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

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)

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

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

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)

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)

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

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

Plague

Eight months after everyone over age fifteen disappeared, protagonist Sam Temple and the youth of Perdido Beach are alone with supernatural abilities in the FAYZ (the dome/barrier that surrounds them). Their dystopian world is filled with hunger,…

Such a Fun Age

Such a Fun Age is a novel about a young black woman named Emira Tucker, a babysitter who is accused of kidnapping the white child she is babysitting. She begins working for a wealthy white woman named Alix Chamberlain who, is only concerned about her…

Tags: Black/African (primary character); girl/woman (primary character); girl/woman (secondary characters); human (primary character); human (secondary characters); language: English; straight (primary character); straight (secondary characters); white, confirmed (secondary characters); young adult fiction

The Cruel Prince

The Cruel Prince follows a young woman named Jude who wants nothing to do with her mortality and hopes to be accepted into the High Court of Faerie. To win a place in the court she has to win over Prince Cardan because he despises humans.

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

The Love Hypothesis

The Love Hypothesis is about a third-year Ph.D. candidate, Olive Smith. Olive struggles with relationships and doubts that she will be able to find true love. In this book, Olive undergoes an experiment in love because she is a biologist and tries to…

Tags: boy/man (secondary characters); girl/woman (primary character); human (primary character); human (secondary characters); language: English; straight (primary character); straight (secondary characters); white, confirmed (primary character); white, confirmed (secondary characters); young adult fiction

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Big Shot

After far from athletic Greg Heffley unexpectedly earns a spot on his school's basketball team, he and his newfound teammates are faced with the highs and lows of the middle school sports season.

Tags: boy/man (primary character); graphic novel; language: English; straight (primary character)

Better Than the Movies

Now that her long-term crush, Micheal, is back in town, Liz Buxbaum is desperate to get him to notice her – desperate enough to seek help from her annoying next-door neighbor, Wes Bennet. As the two scheme and plot to win Liz her dream prom date,…

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

The Jasmine Project

This book is a romantic comedy about a teen Korean American adoptee who finds herself and also someone else, unexpectedly.

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

Girl in Pieces

This book is a great choice for someone who is going through a tough time: it has heartbreak, learning experiences, and much more. This book is about a girl who is struggling in her life and needs help.

Tags: boy/man (secondary characters); girl/woman (primary character); language: English; psychiatric disability/condition (primary character); straight (primary character); white (primary character); woman (author); young adult fiction

The Year of Secret Assignments

This novel follows three young Australian girls, Emily, Lydia and Cassie, who attend a private school. Their English teacher assigns a penpal assignment with boys from a public school who do not have a good reputation. Their names are Seb, Matthew…

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

Concrete Rose

This novel is a prequel to Thomas’ The Hate U Give. It follows Maverick, the father of Starr Carter in The Hate U Give, as a seventeen-year-old highschool student. He is a senior and a member of the King Lords gang in a fictional Black neighborhood…

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

The Outsiders

This novel discusses the disparities between working-class and upper-class gangs who are divided because of their status. It is a novel focused on teenage boys getting caught in trouble and is a first person account from the main character, Ponyboy.…

Tags: boy/man (primary character); boy/man (secondary characters); human (primary character); human (secondary characters); language: English; straight (primary character); straight (secondary characters); white, assumed (primary character); white, assumed (secondary characters); young adult fiction

Allegiant

This novel is the third in the Divergent trilogy. It is set in a dystopian future in Chicago, where people are organized into five different factions based on gene purity; the system is meant to prevent war or any other population threatening…

Tags: boy/man (primary character); girl/woman (primary character); human (primary character); language: English; multiracial (primary character); straight (primary character); white, assumed (primary character); young adult fiction

Wonky Donkey's Big Surprise

A young donkey missing her mother is excited as her father sits her down to give her a surprise. With its funny rhyming words and its charming illustrations, this Children's Choice Award Wonky Donkey sequel tells the tale of a loving family and…

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

Blood Like Magic

A teen with is forced to sacrifice the love of her life in order to preserve her family's magical powers. Being a teen, she has never been in love and is tasked with finding Mr. Right in order to kill him. She applies for a matchmaking program and is…

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

Holding Up the Universe

Libby Strout is dubbed "America's Fattest Teen," but after her mom's death, she hopes to start the new school year as the girl who can do anything no matter her weight. Jack Masselin has the skill of fitting in except he can't recognize faces, and…