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.
This collection contains materials from the DIVerse Families bibliography organized by genre.
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.
Browse by Genre:
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I Can Hear the Sun
Patricia Polacco
Stephanie Michelle, who cares for animals and listens to the sun, believes the homeless child, Fondo, when he tells her that the geese have invited him to fly away with them.
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If Your Monster Won't Go to Bed
Denise Vega
If you have a monster that won’t go to bed, don’t bother asking your parents to help. They know a lot about putting kids to bed, but nothing about putting monsters to bed. It’s not their fault; they’re just not good at it. Read this book instead.
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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.
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Inkmistress
Audrey Coulthurst
Asra is a demigod with a dangerous gift: the ability to dictate the future by writing with her blood. To keep her power secret, she leads a quiet life as a healer on a remote mountain, content to help the people in her care and spend time with Ina, the mortal girl she loves. When bandits threaten Ina's village, Asra uses her blood magic to try and help but her spell goes horribly wrong. Ina takes a savage dragon asher manifest, and swears revenge on the king, unaware Asra is at fault. To stop Ina, Asra becomes a player in lethal games among assassins, gods, and even the king himself.
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In Other Lands
Sarah Rees Brennan
Sometimes it's not the kid you expect who falls through to magicland, sometimes it's...Elliott. He's grumpy, nerdy, and appalled by both the dearth of technology and the levels of fitness involved in swinging swords around. He's a little enchanted by the elves and mermaids. Despite his aversion to war, work, and most people (human or otherwise) he finds that two unlikely ideas, friendship and world peace, may actually be possible.
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It's Okay To Be Different
Todd Parr
Illustrations and brief text describe all kinds of differences that are "okay," such as "It's Okay to be a different color," "It's Okay to need some help," "It's Okay to be adopted," and "It's Okay to have a Different nose."
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Jim's Lion
Russel Hoban
Asleep in his hospital bed, Jim dreams of a great lion with white teeth and amber eyes. This lion is Jim’s finder. According to Nurse Bami, everyone has a finder, a creature who comes looking for us when we are lost. But when the time comes for Jim’s operation, will his lion be able to find him and bring him safely home?
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King and King
Linda de Haan
When the queen insists that the prince get married and take over as king, the search for a suitable mate does not turn out as expected.
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King and King and Family
Linda de Haan
King Lee and King Bertie take a honeymoon trip to the jungle and bring home a surprise.
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Knife Edge (Noughts & Crosses, #2)
Malorie Blackman
Following Callum's death, the people who loved him relate how their lives have been changed, especially in reference to his girlfriend, Sephy, and their mixed-race child.
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Ladder to the Moon
Maya Soetoro-Ng
Suhaila's wish to know her deceased grandmother is granted when a golden ladder appears at her window and Grandma Annie invites her on a journey to the moon, where they welcome people who are facing tragedy. Includes facts about the painting and the woman who inspired the story.
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Lady Daisy
Dick King-Smith
Ned's disappointment turns into shock when the doll his grandmother has given him speaks to him, and together the two of them share stories of their very different worlds.
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Large Fears
Myles E. Johnson
Jeremiah Nebula is a black boy who loves pink things and wants to travel to Mars. But in order to reach Mars he has to confront the large fears that stand between him and his goal.
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Legend of Korra: Turf Wars Part One
Michael Dante DiMartino
Relishing their newfound feelings for each other, Korra and Asami leave the Spirit World, but find nothing in Republic City but political hijinks and human vs. spirit conflict. A pompous developer plans to turn the new spirit portal into an amusement park, potentially severing an already tumultuous connection with the spirits. What's more, the triads have realigned and are in a brutal all-out brawl at the city's borders--where hundreds of evacuees have relocated! In order to get through it all, Korra and Asami vow to look out for each other--but first, they've got to get better at being a team and a couple!
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Legend of Korra: Turf Wars Part Three
Michael Dante DiMartino
When Asami is kidnapped, Korra sets out to the Spirit Wilds to find her. Now teeming with dark spirits influenced by the half spirit-half human Tokuga, the landscape is more dangerous than ever before. The two women must trust in each other and work together if they are to make it out alive.
