Direct Diversity | University of Central Florida

This collection contains materials filtered by Direct Diversity Impact from the DIVerse Families bibliography.

DIVerse Families is a comprehensive bibliography that demonstrates the growing diversity of families in the United States. This type of bibliography provides teachers, librarians, counselors, adoption agencies, children/young adults, and especially parents and grandparents needing to empower their children with materials that reflect their families.

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I and I: Bob Marley

Tony Medina

A biography in verse about the Jamaican reggae musician Bob Marley, offering an overview of key events and themes in his life, including his biracial heritage, Rastafarian beliefs, and love of music. End notes on poems provide further biographical information.
Ian's Walk: A Story about Autism

Laurie Lears

Julie can't wait to go to the park and feed the ducks with her big sister, Tara. There's only one problem. Her little brother, Ian, who has autism, wants to go, too. Ian doesn't have the same reactions to all the sights and sounds that his sisters have, and Julie thinks he looks silly. But when he wanders off on his own, she must try to see the world through his eyes in order to find him.
I Don't Have Your Eyes

Carrie A. Kitze

Family connections are vitally important to children as they begin to find their place in the world. For transracial and transcultural adoptees, domestic adoptees, and for children in foster care or kinship placements, celebrating the differences within their families as well as the similarities that connect them, is the foundation for belonging. As parents or caregivers, we can strengthen our children's tie to family and embrace the differences that make them unique. Each child will have their own story and their own special place to belong. This beautifully illustrated and uplifting book, for 2-5 year olds, will help to create the intimate parent/caregiver and child bond that is so important. While others may notice the physical differences between us on the outside, inside we are the same.
If I Ever Get Out of Here

Eric L. Gansworth

Seventh-grader Lewis "Shoe" Blake from the Tuscarora Reservation has a new friend, George Haddonfield from the local Air Force base, but in 1975 upstate New York there is a lot of tension and hatred between Native Americans and Whites--and Lewis is not sure that he can rely on friendship.
If I Lie

Corrine Jackson

Seventeen-year-old Sophie Quinn becomes an outcast in her small military town when she chooses to keep a secret for her Marine boyfriend who is missing in action in Afghanistan.
If I Tell

Janet Gurtler

Raised by her grandparents, seventeen-year-old Jasmine, the result of a biracial one night stand, has never met her father but has a good relationship with her mother until she sees her mother's boyfriend kissing Jaz's best friend.
If I Told You So

Timothy Woodward

Sean Jackson is sixteen and his choice is either to take a landscaping job in Georgia with his father, or to stay in his small New Hampshire hometown and take a job at the local ice cream shop. He stays home and deals with the pressures of a young man who struggles with trying to tell his father that he is gay.
If I Was Your Girl

Meredith Russo

Amanda Hardy only wants to fit in at her new school, but she is keeping a big secret, so when she falls for Grant, guarded Amanda finds herself yearning to share with him everything about herself, including her previous life as Andrew.
If Only

Jennifer Gilmore

At sixteen Bridget is pregnant--and her boyfriend has dumped her for another girl. She's trying to envision a future for her baby. But as she sifts through the many paths and the many people who want to parent her child, she can't help but feel that there is no right decision. Fifteen years later: Ivy knows that she is now the same age Bridget was when she placed Ivy for adoption. She knows that Bridget was the one who named her. When Ivy goes in search of Bridget--of her own history--will the risks outweigh the benefits of knowing where she comes from and why her birth mother chose to walk away?
If the Shoe Fits

Gary Soto

After being teased about his brand new loafers, Rigo puts them away for so long he grows out of them.
I Funny: School of Laughs (I Funny #5)

James Patterson and Chris Grabenstein

When a new principal threatens to close the school library, Jamie Grimm tries to save the day by teaching a comedy class for his fellow students.
I Funny TV: A Middle School Story (I Funny #4)

