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May Challenge Read an Award Winner Featuring a Diverse Character
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FCPL is challenging you to read great books about new people, cool places and different experiences.
Read Your World is all about reading diverse books that encourage elementary and teen readers to explore and learn about the world around them. Complete any 5 out of the 6 challenges (or earn 50 points) to earn a prize! The books on this list are suggestions. Feel free to read a book that is not on this list. If you need help picking a title, ask a librarian to recommend a book for you. |
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Birdsong
by Julie Flett
A celebration of art, nature and connecting across generations traces the experiences of a young girl who moves to a small town, where her friendship with an elderly fellow crafter is shaped by the seasons and her awareness of her friend’s failing health.
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Dreamers
by Yuyi Morales
An illustrated picture book autobiography in which award-winning author Yuyi Morales tells her own immigration story.
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Fry Bread : a Native American family story
by Kevin Noble Maillard
A celebration of the long-cherished Seminole Nation tradition of sharing fry bread during family meals combines evocative verses with vibrant artwork.
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Julián Is a Mermaid
by Jessica Love
While riding the subway home from the pool with his abuela one day, Julián notices three women spectacularly dressed up. Their hair billows in brilliant hues, their dresses end in fishtails, and their joy fills the train car. When Julián gets home, daydreaming of the magic he's seen, all he can think about is dressing up just like the ladies in his own fabulous mermaid costume: a butter-yellow curtain for his tail, the fronds of a potted fern for his headdress. But what will Abuela think about the mess he makes -- and even more importantly, what will she think about how Julián sees himself?
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La Princesa and the Pea
by Susan Middleton Elya
A rhyming, Latino twist on a classic fairy tale in which a queen places a pea under a young lady's mattress to see if she is truly a princess. Incorporates Spanish words, includes a glossary, and features artwork inspired by the culture of Peru.
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Last Stop on Market Street
by Matt de la Peña
A young boy rides the bus across town with his grandmother and learns to appreciate the beauty in everyday things.
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Radiant Child : the story of young artist Jean-Michel Basquiat
by Javaka Steptoe
An introduction to the early life and achievements of modern art master Jean-Michael Basquiat describes how as a boy he saw art in all things and used his unique collage-style paintings to convey the pulsing, dynamic energy of New York City.
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The Undefeated
by Kwame Alexander
Originally performed for ESPN’s The Undefeated, this poem by the Newbery Award-winning author of The Crossover and artwork from a two-time Caldecott Honoree is a love letter to black life in the United States, highlighting the unspeakable trauma of slavery; the faith and fire of the Civil Rights Movement; and the grit, passion and perseverance of some of the world’s greatest heroes.
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¡Vamos! Let's Go to the Market
by Raúl the Third
Little Lobo and his dog make deliveries to marketplace vendors in a busy Mexican-American border town, in a celebration of diversity by the award-winning illustrator of the Lowriders in Space series that blends stylistically detailed graphic-art panels with clever bilingual text.
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We Are Water Protectors
by Carole Lindstrom
When a black snake threatens to destroy the earth, one young water protector takes a stand to defend the planet's water, in a tale inspired by the many indigenous-led conservation movements across North America.
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Brown Girl Dreaming
by Jacqueline Woodson
In vivid poems that reflect the joy of finding her voice through writing stories, an award-winning author shares what it was like to grow up in the 1960s and 1970s in both the North and the South.
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Chef Roy Choi and the Street Food Remix
by Jacqueline Briggs Martin
Describes the popular street cook's life, including working in his family's restaurant as a child, figuring out what he wanted to do with his life, and his success with his food truck and restaurant.
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El Deafo
by Cece Bell
The author recounts in graphic novel format her experiences with hearing loss at a young age, including using a bulky hearing aid, learning how to lip read, and determining her "superpower."
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Indian No More
by Charlene Willing McManis
In 1957, ten-year-old Regina Petit's Umpqua tribe is legally terminated and forced to leave Oregon, but in Los Angeles her family faces prejudice and she struggles to understand her identity as an Indian far from tribal lands.
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Inside Out & Back Again
by Thanhha Lai
Through a series of poems, a young girl chronicles the life-changing year of 1975, when she, her mother, and her brothers leave Vietnam and resettle in Alabama.
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Lowriders in Space
by Cathy Camper
Loving to fix all kinds of cars but especially loving hip-hopping, dip-dropping lowriders, friends Lupe Impala, El Chavo Flapjack and Elirio Malaria compete in a "best car" contest in hopes of winning enough money to open their own shop, in a story complemented by a Spanish-English glossary.
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New Kid
by Jerry Craft
Enrolled in a prestigious private school where he is one of only a few students of color, talented seventh grade artist Jordan finds himself torn between the worlds of his Washington Heights apartment home and the upscale circles of Riverdale Academy.
