We needdiversebooks

Hashtag activism and the
importance of diversity in
children’s literature.

This talk for Waiver Day at Westerville
City Schools on 2/6/15.
Not all information presented is on these
slides, but if you would like to see the
resource links, this Power Point has been
uploaded to my blog:
http://msyinglingreads.blogspot.com

BookCon 2014
“The initial list of invited speakers
included James Patterson, Lemony
Snicket (Daniel Handler) and even
Internet superstar Grumpy Cat. But for
author Grace Lin, the fact that there
were more cats than people of color
speaking at the industry's most high-
profile gathering was "disappointing
and incredibly insulting." But Lin says
it was also not surprising given the
publishing industry's disconnect with
the next generation of American
readers.”
NPR.Org
There were 18 white men, 12 white
women, and Grumpy Cat.
http://msyinglingreads.blogspot.com/2
013/01/world-wednesday.html

Books can be mirrors of
who we are or windows
into the lives of others.
All of our students
should be able to see
themselves in literature,
or be able to learn
about other people who
might have different
ethnicities, abilities or
lifestyles from their
own.

In 2009, Bloomsbury
gave in to blogger
pressure to change the
cover of Liar.

Later that year, the same
publisher changed the
cover of Magic Under
Glass.

The #WeNeedDiverseBooks hashtag on
Tumblr was overwhelmed with pictures.

And awkward conversations STILL go on!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/11/20/dan
iel-handler-offensive-jokes_n_6193188.html
I'd rather continue to move the dialogue
forward in a positive light rather than a
negative one. This is a moment when our
country can grow and learn and better
understand each other. It would be nice to put
the energy back where it should be -- on the
books and what the books are saying and
doing -- ... Brown Girl Dreaming is about
writing and about the history of this country.
But more than that, it's about what this
conversation should be -- a coming to
understanding across lines of race.
Jaqueline Woodson

Publishers and awards
committees have
listened!

So where does this
leave teachers and
librarians?
How can we have
conversations with our
students? How do we
get them to read
diverse books?
We have to encourage
them to read books as
mirrors or windows.

A student in a hijab picked up
this book that was on display
and asked what it was about.
She was excited that the book
was about a girl who shared
her cousin’s name.
“Thirteen-year-old
Khadija,
a Somali refugee,
becomes a model for
a famous fashion
designer to help her
family back home, while
the designer's daughter
Freya and fourteen-
year-old Abdi, whose
family Khadija lives with
in London, try to protect
her.”

Middle grade students
are searching for
identity.
What they look like or
what there names are
might not be the way
they see themselves.
Ask students what kind
of mirror they want, and
go from there.

Do we need labels? Shouldn’t
we just be blind to differences?
Right now, it’s so hard to find
books to reflect all students
that we need to label them and
show publishers how few
diverse books there are.
We don’t need to share the
labels with students. We can
just show them diverse books
that relate to other topics that
they want.

How do I get good books to my
students? What should I look
for?

“To help her poverty-stricken
family, 13-year-old Lupita
enters California as an illegal
alien and starts to work while
constantly on the watch for "la
migra".”
Beatty, Patricia. Published in
1981.

When her father leaves their beloved
Mexico in search of work, Nora stays
behind. She fights to make sense of
her loss while living in poverty—
waiting for her father's return and a
better day. When the letters and
money stop coming, Nora decides that
she and her mother must look for him
in Texas. After a frightening
experience crossing the border, the
two are all alone in a strange place.
Now, Nora must find the strength to
survive while aching for small
comforts: friends, a new school, and
her precious quinceañera.
Restrepo, Bettina. Published in 2011.

