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 LGBTQ:
Gender nonconformity
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A Fire Engine for Ruthie
Lesléa Newman
Ruthie's Nana suggests playing tea party and fashion show during their visit, but Ruthie is much more interested in the vehicles that a neighbor boy is playing with as they pass his house each day.
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All I Want to Be is Me
Phyllis Rothblatt
"All I Want To Be Is Me" is a beautifully illustrated children's book reflecting the diverse ways that young children experience and express their gender. The book gives voice to the feelings of children who don't fit into narrow gender stereotypes, and who just want to be free to be themselves. This book is a celebration of all children being who they are, and is a positive reflection of children, wherever they experience themselves on the gender spectrum. "All I Want To Be Is Me" offers a wonderful way for all children to learn about gender diversity, embracing different ways to be, and being a true friend.
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Annie's Plaid Shirt
Stacy B. Davids
Annie loves her plaid shirt and wears it everywhere. But one day her mom tells Annie that she must wear a dress to her uncle's wedding. Annie protests, but her mom insists and buys her a fancy new dress anyway. Annie is miserable. She feels weird in dresses. Why can't her mom understand? Then Annie has an idea. But will her mom agree? Annie's Plaid Shirt will inspire readers to be themselves and will touch the hearts of those who love them.
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A Princess of Great Daring!
Tobi Hill-Meyer
When Jamie is ready to tell people that she's really a girl inside, she becomes a princess of great daring in a game she plays with her best friends to gather her courage. She's pleased (but not surprised) that her questing friends turn out to be just as loyal and true as any princess could want.
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Are You a Boy or a Girl?
Karleen Pendleton Jimenez
Are you a boy or a girl? opens the conversation of what makes a boy a boy and a girl a girl. It is the story of a child thinking through who she is, a child learning through her mother's love how to be both strong and soft.
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Are You a Boy or Are You a Girl?
Sarah Savage
When Tiny moves to a new town, Buster, the class bully, wants to know if Tiny is a boy or a girl but others wonder why it matters to him.
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A Tale of Two Daddies
Vanita Oelschlager
A young girl describes how her two daddies help her through her day, including her poppa cooking eggs and toast, her daddy fixing her knee when she is hurt, and both fathers being there for her when she needs love.
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A Tale of Two Mommies
Vanita Oelschlager
A young boy describes to two other children how his two mommies help him with all his needs.
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Backwards Day
S. Bear Berman
For one day every year on the planet Tenalp, everything is backwards. Everything. So why didn't Andrea turn into a boy on Backwards Day this year? And why did she turn into a boy the very next day?
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Ballerino Nate
Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
After seeing a ballet performance, Nate decides he wants to learn ballet but he has doubts when his brother Ben tells him that only girls can be ballerinas.
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Benny Doesn't Like to Be Hugged
Zetta Elliott
A little girl uses rhyming verse to describe the unique traits of her autistic friend. Benny likes trains and cupcakes without sprinkles, but he can also be fussy sometimes. The narrator doesn’t mind, however, because “true friends accept each other just the way they are.” A gentle story encouraging children to appreciate and accept our differences.
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Be Who You Are
Jennifer Carr
Nick was born in a boy's body, but has always felt like a girl inside. Nick's family supports him when he says he no longer wants to be called a boy or dress like a boy. "Always remember to be who you are Nick. Remember that we love you, and we are so proud of you." Nick's parents find a group for families like theirs. With their support, Nick expresses a desire to be addressed as "she," and then to be named Hope.
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Big Bob, Little Bob
James Howe
Big Bob likes trucks and throwing balls and being loud. Little Bob likes dolls and jingling bracelets and being quiet. No matter what they do, they do not do it the same way. Can they possibly be friends despite these differences?
