The Diverse Families bookshelf was created and funded through numerous grants. Due to lack of additional grants and the loss of key personnel, the project has come to an end. We have tremendously enjoyed creating this database and hope that it can help bring readers and books together.
Browse by Health & Disability:
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Maus I: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History
Art Spiegelman
An autobiographical and biographical cartoon in which the author explores his strained relationship with his father, an Auschwitz survivor, while also relating the story of his parent's experiences as Jews in wartime Poland, as told to him by his dad during a series of conversations they had years later in New York and Vermont.
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Max's Fun Day
Adria F. Klein
Max and his good friend Don, who is in a wheelchair, have a lot of fun together, whether they are at the park, in the library, or at a restaurant.
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Max the Champion
Sean Stockdale and Alexandra Strick
Max spends his day dreaming about competing in world class sporting events, and when he and his classmates--some of whom are disabled--prevail in a soccer match, he imagines they have won the World Cup.
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Merci Suárez Changes Gears
Meg Medina
Merci Suárez begins the sixth grade and knows things will change, but she did not count on her grandfather acting strangely, not fitting in at her private school, and dealing with Edna Santos' jealousy.
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Merrow
Ananda Braxton-Smith
Enduring whispers about her absent mother's alleged merrow origins after her father drowns, twelve-year-old Neen questions her identity as she becomes increasingly torn between the worlds of the sea and her island home.
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Mi abuelita tiene ruedas
Silvia Molina
No todas las abuelitas resultan tan simpáticas y cariñosas como la de María. Hay algunas que gruñen como ogros, otras que no dicen ni "pío". La de María, además de ser alegre, tiene ruedas sin ser bicicleta ni patín. A young girl describes what makes her grandmother special to her.
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Mighty Jack
Ben Hatke
Jack might be the only kid in the world who's dreading summer. But he's got a good reason: summer is when his single mom takes a second job and leaves him at home to watch his autistic kid sister, Maddy. It's a lot of responsibility, and it's boring, too, because Maddy doesn't talk. Ever. But then, one day at the flea market, Maddy does talk―to tell Jack to trade their mom's car for a box of mysterious seeds. It's the best mistake Jack has ever made. In Mighty Jack, what starts as a normal little garden out back behind the house quickly grows up into a wild, magical jungle with tiny onion babies running amok, huge, pink pumpkins that bite, and, on one moonlit night that changes everything…a dragon.
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Mighty Jack and the Goblin King
Ben Hatke
Like a bolt from the blue, Jack's little sister Maddy is gone―carried into another realm by an ogre. When Jack and Lilly follow Maddy’s captor through the portal, they are ready for anything . . . except what they find waiting for them in the floating crossroads between worlds. Even the power of their magic plants may not be enough to get them back to earth alive. Alone and injured, Jack and Lilly must each face their own monsters―as well as giants who grind the bones of human children to feed their “beast” and a fearsome goblin king in the sewers down below. But when Jack finds himself in a tough spot, help comes from the most unlikely person: the goblin king!
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Miracle of the Myrrh
Marci Alborghetti
When Mary gives Mendel, a young handicapped boy, the gifts presented to the baby Jesus from the three wise men, Mendel distributes them to those in need and receives a miracle in return.
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Mirror, Mirror on the Wall: The Diary of Bess Brennan
Barry Denenberg
In 1932, a twelve-year-old girl who lost her sight in an accident keeps a diary, recorded by her twin sister, in which she describes life at Perkins School for the Blind in Watertown, Massachusetts.
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Missing Sisters
Gregory Maguire
Twelve-year-old Alice, an orphan who has never been adopted because of her physical handicap and difficult personality, is shocked to discover she has an identical twin sister living nearby.
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More Happy Than Not
Adam Silvera
After enduring his father's suicide, his own suicide attempt, broken friendships, and more in the Bronx projects, Aaron Soto, sixteen, is already considering the Leteo Institute's memory-alteration procedure when his new friendship with Thomas turns to unrequited love.
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More Than We Can Tell
Brigid Kemmerer
When Rev Fletcher and Emma Blue meet, they both long to share secrets, his of being abused by his birth father, hers of her parents' failing marriage and an online troll who truly frightens her.
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Moses Goes to a Concert
Isaac Millman
When Moses and his class of hearing-impaired students go on a field trip to a concert, they meet the orchestra's deaf percussionist, in a story that includes signed phrases and the manual alphabet.
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Moses Goes to School
Isaac Millman
A day at a school for the deaf is like a day at any school. Moses goes to a special school, a public school for the deaf. He and all of his classmates are deaf or hard-of-hearing, but that doesn't mean they don't have a lot to say to each other! They communicate in American Sign Language (ASL), using visual signs and facial expressions. Isaac Millman follows Moses through a school day, telling the story in pictures and written English, and in ASL, introducing hearing children to the signs for some of the key words and ideas. At the end is a favorite song -- "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" -- in sign!
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Moses Goes to the Circus
Isaac Millman
Moses, who is deaf, has a good time with his family at the circus, where they communicate using sign language. Includes illustrations of some of the signs they use.
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Moses Sees a Play
Isaac Millman
Moses and his classmates, who are deaf or hard of hearing, attend a play at their school, and Moses makes a new friend from another class.
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Mountains to Climb
Richard M. Wainwright
Roberto spends two years in the U.S. with his one-eyed llama and overcomes prejudice against him and two physically disabled students.
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My Almost Flawless Tokyo Dream Life
Rachel Cohn
On her sixteenth birthday, Elle Zoellner leaves the foster care system to live with the father she never knew in Tokyo, Japan.
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My Best Buddy
YeShil Kim
Two students attend the same school and become friends. One is eighty-five years old, but he is committed to going to school and learning how to read, write, and study so that he can fulfill his dream of being a veterinarian. Kamau is a second grader, and learns from his older friend that if you put your mind to it, you can make your dreams come true.
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My Brother, Matthew
Mary Thompson
Though David knows frustration and resentment at times, he feels he understands his disabled little brother even better than his parents; and together the two boys experience a great deal of joy.
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My Buddy
Audrey Osofsky
This easy-to-read, first-person narrative of an unusual friendship demonstrates the desires of the handicapped to be independent and to be treated like everyone else. Graceful watercolor illustrations that emphasize the closeness between boy and dog are a perfect accompaniment to this entertaining and informative book.
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My Friend Has Autism
Amanda Doering Tourville
My friend Zack has a disability called autism. But that doesn’t matter to us. We talk about airplanes, build models, and enjoy hanging out at each other’s house. I’m glad Zack is my friend!
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My Friend Has Dyslexia
Amanda Doering Tourville
My friend Anna has a disability called Dyslexia. But that doesn't matter to us. We play catch, help each other with our homework, and collect food for our local food shelf. I'm glad Anna is my friend! Explains some of the challenges and rewards of having a friend with dyslexia using everyday kid-friendly examples.
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My Friend Isabelle
Eliza Woloson
Isabelle and Charlie are friends. They both like to draw, dance, read, and play at the park. They both like to eat Cheerios. They both cry if their feelings are hurt. And like most friends, they are also different from each other. Isabelle has Down syndrome. Charlie doesn't.