance illustrator and designer", whose varied projects have been published internationally.

Tags: Asian (illustrator); graphic designer; illustrator; man (illustrator); unspecified sexuality (illustrator)

The Shortest Day

Carson's illustrations accompany the text of Cooper's poem "The Shortest Day," initially written for stage performances. The book explores the celebration of the year's shortest day in the past and in the present, showing many races, genders, and…

Tags: Asian (secondary characters); boy/man (secondary characters); brown skin (secondary characters); girl/woman (secondary characters); group (characters); human (secondary characters); language: English; picture book; white, assumed (secondary characters)

Ellis, Carson

In addition to writing and illustrating her own picture books, Ellis is well-known for her illustrations in children’s books like Trenton Lee Stewart’s The Mysterious Benedict Society, Lemony Snicket’s The Composer is Dead, and her husband Colin…

Tags: author; illustrator; unspecified sexuality (illustrator); white (illustrator); woman (illustrator)

Cooper, Susan

Cooper is an English children’s author best known for her young adult fantasy series The Dark is Rising. She was awarded the Newbery Medal in 1976 and the Margaret A. Edwards Award in 2012, recognizing her lifetime contribution to writing for teens.

Tags: author; unspecified sexuality (author); white (author); woman (author)

The Boi of Feather and Steel

This book is the second one in the queer witchy fantasy duologyMetamorphosis(sequel toThe Girl of Hawthorne and Glass). The three main characters are Eli, a female white assasin, Tav, a black magic queer boi, and Kite, a blue-skinned witch. In the…

Tags: Black/African (primary character); girl/woman (primary character); human (primary character); language: English; LGBTQ+ (primary character); non-binary (primary character); non-human (primary character); white, assumed (primary character); young adult fiction

Tokyo Ever After

Izumi Tanaka has never really felt like she fit in—it isn’t easy being Japanese American in her small, mostly white, northern California town. Raised by a single mother, it’s always been Izumi—or Izzy, because “It’s easier this way”—and her mom…

Tags: Asian (primary character); Asian (secondary characters); boy/man (secondary characters); girl/woman (primary character); girl/woman (secondary characters); human (primary character); human (secondary characters); language: English; unspecified sexuality (primary character); young adult fiction

Deeplight

In this fantasy story, the Gods have disappeared for over 30 years and divers search for some of their remains. Hark finds a divine heart to save his best friend Jelt, but the divine does not seem to mingle well with the human. The book follows two…

Tags: boy/man (primary character); girl/woman (secondary characters); human (primary character); human (secondary characters); language: English; unspecified sexuality (primary character); unspecified sexuality (secondary characters); young adult fiction

Refugee

Refugeefollows three children escaping three different traumatic situations: in the 1930s, a Jewish boy named Josef escapes Nazi Germany; in 1994, a girl named Isabel tries to leave Cuba to go to America; and in 2015, a Syrian boy named Mahmoud is on…

Tags: Arab (primary character); boy/man (primary character); girl/woman (primary character); human (primary character); Jewish (primary character); language: English; Latinx (primary character); middle grade book (ages 8-12); Muslim (primary character); unspecified sexuality (primary character); white, assumed (primary character)

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