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 Diverse Families by Subject:
-
American Ace
Marilyn Nelson
Sixteen-year-old Connor tries to help his severely depressed father, who learned upon his mother's death that Nonno was not his biological father, by doing research that reveals Dad's father was probably a Tuskegee Airman.
-
Americanized Rebel Without a Green Card
Sara Saedi
In San Jose, California, in the 1990s, teenaged Sara keeps a diary of life as an Iranian American and her discovery that she and her family entered as undocumented immigrants.
-
Am I a Color Too?
Heidi Cole and Nancy Vogl
A young boy whose father is called Black and whose mother is called White wonders if he is a color, too, even as he observes that people around him dream, feel, sing, smile, and dance in every color.
-
Amina's Voice
Hena Khan
A Pakistani-American Muslim girl struggles to stay true to her family's vibrant culture while simultaneously blending in at school after tragedy strikes her community.
-
Amira's Family (All Kinds of Families)
Elliot Riley
Easy reader introduces a refugee and her family, highlighting their family dynamics and celebrating diversity.
-
A Mom for Umande
Maria Faulconer
Because his own mother is too young to take care of him, Umande, a newborn gorilla, is fed and cuddled by human zookeepers until a surrogate mother is found.
-
A Moon for Moe and Mo
Jane Breskin Zalben
Moses Feldman, a Jewish boy, lives at one end of Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn, New York, while Mohammed Hassan, a Muslim boy, lives at the other. One day they meet at Sahadi's market while out shopping with their mothers and are mistaken for brothers. A friendship is born, and the boys bring their families together to share rugelach and date cookies in the park as they make a wish for peace.
-
A Most Unusual Day
Sydra Mallery
Something rather extraordinary is happening in Caroline’s life today...her family is adopting a new baby sister! A warm and loving story about school, family, siblings, and adoption, for anyone eagerly awaiting the arrival of a new sibling.
-
Amy Asks a Question...Grandma - What's a Lesbian?
Jeanne Arnold
Grandma Bonnie, who has been in a lesbian relationship for more than twenty years, explains to Amy about gay pride and being a lesbian.
-
An African Princess
Lyra Edmonds
Lyra and her parents go to the Caribbean to visit Taunte May, who reminds her that her family tree is full of princesses from Africa and around the world.
-
A Name on the Quilt
Jeannine Atkins
A family reminisces while gathered together to make a panel for the AIDS Memorial Quilt in memory of a beloved uncle.
-
An American Face
Jan M. Czech and Frances Clancy
Adopted from Korea by American parents, Jessie excitedly waits for the day he will get his American citizenship and, he thinks, an American face.
-
And Baby Makes 4
Judith Benjamin
One of her moms is pregnant! What will this mean for a child who will soon be an older sibling? Her mothers prepare her for the big change in their family, and finally the baby arrives. The girl feels confused and ambivalent, but she grows at last toward happy acceptance of the baby and of her new status in the family.
-
And She Was
Jessica Verdi
When Dara finds her birth certificate, she is puzzled to find two strange names on it, but when her mother, Mellie, reveals that she is transgender and transitioned when Dara's biological mother died soon after Dara's birth, Dara is stunned and angry--and she sets off with her friend Sam, in search of the grandparents she never knew existed (and who may be able to fund her tennis career), and the family secrets she can only guess at.
-
And Tango Makes Three
Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell
At New York City's Central Park Zoo, two male penguins fall in love and start a family by taking turns sitting on an abandoned egg until it hatches.
-
And Then There Were Four
Nancy Werlin
When five high school students are brought together under mysterious circumstances, they begin to piece together a theory that their parents are working together to kill them all.
-
An Ellis Island Christmas
Maxinne Rhea Leighton
Papa has already left Poland, and Krysia longs to see him again. "First we must cross the ocean to get to Ellis Island in America," says Mama. "That's where Papa is waiting for us." Saying goodbye to her home is hard, and the ocean voyage is long and stormy, but finally, on Christmas Eve, Krysia sees the Statue of Liberty! Dennis Nolan's richly rendered illustrations powerfully evoke the uncertainty, wonder, and hope of this young immigrant's experience. An Ellis Island Christmas is a holiday story to treasure, year after year.
-
An Ember in the Ashes
Sabaa Tahir
Laia is a Scholar living under the iron-fisted rule of the Martial Empire. When her brother is arrested for treason, Laia goes undercover as a slave at the empire's greatest military academy in exchange for assistance from rebel Scholars who claim that they will help to save her brother from execution.
-
An Enchantment of Ravens
Margaret Rogerson
Isobel is a prodigy portrait artist with a dangerous set of clients: the sinister fair folk, immortal creatures who cannot bake bread, weave cloth, or put a pen to paper without crumbling to dust. They crave human Craft with a terrible thirst, and Isobel's paintings are highly prized. But when she receives her first royal patron--Rook, the autumn prince--she makes a terrible mistake. She paints mortal sorrow in his eyes--a weakness that could cost him his life. Furious and devastated, Rook spirits her away to the autumnlands to stand trial for her crime.
-
A New Barker in the House
Tomie DePaola
Twins Moffie and Morgie are excited when they hear that their family is adopting a three-year-old Hispanic boy.
-
An Eye for an Eye (Noughts & Crosses, #1.5)
Malorie Blackman
This is a novella in the Noughts & Crosses series, written especially for World Book Day. In a world where the two classes are divided by colour and never treated as equals; Sephy, a Cross and daughter of a top politician, is six months pregnant. The child's father, Callum, is a Nought, but worse, he is dead and Callum's brother is out for revenge. Can two wrongs make a right?
-
Angel's Grace
Tracey Baptiste
While visiting her grandmother in Trinidad, thirteen-year-old Grace sees a photograph of a stranger with a birthmark identical to hers, and begins to wonder if the reason she feels different from the rest of her family is that he is her real father.
-
Anger is a Gift
Mark Oshiro
Six years ago, Moss Jefferies' father was murdered by an Oakland police officer. Along with losing a parent, the media's vilification of his father and lack of accountability has left Moss with near crippling panic attacks. Now, in his sophomore year of high school, Moss and his fellow classmates find themselves increasingly treated like criminals in their own school. New rules. Random locker searches. Constant intimidation and Oakland Police Department stationed in their halls. Despite their youth, the students decide to organize and push back against the administration. When tensions hit a fever pitch and tragedy strikes, Moss must face a difficult choice: give in to fear and hate or realize that anger can actually be a gift.
-
Angryman
Gro Dahle
There's someone in the living room. It's Dad. It is Angryman. Boj's father can be very angry and violent. Boj calls this side of his father's personality "Angryman." When Angryman comes no one is safe. Until something powerful happens... Gro Dahle's astute text and Svein Nyhus's bold, evocative art capture the full range of emotions that descend upon a small family as they grapple with "Angryman." With an important message to children who experience the same things as Boj: You are not alone. It's not your fault. You must tell someone you trust. It doesn't have to be this way!
