Direct Diversity

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  Bringing Asha Home

  Uma Krishnaswami

  Eight-year-old Arun waits impatiently while international adoption paperwork is completed so that he can meet his new baby sister from India.

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  Bronxwood

  Coe Booth

  Tyrell's life is spinning out of control after his father is released from prison, his little brother is placed in foster care, and the drug dealers he's living with are pressuring him to start dealing.

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  Brooklyn Burning

  Steve Brezenoff

  When you're sixteen and no one understands who you are, sometimes the only choice left is to run. If you're lucky, you find a place that accepts you, no questions asked. And if you're really lucky, that place has a drum set, a place to practice, and a place to sleep. For Kid, the streets of Greenpoint, Brooklyn, are that place. Over the course of two scorching summers, Kid falls hopelessly in love and then loses nearly everything and everyone worth caring about. But as summer draws to a close, Kid finally finds someone who can last beyond the sunset.

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  Brothers in Hope: The Story of the Lost Boys of Sudan

  Mary Williams and R. Gregory Christie

  Eight-year-old Garang is tending cattle far from his family's home in southern Sudan when war comes to his village. Frightened but unharmed, he returns to find everything has been destroyed. Soon Garang meets other boys whose villages have been attacked. Before long they become a moving band of thousands, walking hundreds of miles seeking safety — first in Ethiopia and then in Kenya. The boys face numerous hardships and dangers along the way, but their faith and mutual support help keep the hope of finding a new home alive in their hearts. Based on heartbreaking yet inspirational true events in the lives of the Lost Boys of Sudan, Brothers in Hope is a story of remarkable and enduring courage, and an amazing testament to the unyielding power of the human spirit.

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  Brown Girl Dreaming

  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 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.

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  Bruises

  Anke de Vries and Stacey Knecht

  While living in Holland, Michael meets Judith, who is frightened, bullied, and beaten by her mother and blames herself for the abuse she is enduring.

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  Bunnybear

  Andrea J. Loney

  Although Bunnybear was born a bear, he feels more like a bunny. He loves to bounce through the forest, wiggle his nose, and munch on strawberries. The other bears don't understand him, and neither do the bunnies. Will Bunnybear ever find a friend who likes him just the way he is?

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  Burning City

  Ariel Dorfman and Joaquin Dorfman

  Sixteen-year-old Heller Highland, who is living with his grandparents while his parents are away, burns rubber across Manhattan delivering bad news by bicycle, and as a summer heat wave melts the city, he is struck by first love.

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  But, I'm Not a Boy

  Katie Leone

  David has a big problem; she is really a girl named Sarah. But nobody knows and everyone assumes she is a boy. When her parents ask why she is so sad, is she brave enough to tell them the truth?

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  By the Dawn's Early Light

  Karen Ackerman

  A young girl and her brother stay with their grandmother while their mother works at night.

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  Calling the Water Drum

  LaTisha Redding

  A young boy loses both parents as they attempt to flee Haiti for a better life, and afterward is only able to process his grief and communicate with the outside world through playing the drums.

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  Call Me By My Name

  John Ed Bradley

  Growing up in Louisiana in the late 1960s, where segregation and prejudice still thrive, two high school football players, one white, one black, become friends, but some changes are too difficult to accept.

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  Camo Girl

  Kekla Magoon

  Ella, a biracial girl with a patchy and uneven skin tone, and her friend Z, a boy who is very different, have been on the bottom of the social order at Caldera Junior High School in Las Vegas, but when the only other African-American student enters their sixth grade class, Ella longs to be friends with him and join the popular group, but does not want to leave Z all alone.

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  Can I Touch Your Hair? Poems of Race, Mistakes, and Friendship

  Irene Latham and Charles Waters

  How can Irene and Charles work together on their fifth grade poetry project? They don't know each other... and they're not sure they want to. Irene Latham, who is white, and Charles Waters, who is black, use this fictional setup to delve into different experiences of race in a relatable way, exploring such topics as hair, hobbies, and family dinners.

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  Can We Get Along? Dealing with Differences

  John Burstein

  Learning to tolerate different opinions, perspectives, and beliefs is vital to a healthy society. Slim Goodbody's Can't We Get Along? helps students understand the need and importance for tolerance, and the steps they can take to increase peace in their lives and in the world.

