Looking for some recommendations for books to help teach young girls diversity (all forms). I have nieces that I want to start giving books as gifts as they grow up, and ideally help them broaden their perspectives and worlds. Links are great, I’m not a parent and started searching the internet but would rather some solid human reqs. Thank you!
Edit: just want to thank everyone these lists and recs are great!!
by Curious_Run_1538
13 Comments
The Dear America series (& Royal Diaries, too.) Girls from all walks of life through history. There’s also a Dear Canada series!
Maybe the American Girl series?
Feathers by Jacqueline Woodson
Hazel Bly and the Deep Blue Sea by Ashley Herring Blake
Simon Sort of Says by Erin Bow
Answers in the Pages by David Levithan
Deer Run Home by Ann Clare LeZotte
Rez Dogs by Joseph Bruchac
Are you thinking you want one book with lots of diversity in it, or a diverse range of books with different settings / perspectives?
Ways to Make Sunshine, Renee Watson
Front Desk by Kelly Yang
Jude Saves the World by Ronnie Riley
Sir Callie and the Champions of Helston by Esme Symes-Smith
Josephine Against the Sea by Sakirah Bourne
When You Trap a Tiger by Tae Keller
Mooncakes by Suzanne Walker
Huda F Are You by Huda Fahmy
Planet Omar: Accidental Trouble Magnet by Zanib Milan
El Deafo by CeCe Bell
The Marvellers by Dhonielle Clayton
Jupiter Nettle and the Seven Schools of Magic by Sangu Mandanna
OCDaniel by Wesley King
Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky by Kwame Mbalia
Yusuf Azeem Is Not a Hero by Saadia Faruqi
The Fabulous Zed Watson by Basil Sylvester
Amari and the Night Brothers by BB Alston
Aru Shah and the End of Time by Roshani Chokshi
Martin & Anne: The Kindred Spirits of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Anne Frank
Mightier Than the Sword: Rebels, Reformers, and Revolutionaries Who Changed the World Through Writing
Finding Junie Kim by Ellen Oh
Not Your All-American Girl by Wendy Wan-Long Shang
The Circus at End of the Sea by Lori R. Snyder
The Girl and The Ghost by Hanna Alkaf
The Science of Breakable Things by Tae Keller
The Witches of Willow Cove by Josh Roberts
Genesis Begins Again by Alicia D. Williams
Strange Birds: A Field Guide to Ruffling Feathers by Celia Perez
Maya and the Rising Dark by Rena Barron
Different Kinds of Fruit by Kyle Lukoff
Moonflower by Kacen Callendar
Don’t Call Me Crazy by Kelly Jensen
The Shape of Thunder by Jasmine Warga
Weirdo by Tony Weaver
Zack Delacruz: Me and My Big Mouth
Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick
The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang
A Place at the Table by Laura Shovan
Hoot bu Carl Hiaasen
She Came to Slay: Harriet Tubman
Daughters of Nri by Reni Amayo
Following this thread. My daughter is ten, an absolutely voracious reader who reads well above grade level, and we just can’t keep up with her! She just finished the Keeper of the Lost Cities series and is hankering for something else to sink her teeth into…
Upside down Magic for the 10yo – A magical world where there are only five types of magic. Except Nory doesn’t seem to fit into any of the categories
Cinder for the 13yo – A futuristic retelling of fairy tales where Cinderella is a cyborg and Little Red Riding Hood befriends a werewolf
The Birchbark House
Cece Rios and the Desert of Souls
Marikit and the Ocean of Stars
Good Different
The Inquisitor’s Tale
The Way Back (Gavriel Savit)
Root Magic (Eden Royce)
Elatsoe
A Snake Falls to Earth
Lunar Boy
Black Bird, Blue Road
Sisters of the Neversea
Mexikid: A Graphic Memoir
My Aunt is a Monster
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
Brown Girl Dreaming
One Crazy Summer
Akata Witch
The Endless Steppe
My 12 year old has loved:
Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper (character in a wheelchair who cannot speak using her own voice)
Planet Earth Is Blue by Nicole Panteleakos (nonverbal autistic character)
Freewater by Amina Luqman-Dawson (historical fiction about enslaved people who escape)
We allow her to read stuff with a bit more mature content and language than some others may be comfortable with, so you’d probably want to get the ok from the parents on this one to keep yourself out of trouble. But she enjoyed the first Heartstoppers book (gay characters).
Alex and the Ironic Gentlemen is a book that’s stuck with me since I was like 10, it’s utterly wacky but covers a lot of topics in a kid friendly way, like grief, extremism, sexism, emotional manipulation.
Amal unbound, ghost boys, Ghost (or anything by Jason Reynolds), Stella by starlight, brown girl dreaming, insignificant evens in the life of a cactus, Esperanza rising, the last cuentista, show me a sign (Claire LeZotte), other words for home, a song for a whale, the stars beneath our feet, freewater, one crazy summer, bud not buddy, Tristan strong punches a hole in the sky, from the desk of Zoe Washington, the first rule of punk
Clap When You Land- Elizabeth Acevedo (probably better suited for 13)
The Menagerie Trilogy by Tui T Sutherland. It’s got multiple family types, the teen and tween MCs are all different races, and there are poor and rich and middle class kids. No one cares because they’re all busy working in a magical zoo. Lots of good messages about friendship, coping with annoying siblings, and fighting for what is right.