http://weneeddiversebooks.org/where-to-find-diverse-books/
BOOK AWARDS
THE AMERICAN INDIAN YOUTH LITERATURE AWARDS
CHILDREN’S AFRICANA BOOK AWARDS
AMERICAS BOOK AWARDS
ASIAN/PACIFIC AMERICAN AWARD FOR LITERATURE
CORETTA SCOTT KING BOOK AWARDS
STONEWALL BOOK AWARDS
NAACP IMAGE AWARDS FOR OUTSTANDING CHILDREN’S LITERATURE
CARTER G. WOODSON BOOK AWARD
LAMBDA LITERARY AWARD (LGBTQI LITERATURE)
TOMAS RIVERA BOOK AWARD
SOUTH ASIA BOOK AWARD
NEW VOICES AWARD
THE SCHOLASTIC ASIAN BOOK AWARD
SCHNEIDER FAMILY BOOK AWARD
SYDNEY TAYLOR BOOK AWARD
THE JANE ADDAMS CHILDREN’S BOOK AWARDS
ARAB AMERICAN BOOK AWARD
PURA BELPRE AWARD
DISABILITIES
DISABILITY IN KIDLIT
ISLAM
SLJ’S ISLAM IN THE CLASSROOM
LGBTQIA
ALA’S RAINBOW LIST
LATINO
VAMOS A LEER
SLJ: LIBRO POR LIBRO
SLJ’S GATEWAY LATINO BOOKS
MAMIVERSE BOOKS
LATIN@S IN KID LIT

“The author's softly hewn pencil
drawings infuse life and authenticity
to her poetic, exquisitely wrought
narrative. Omakayas is an intense,
strong, likable character to whom
young readers will fully relate--from
her mixed emotions about her
siblings, to her discovery of her
unique talents, to her devotion to her
pet crow Andeg, to her budding
understanding of death, life, and her
role in the natural world. ”

Throughout World War II, in the conflict
fought against Japan, Navajo code
talkers were a crucial part of the U.S.
effort, sending messages back and forth
in an unbreakable code that used their
native language. They braved some of
the heaviest fighting of the war, and with
their code, they saved countless
American lives. Yet their story remained
classified for more than twenty years.
But now Joseph Bruchac brings their
stories to life for young adults through the
riveting fictional tale of Ned Begay, a
sixteen-year-old Navajo boy who
becomes a code talker. His grueling
journey is eye-opening and inspiring. This
deeply affecting novel honors all of those
young men, like Ned, who dared to serve,
and it honors the culture and language of
the Navajo Indians.

We need to have a variety of
books.
They need to be accurate.
They need to be interesting.
There are a zillion web sites and
a zillion titles out there but I don’t
have time to look through them!

http://thebrownbookshelf.com/
http://richincolor.com/
Reading in Color
http://twinjabookreviews.blogspot.com/

http://coebooth.com/about/
It was one thing when Jarrett's mom took care of foster
babies who needed help. But this time it's different. This
time the baby who needs help has an older brother -- a
kid Jarrett's age named Kevon. Everyone thinks Jarrett
and Kevon should be friends -- but that's not gonna
happen. Not when Kevon's acting like he's better than
Jarrett -- and not when Jarrett finds out Kevon's keeping
some major secrets. Jarrett doesn't think it's fair that he
has to share his room, his friends, and his life with some
stranger. He's gotta do something about it -- but
what? From award-winning author Coe Booth, KINDA
LIKE BROTHERS is the story of two boys who really
don't get along -- but have to find a way to figure it out.

http://www.varianjohnson.co
m
Jackson Greene swears he's given up scheming.
Then school bully Keith Sinclair announces he's
running for Student Council president, against
Jackson's former friend Gaby de la Cruz. Gaby wants
Jackson to stay out of it -- but he knows Keith has
"connections" to the principal, which could win him the
presidency no matter the vote count.
So Jackson assembles a crack team: Hashemi Larijani,
tech genius. Victor Cho, bankroll. Megan Feldman,
science goddess. Charlie de la Cruz, reporter. Together
they devise a plan that will take down Keith, win Gaby's
respect, and make sure the election is done right. If
they can pull it off, it will be remembered as the school's
greatest con ever -- one worthy of the name THE
GREAT GREENE HEIST

http://www.sharondraper.co
m
Sharon Draper is an active participant in the activities of
the YWCA of Cincinnati, a member of the National
Council of Teachers of English, the International
Reading Association, and Top Ladies of Distinction. Ms.
Draper travels extensively and has been a guest on
television and radio programs throughout the country,
discussing issues of literature, reading, and education.
She is an accomplished public speaker who addresses
educational and literary groups of all ages, both
nationally and internationally, with entertaining readings
of her poetry and novels, as well as enlightening
instructional presentations. She lives in Cincinnati,
Ohio, with her husband and a golden retriever named
Honey.