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Legend of Korra: Turf Wars Part Two
Dante DiMartino
Recovering from the fight and furious for revenge, Triple Threats member Tokuga solidifies his ties with the duplicitous Wonyong. Meanwhile, when Republic City's housing crisis reaches its peak, Zhu Li sets her sights on the biggest public figure in the city--President Raiko--in a bid for the presidency! With her friend's success, the future of the spirit portal, and the wellbeing of Republic City's citizens at stake, can Korra remain neutral and fulfill her duties as the Avatar?
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Leonardo's Hand
Warwick Downing
Finally in a foster home with a caring family, Nard, a thirteen-year-old orphan with only one hand, invents a human-powered flying machine with the assistance of the 500-year-old hand of Leonardo da Vinci.
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Long Way Down
Jason Reynolds
In Long Way Down, a young boy's brother has just died from a gunshot wound and through brief, powerful poems the reader gets the story of the brothers, the story of urban families, the story of a neighborhood, and the story of the impulse for revenge and the strength it takes to resist that. Terrifically powerful and searingly sad, this is Jason Reynolds continuing to explore some deep truths for young people.
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Lou Caribou: Weekdays with Mom, Weekends with Dad
Marie-Sabine Roger and David Wilson
A young reindeer lives with his mother and visits his father on weekends. The story of Lou Caribou will help small children come to terms with their own parents' separation. This book shows that parents who live apart still lovingly care for their child, and that their separation has not diminished their love for him.
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Love in the Time of Global Warming
Francesca Lia Block
After a devastating earthquake destroys the West Coast, causing seventeen-year-old Penelope to lose her home, her parents, and her ten-year-old brother, she navigates a dark world, holding hope and love in her hands and refusing to be defeated.
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Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard: The Hammer of Thor
Rick Riordan
Thor's hammer is missing again. The thunder god has a disturbing habit of misplacing his weapon--the mightiest force in the Nine Worlds. But this time the hammer isn't just lost, it has fallen into enemy hands. If Magnus Chase and his friends can't retrieve the hammer quickly, the mortal worlds will be defenseless against an onslaught of giants. Ragnarok will begin. The Nine Worlds will burn. Unfortunately, the only person who can broker a deal for the hammer's return is the gods' worst enemy, Loki--and the price he wants is very high.
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Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard: The Sword of Summer
Rick Riordan
Magnus Chase has always been a troubled kid. Since his mother's mysterious death, he's lived alone on the streets of Boston, surviving by his wits, keeping one step ahead of the police and the truant officers. One day, he's tracked down by an uncle he barely knows-a man his mother claimed was dangerous. Uncle Randolph tells him an impossible secret: Magnus is the son of a Norse god. The Viking myths are true. The gods of Asgard are preparing for war. Trolls, giants and worse monsters are stirring for doomsday. To prevent Ragnarok, Magnus must search the Nine Worlds for a weapon that has been lost for thousands of years. When an attack by fire giants forces him to choose between his own safety and the lives of hundreds of innocents, Magnus makes a fatal decision. Sometimes, the only way to start a new life is to die.
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Maiden and Princess
Daniel Haack and Isabel Galupo
In this modern fairy tale, a strong, brave maiden is invited to attend the prince's royal ball, but at the dance, she ends up finding true love in a most surprising place.
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Masquerade (Micah Grey, #3)
Laura Lam
Micah and his friends have won the magician duel against Maske’s age-old rival—yet despite this glory, trouble still looms. Imachara is under attack by either the anti-monarchy Foresters, or a group even more dangerous. One blast damages the Kymri Theatre, forcing Micah and the others to flee to dingy rooms in a bad part of town and perform street magic to keep their skills sharp. Micah has a vision of the end of the world, and strange dreams of a grave robber stealing bodies. He that discovers many people in his life are lying to him, and he has no idea who he can trust. The Chimaera and the Alder’s powers have returned, and it’s up to Micah to stop the storm of the past from breaking.
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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.