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

Outside Over There

When her baby sister is abducted by goblins, Ida must enter a strange and bizarre world to rescue her. As noted on the Harper Collins website, this book has been the recipient of multiple awards, including the National Book Award, New York Times Best…

Tags: 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)

This Day In June

This Day In June is a children's picture book made to introduce children to Pride Parades, and all things that happen during them. It carries a simple rhyming scheme with few words that allow the pictures to shine and show the beauty of pride. The…

Tags: American Psychological Association (publisher); Book; brown skin (secondary characters); colour illustrations; group (characters); human (secondary characters); language: English; LGBTQ+ (secondary characters); Litten, Kristyna (illustrator); Magination Press (imprint); picture book; Pitman, Gayle E. (author); Print book (hardcover); This Day In June (book); unspecified sexuality (secondary characters); white, assumed (secondary characters)

We Are Water Protectors

In this Caldecott Medal-winning picturebook, a young Indigenous girl must rally her community to defend the Earth's water, the most sacred medicine of all, against a black snake that threatens to destroy the land.

Tags: boy/man (secondary characters); girl/woman (primary character); girl/woman (secondary characters); human (primary character); human (secondary characters); Indigenous (primary character); Indigenous (secondary characters); language: English; picture book

Love in the Library

A short recollection of how Maggie Tokuda-Hall’s grandparents met during their time in a Japanese internment camp. A story about love as persistence and resistance in times of hardship.

Tags: boy/man (primary character); girl/woman (primary character); human (primary character); language: English; picture book; straight (primary character)

That Was Then, This is Now

Set in the 1960s, this coming-of-age novel follows two male best friends, Mark Jennings and Bryon Douglas, as they evolve and drift apart.

Tags: boy/man (primary character); human (primary character); language: English; unspecified sexuality (primary character); white, assumed (primary character); young adult fiction

Tempted (House of Night #6)

Tempted is the sixth novel in the House of Night Seriesof young adult novels about teens who are marked to become "vampyres." In this novel in the series, Zoe Redbird, who has both Cherokee and white heritage, strives to understand her connection…

Tags: boy/man (secondary characters); girl/woman (primary character); girl/woman (secondary characters); human (primary character); human (secondary characters); Indigenous (secondary characters); language: English; LGBTQ+ (secondary characters); multiracial (primary character); non-human (secondary characters); straight (primary character); young adult fiction

Heart Sister

In this story, Emmitt's twin sister, Minnie, dies in an accident. Minnie turns out to be an organ donor. Emmitt tries to put his sister back together, in spirit. He decides to create a film and interview people who received his sisters organs. The…

Tags: boy/man (primary character); human (primary character); language: English; young adult fiction

Once Upon a Broken Heart

A love story that winds between reality and fantasy. It is the story of Evangeline Fox who turns to the Prince of Hearts to her stop the wedding of her husband on another woman and to heal her heart (Amazon).

Tags: girl/woman (primary character); human (primary character); language: English; straight (primary character); young adult fiction

Love from A to Z

This a love story of two Muslim teenagers who meet at the London airport and heading for Doha, Qatar. The author tells the stories hidden behind each of Adam and Zayneb. The story brings up issues related to Islamophobia, romance among Muslim…

Tags: human (primary character); language: English; young adult fiction

There’s a Ghost in this House

A story young girl who lives in a haunted house but has never seen ghost. The mixed media illustration depict her hunt for a ghostly presence sound her home.

Tags: girl/woman (primary character); language: English; picture book; white, assumed (primary character)

Thelma, Pig and Friends Storybook Collection: Five Favourite Stories

A collection of modern fables that uses animals to portray a message of self acceptance.

Tags: boy/man (primary character); girl/woman (primary character); graphic novel; language: English; non-human (primary character)

The Bad Guys in They’re Bee-Hind You!

The fourteenth installment in the The Bad Guys series. The story follows a team of four animal predators (Mr. Wolf, Mr. Piranha, Mr. Snake, and Mr. Shark) who decide to perform good deeds no longer wanting to be the bad guys. The team is trapped in a…

Tags: graphic novel; group (characters); language: English; non-human (primary character); non-human (secondary characters)

Batpig: When Pigs Fly

Part of the Batpig series. Gary Yorkshire was a perfectly ordinary pig who gets Superpowers thanks to a radioactive bat bite. Gary, inspired by his Crimson Swine comics, decides to put his powers to good use and adopts the moniker Batpig.

