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

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

I Love You to the Moon and Back

I Love You to the Moon and Back is a short children’s novel recounting a parent bear and their cub from morning to night as they recall all the ways they show their love.

Tags: early reader (ages 5-9); language: English; non-human (primary character); unspecified gender (primary character); unspecified sexuality (primary character)

Beatrice and Croc Harry

Beatrice is a young girl who wakes up in a treehouse in the magical forest of Argilia with no knowledge of who she is and how she got there. She wakes up alone with amnesia but quickly finds an ally in a crocodile... While working together to…

Tags: Black/African (primary character); boy/man (secondary characters); cognitive/neurological disability/condition (primary character); girl/woman (primary character); human (primary character); language: English; middle grade book (ages 8-12); non-human (secondary characters); unspecified sexuality (primary character); unspecified sexuality (secondary characters)

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

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

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)

Great Too

This fun children's book is about hockey and overcoming challenges in sports. It shows children the importance of teamwork and relying on each other.

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

What About Will

Trace Reynolds is a white-Puerto Rican 12-year-old who has always looked up to his 17-year-old brother Will. But when Will suffers from a traumatic brain injury during a football game, their family starts to fall apart. Will's depression, anger…

Tags: boy/man (primary character); boy/man (secondary characters); cognitive/neurological disability/condition (secondary character); girl/woman (secondary characters); human (primary character); human (secondary characters); language: English; Latinx (secondary characters); middle grade book (ages 8-12); multiracial (primary character); multiracial (secondary characters); unspecified sexuality (primary character); unspecified sexuality (secondary characters)

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

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

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)

The 12 Days of First Grade

What will the teacher share with us on The 12 Days of First Grade? Find out in this rhyming storybook by Jenna Lettice! Follow along to discover all the school activities and supplies for a fun-filled 12 Days of First Grade.

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

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

The Couch Potato

A couch potato believes it can live life sitting on a sofa in front of a wall of screens—that is until the power goes out and forces the couch potato to play outside. Being in nature reminds the couch potato that fresh air, exercise, and human…

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

We Are Not Broken

A memoir covering family relationships, love, loss, queerness, and racism experienced during the author’s time growing up in New Jersey with their brother and cousins, as they are raised together by their grandmother, whose legacy the book…

Tags: Black/african (author); Black/African (primary character); 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); non-binary (author); non-binary (primary character)

You Should See Me in A Crown

Living in a rich white town, high school senior and anxious introvert Liz Lighty loses her financial aid for college and runs for prom queen to win a scholarship. She grapples with school drama, romance, and family issues.

Tags: Black/african (author); 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; LGBTQ+ (author); LGBTQ+ (primary character); LGBTQ+ (secondary characters); straight (secondary characters); white, assumed (secondary characters)

I'm Not Dying with You Tonight

Switches between the perspectives of Leena and Campbell, two teenagers trying to make it home from a football game in Atlanta, through a race-related protest-turned-riot with police presence.

Tags: Black/african (author); Black/African (primary character); girl/woman (primary character); human (primary character); human (secondary characters); language: English; white (author); white (primary character); woman (author)

Pinkalicious and the Babysitter

Based on the PBS Kids TV series Pinkalicious & Peterrific, Pinkalicious and the Babysitter is a tie-in that follows Maya as she babysits Peter and Pinkalicious. WhenPeter accidentally breaks his mother’s mug, Pinkalicious takes on the challenge…

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

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)

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

Walking in Two Worlds

Bugz is a shy Anishinaabe teen girl, but online, she’s a confident video gamer. Her two worlds collide when she befriends Feng, a Muslim Uighur teen boy and fellow gamer who moves into the Rez. Together, they must learn to reconcile broken…

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

The Thing About Spring

An exciting story about a Mouse, Bird, Bear, and Rabbit that are all excited friends for Spring looking forward to warm days, lots of good food, blooming flowers, and pleasant surprises.

Tags: language: English; non-human (primary character); non-human (secondary characters); picture book; unspecified gender (primary character); unspecified gender (secondary characters); unspecified sexuality (primary character); unspecified sexuality (secondary characters)

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

Unplugged

Jett Baranov attends Oasis, a "wellness" camp that forces him to "unplug" from technology. Although unimpressed at first, Jett soon finds that Oasis is a place of friendship, mystery, adventure, and chaos!

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

Browse Items (136 total)