http://www.brendawoods.net
The Blossoming of Violet Diamond
Violet is a smart, funny, brown-eyed, brown-haired girl in a
family of blonds. Her mom is white, and her dad, who died
before she was born, was black. She attends a mostly
white school where she sometimes feels like a brown leaf
on a pile of snow. She’s tired of people asking if she’s
adopted. Now that Violet’s eleven, she decides it’s time to
learn about her African American heritage. And despite
getting off to a rocky start trying to reclaim her dad’s side of
the family, she can feel her confidence growing as the
puzzle pieces of her life finally start coming together.
Readers will cheer for Violet, sharing her joy as she
discovers her roots.

http://tanitasdavis.com http://www.gregneri.com/
http://jewellparkerrhodes.com
/
http://www.sharongflake.com/

Rukhsana Khan- Writer/resource list
http://www.islamicfictionbooks.com/
http://www.pinterest.com/msyinglingreads/muslimmuslim-american-fiction/
http://www.yalsa.ala.org/thehub/2011/11/10/diversity-in-ya-literature-muslim-teens

http://www.randaabdelfattah.com

http://www.rukhsanakhan.co
m
Jameela and her family live in a poor, war-torn village in Afghanistan.
Even with her cleft lip and lack of educational opportunities, Jameela
feels relatively secure, sustained by her Muslim faith and the love of
her mother, Mor. But when Mor dies, Jameela’s father impulsively
decides to start a new life in Kabul. Jameela is appalled as he
succumbs to alcohol and drugs, then suddenly remarries, a situation
that soon has her a virtual slave to a demanding stepmother. After
she’s discovered trying to learn to read, Jameela is abandoned in a
busy market, eventually landing in an orphanage run by the same
army that killed so many members of her family. Throughout it all, the
memory of her mother sustains her, giving Jameela the strength to
face her father and stepmother when fate brings them together again.
Inspired by a true story, and set in a world far removed from that of
Western readers, this powerful novel reveals that the desire for
identity and self-understanding is universal.

http://www.fziastories.com/
Zulaikha hopes. She hopes for peace, now that the
Taliban have been driven from Afghanistan; a good
relationship with her hard stepmother; and one day
even to go to school, or to have her cleft palate fixed.
Zulaikha knows all will be provided for her--"Inshallah,"
God willing.
Then she meets Meena, who offers to teach her the
Afghan poetry she taught her late mother. And the
Americans come to her village, promising not just new
opportunities and dangers, but surgery to fix her face.
These changes could mean a whole new life for
Zulaikha--but can she dare to hope they'll come true?

http://www.fziastories.com/
Aliya already struggles with trying to fit in, feeling confident
enough to talk to the cute boy or stand up to mean kids the fact
that she’s Muslim is just another thing to deal with. When
Marwa, a Moroccan girl who shares her faith if not her culture,
comes to Aliya’s school, Aliya wonders even more about who
she is, what she believes, and where she fits in. Should she fast
for Ramadan? Should she wear the hijab? She’s old enough for
both, but does she really want to call attention to herself?

http://www.nhsenzai.com/
In the summer of 2001, twelve year old Fadi’s parents make the
difficult decision to illegally leave Afghanistan and move the
family to the United States. When their underground transport
arrives at the rendezvous point, chaos ensues, and Fadi is left
dragging his younger sister Mariam through the crush of people.
But Mariam accidentally lets go of his hand and becomes lost in
the crowd, just as Fadi is snatched up into the truck. With
Taliban soldiers closing in, the truck speeds away, leaving
Mariam behind.

http://www.justreadfamilies.org/Reading/HHM.asp
http://latinosinkidlit.com/tag/middle-grade-2/
http://thelatinoauthor.com/
http://tejanamade.wordpress.com/2012/10/04/
multicultural-middle-school-novels-for-hispanic-heritage-month/
http://childrensbooks.about.com/od/culturalhispanic/tp/hispanic_latino.htm
http://www.ala.org/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/belpremedal

http://almaflorada.com/
When Margie's cousin Lupe comes from
Mexico to live in California with Margie's family,
Lupe must adapt to America, while Margie, who
thought it would be fun to have her cousin
there, finds that she is embarrassed by her in
school and jealous of her at home.