James Patterson and Chris Grabenstein

Jamie Grimm has finally accomplished his dream of proving himself the Planet's Funniest Kid Comic, and the sky's the limit from there. Enter a couple of TV executives with a huge plan for Jamie: a new show about Jamie and his oddball friends!
If You Come Softly

Jacqueline Woodson

After meeting at their private school in New York, fifteen-year-old Jeremiah, who is black and whose parents are separated, and Ellie, who is white and whose mother has twice abandoned her, fall in love and then try to cope with people's reactions.
If You Could be Mine: A Novel

Sara Farizan

In Iran, where homosexuality is punishable by death, seventeen-year-olds Sahar and Nasrin love each other in secret until Nasrin's parents announce their daughter's arranged marriage and Sahar proposes a drastic solution.
I Have Lost My Way

Gayle Forman

A fateful accident draws three strangers together over the course of a single day: Freya who has lost her voice while recording her debut album. Harun who is making plans to run away from everyone he has ever loved. Nathaniel who has just arrived in New York City with a backpack, a desperate plan, and nothing left to lose. As the day progresses, their secrets start to unravel and they begin to understand that the way out of their own loss might just lie in helping the others out of theirs.
I Have Two Homes

Marian de Smet

Nina used to live with her parents in one house, but now she lives in two houses, sometimes with her mom and other times with her dad, and although she is confused about what is happening, Nina knows both her parents love her very much.
I Know It's Over

C. K. Kelly Martin

Sixteen-year-old Nick, still trying to come to terms with his parents' divorce, experiences exhiliration and despair in his relationship with his girlfriend Sasha especially when, after instigating a trial separation, she announces that she is pregnant.
Ilario: The Lion's Eye

Mary Gentle

Abandoned and alone, the fosterling Ilario grows up as the King's Freak, surrounded by all the pomp, intrigue, and danger of the Iberian court. Fleeing a failed treacherous attack, Ilario crosses the sea to Carthage, where the mysterious Penitence shrouds the sky in darkness. There, a strange and awful destiny awaits the would-be painter, one that spans continents and kingdoms.
I'll Meet You There

Heather Demetrios

Skylar Evans, seventeen, yearns to escape Creek View by attending art school, but after her mother's job loss puts her dream at risk, a rekindled friendship with Josh, who joined the Marines to get away then lost a leg in Afghanistan, and her job at the Paradise motel lead her to appreciate her home town.
I Love My Purse

Belle Demont

Charlie loves the bright red purse that his grandmother let him have. One day, he decides to take it to school. First his father, then his friends, and even the crossing guard question him about his "strange" choice. After all, boys don't carry purses. They point out that they, too, have things they like, but that doesn't mean they go out in public wearing them. But Charlie isn't deterred. Before long, his unselfconscious determination to carry a purse starts to affect those around him. His father puts on his favorite, though unconventional, Hawaiian shirt to go to work; his friend Charlotte paints her face, and the crossing guard wears a pair of sparkly shoes. Thanks to Charlie, everyone around him realizes that it isn't always necessary to conform to societal norms. It's more important to be true to yourself. With its humorous, energetic illustrations, this book is ideal as a read-aloud or as a story for emerging readers. It can also be used as a starting point for a discussion about gender roles.
I Love You Like Crazy Cakes

Rose A. Lewis

A woman describes how she went to China to adopt a special baby girl. Based on the author's own experiences.
I'm Adopted!

Sheila M. Kelly and Shelly Rotner

Simple text and ample pictures describe what adoption is and how it works.
Imagine Me on a Sit-Ski!

George Moran

Billy and his classmates, who are physically challenged, learn that they can go skiing just like other youngsters when they are fitted with special equipment, such as a sit-ski, and feel the freedom and exhilaration of a sport from which they once were excluded.
I Miss My Foster Parents

Stefon Herbert

A little boy who is adopted tells why he misses his foster parents.
I'm More Than a Foster Child

Ava Suggs and Marlo Suggs

Follows the stress and struggles of a young girl who overcomes the the challenges of being bounced around to numerous foster homes.