Diverse Books - Tumblr Posts
Happy Black History Month!! To celebrate, I made this list to share some of my favorite books written by Black authors and have Black main characters
Blood Like Magic by Liselle Sambury
This is one of my absolute favorite books. It’s about a Black girl who was born into a witch family, and in order to get powers, she has to pass a task given to her by one of her ancestors. Her task happens to be to find her first love and destroy them. This book has elements of fantasy, sci-fi, mystery, and romance and the sequel is just as good. I will never stop recommending it.
Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor
Although the main character of this book is in middle school, I think it’s a good read for people of all ages. The story follows Sunny, a Nigerian girl with albinism. After learning she is a witch, she begins to live a double life. One where she pretends to be her same non-magical self to her family, and one where she learns about magic and herself with Orlu, her friend from school; Chichi, Orlu’s mysterious friend; and Sasha, an American boy who moved to Nigeria.
Caucasia by Danzy Senna
Caucasia is the coming of age story of a girl born to a White mother and Black father in the 1970s. As someone who passes for White, she struggles to find where she belongs. She experiences being both Black and White, changing her race as easily as changing clothes, depending on who she needs to be at the time. She also has to deal with her family splitting up and her parents’ activism that might get them into serious trouble.
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
I’m sure everyone’s heard of this one, but in case you haven’t: Starr was in her friend’s car the night he was killed by a police officer. She struggles afterwards to cope with his violent death and to speak up while remaining anonymous. This book is so so important. Police brutality never seems to stop, even in my own neighborhood. Everyone will benefit by learning more and speaking out against it.
Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson
Black Cake is about siblings Byron and Benny who are left with only a black cake and a tape recording when their mother dies. In the recording, their mother tells the story of someone they don’t even know, and the two have to learn to be a family again after a falling out they had years ago.
Here are some more that aren’t my favorites but I think others might love
Rust in the Root by Justina Ireland
This one is about a Black, queer mage in 1930s America trying to get a license to practice magic. Her new government job sends her on a journey to fix a blight that is more deadly than anyone expected.
Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi
Set in a land similar to Africa, the magi, people who have magic, have all been killed by the monarchy. One day magic returns and one of the last remaining magi teams up with the princess to protect magic and prepare the magi to fight for their lives.
Cinderella is Dead by Kalynn Bayron
200 years of Cinderella dies, the land is ruled by Prince Charming, who forces all young women to attend a ball to find a suitor. Sophia, who is queer, opposes this lifestyle and runs away. Once she’s away from the prince’s influence, she discovers the true story of Cinderella and what she can do to stop the balls.
Also, if horror is your thing, The Only Good Indians is excellent but not necessarily YA. There, There by Tommy Orange is also VERY good!!! Don’t forget to buy from Indigenous bookstores or borrow from your local library!!!
TRIGGER WARNING
But as an Indigenous person, Sherman Alexei is a known AND admitted sexual predator. I don’t support him anymore, because I find it far too triggering. At least three women have come forward, and he admitted to it and apologized. But just so everyone is aware, there are far more Indigenous authors you can support.
25 YA Books for Indigenous Peoples Day
With only 2 exceptions, the books below are written by indigenous authors. (Tree Girl is written by a white American born in Bolivia, but takes place during the Mayan genocide of the 1980s; Golden Kamuy is written by a non-Ainu Japanese, but is one of the few books about this culture)
For brevity and diversity, I did not include all the North American Native books I found - feel free to post your favorites in the comments! If anyone can suggest more Latin American indigenous stories (which were difficult to find from Latine authors) or especially Hawai’ian native stories (which I couldn’t find any of), please let me know.
Australia
The Things She’s Seen by Amebelin & Ezekiel Kwaymullina The Boy from the Mish by Gary Lonesborough Becoming Kirrali Lewis by Jane Harrison Swallow the Air by Tara June Winch
Canada
The Missing by Melanie Florence Sorrow’s Knot by Erin Bow Son of a Trickster by Eden Robinson The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline A Girl Called Echo by Katherena Vermette Surviving the City by Tasha Spillett
Japan - Ainu
Golden Kamuy by Satoru Noda
Latin America
Saints of the Household by Ari Tison Tree Girl by Ben Mikaelsen The Huaca by Marcia Argueta Mickelson Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia The Lost Dreamer by Lizz Huerta
New Zealand - Maori
The Whale Rider, Witi Ihimaera Falling into Rarohenga by Steph Matuku
United States
Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley Trail of Lighting by Rebecca Roanhorse Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie If I Ever Get Out of Here by Eric Gansworth Hearts Unbroken by Cynthia Leitich Smith Rain is Not My Indian Name by Cynthia Leitich Smith
25 YA Books for Indigenous Peoples Day
With only 2 exceptions, the books below are written by indigenous authors. (Tree Girl is written by a white American born in Bolivia, but takes place during the Mayan genocide of the 1980s; Golden Kamuy is written by a non-Ainu Japanese, but is one of the few books about this culture)
For brevity and diversity, I did not include all the North American Native books I found - feel free to post your favorites in the comments! If anyone can suggest more Latin American indigenous stories (which were difficult to find from Latine authors) or especially Hawai’ian native stories (which I couldn’t find any of), please let me know.