Tags: boy/man (primary character); graphic novel; language: English; non-human (primary character)

What I Like About You

Nash and Halle have built a seemingly wonderful virtual connection. They have shared interests and beliefs, but Kels, Halle's fictional character, is everything she wishes she was. When Halle and her brother move in with her Grandfather and finds…

Tags: boy/man (primary character); boy/man (secondary characters); girl/woman (primary character); girl/woman (secondary characters); human (primary character); human (secondary characters); Jewish (primary character); language: English; LGBTQ+ (secondary characters); white, confirmed (primary character); white, confirmed (secondary characters)

Serena Says

“Award-winning author Tanita S. Davis delivers a heartwarming and humorous middle grade tale about a young girl who finds her own voice through vlogging and learns to speak out.” (Harper Collins)

Tags: human (primary character); human (secondary characters); language: English; middle grade book (ages 8-12); unspecified gender (primary character)

The Girl and the Wolf

A retelling of the "Little Red Riding Hood" story; in this version, the wolf is a helper, and the little girl must rely on both his knowledge and her own to find her way to safety. TheKirkus review states, "Readers will likely infer the girl and her…

Tags: early reader (ages 5-9); girl/woman (primary character); human (primary character); human (secondary characters); language: English; unspecified sexuality (primary character)

The Frozen Monster (Disney Frozen)

Follow Elsa, Anna, Olaf, Kristoff and Sven as they go on a very cold journey through the Mountains. Kristoff and Sven are convinced that they saw a very scary monster and want their friends the help find him again. But what if their eyes fooled them,…

Tags: boy/man (secondary characters); girl/woman (primary character); human (primary character); human (secondary characters); language: English; non-human (secondary characters); picture book; straight (primary character); straight (secondary characters); white, confirmed (primary character); white, confirmed (secondary characters)

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)

Being You: A First Conversation About Gender

“Based on the research that race, gender, consent, and body positivity should be discussed with toddlers on up, this read-aloud book series offers adults the opportunity to begin important conversations with young children in an informed, safe, and…

Tags: board book; group (characters); language: English; unspecified sexuality (primary character)

With the Fire on High

The novel narrates the story of Emoni Santiago’s life. Emoni becomes pregnant in her senior year at high school. As a single mom, she has to manage her responsibilities towards her daughter, Abuela, school, and her passion for cooking (Amazon).

Tags: girl/woman (primary character); human (primary character); language: English; multiracial (primary character); straight (primary character); young adult fiction

Mockingjay

This final book of The Hunger Games trilogy follows Katniss Everdeen as she discovers District 13 and becomes the opponent of President Snow. She also seeks to find her lost love, who was captured and brainwashed.

Tags: Black/African (secondary characters); boy/man (primary character); boy/man (secondary characters); girl/woman (primary character); girl/woman (secondary characters); language: English; straight (primary character); straight (secondary characters); white, confirmed (primary character)

Black Boy Joy

An anthology of stories regarding black boyhood and the experiences and joys of growing up as a person of color. Black Boy Joy brings together stories from 17 non-binary and black male authors.

Tags: Black/African (primary character); boy/man (primary character); human (primary character); language: English; middle grade book (ages 8-12); non-binary (primary character); unspecified sexuality (primary character)

Indivisible

After Mateo's parents have been taken to separate deportation centers, he must navigate life in the United States with his younger sister Sophie while going to school, maintaining relationships, exploring sexuality, and learning about immigration…

Tags: boy/man (primary character); boy/man (secondary characters); girl/woman (primary character); girl/woman (secondary characters); language: English; Latinx (primary character); Latinx (secondary characters); LGBTQ+ (primary character); LGBTQ+ (secondary characters); white, assumed (secondary characters)

Lost in Time

Mimi is a part of the Blue Bloods family line. She must face a blood trial with her twin brother Jack, where in the end only one of them will survive. However, everything they thought about the gate has turned out to be a lie. Mimi must save the only…

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

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)

Browse Items (133 total)