http://www.juliaalvarez.com/
Moving to Vermont after his parents split,
Miguel has plenty to worry about! Tía Lola, his
quirky, carismática, and maybe magical aunt
makes his life even more unpredictable when
she arrives from the Dominican Republic to
help out his Mami.

http://www.garysoto.com/
Lincoln is in a jam when his basketball team at
his new school--where the students are rich
and mostly white--faces his old team from the
barrio on the boards. How can he play his best
against his friends? No matter who wins, it
looks like it will be lose-lose for Lincoln.

http://www.dianalopezbooks.co
m
Apolonia "Lina" Flores is a sock enthusiast, a
volleyball player, a science lover, and a girl who's just
looking for answers. Even though her house is
crammed full of books (her dad's a bibliophile), she's
having trouble figuring out some very big questions,
like why her dad seems to care about books more than
her, why her best friend's divorced mom is obsessed
with making cascarones (hollowed eggshells filled with
colorful confetti), and, most of all, why her mom died
last year. Like colors incascarones, Lina's life is a
rainbow of people, interests, and unexpected changes.

http://www.pammunozryan.c
om
When Naomi's absent mother resurfaces to
claim her, Naomi runs away to Oaxaca, Mexico
with her great-grandmother and younger
brother in search of her father.

http://www.fromthemixedupfiles.com/2011/07/honoring-asianasian-american-
themed-middle-grade-novels/
http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/39537.Asian_Young_Adult_and_Middle_Gr
ade_Fiction
Oriental Rugs, Not People
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=112465167

http://cynthiakadohata.com/
Just when twelve-year-old Summer thinks
nothing else can possibly go wrong in a year of
bad luck, an emergency takes her parents to
Japan, leaving Summer to care for her little
brother while helping her grandmother cook
and do laundry for harvest workers.

http://www.lindasuepark.co
m/
Julia, a Korean-American, and her friend
Patrick learn about tolerance, friendship, and
patience while working together on a project
about silkworms.

http://www.yingc.com/
Nine-year-old Ling is very comfortable with her life; her
parents are both dedicated doctors in the best hospital
in Wuhan. But when Comrade Li, one of Mao's political
officers, moves into a room in their apartment, Ling
begins to witness the gradual disintegration of her
world. In an atmosphere of increasing mistrust, Ling
fears for the safety of her neighbors, and soon for
herself and family. Over the course of four years, Ling
manages to blossom, even as she suffers more
horrors than many people face in a lifetime.

Cal and Barney, Chinese Americans, are
trapped in a world of racial prejudice in 1939
with no jobs and no future until the Dragons, a
barnstorming basketball team, invites them to
join the team.
http://www.harpercollins.com/cr-
100149/laurence-yep

http://www.daveyoo.com/
Sixth-grader Peter Lee, in a desperate attempt
to regain the popularity he had in elementary
school, discovers that serving detention can win
him important friends, much to the dismay of
his over-achieving eighth-grade sister, Sunny.

https://captainstupendous.wordpress.
com
Twelve-year-old Vincent and his fellow
members of the Captain Stupendous Fan Club
help out when someone new becomes Earth's
most famous superhero, without knowing
anything about him, just as evil Professor
Mayhem and his robot arrive in Copperplate
City..
Lee and Low Books
Charlotte’s Library

Marriott, Zoe. The Name of
the Blade.
When Mio sneaks the
family's katana--a priceless
ancestral sword--from her
parents' attic, she just
wants to spice up a
costume. Awakening the
power within the sword
unleashes a terrible,
ancient evil onto the streets
of unsuspecting London.
With creatures straight out
of Japanese myths stalking
her and her friends, Mio
realizes that if she cannot
keep the sword safe and
learn to control its
legendary powers, she will
lose not only her own life--
but the love of a lifetime.