Australia
The Things She’s Seen by Amebelin & Ezekiel Kwaymullina The Boy from the Mish by Gary Lonesborough Becoming Kirrali Lewis by Jane Harrison Swallow the Air by Tara June Winch
Canada
The Missing by Melanie Florence Sorrow’s Knot by Erin Bow Son of a Trickster by Eden Robinson The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline A Girl Called Echo by Katherena Vermette Surviving the City by Tasha Spillett
Japan - Ainu
Golden Kamuy by Satoru Noda
Latin America
Saints of the Household by Ari Tison Tree Girl by Ben Mikaelsen The Huaca by Marcia Argueta Mickelson Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia The Lost Dreamer by Lizz Huerta
New Zealand - Maori
The Whale Rider, Witi Ihimaera Falling into Rarohenga by Steph Matuku
United States
Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley Trail of Lighting by Rebecca Roanhorse Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie If I Ever Get Out of Here by Eric Gansworth Hearts Unbroken by Cynthia Leitich Smith Rain is Not My Indian Name by Cynthia Leitich Smith
We need more diverse books in literature. More voices need to be represented.
The Cooperative Children’s Book Center has released the results of their 2019 survey on diversity in kidlit/YA.
We thank them for this invaluable work, note their commitment to adding Arabs/Arab Americans in future surveys, and present these graphs of their findings.
The 3,716 books surveyed have this many main characters total for the following groups:
Black/African: 11.9%
First/Native Nations: 1%
Asian/Asian American: 8.7%
Latinx: 5.3%
Pacific Islander: 0.05%
White: 41.8%
Animal/Other: 29.2%
LGBTQIAP+: 3.1%
Disability: 3.4%
“Taken together, books about white children, talking bears, trucks, monsters, potatoes, etc. represent nearly three quarters (71%) of children’s and young adult books published in 2019.” - librarian Madeline Tyner
When we looked at the breakdown for IPOC creatives who wrote and/or illustrated stories with characters of their own race, we found the following:
First/Native Nations: 68.2%
Pacific Islander: 80%
Latinx: 95.7%
Asian/Asian American: 100%*
*NOTE: these percentages include both authors and illustrators and, as pointed out by author Linda Sue Park for past surveys, Asians/Asian Americans are frequently illustrators but not necessarily authors of their own stories, meaning this is not fully reflective of #OwnVoices representation.
Black/African creatives wrote and/or illustrated only 46.4% of stories featuring Black/African characters.
This is the work that still needs to be done.
do you have any wlw books that star women of colour?
i do!
girls of paper and fire by natasha ngan
girl serpent thorn by melissa bashardoust
take a hint, dani brown by talia hibbert
the bone shard daughter by andrea stewart
the space between worlds by micaiah johnson
the true queen by zen cho
empress of forever by max gladstone
falling into place by sheryn munir
waiting on a bright moon by jy yang
the avant-guards by carly usdin & noah hayes
that could be enough by alyssa cole
abbott by saladin ahmed
a dead djinn in cairo by p djeli clark
the stars and the blackness between them by junauda petrus
the henna wars by adiba jaigirdar
you should see me in a crown by leah johnson
burning roses by s l huang
yellow rose by yoshiya nobuko
don’t date rosa santos by nina moreno
clap when you land by elizabeth acevedo
shatter the sky by rebecca kim wells
the good luck girls by charlotte nicole davis
in the vanishers’ palace by aliette de bodard
once ghosted, twice shy by alyssa cole
afterlove by tanya byrne
buuza!! by shazleen khan
motor crush by brenden fletcher
not for use in navigation by iona datt sharma
ninefox gambit by yoon ha lee
a blade so black by l l mckinney
mangos and mistletoe by adrianna herrera
patsy by nicole dennis benn
escaping exodus by nicky drayden
we set the dark on fire by tehlor kay mejia
the weight of the stars by k ancrum
Join us in a celebration of Black History Month as we highlight the Black authors whose books are in our Young Adult Collection! First up: Elizabeth Acevedo, Tomi Adeyemi, Kwame Alexander, Lisa Allen-Agostini, L. J. Alonge, Carol Anderson, Lily Anderson, K. Ancrum, and Dead Atta
Join us in a celebration of Black History Month as we highlight the Black authors whose books are in our Young Adult Collection! Part 2: Rena Barron, Kalynn Bayron, Black Enough Anthology, Tonya Bolden, Tanya Boteju, Roseanne A. Brown, Kacen Callender, Dhonielle Clayton, Brandy Colbert, Charlotte Nicole Davis, Dana L. Davis, Tanita S. Davis, Tracy Deonn, Alechia Dow, Sharon M. Draper, & Kimberly Drew
Let’s celebrate black beauty on YA covers.
It’s Black History Month here in the United States, and what better time to celebrate black beauty? Let’s take a peek at some of the YA covers that feature their amazing black leads.
There still is a lot of work to be done in terms of inclusive YA - there’s not nearly enough black leads, and queer black leads, and disabled black leads, or any combination of them, and not nearly enough represented on covers. But for today, we can admire the beauty we’ve been given so far - and remind publishing that hey, these books are great, and representation is important. More, please! View the full post - with YA covers in all their glory! - on YA Interrobang.