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    • Jul 24, 2020
    • 15 min read

Books with Diverse Characters

Stated grade levels are a starting point only. Reading levels and topic (subject) appropriateness should always be considered with the individual reader in mind.


Picture Books:

A is for Activist by Innosanto Nagara

Ada Twist, Scientist by Andrea Beaty

All Moms by Sarah Kate Ellis


Around the World Right Now by Gina Cascone B is for Baby by Atinuke


Between Us and Abuela by Mitali Perkins

Birds on Wishbone Street by Suzanne Del Rizzo

Black is Brown is Tan by Arnold Adoff


Black, White, Just Right! by Marguerite W. Davol

Carmela Full of Wishes by Matt de la Peña

The Cat Man of Aleppo by Karim Shamsi-Basha

The Cazuela That the Farm Maiden Stirred by Samantha R. Vamos

Cece Loves Science by Kimberly Derting

Chocolate Me! by Taye Diggs


The Colors of Us by Karen Katz

Come with Me by Holly M. McGhee


The Day You Begin by Jacqueline Woodson

Drawn Together by Minh Le


Dreamers by Yuyi Morales

Everywhere Babies by Susan Meyers


The Family Book by Todd Parr

Festival of Colors by Kabir Sehgal

Fry Bread by Kevin Maillard


Grandpa Grumps by Katrina Moore

Happy in Our Skin by Fran Manushkin

I am the Subway by Hyo-eun Kim


I Is for Immigrants by Selina Alko

I Walk with Vanessa by Kerascoet



Jabari Jumps by Gaia Cornwall

Just Ask by Sonia Sotomayor

The King of Kindergarten by Derrick Barnes

Last Stop on Market Street by Matt de la Peña


Looking for a Jumbie by Tracey Baptiste


Mary Had a Little Glam by Tammi Sauer


My Heart Flies Open by Achikeobi-Lewis

My Name is Bana by Bana Alabed

My Nose, Your Nose by Melanie Walsh


The New Small Person by Lauren Child

The Passover Guest by Susan Kusel

Princess Hair by Sharee Miller


Princess Truly in I Am Truly by Kelly Greenawalt

The Shape of Home by Rashin Kheiriyeh

The Skin You Live In by Michael Tyler

Small World by Ishta Mercurio


The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats

Song of the Old City by Anna Pellicioli

The Sour Cherry Tree by Hrab Naseem

Special People Special Ways by Arlene H. Maguire


Too Small Tola by Atinuke

Twenty Yawns by Jane Smiley


Up, Up, Up, Down by Kimberly Gee

Thunder Boy Jr. by Sherman Alexie

What's the Difference? by Doyin Richards





Grades K-2:

Captain Dom's Treasure (Definitely Dominguita #2) by Terry Catasus Jennings

Don't Throw it to Mo (Mo Jackson) by David A. Adler


I Love Being Me! by Mechal Renee Roe

Katie Woo Super Scout (Katie Woo) by Fran Manushkin

Ling and Ting: Not Exacty the Same! (Ling and Ting) by Grace Lin (Audiobook)


New Kid (New Kid #1) by Jerry Craft


Pashmina by Nidhi Chanani

Stargazing by Jen Wang

Twins (Twins #1) by Varian Johnson

Ty's Travels: Zip, Zoom! (Ty's Travels) by Kelly Starling Lyons


Yasmin the Chef (Yasmin #5) by Saadia Faruqi



Grades 3-4:

The Bridge Home by Padma Venkatraman

Brother's Keeper by Julie Lee

The Case for Loving by Selina Alko




City of the Plague God by Sarwat Chadda

Best-selling author Rick Riordan presents CITY OF THE PLAGUE GOD, an adventure based on ancient Mesopotamian mythology written by Sarwat Chadda, author of the Ash Mistry series.