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Other Words for Home
by Jasmine Warga
Jude never thought she'd be leaving her beloved older brother and father behind, all the way across the ocean in Syria. But when things in her hometown start becoming volatile, Jude and her mother are sent to live in Cincinnati with relatives. At first, everything in America seems too fast and too loud. The American movies that Jude has always loved haven't quite prepared her for starting school in the US--and her new label of "Middle Eastern," an identity she's never known before. But this life also brings unexpected surprises--there are new friends, a whole new family, and a school musical that Jude might just try out for. Maybe America, too, is a place where Jude can be seen as she really is. This lyrical, life-affirming story is about losing and finding home and, most importantly, finding yourself.
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When You Trap a Tiger
by Tae Keller
Moving with her parents into the home of her sick grandmother, young Lily forges a complicated pact with a magical tiger, in a story inspired by Korean folktales.
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When Stars are Scattered
by Victoria Jamieson
Omar and his younger brother Hassan live in a refugee camp, and when an opportunity for Omar to get an education comes along, he must decide between going to school every day or caring for his nonverbal brother in this intimate and touching portrayal offamily and daily life in a refugee camp.
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The 57 Bus
by Dashka Slater
Documents the true story of two Oakland high school students, a white girl from a privileged private school and a black youth from a school overshadowed by crime, whose fateful interaction triggered devastating consequences for both, garnering national attention and raising awareness about hate.
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Almost American Girl : an illustrated memoir
by Robin Ha
Moving abruptly from Seoul to Alabama, a Korean teen struggles in a hostile blended home and a new school where she does not speak English before forging unexpected connections in a local comic drawing class.
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Apple in the Middle
by Dawn Quigley
Apple Starkington turned her back on her Native American heritage the moment she was called a racial slur for someone of white and Indian descent, not that she really even knew how to be an Indian in the first place. Too bad the white world doesn't accept her either. And so begins her quirky habits to gain acceptance. Apple's name, chosen by her Indian mother on her deathbed, has a double meaning: treasured apple of my eye, but also the negative connotation a person who is red, or Indian, on the outside, but white on the inside. After her wealthy father gives her the boot one summer, Apple reluctantly agrees to visit her Native American relatives on the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation in northern North Dakota for the first time. Apple learns to deal with the culture shock of Indian customs and the Native Michif language, while she tries to find a connection to her dead mother. She also has to deal with a vengeful Indian man who loved her mother in high school but now hates Apple because her mom married a white man. Bouncing in the middle of two cultures, Apple meets her Indian relatives, shatters Indian stereotypes, and learns what it means to find her place in a world divided by color.
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King and the Dragonflies
by Kacen Callender
A 12-year-old boy spends days in the mystical Louisiana bayou to come to terms with a sibling’s sudden death, his grief-stricken family and the disappearance of his former best friend amid whispers about the latter’s sexual orientation.
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Legendborn
by Tracy Deonn
Wanting to escape her previous life after the accidental death of her mother, 16-year-old Bree enrolls in a program for high school students at the local university before her witness to a magical attack reveals her undiscovered powers as well as sinister truths about her mother’s death.
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Long Way Down
by Jason Reynolds
As fifteen-year-old Will sets out to avenge his brother Shawn's fatal shooting, seven ghosts who knew Shawn board the elevator and reveal truths Will needs to know.
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The Poet X
by Elizabeth Acevedo
When Xiomara Batista, who pours all her frustrations and passion into poetry, is invited to join the school slam poetry club, she struggles with her mother's expectations and her need to be heard.
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Punching the air
by Ibi Aanu Zoboi
The award-winning author of American Street and the prison reform activist of the Exonerated Five trace the story of a young artist and poet whose prospects at a diverse art school are threatened by a racially biased system and a tragic altercation in a gentrifying neighborhood.
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They Call Me Güero : a border kid's poems
by David Bowles
Twelve-year-old Güero, a red-headed, freckled Mexican American border kid, discovers the joy of writing poetry, thanks to his seventh grade English teacher.
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The Unwanted : Stories of the Syrian Refugees
by Don Brown
Starting in 2011, refugees flood out of war-torn Syria in Exodus-like proportions. The surprising flood of victims overwhelms neighboring countries, and chaos follows. Resentment in host nations heightens as disruption and the cost of aid grows. By 2017, many want to turn their backs on the victims. The refugees are the unwanted. Don Brown depicts moments of both heartbreaking horror and hope in the ongoing Syrian refugee crisis. Shining a light on the stories of the survivors, The Unwanted is a testament to the courage and resilience of the refugees and a call to action for all those who read.
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Get Reading Recommendations Forsyth County Public Library | #WeKnowBooks
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