Be very careful with literature about American Indians. It
is preferable if books state a particular tribal affliation
and are not generically Native.
http://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com
/
http://www.slj.com/2013/11/collection-
development/focus-on-collection-
development/resources-and-kid-lit-about-american-
indians-focus-on/
Joseph
Bruchac has
Abenaki Indian
heritage.
http://josephbr
uchac.com/
Tim Tingle is
an Oklahoma
Choctaw.
http://www.tim
tingle.com/
Eric
Gansworth is
an enrolled
member of the
Onondaga
Nation.

http://www.fromthemixedupfiles.com/2014/02/bollywood-south-asian-american-
middle-grade-fiction/
http://www.pragmaticmom.com/multicultural-books-for-children/
https://www.pinterest.com/msyinglingreads/

http://www.varshabajaj.com/
What thirteen-year-old Abby wants most is to
meet her father. She just never imagined he
would be a huge film star--in Bollywood! Now
she's traveling to Mumbai to get to know her
famous father. Abby is overwhelmed by the
culture clash, the pressures of being the
daughter of India's most famous celebrity, and
the burden of keeping her identity a secret. But
as she learns to navigate her new
surroundings, she just might discover where

http://www.padmasbooks.co
m
Padma Venkatraman's inspiring story of a
young girl's struggle to regain her passion and
find a new peace is told lyrically through verse
that captures the beauty and mystery of India
and the ancientbharatanatyam dance form.
This is a stunning novel about spiritual
awakening, the power of art, and above all, the
courage and resilience of the human spirit.

Eleven-year-old Dini loves movies, and so
when she learns that her family is moving to
India for two years, her devastation over
leaving her best friend in Maryland is tempered
by the possibility of meeting her favorite
actress, Dolly Singh.
http://umakrishnaswami.org/

http://www.mitaliblog.com/
When a tiger cub escapes from a nature reserve near Neel's island
village, the rangers and villagers hurry to find her before the cub's anxious
mother follows suit and endangers them all. Mr. Gupta, a rich newcomer
to the island, is also searching--he wants to sell the cub's body parts on
the black market. Neel and his sister, Rupa, resolve to find the cub first
and bring her back to the reserve where she belongs.
The hunt for the cub interrupts Neel's preparations for an exam to win a
prestigious scholarship at a boarding school far from home. Neel doesn't
mind--he dreads the exam and would rather stay on his beloved island in
the Sunderbans of West Bengal with his family and friends.
But through his encounter with the cub, Neil learns that sometimes you
have to take risks to preserve what you love. And sometimes you have to
sacrifice the present for the chance to improve the future.

http://www.varshabajaj.com/
Ash Mistry hates India. Which is a problem since his uncle has
brought him and his annoying younger sister Lucky there to take up a
dream job with the mysterious Lord Savage. But Ash immediately
suspects something is very wrong with the eccentric millionaire.
Soon, Ash finds himself in a desperate battle to stop Savage's
masterplan – the opening of the Iron Gates that have kept Ravana,
the demon king, at bay for four millennia…

http://www.nccp.org/topics/childpoverty.html (National Center for Children in
Poverty)
More than 16 million children in the United States – 22% of all children – live in
families with incomes below the federal poverty level – $23,550 a year for a
family of four. Research shows that, on average, families need an income of
about twice that level to cover basic expenses. Using this standard, 45% of
children live in low-income families.
About 15% in foster care. Statistics are hard to find.

Bauer, Joan. Close to Famous. (2011)
Erskine, Kathryn. Seeing Red (2013)
Harris, Theresa. The Perfect Place
(2014)(abandonment)
Howe, James. Also Known as Elvis. (2014)
Maldonado, Tony. Secret Saturdays (2010) (prison)
Myers, Walter Dean. All the Right Stuff (2012)(death)
Vernick, Audrey. Screaming at the Ump
(2014)(financial)
Vigilante, Danette. Saving Baby Doe (2013)
Woodworth, Chris. Ivy in the Shadows (2013)
Gephart, Donna. Death by Toilet Paper (2014)
Contest-crazed twelve-year-old Ben uses his wits
and way with words in hopes of winning a prize that
will keep his family from being evicted until his
mother can pass her final CPA examination.