Thirteen-year-old Sik wants a simple life going to school and helping at his parents' deli in the evenings. But all that is blown to smithereens when Nergal comes looking for him, thinking that Sik holds the secret to eternal life.Turns out Sik is immortal but doesn't know it, and that's about to get him and the entire city into deep, deep trouble. Sik's not in this alone. He's got Belet, the adopted daughter of Ishtar, the goddess of love and war, on his side, and a former hero named Gilgamesh, who has taken up gardening in Central Park. Now all they have to do is retrieve the Flower of Immortality to save Manhattan from being wiped out by disease. To succeed, they'll have to conquer sly demons, treacherous gods, and their own darkest nightmares.



Clayton Byrd Goes Underground by Rita Williams-Garcia

The Crossover by Kwame Alexander




Efren Divided: A Novel by Ernesto Cisneros

Winner of the Pura Belpré Award!


Efrén Nava’s Amá is his Superwoman—or Soperwoman, named after the delicious Mexican sopes his mother often prepares. Both Amá and Apá work hard all day to provide for the family, making sure Efrén and his younger siblings Max and Mía feel safe and loved.

But Efrén worries about his parents; although he’s American-born, his parents are undocumented. His worst nightmare comes true one day when Amá doesn’t return from work and is deported across the border to Tijuana, México.

Now more than ever, Efrén must channel his inner Soperboy to help take care of and try to reunite his family.






Ellie and the Good-Luck Pig (The Critter Club #10) by Callie Barkley

Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes

Gone Crazy in Alabama (Gaither Sisters #3) by Rita Williams-Garcia




A Good Kind of Trouble by Lisa More Ramee

From debut author Lisa Moore Ramée comes this funny and big-hearted debut middle grade novel about friendship, family, and standing up for what’s right, perfect for fans of Angie Thomas’s The Hate U Give and the novels of Renée Watson and Jason Reynolds.


Twelve-year-old Shayla is allergic to trouble. All she wants to do is to follow the rules. (Oh, and she’d also like to make it through seventh grade with her best friendships intact, learn to run track, and have a cute boy see past her giant forehead.)


But in junior high, it’s like all the rules have changed. Now she’s suddenly questioning who her best friends are and some people at school are saying she’s not black enough. Wait, what?


Shay’s sister, Hana, is involved in Black Lives Matter, but Shay doesn't think that's for her. After experiencing a powerful protest, though, Shay decides some rules are worth breaking. She starts wearing an armband to school in support of the Black Lives movement. Soon everyone is taking sides. And she is given an ultimatum.


Shay is scared to do the wrong thing (and even more scared to do the right thing), but if she doesn't face her fear, she'll be forever tripping over the next hurdle. Now that’s trouble, for real.




The Great Shelby Holmes and the Coldest Case (The Great Shelby Holmes #3) by Elizabeth Eulberg

The Haunted House Next Door (Desmond Cole Ghost Patrol #1) by Andres Miedoso





I Can Make This Promise by Christine Day

In her debut middle grade novel—inspired by her family’s history—Christine Day tells the story of a girl who uncovers her family’s secrets—and finds her own Native American identity.

All her life, Edie has known that her mom was adopted by a white couple. So, no matter how curious she might be about her Native American heritage, Edie is sure her family doesn’t have any answers.

Until the day when she and her friends discover a box hidden in the attic—a box full of letters signed “Love, Edith,” and photos of a woman who looks just like her.

Suddenly, Edie has a flurry of new questions about this woman who shares her name. Could she belong to the Native family that Edie never knew about? But if her mom and dad have kept this secret from her all her life, how can she trust them to tell her the truth now?





Indian No More by Charlene Willing McManis

Editors' Choices for Books for Youth, Booklist

Best of the Best Books of 2019, Chicago Public Library

Starred review, School Library Journal

Starred review, Booklist

Best Books of 2019, American Indians in Children's Literature


Regina Petit's family has always been Umpqua, and living on the Grand Ronde reservation is all ten-year-old Regina has ever known. Her biggest worry is that Sasquatch may actually exist out in the forest. But when the federal government signs a bill into law that says Regina's tribe no longer exists, Regina becomes "Indian no more" overnight--even though she was given a number by the Bureau of Indian Affairs that counted her as Indian, even though she lives with her tribe and practices tribal customs, and even though her ancestors were Indian for countless generations.


