We Need Diverse Books
We Need Diverse Books (WNDB) is a grassroots organization of children's and young adult book lovers that is advocating for change in the publishing industry. WNDB wants to write and publish more books that reflect and honor the lives of young people. WNDB wants a world in which all children can see themselves in the pages of a book.
The website includes resources for talking about diverse books, book suggestions, news, interviews with authors, and more.
New Books in the Curriculum Center
Alice Austen Lived Here by Call Number: Curriculum New G4931aISBN: 9781338733891Publication Date: 2022-06-07"Middle school student Sam is comfortable with their nonbinary identity, and their family has accepted it too (as long as they do their homework and chores), so when their history teacher assigns as a project coming up with a proposal for the new statue honoring a historical Staten Islander (there is a contest involved) they and their friend TJ decide to focus on Alice Austen, a lesbian photographer, whose house on Staten Island is a museum--but they have to overcome the presumption on the part of their teacher that only straight males are eligible."
The Astonishing Color of After by Call Number: Curriculum Fiction P187aISBN: 9780316463997Publication Date: 2018After the suicide of her Taiwanese mother, a shattered Leigh asks her white father to take her to Taipei to meet her estranged grandparents. There she learns more about her mother’s past in this story that uses both hard truths and fantastical elements.
Frankly in love by Call Number: Curriculum New Y592fISBN: 9780241373439Publication Date: 2019"High school senior Frank Li takes a risk to go after a girl his parents would never approve of, but his plans will leave him wondering if he ever really understood love--or himself--at all."
Genesis Begins Again by Call Number: Curriculum Fiction W721gISBN: 9781481465809Publication Date: 2019Thirteen-year-old Genesis tries again and again to lighten her black skin, thinking it is the root of her family's troubles, before discovering reasons to love herself as is.
The Music of What Happens by Call Number: Curriculum Fiction K824mISBN: 9781338215502Publication Date: 2019Over the course of one summer, two boys will have to face their biggest fears and decide what they're willing to risk -- to get the thing they want the most.
Searching for Diverse Books
You can search for young adult literature in the Curriculum Center by topic or theme. Please use the steps below to limit your search to Curriculum Center materials.
- Go to the library website: https://www.concordiacollege.edu/library
- Click on the "Curriculum" tab
- Enter your search term
- Click the dropdown arrow and select "Fiction" from the list
- Click Search
Possible Search Terms
- Realistic Fiction
- Historical Fiction
- Blind
- Lesbian
- Graphic Novel
- Fantasy
- Autism
- Transgender
- Chinese American or African American or Mexican American, etc. -- "Multicultural" and "Diverse" are not good search terms so you have to use the term that describes the population
- Mystery
- Gay
- Epilepsy
- Horror