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

From the Tops of the Trees

“Young Kalia has never known life beyond the fences of the Ban Vinai Refugee Camp. The Thai camp holds many thousands of Hmong families who fled in the aftermath of the little-known Secret War in Laos that was waged during America’s Vietnam War. For…

Tags: Asian (primary character); Asian (secondary character); early reader (ages 5-9); human (primary character); human (secondary characters); language: English; picture book; unspecified gender (primary character); unspecified gender (secondary characters); unspecified sexuality (primary character)

Alvin Ho: Allergic to Girls, School, and Other Scary Things

Alvin Ho tells the story of an Asain American Second grade boy, Alvin is afraid of a lot of things, including girls and school. At school Alvin is very quiet and hardly there, but when he's home he pretends to be a superhero who shares the qualities…

Tags: Asian (primary character); boy/man (primary character); early reader (ages 5-9); human (primary character); language: English; unspecified sexuality (primary character)

Wicked Like A Wildfire

Iris and Malina’s family have magical abilities also known as “gleam” which manipulates beauty. This ability only applies to the women in the family. Iris has the power to see flowers as fractured images and turns these fragmented images into…

Tags: Asian (primary character); boy/man (secondary characters); girl/woman (primary character); girl/woman (secondary characters); language: English; LGBTQ+ (secondary characters); straight (primary character); young adult fiction

Daughter of the Deep

While leaving for a trial on board a yacht from her marine academy, 15-year-old Ana and her classmates watch their school get destroyed, revealing a battle from the 19th century based on Jules Verne's novels 20,000 Leagues Under the Seaand The…

Tags: Asian (primary character); girl/woman (primary character); human (primary character); language: English; unspecified sexuality (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

Eyes That Kiss in the Corners

A Chinese girl notices that her eye shape is unlike those she sees at school. She looks to her family and culture to find the beauty and revolution in her difference.

Tags: Asian (primary character); Asian (secondary characters); girl/woman (primary character); girl/woman (secondary characters); language: English; picture book; unspecified sexuality (primary character); unspecified sexuality (secondary characters)

My Heart Beats

Explores the sounds that children's heartbeats make when they experience love and laughter. It features children from all around the world and demonstrates that our heartbeats unite us.

Tags: Asian (primary character); Black/African (primary character); board book; group (characters); human (primary character); language: English; unspecified gender (primary character); unspecified sexuality (primary character); white (primary character)

Mindy Kim and the Big Pizza Challenge (Mindy Kim Series)

In the sixth novel of the series, Mindy Kim, an Asian American child, enters a pizza trivia contest with her father. Mindy must help her father overcome some cultural differences and references that he does not understand, while her father simply…

Tags: Asian (primary character); Asian (secondary characters); boy/man (secondary characters); girl/woman (primary character); human (primary character); human (secondary characters); language: English; picture book; unspecified gender (secondary characters); unspecified sexuality (primary character)

Little Messy Marcy Su

Marcy Su sets out to clean up her room and herself before her grandparents arrive. By the time they get there, she and her room look great, but the rest of the house is a mess. The delightful picturebook contains elements of Chinese culture…

Tags: Asian (primary character); Asian (secondary character); girl/woman (primary character); girl/woman (secondary characters); human (primary character); human (secondary characters); language: English; picture book; unspecified gender (primary character); unspecified gender (secondary characters); unspecified sexuality (secondary characters)

Made in Korea

Two entrepreneurial Korean American teens fall in love as they compete in sales at their respective Korean beauty businesses. Despite their blossoming relationship, the rivalry is strong and only one business can succeed!

Tags: Asian (primary character); Asian (secondary character); boy/man (secondary characters); girl/woman (primary character); girl/woman (secondary characters); human (primary character); human (secondary characters); language: English; straight (primary character); straight (secondary characters)

Niki Nakayama: A Chef’s Tale in 13 Bites

This is a children’s picture book based on a true story about an American chef of Japanese descent. Niki Nakayama is a famous chef and the reader embarks on an adventure as she faces criticism and as she strives to learn about the culinary arts.

Tags: Asian (primary character); girl/woman (primary character); human (primary character); language: English; picture book; unspecified sexuality (primary character)

The Scapegracers

Sideways Pike is a teenage lesbian witch who finds an unlikely friendship in the three most popular girls of her school. Together, the diverse group of friends form a powerful coven in which they explore friendship, love, and magic.

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

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