Aust, Patricia. Shelter. (2013)
Bauer, Joan. Almost Home (2012)
Cooley, Beth. Shelter (2006)
Ellis, Deborah. No Ordinary Day (2011)
Moses, Sheila. Joseph (2008)
Nelson, Blake. The Prince of Venice Beach (2014)
Phillips, Gin. The Hidden Summer (2013)
Pyron, Bobbie. The Dogs of Winter (2012)
Strasser, Todd. No Place (2014)
Watson, Christy. Living Rough (2011)
Williams, Michael. Now is the Time for Running
(2009)

Dowell, Frances O’Roark. Where I’d Like to Be (2003)
Giff, Patricia Reilly. Pictures of Hollis Woods. (2002)
Grimes, Niki. The Road to Paris (2006)(African American)
Hunt, Lynda Mulalley. One for the Murphys (2011)
Lupica, Mike. Heat (2006)
McClain, Lee. Sizzle (2012)(Latino culture)
Paterson, Katherine. The Great Gilly Hopkins (1978)
Sloan, Holly Goldberg. Counting by Sevens (2013) (autism)
Wolfson, Jill. What I Call Life (2005)
Woodson, Jacqueline. Peace, Love, Locomotion (2009)
Winget, Dianna Dorisi. A Million Ways Home (2014)
When her grandmother and guardian suffers a stroke,
twelve-year-old Poppy Parker's life turns upside down--but
when she witnesses a murder and has to go into witness
protection with Detective Brannigan's mother it becomes
hard to believe she will ever find a way home, let alone
save Gunner, a beautiful German shepherd with an
uncertain future.

Watson, Renee (2010)
After the death of their mother, thirteen-year-old
Serenity Evans and her younger brother go to live
with their grandparents, who try to keep them safe
from bad influences and help them come to terms
with what has happened to their family.

Jones, Traci. Silhouetted by the Blue.
After the death of her mother in an automobile
accident, seventh-grader Serena, who has gotten the
lead in her middle school play, is left to handle the
day-to-day challenges of caring for herself and her
younger brother when their father cannot pull himself
out of his depression.

Geithner, Carole.
A stunning debut about one girl's journey through
loss and grief. Corinna's world is crushed after her
mother dies of cancer. How does she get through the
funeral, trays of ziti, a father who can't communicate,
the first day of school, Mother's Day, people who
don't know what to say, and the entire eighth-grade
year? Despite her alienation from many of her peers,
including her best friend, she succeeds in finding
support. She dares to bare her innermost fears,
hurts, and wishes, and even allows herself to have a
flowering crush on a boy in the school band. She
also finds out deep secrets about her mother which
she never knew. It's a year that will change Corinna's
life forever..

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/886.Autism_in_Fiction
Choldenko, Gennifer. Al Capone Does My Shirts (2004)
Crowley,Suzanne. The Very Ordered Existence of Merilee Marvelous (2007)
Dooley, Sarah. Livvie Owen Lived Here (2010)
Dowd, Siobhan. The London Eye Mystery (2007)
Erskine, Katherine. Mockingbird (2011)
Jonsberg, Barry. The Categorical Universe of Candice Phee (2014)
Lord, Cynthia. Rules (2006)
Martin, Ann M. Rain Reign (2014)
Miller, Ashley Edward. Colin Fisher (2012)
Miller-Lachman, Lynn. Rogue. (2013)
Roy, Jennifer. Mindblind (2010)
Stork, Francisco X. Marcelo in the Real World (2009)

Baskin, Nora Raleigh. Anything But Typical
Jason, a twelve-year-old autistic boy who
wants to become a writer, relates what his
life is like as he tries to make sense of his
world.

Miller, Ashley Edwar and Stentz, Zack.
Colin Fischer.
Colin Fischer cannot stand to be touched.
He does not like the color blue. He needs
index cards to recognize facial
expressions.
But when a gun is found in the school
cafeteria, interrupting a female classmate's
birthday celebration, Colin is the only for
the investigation. It's up to him to prove
that Wayne Connelly, the school bully and
Colin's frequent tormenter, didn't bring the
gun to school. After all, Wayne didn't have
frosting on his hands, and there was white
chocolate frosting found on the grip of the
smoking gun...

