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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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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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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Buster's Sugartime
Marc Brown
When his father takes him to visit Vermont, Buster sends postcards to his friends back home telling them what he is learning about maple syrup and the "mud season."
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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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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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Camp Confidential: Jenna's Dilemma
Melissa J. Morgan
Eleven-year-old Jenna, contending with the separation of her parents and the unwanted presence of her twin brother and older sister at Camp Lakeview, is determined to make a name for herself by pulling the ultimate prank.
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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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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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Carrie and Carl Play: A Flip-Flap Book
Lois T. Smith
Carl and his sister Carrie play at home with Mommy and Dad.
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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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Chang and the Bamboo Flute
Elizabeth Starr Hill
Chang, a mute Chinese boy whose father uses cormorants to fish, becomes a hero when a heavy rain strands his father's fishing raft.
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Changing Places: A Kid's View of Shelter Living
Judy Wallace, Glen Finland, and Margie Chalofsky
Eight children briefly tell about their experiences living with their mothers in a homeless shelter.
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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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Charlie's Run
Valerie Hobbs
Hoping to stop his parents' impending separation and keep them from getting a divorce, eleven-year-old Charlie runs away from their home in inland California and finds a ride to the coast.
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Check, Please!: Book One, #Hockey
Ngozi Ukazu
Eric Bittle may be a former junior figure skating champion, vlogger extraordinaire, and very talented amateur pâtissier, but being a freshman on the Samwell University hockey team is a whole new challenge. It is nothing like co-ed club hockey back in Georgia! First of all? There's checking (anything that hinders the player with possession of the puck, ranging from a stick check all the way to a physical sweep). And then, there is Jack-- his very attractive but moody captain.
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Chester and Gus
Cammie McGovern
Chester, a service dog, is adopted into a family where he becomes a companion to Gus, a ten-year-old boy with nonverbal autism, who initially challenges Chester by requiring a different kind of friendship.
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Chinese Handcuffs
Christ Crutcher
Dillon is living with the painful memory of his brother's suicide-and the role he played in it. To keep his mind and body occupied, he trains intensely for the Ironman triathlon. But outside of practice, his life seems to be falling apart. Then Dillon finds a confidante in Jennifer, a star high school basketball player who's hiding her own set of destructive secrets. Together, they must find the courage to confront their demons-before it's too late.
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Chocolate Me!
Taye Diggs
Relates the experiences of a dark-skinned, curly-haired child who wishes he could look more like the lighter-skinned children in his community until his mother helps him realize how wonderful he is inside and out.
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Chulito
Charles Rice-González
Set against a vibrant South Bronx neighborhood and the youth culture of Manhattan, Chulito is a coming-of-age. coming out love story of a sexy Latino man and the colorful characters that populate his block.