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  Caraval

  Stephanie Garber

  Welcome, welcome to Caraval--Stephanie Garber's sweeping tale of two sisters who escape their ruthless father when they enter the dangerous intrigue of a legendary game. Scarlett has never left the tiny island where she and her beloved sister Tella live with their powerful and cruel, father. Now Scarlett's father has arranged a marriage for her, and Scarlett thinks her dreams of seeing Caraval, the far-away, once-a-year performance where the audience participates in the show, are over. But this year, Scarlett's long-dreamt of invitation finally arrives. With the help of a mysterious sailor, Tella whisks Scarlett away to the show. Only, as soon as they arrive, Tella is kidnapped by Caraval's mastermind organizer, Legend. It turns out that this season's Caraval revolves around Tella, and whoever finds her first is the winner. Scarlett has been told that everything that happens during Caraval is only an elaborate performance. But she nevertheless becomes enmeshed in a game of love, heartbreak, and magic with the other players in the game. And whether Caraval is real or not, she must find Tella before the five nights of the game are over, a dangerous domino effect of consequences is set off, and her sister disappears forever.

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  Carly: She is Still My Daddy

  Mary Boenke

  Tommy tells the story of his father's transition from Carl to Carly. He learns about other trans persons -- female to male, intersex, crossdressers, and those who live in the middle. The reactions of playmates, grandparents, and the child's mother are represented. Benchmarks of Carly's full transition are built into the story.

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  Carmen Learns English

  Judy Cox

  Newly-arrived in the United States from Mexico, Carmen is apprehensive about going to school and learning English.

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  Carry On

  Rainbow Rowell

  Simon Snow is the worst Chosen One who's ever been chosen. That's what his roommate, Baz, says. And Baz might be evil and a vampire and a complete git, but he's probably right. Half the time, Simon can't even make his wand work, and the other half, he starts something on fire. His mentor's avoiding him, his girlfriend broke up with him, and there's a magic-eating monster running around, wearing Simon's face. Baz would be having a field day with all this, if he were here--it's their last year at the Watford School of Magicks, and Simon's infuriating nemesis didn't even bother to show up. Carry On is a ghost story, a love story and a mystery. It has just as much kissing and talking as you'd expect from a Rainbow Rowell story - but far, far more monsters.

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  Caterpillars Can’t Swim

  Liane Shaw

  Two boys look to the water for escape, but for very different reasons. For sixteen-year-old Ryan, the water is where he finds his freedom. Ever since childhood, when he realized that he would never walk like other people, he has loved the water where gravity is no longer his enemy. But he never imagined he would become his small town's hero by saving a schoolmate from drowning. Jack is also attracted to the water, but for him it's the promise of permanent escape. Disappearing altogether seems better than living through one more day of high school where he is dogged by rumors about his sexuality. He's terrified that coming out will alienate him from everyone in town - and crush his adoring mother. Ryan saves Jack's life, but he also keeps his secret. Their bond leads to a grudging friendship, and an unexpected road-trip to Comic Con with Ryan's best friend Cody, the captain of the swim team. The unlikely trio ends up subverting preconceptions and prejudices of their own and of those around them.

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  Caterpillar Summer

  Gillian McDunn

  Since her father's death, Cat has taken care of her brother, Chicken, for their hardworking mother but while spending time with grandparents they never knew, Cat has the chance to be a child again.

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  Catherine's Story

  Genevieve Moore

  What makes Catherine so special? She can't talk, she can't walk like her cousin Frances can. But Catherine listens very hard (hardly anyone does that), and she can walk in her special shoes, but when Frances tries, she just falls over! And her claps are so quiet that hardly anyone can hear them. These are the things that make Catherine special and, because her family knows how special she is, this makes them feel special too. This is the story of a child born with severe additional needs that focusses on the special nature of her abilities.

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  Cathy Williams, Buffalo Soldier

  Sharon K. Solomon

  Cathy Williams was the first documented woman to enlist in the United States Army. By disguising herself as a man after the Civil War, she joined the Buffalo Soldiers in protecting the expanding Western states. Cathy's efforts as a soldier earned her an adequate salary and a small place in history.

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  Celebrating Families

  Rosemarie Hausherr

  Presents brief descriptions of many different kinds of families, both traditional and non-traditional.

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  Cemetery Boys

  Aiden Thomas

  Yadriel, a trans boy, summons the angry spirit of his high school's bad boy, and agrees to help him learn how he died, thereby proving himself a brujo, not a bruja, to his conservative family.