Dowd, Siobhan. The London Eye Mystery
Ted and his older sister Kat become
sleuthing partners since the police are
having no luck. Despite their prickly
relationship, they overcome their
differences to follow a trail of clues across
London in a desperate bid to find their
cousin. And ultimately it comes down to
Ted, whose brain runs on its own unique
operating system, to find the key to the
mystery.

Lord, Cynthia. Rules
Twelve-year-old Catherine just wants a
normal life. Which is near impossible when
you have a brother with autism and a
family that revolves around his disability.
She's spent years trying to teach David the
rules-from "a peach is not a funny-looking
apple" to "keep your pants on in public"-in
order to stop his embarrassing behaviors.
But the summer Catherine meets Jason, a
paraplegic boy, and Kristi, the next-door
friend she's always wished for, it's her own
shocking behavior that turns everything
upside down and forces her to ask: What is
normal?

http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/886.Autism_in_Fiction?pa
ge=1

http://www.slj.com/2013/11/collection-development/lgbtq-
diversity-building-a-collection-for-independent-readers/
http://www.leewind.org/2009/12/glbtq-middle-grade-
bookshelf.html
https://vikkivansickle.wordpress.com/2013/06/13/ya-is-
too-late-gay-characters-in-middle-grade-fiction/
http://www.slj.com/2014/05/diversity/seeking-an-lgbtq-
middle-grade-blockbuster/#_

http://timfederle.com/
An eighth-grader who dreams of performing in
a Broadway musical concocts a plan to run
away to New York and audition for the role of
Elliot in the musical version of "E.T."

http://www.michaelbarakiva.com/
"When Alek's high-achieving, Armenian-
American parents send him to summer
school, he thinks his summer is ruined. But
then he meets Ethan, who opens his world
in a series of truly unexpected ways"

http://www.simonspeakers.com/JamesH
owe
The Misfits: Four students who do not fit in at
their small-town middle school decide to create
a third party for the student council elections to
represent all students who have ever been
called names.
Totally Joe: As a school assignment, a thirteen-
year-old boy writes an alphabiography, and
explores issues of friendship, family, school,
and the challenges of being a gay teenager.

http://timfederle.com/
http://www.hbook.com/2013/03/choosing-books/horn-book-magazine/on-spies-and-
purple-socks-and-such/

From the time she was two years old, Jazz
knew that she had a girl's brain in a boy's body.
She loved pink and dressing up as a
mermaid and didn't feel like herself in boys'
clothing. This confused her family, until they
took her to a doctor who said that Jazz was
transgender and that she was born that way.
Jazz's story is based on her real-life experience
and she tells it in a simple, clear way that will
be appreciated by picture book readers, their
parents, and teachers.

http://www.amipolonsky.com/index1.html
Grayson Sender has been holding onto a
secret for what seems like forever: "he" is a girl
on the inside, stuck in the wrong gender's body.
The weight of this secret is crushing, but
sharing it would mean facing ridicule, scorn,
rejection, or worse. Despite the risks, Grayson's
true self itches to break free. Will new strength
from an unexpected friendship and a caring
teacher's wisdom be enough to help Grayson
step into the spotlight she was born to inhabit?

Jewish
http://sydneytaylorbookaward.blogspot.com/
Native American
http://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/
http://www.cynthialeitichsmith.com/lit_resources/diversity/nativ
e_am/teaching/native_resources.html

http://www.norabaskin.com/Home.html
After her beloved grandmother, Nana, dies, non-
religious twelve-year-old Caroline becomes curious
about her mother's Jewish ancestry.

http://www.jeffbaron.net/
With the help of his "manager," a thirteen-year-old boy
sells a movie idea to a major Hollywood studio.

http://www.ericaperl.com/
After her beloved grandmother, Nana, dies, non-
religious twelve-year-old Caroline becomes curious
about her mother's Jewish ancestry.

Clearly, we’re not going to hit every single kind of diversity
there is.
The key is to be aware of diversity and to make sure that
students have access to all sorts of books.
Time to fill out exit slips, discuss, and assess.

We needdiversebooks

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