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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Maisie's Scrapbook
Samuel Narh
As the seasons turn, Maisie rides her bull in and out of Dada's tall tales. Her Mama wears linen and plays the viola. Her Dada wears kente cloth and plays the marimba.They come from different places, but they hug her in the same way. And most of all, they love her just the same. A joyful celebration of a mixed-race family and the love that binds us all together.
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Making My Family
Naomi Stern
Much awaited read-it-to-me book about a child adopted by two Dads. What makes a family? Lots of love, no matter what the mix! This story applies to any family, but is particularly powerful for families of gay parents.
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Mama, Across the Sea
Alex Godard
Although she loves the sunny island where she lives with her grandparents, Cecile longs to see her mother again.
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Mama Eat Ant, Yuck!
Barbara Lynn Edmonds
Baby Emma says her first words when Mama accidently eats some ants that are in the raisins. Emma lives with her lesbian parents, Mama and Mommy, and Mama envisions Emma's verbal future up until she has her own baby Kate who says, "Grandmama eat ant, yuck!"
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Mama, I'll Give You the World
Roni Schotter Schotter
At Walter's World of Beauty, Luisa's secret plans are underway to create a very special birthday celebration for her hard-working, single mother who is employed there as a stylist.
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Mama Loves Me from Away
Pat Brisson
When a mother and daughter are separated by the mother's incarceration, they find a special way to keep their loving relationship alive.
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Mama & Papa Have a Store
Amelia Lau Carling
A little girl describes what a day is like in her Chinese parents' dry-goods store in Guatemala City.
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Mama's Nightingale: A Story of Immigration and Separation
Edwidge Danticat
When Saya's mother is sent to jail as an illegal immigrant, she sends her daughter a cassette tape with a song and a bedtime story, which inspires Saya to write a story of her own -- one that just might bring her mother home.
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Mama's Way
Helen Ketteman
Wynona longs for a beautiful new dress to wear to her graduation from sixth grade, even though she knows that her mama cannot afford to buy one for her.
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Mama Zooms
Jane Cown-Fletcher
A boy's wonderful mama takes him zooming everywhere with her, because her wheelchair is a zooming machine.
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Maniac Magee
Jerry Spinelli
After his parents die, Jeffrey Lionel Magee's life becomes legendary, as he accomplishes athletic and other feats which awe his contemporaries.
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Marcelo In The Real World
Francisco X. Stork
The term "cognitive disorder" implies there is something wrong with the way I think or the way I perceive reality. I perceive reality just fine. Sometimes I perceive more of reality than others. Marcelo Sandoval hears music that nobody else can hear ― part of an autism-like condition that no doctor has been able to identify. But his father has never fully believed in the music or Marcelo's differences, and he challenges Marcelo to work in the mailroom of his law firm for the summer . . . to join "the real world."
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Mariama: Different But Just the Same
Jerónimo Cornelles
Everything's new for Mariama after a long journey by car, train, boat, and plane from Africa. She's going to discover a world where the streets, her school, and the food are all different. But what about the people? A beautiful tale about identity, the process of integration, and solidarity. Are you ready to meet Mariama and play with her?
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Marianthe's Story: Painted Words and Spoken Memories
Aliki .
Two separate stories, the first telling of Mari's starting school in a new land, and the second describing village life in her country before she and her family left in search of a better life.
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Mariposa Gown
Rigoberto Gonzalez
Caliente Valley High School senior Maui, a gay Latino, is torn between his growing affection for a wealthy newcomer and his loyalty to the LGBT alliance he helped found, whose members consider making a statement by attending prom in drag.
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Marisol McDonald and the Clash Bash
Monica Brown
A unique, spunky, multiracial, bilingual girl plans a one-of-a-kind birthday party and hopes her abuelita (grandma) will be able to come from Peru to join the festivities. Includes an author's note and glossaries.
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Marisol McDonald Doesn't Match
Monica Brown
A creative, unique, bilingual Peruvian Scottish-American-soccer-playing artist celebrates her uniqueness.
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Marwan's Journey
Patricia de Arias
One night they came... The darkness grew colder, deeper, darker, and swallowed up everything... Marwan is a young boy on a journey he never intended to take, bound for a place he doesn’t know. On his journey, he relies on courage and memories of his faraway homeland to buoy him. With him are hundreds and thousands of other human beings, crossing the deserts and the seas, fleeing war and hunger in search of safety. He must take one step after another—bringing whatever he can carry, holding on to dreams. This is the journey of one boy who longs for a home, and we follow his path, walking hand in hand with him as he looks forward with uncertainty and hopes for a peaceful future. This beautiful, heartfelt story gives a human face to the plight of refugees all over the world. Marwan’s journey is everyone’s journey.
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Max: Best Friend. Hero. Marine
Jennifer Li Shotz
When Justin's older brother, Kyle, is killed in Afghanistan, Justin can't believe that his brother is really gone. Except there's one thing that Kyle left behind...Max is a highly trained military canine who has always protected his fellow soldiers. But when he loses his handler and best friend, Kyle, Max is traumatized and unable to remain in the service. He is sent home to America, where the only human he connects with is Justin, and he is soon adopted by Kyle's family, essentially saving his life. At first Justin has no interest in taking care of his late brother's troubled dog. However, the two learn to trust each other, which helps the four-legged veteran become his heroic self once more. As the pair start to unravel the mystery of what really happened to Kyle, they find more excitement--and danger--than they bargained for. But they might also find an unlikely new best friend--in each other.
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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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Max, the Stubborn Little Wolf
Marie Odile-Judes
Papa Wolf expects his son Max to be a hunter, like other wolves, but Max has different ideas about his future.
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Maxwell's Mountain
Shari Becker
After preparing to be an outdoorsman, Maxwell sets out to climb the mountain in the park.
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McKenna (American Girl)
Mary Casanova
Seattle fourth-grader McKenna Brooks, who lives for gymnastics, struggles with school work until Josie, a tutor confined to a wheelchair, helps her with reading comprehension and much more.