With no good jobs available in Oregon, Regina's father signs the family up for the Indian Relocation program and moves them to Los Angeles. Regina finds a whole new world in her neighborhood on 58th Place. She's never met kids of other races, and they've never met a real Indian. For the first time in her life, Regina comes face to face with the viciousness of racism, personally and toward her new friends.


Meanwhile, her father believes that if he works hard, their family will be treated just like white Americans. But it's not that easy. It's 1957 during the Civil Rights Era. The family struggles without their tribal community and land. At least Regina has her grandmother, Chich, and her stories. At least they are all together.


In this moving middle-grade novel drawing upon Umpqua author Charlene Willing McManis's own tribal history, Regina must find out: Who is Regina Petit? Is she Indian? Is she American? And will she and her family ever be okay?





Jada Jones Rock Star (Jada Jones #1) by Kelly Starling Lyons

Juana & Lucas (Juana and Lucas #1) by Juana Medina




King and the Dragonflies by Kacen Callender

In a small but turbulent Louisiana town, one boy's grief takes him beyond the bayous of his backyard, to learn that there is no right way to be yourself.


Twelve-year-old Kingston James is sure his brother Khalid has turned into a dragonfly. When Khalid unexpectedly passed away, he shed what was his first skin for another to live down by the bayou in their small Louisiana town. Khalid still visits in dreams, and King must keep these secrets to himself as he watches grief transform his family.


It would be easier if King could talk with his best friend, Sandy Sanders. But just days before he died, Khalid told King to end their friendship, after overhearing a secret about Sandy-that he thinks he might be gay. "You don't want anyone to think you're gay too, do you?"


But when Sandy goes missing, sparking a town-wide search, and King finds his former best friend hiding in a tent in his backyard, he agrees to help Sandy escape from his abusive father, and the two begin an adventure as they build their own private paradise down by the bayou and among the dragonflies. As King's friendship with Sandy is reignited, he's forced to confront questions about himself and the reality of his brother's death.


The Thing About Jellyfish meets The Stars Beneath Our Feet in this story about loss, grief, and finding the courage to discover one's identity, from the author of Hurricane Child.




Kira-Kira by Cynthia Kadohata

Let's Talk about Race by Julius Lester






The Magical Reality of Nadia (The Magical Reality of Nadia #1) by Youssef

Inspired by the author's real life experiences, this rollicking, charming novel follows sixth grade Egyptian immigrant Nadia as she navigates the ups and downs of friendships, racism, and some magic, too!


Nadia loves fun facts. Here are a few about her:

• She collects bobbleheads -- she has 77 so far.

• She moved from Egypt to America when she was six years old.

• The hippo amulet she wears is ancient... as in it's literally from ancient Egypt.

• She's going to win the contest to design a new exhibit at the local museum. Because how cool would that be?!

(Okay, so that last one isn't a fact just yet, but Nadia has plans to make it one.)

But then a new kid shows up and teases Nadia about her Egyptian heritage. It's totally unexpected, and totally throws her off her game.

And something else happens that Nadia can't explain: Her amulet starts glowing! She soon discovers that the hippo is holding a hilarious -- and helpful -- secret. Can she use it to confront the new kid and win the contest?

From political satirist and comedian Bassem Youssef, aka The Jon Stewart of the Arab World, and author Catherine R. Daly comes a humorous and heartfelt story about prejudice, friendship, empathy, and courage.

Includes sections of black-and-white comics as well as lively black-and-white illustrations throughout.






March of the Mini Beasts (The Data Set #1) by Ada Hopper






Measuring Up by Lily LaMotte

For fans of American Born Chinese and Roller Girl, Measuring Up is an own voices graphic novel debut from Lily LaMotte and Ann Xu!


Twelve-year-old Cici has just moved from Taiwan to Seattle, and the only thing she wants more than to fit in at her new school is to celebrate her grandmother, A-má’s, seventieth birthday together.


Since she can’t go to A-má, Cici cooks up a plan to bring A-má to her by winning the grand prize in a kids’ cooking contest to pay for A-má’s plane ticket! There’s just one problem: Cici only knows how to cook Taiwanese food.