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Blue Boy
Rakesh Satyal
Satyal's lovely coming-of-age debut charts an Indian-American boy's transformation from mere mortal to Krishnaji, the blue-skinned Hindu deity. Twelve-year-old Kiran Sharma's a bit of an outcast: he likes ballet and playing with his mother's makeup. He also reveres his Indian heritage and convinces himself that the reason he's having trouble fitting in is because he's actually the 10th reincarnation of Krishnaji. He plans to come out to the world at the 1992 Martin Van Buren Elementary School talent show, and much of the book revels in his comical preparations as he creates his costume, plays the flute and practices his dance moves to a Whitney Houston song. But as the performance approaches, something strange happens: Kiran's skin begins to turn blue. Satyal writes with a graceful ease, finding new humor in common awkward pre-teen moments and giving readers a delightful and lively young protagonist.
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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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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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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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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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Chaotic Good
Whitney Gardner
Cameron wants only to complete her costume portfolio in peace, but when a trip to the local comic shop results in a hostile reception from a male employee, she returns disguised as a boy at her twin brother's suggestion and finds herself drafted into a D & D campaign.
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Daddy Makes the Best Spaghetti
Anna Grossnickle Hines
Not only does Corey's father make the best spaghetti, but he also dresses up as Bathman and acts like a silly dog with pajama legs for ears.
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Different Kind of Life
Katie Leone
Michael Davis is a nine year old boy who struggles with living up to the expectations of his father. In order to toughen up, he agrees to sign up for Pee-wee football to learn how to be the man he is suppose to be. During the routine sports physical the doctor discovers a serious condition that turns Michael's world upside down and inside out. Without warning, he is presented with a decision that he never dreamed possible. With his best friend by his side and the support of his mother, the child tries to make a decision beyond his years and discovers his true self in the process.
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(Don't) Call Me Crazy
Kelly Jensen
A Washington Post Best Children’s Book of 2018Who’s Crazy? What does it mean to be crazy? Is using the word crazy offensive? What happens when a label like that gets attached to your everyday experiences? To understand mental health, we need to talk openly about it. Because there’s no single definition of crazy, there’s no single experience that embodies it, and the word itself means different things—wild? extreme? disturbed? passionate?—to different people. In (Don’t) Call Me Crazy, thirty-three actors, athletes, writers, and artists offer essays, lists, comics, and illustrations that explore a wide range of topics:their personal experiences with mental illness,how we do and don’t talk about mental health,help for better understanding how every person’s brain is wired differently,and what, exactly, might make someone crazy. If you’ve ever struggled with your mental health, or know someone who has, come on in, turn the pages . . . and let’s get talking.
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Down Among the Sticks and Bones (Wayward Children #2)
Seanan McGuire
In Down Among the Sticks and Bones, twin girls Jack and Jill find themselves thrust into a world of monsters and mad scientists, and something they thought they'd never experience: choice.
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Drama
Raina Telgemeier
Callie loves theater. And while she would totally try out for her middle school's production of Moon Over Mississippi, she's a terrible singer. Instead she's the set designer for the stage crew, and this year she's determined to create a set worthy of Broadway on a middle-school budget. But how can she, when she doesn't know much about carpentry, ticket sales are down, and the crew members are having trouble working together?
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Dress Codes for Small Towns
Courtney Stevens
As the tomboy daughter of the town’s preacher, Billie McCaffrey has always struggled with fitting the mold of what everyone says she should be. She’d rather wear sweats, build furniture, and get into trouble with her solid group of friends: Woods, Mash, Davey, Fifty, and Janie Lee. But when Janie Lee confesses to Billie that she’s in love with Woods, Billie’s filled with a nagging sadness as she realizes that she is also in love with Woods…and maybe with Janie Lee, too. Always considered “one of the guys,” Billie doesn’t want anyone slapping a label on her sexuality before she can understand it herself. So she keeps her conflicting feelings to herself, for fear of ruining the group dynamic. Except it’s not just about keeping the peace, it’s about understanding love on her terms—this thing that has always been defined as a boy and a girl falling in love and living happily ever after. For Billie—a box-defying dynamo—it’s not that simple. Readers will be drawn to Billie as she comes to terms with the gray areas of love, gender, and friendship, in this John Hughes-esque exploration of sexual fluidity.