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 Family Relationship:
Single Parent
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Noughts & Crosses (Noughts & Crosses #1)
Malorie Blackman
Sephy is a Cross - a member of the dark-skinned ruling class. Callum is a nought - a 'colourless' member of the underclass who were once slaves to the Crosses. The two have been friends since early childhood. But that's as far as it can go.
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Obama: A Promise of Change
David Mendell and Sarah L. Thomson
A journalist who has covered the senator and presidential candidate since his campaign for the Senate offers a portrait that features his childhood and youth in Hawaii and his embrace of seemingly ruthless campaign tactics.
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Odd One out
Nic Stone
High school juniors and best friends Courtney and Jupe, and new sophomore Rae, explore their sexuality and their budding attractions for one another.
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Off-Color
Janet McDonald
Fifteen-year-old Cameron living with her single mother in Brooklyn finds her search for identity further challenged when she discovers that she is the product of a biracial relationship.
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Of Many Colors: Portraits of Multiracial Families
Gigi Kaeser and Peggy Gillespie
Based on an award-winning photo exhibit, this collection of interviews and photographs documents the feelings and experiences of "thirty-nine families who have bridged the racial divide through interracial marriage or adoption."
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Oh, Oh Baby Boy!
Janine Macbeth
Oh, Oh, Baby Boy follows a newborn baby as he grows up, laughs, plays, causes mischief, and makes friends. His father's involvement is woven throughout the story, and depicted in nontraditional ways. The baby's father cuddles, bathes, and cooks with his son, and re-enters the story when the baby boy eventually becomes a father himself, bringing the journey full circle.
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One April Morning: Children Remember the Oklahoma City Bombing
Nancy Lamb
Conversations with children from the Oklahoma City area about their feelings at the time of the bombing of the Federal Building and afterwards.
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One Crazy Summer
Rita Williams-Garcia
In the summer of 1968, after traveling from Brooklyn to Oakland, California, to spend a month with the mother they barely know, eleven-year-old Delphine and her two younger sisters arrive to a cold welcome as they discover that their mother, a dedicated poet and printer, is resentful of the intrusion of their visit and wants them to attend a nearby Black Panther summer camp.
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One Family
George Shannon
A family can be many things, in this story that introduces numbered groups from one to ten.
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One Hundred is a Family
Pam Muñoz Ryan
Groups making up many different kinds of "families" introduce the numbers from one to ten and then by tens to one hundred.
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Opposite of Always
Justin A. Reynolds
After falling for Kate, her unexpected death sends Jack back in time to the moment they first met. He soon learns that his actions have consequences when someone else close to him dies.
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Out of Darkness
Ashley Hope Perez
Loosely based on a school explosion that took place in New London, Texas in 1937, this is the story of two teenagers: Naomi, who is Mexican, and Wash, who is black, and their dealings with race, segregation, love, and the forces that destroy people.
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Owen Has Burgers and Drum: Helping to Understand and Befriend Kids with Asperger's Syndrome
Christine M. Shiels and Frank R. Pane
Cal befriends the new boy at school, Owen, and learns how Owen's behavior is affected by Asperger's syndrome, a part of the autism spectrum characterized by difficulties in social interaction.
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Owen's Family (All Kinds of Families)
Elliot Riley
Meet Owen's family. His mom died when he was young. His dad raises him and his brothers with the help of his grandparents. It is a special kind of family.
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Parachutes
Kelly Yang
They’re called parachutes: teenagers dropped off to live in private homes and study in the United States while their wealthy parents remain in Asia. Claire Wang never thought she’d be one of them, until her parents pluck her from her privileged life in Shanghai and enroll her at a high school in California. Suddenly she finds herself living in a stranger’s house, with no one to tell her what to do for the first time in her life. She soon embraces her newfound freedom, especially when the hottest and most eligible parachute, Jay, asks her out. Dani De La Cruz, Claire’s new host sister, couldn’t be less thrilled that her mom rented out a room to Claire. An academic and debate team star, Dani is determined to earn her way into Yale, even if it means competing with privileged kids who are buying their way to the top. But Dani’s game plan veers unexpectedly off course when her debate coach starts working with her privately. As they steer their own distinct paths, Dani and Claire keep crashing into one another, setting a course that will change their lives forever.
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Pashmina
Nidhi Chanani
Priyanka Das has so many unanswered questions: Why did her mother abandon her home in India years ago? What was it like there? And most importantly, who is her father, and why did her mom leave him behind? But Pri's mom avoids these questions and the topic of India is permanently closed. For Pri, her mother's homeland can only exist in her imagination. That is, until she find a mysterious pashmina tucked away in a forgotten suitcase. When she wraps herself in it, she is transported to a place more vivid and colorful than any guidebook or Bollywood film.
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Pecan Pie Baby
Jacqueline Woodson
When Mama's pregnancy draws attention away from Gia, she worries that the special bond they share will disappear forever once the baby is born
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Peppe the Lamplighter
Elisa Bartone
Peppe becomes a lamplighter to help support his immigrant family in turn-of-the-century New York City, despite his papa's disapproval. But when Peppe's job helps save his little sister, he earns the respect of his entire family.
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Perfect Chemistry (Perfect Chemistry, #1)
Simon Elkeles
When wealthy, seemingly perfect Brittany and Alex Fuentes, a gang member from the other side of town, develop a relationship after Alex discovers that Brittany is not exactly who she seems to be, they must face the disapproval of their schoolmates--and others.
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Perfect Peace
Daniel Black
After Perfect Peace's mother reveals that Perfect was born a boy, made into a girl and now must learn to be a boy again, his life goes out of control and his family is forced to question everything they thought they knew.
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Personal Effects
E. M. Kokie
Matt has been sleepwalking through life while seeking answers about his brother T.J.'s death in Iraq, but after discovering that he may not have known his brother as well as he thought he did, Matt is able to stand up to his father, honor T.J.'s memory, and take charge of his own life.
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Pieces of Why
K.L. Going
Tia lives with her mom in a high-risk neighborhood in New Orleans and loves singing gospel in the Rainbow Choir with Keisha, her boisterous and assertive best friend. Tia's dream is to change the world with her voice; and by all accounts, she might be talented enough. But when a shooting happens in her neighborhood and she learns the truth about the crime that sent her father to prison years ago, Tia finds she can't sing anymore.
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Promised Land
Adam Reynolds and Chaz Harris
A young Prince and a farm boy meet by chance in the forest and their newfound friendship soon blossoms into love. However, things get complicated when the Queen's sinister new husband seeks control over the enchanted forest that the farm boy's family are responsible for protecting.
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Putting Makeup on the Fat Boy
Bil Bil Wright
Sixteen-year-old Carlos Duarte is on the verge of realizing his dream of becoming a famous make-up artist, but first he must face his jealous boss at a Macy's cosmetics counter, his sister's abusive boyfriend, and his crush on a punk-rocker classmate.
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Rainbow Boys
Alex Sanchez
Three high school seniors, a jock with a girlfriend and an alcoholic father, a closeted gay, and a flamboyant gay rights advocate, struggle with family issues, gay bashers, first sex, and conflicting feelings about each other.