And after her pickled cucumber debacle at lunch, she’s determined to channel her inner Julia Child. Can Cici find a winning recipe to reunite with A-má, a way to fit in with her new friends, and somehow find herself too?




My Life in Pictures (Bea Garcia #1) by Deborah Zemke





New Kid (New Kid #1) by Jerry Craft

Winner of the Newbery Medal, Coretta Scott King Author Award, and Kirkus Prize for Young Readers’ Literature!

Perfect for fans of Raina Telgemeier and Gene Luen Yang, New Kid is a timely, honest graphic novel about starting over at a new school where diversity is low and the struggle to fit in is real, from award-winning author-illustrator Jerry Craft.

Seventh grader Jordan Banks loves nothing more than drawing cartoons about his life. But instead of sending him to the art school of his dreams, his parents enroll him in a prestigious private school known for its academics, where Jordan is one of the few kids of color in his entire grade.


As he makes the daily trip from his Washington Heights apartment to the upscale Riverdale Academy Day School, Jordan soon finds himself torn between two worlds—and not really fitting into either one. Can Jordan learn to navigate his new school culture while keeping his neighborhood friends and staying true to himself?


This middle grade graphic novel is an excellent choice for tween readers, including for summer reading.

New Kid is a selection of the Schomburg Center's Black Liberation Reading List.






Omar Rising by Aisha Saeed

In this compelling companion to New York Times bestseller Amal Unbound, Amal's friend Omar must contend with being treated like a second-class citizen when he gets a scholarship to an elite boarding school.


Omar knows his scholarship to Ghalib Academy Boarding School is a game changer, providing him—the son of a servant—with an opportunity to improve his station in life. He can't wait to experience all the school has to offer, especially science club and hopefully the soccer team; but when he arrives, his hopes are dashed. First-year scholarship students aren't allowed to join clubs or teams—and not only that, they have to earn their keep doing menial chores. At first Omar is dejected—but then he gets angry when he learns something even worse—the school deliberately "weeds out" kids like him by requiring them to get significantly higher grades than kids who can pay tuition, making it nearly impossible for scholarship students to graduate. It's a good thing that in his favorite class, he’s learned the importance of being stubbornly optimistic. So with the help of his tightknit new group of friends—and with the threat of expulsion looming over him—he sets out to do what seems impossible: change a rigged system.





Patina (Track #2) by Jason Reynolds

Prairie Lotus by Linda Sue Park

The Quest for Screen Time (Jaden Toussaint, the Greatest #1) by Marti Dumas

Save Me a Seat by Sarah Weeks



Secret Coders (Secret Coders #1) by Gene Luen Yang

by Duncan Tonatiuh

Stella by Starlight by Sharon Draper

To Catch a Cheat (The Great Greene Heist #2) by Varian Johnson



2021 Pura Belpré Honor Book


In this magical middle-grade debut novel from Adrianna Cuevas, The Total Eclipse of Nestor Lopez, a Cuban American boy must use his secret ability to communicate with animals to save the inhabitants of his town when they are threatened by a tule vieja, a witch that transforms into animals.


All Nestor Lopez wants is to live in one place for more than a few months and have dinner with his dad.


When he and his mother move to a new town to live with his grandmother after his dad’s latest deployment, Nestor plans to lay low. He definitely doesn’t want to anyone find out his deepest secret: that he can talk to animals.


But when the animals in his new town start disappearing, Nestor's grandmother becomes the prime suspect after she is spotted in the woods where they were last seen. As Nestor investigates the source of the disappearances, he learns that they are being seized by a tule vieja―a witch who can absorb an animal’s powers by biting it during a solar eclipse. And the next eclipse is just around the corner…


Now it’s up to Nestor’s extraordinary ability and his new friends to catch the tule vieja―and save a place he might just call home.



