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40 Diverse Book Recommendations

"We Need Diverse Books" is an organization that strives to put diverse books into the hands of young minds.

Dana Rector

Feb 07, 2017

Storytellers of New Jersey

Susan P Baker

"We Need Diverse Books" is an organization that recognizes the importance of diverse reading materials for children and young adults. Representation matters and the more well rounded a child's reading is, the more likely they are to grow into a compassionate adult. For any and all diverse readers, seeing someone similar in a book gives the confidence needed to become successful. Finding diversity in books is important to me as an educator and I can always use more educating myself. So I compiled a list (it may seem long but there are so so so many I had to leave out for the sake of brevity) of my favorite diverse books in several categories. This is by no means exhaustive; these are simply books that I have been able to read so far or of which I have heard excellent reviews. Check out the AMAZING work of "We Need Diverse Books (TM)" to become better educated on books with diverse characters.

Books About People with Physical or Learning Disabilities:

1. Born on a Blue Day: Inside the Extraordinary Mind of an Autistic Savant- Daniel Tammet

2. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime - Mark Haddon

3. Rules- Cynthia Lord

4. Laughing at My Nightmare- Shane Burcaw

5. The Christmasaurus- Tom Fletcher

6. Out of My Mind- Sharon M. Draper

7. When Mr. Dog Bites- Brian Conaghan

8. Old Before My Time: Hayley Okines' Life with Progeria- Hayley and Kerry Okines

9. El Deafo- Cece Bell, David Lasky (Colorist)

10. Wonderstruck- Brian Selznick

11. A Blind Guide to Normal- Beth Vrabel

12. Fish in a Tree- Lynda Mullaly Hunt

13. Wonder- R.J. Palacio

14. Ugly- Robert Hoge

15. This Star Won't Go Out: The Life and Words of Esther Grace Earl- Esther Earl, Lori and Wayne Earl

Books with Persons of Color as Protagonists

1. The Devil's Arithmetic- Jane Yolen

2. Night- Elie Wiesel

3. Farewell to Manzanar- Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston

4. The Name Jar- Yangsook Choi

5. Nine, Ten- Nora Raleigh Baskin

6. Dare to Disappoint: Growing Up in Turkey- Ozge Samanci

7. Before We Were Free- Julia Alvarez

8. Serafina's Promise- Ann E. Burg

9. Bintou's Braids- Sylviane A. Diouf

10. The Red Pencil- Andrea Davis Pinkney

11. Ms. Marvel series- G. Willow Wilson, Adrian Alphona (Artist)

12. Kid President's Guide to Being Awesome- Robby Novak and Brad Montague

13. Hidden Figures- Margot Lee Shetterly

14. Zapato Power: Freddie Ramos Takes Off- Jacqueline Jules

15.The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian- Sherman Alexie

Books with LGBTQ+ Themes

1. George- Alex Gino

2. Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda- Becky Albertalli

3. Honor Girl- Maggie Thrash

4. 10,000 Dresses- Marcus Ewert

5. None of the Above- I.W. Gregorio

Books with Fierce Female Leads

1. The Princess in Black- Shannon and Dean Hale

2. Ruby Redfort series- Lauren Child

3. Rosie Revere, Engineer- Andrea Beaty

4. Ada Twist, Scientist- Andrea Beaty

5. Nick and Tesla series- Bob Pflugfelder, Steve Hockensmith

I hope this list has put some books in your to-read pile! Any suggestions are welcome!

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This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.

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40 Diverse Book Recommendations

"We Need Diverse Books" is an organization that strives to put diverse books into the hands of young minds.

Subscribe to our Newsletter

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1. The importance of traditions.

2. How to be thankful for family and friends.

3. How to give back.

4. What the word "community" really means.

5. That it isn't about the destination, but the journey.

6. The consequences of making bad choices.

7. To trust people, until you have a reason not to.

8. To be welcoming and accepting of everyone.

9. How to be my own, individual person.

10. How to work for what I want.

11. How to be great at giving directions.

12. How to be humble.

13. To be well-rounded.

14. How to be great at conflict resolution.

15. The beauty of getting outside and exploring.

16. To be prepared for anything.

17. That you don't always have to do it alone.

18. How to be creative.

19. To brush off gossip.

I have never been so thankful to know you.

Dealing with the inevitable realities of college life.

Don't freak out

Email the professor

Attend the first class

Keep attending class

Have a backup plan

Remember that everything works out at the end

It's mandatory to have these conversations.

1. What do you do for a living?

2. What's your favorite color?

3. Do you have any siblings?

4. What's your favorite television show?

5. When is your birthday?

6. What's your biggest goal in life?

7. If you had three wishes granted to you by a genie, what would they be?

8. What's your favorite childhood memory?

9. If you could change one thing about your life, what would it be?

10. Are you a cat or a dog person?

11. Do you believe in a religion or any sort of spiritual power?

12. If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would it be?

13. What is your ideal date night?

14. Who was/is your celebrity crush?

15. What's a good way to cheer you up if you're having a bad day?

16. Do you have any tattoos?

17. Can you describe yourself in three words?

18. What makes you the most nervous in life?

19. What's the best gift you have ever received?

20. What do you do to relax/have fun?

21. What are your priorities at this phase of your life?

Is there really such a difference in Challah bread or Easter Bread?

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