Twintuition Double Vision (Twintuition #1) by Tia Mowry

When You Trap a Tiger by Tae Keller

Zapato Power: Freddie Ramos Takes off (Zapato Power #1) by Jacqueline Jules

Zoey and Sassafras: The Pod and the Bog (Zoey and Sassafras #5) by Asia Citro





Grades 5-6:


Awkward (Berrybrook Middle School #1) by Svetlana Chmakova

Black Brother, Black Brother by Jewell Parker Rhodes





Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson

Raised in South Carolina and New York, Woodson always felt halfway home in each place. In vivid poems, she shares what it was like to grow up as an African American in the 1960s and 1970s, living with the remnants of Jim Crow and her growing awareness of the Civil Rights movement. Touching and powerful, each poem is both accessible and emotionally charged, each line a glimpse into a child’s soul as she searches for her place in the world. Woodson’s eloquent poetry also reflects the joy of finding her voice through writing stories, despite the fact that she struggled with reading as a child. Her love of stories inspired her and stayed with her, creating the first sparks of the gifted writer she was to become.






Chains (Seeds of America #1) by Laurie Halse Anderson





The Elephant in the Room by Holly Goldberg Sloan

From the New York Times bestselling author of Counting by 7s comes a heartfelt story about "the importance of compassion and bravery when facing life’s challenges” (Kirkus) for fans of The One and Only Ivan and Front Desk.


It's been almost a year since Sila's mother traveled halfway around the world to Turkey, hoping to secure the immigration paperwork that would allow her to return to her family in the United States.


The long separation is almost impossible for Sila to withstand. But things change when Sila accompanies her father (who is a mechanic) outside their Oregon town to fix a truck. There, behind an enormous stone wall, she meets a grandfatherly man who only months before won the state lottery. Their new alliance leads to the rescue of a circus elephant named Veda, and then to a friendship with an unusual boy named Mateo, proving that comfort and hope come in the most unlikely of places.


A moving story of family separation and the importance of the connection between animals and humans, this novel has the enormous heart and uplifting humor that readers have come to expect from the beloved author of Counting by 7s.




Esperanza Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan

The Gauntlet (The Gauntlet #1) by Karuna Riazi





Golden Girl by Faruqi

From the award-winning, ALA Notable author of Unsettled and Lailah’s Lunchbox, this is a captivating coming-of-age middle grade novel in verse about seventh grader Aafiyah Qamar, a Pakistani American girl who hatches a special plan to help her family but finds that doing what’s right isn’t always easy. For fans of The Thing About Jellyfish and Clean Getaway, this is a heartfelt, soul-searching story with laughter, hope, and lessons learned.


Seventh grader Aafiyah loves playing tennis, reading Weird but True facts, and hanging out with her best friend, Zaina. However, Aafiyah has a bad habit that troubles her—she’s drawn to pretty things and can’t help but occasionally “borrow” them.


But when her father is falsely accused of a crime he hasn’t committed and gets taken in by authorities, Aafiyah knows she needs to do something to help. When she brainstorms a way to bring her father back, she turns to her Weird but True facts and devises the perfect plan.


But what if her plan means giving in to her bad habit, the one she’s been trying to stop? Aafiyah wants to reunite her family but finds that maybe her plan isn’t so perfect after all. . .





Heart of a Samurai (Samurai #1) by Margi Preus





A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park

The New York Times bestseller A Long Walk to Water begins as two stories, told in alternating sections, about two eleven-year-olds in Sudan, a girl in 2008 and a boy in 1985. The girl, Nya, is fetching water from a pond that is two hours’ walk from her home: she makes two trips to the pond every day. The boy, Salva, becomes one of the "lost boys" of Sudan, refugees who cover the African continent on foot as they search for their families and for a safe place to stay. Enduring every hardship from loneliness to attack by armed rebels to contact with killer lions and crocodiles, Salva is a survivor, and his story goes on to intersect with Nya’s in an astonishing and moving way.







Middle-School Cool by Maiya Williams




Shooting Kabul by N. H. Senzai

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.


Adjusting to life in the United States isn’t easy for Fadi’s family and as the events of September 11th unfold the prospects of locating Mariam in a war torn Afghanistan seem slim. When a photography competition with a grand prize trip to India is announced, Fadi sees his chance to return to Afghanistan and find his sister. But can one photo really bring Mariam home? Based in part on the Ms. Senzai’s husband’s own experience fleeing his home in Soviet controlled Afghanistan in the 1970s, Shooting Kabul is a powerful story of hope, love, and perseverance.




A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park




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