Here are our favorite books about everyday diversity. These titles can be found in the Juvenile Fiction section of the library, unless otherwise noted.
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Ways to Make Sunshine
by Renée Watson
Though the Hart family of Portland, Oregon, faces many setbacks after Ryan's father loses his job, Ryan tries to bring sunshine to her loved ones no matter what.
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Shabbat Sabotage
by Emma Carlson Berne
When her new friend Dani is suspected of stealing the special Shabbat items from Camp Shalom, Maya is determined to catch the real thief.
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Wink : Surviving Middle School with One Eye Open
by Rob Harrell
Diagnosed with a rare eye cancer, a seventh grader endures painful treatments and social abandonment while searching for laughter in life’s weirdness, in a tale based on the “Adam@Home” creator’s own life experiences.
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Marya Khan and the Incredible Henna Party
by Saadia Faruqi
With her eighth birthday coming up, Marya claims she is having an epic henna party. Now she must convince her family to make it happen and work to pull it off, but everything Marya does seems to end in disaster.
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The Chance to Fly
by Ali Stroker
After moving across the country, thirteen-year-old Natalie auditions for her new school's play and overcomes her fears and insecurities about performing in a wheelchair.
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Aven Green, Baking Machine
by Dusti Bowling
Aven knows she's an expert baker of cakes and cookies since she's been baking with her mom for a really long time. Plus no one bakes quite like she does. She cracks eggs with her feet and measures sugar and flour with her feet (plus measuring cups), since she was born without arms. And now Aven has her eye on the prize: a beautiful blue ribbon for baking at the county fair. So she teams up with her friends Kayla, Emily, and Sujata. But it turns out they all have very different tastes and a lot of opinions about baking. Talk about a recipe for disaster!
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Jo Jo Makoons: Fancy Pants
by Dawn Quigley
First grader Jo Jo Makoons knows how to do a lot of things, like how to play jump rope, how to hide her peas in her milk, and how to be helpful in her classroom. But there's one thing Jo Jo doesn't know how to do: be fancy. She has a lot to learn before her Aunt Annie's wedding! Favorite purple unicorn notebook in hand, Jo Jo starts exploring her Ojibwe community to find ways to be fancy.
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Maizy Chen's Last Chance
by Lisa Yee
In Last Chance, Minnesota, with her family, Maizy spends her time at the Golden Palace, the restaurant that's been in her family for generations, where she makes some discoveries requiring her to go on a search for answers.
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Simon B. Rhymin'
by Dwayne Reed
Chicago fifth-grader Simon, an aspiring rapper who lacks self-confidence, uses his rhymes to help bring his community together.
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Bump
by Matt Wallace
There is only one thing MJ loves: the world of professional wrestling. She especially idolizes the luchadores and the stories they tell in the ring. When MJ learns that her neighbor, Mr. Arellano, runs a wrestling school, she has a new mission in life: join the school, train hard, and become a wrestler. But trouble lies ahead. After wrestling in a showcase event, MJ attracts the attention of Mr. Arellano's enemy at the State Athletic Commission. There are threats to shut the school down, putting MJ's new home--and the community that welcomed her--at risk. What can MJ do to save her new family?
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That Thing About Bollywood
by Supriya Kelkar
(830 Lexile) An Indian American girl who would bury her feelings about her parents’ separation involuntarily breaks into a Bollywood song-and-dance routine before waking up to an alternate reality where everyone is behaving like Bollywood characters.
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Sadiq and the Bridge Builders
by Siman Nuurali
A young Somali American and his classmates design a model city to withstand floods, using river walls, floodgates, gutters, and rain gardens.
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Stand Up, Yumi Chung!
by Jessica Kim
Reworking mortifying memories about her perpetual shyness and cross-cultural realities into comedy gold, an aspiring comedienne accidentally lands in a comedy camp under the instruction of a favorite celebrity.
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The One Thing You'd Save
by Linda Sue Park
The Newbery Medal-winning author explores a diverse classroom’s varied answers to a question about what they would save if their homes were on fire in a series of linked poems complemented by striking black-and-white art.
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What Stars Are Made Of
by
Sarah Allen
Aspiring to become a scientist in spite of the challenges of having Turner syndrome, Libby learns that her older sister is having a baby and prepares what she hopes will be a winning entry in a science contest to help with expenses.
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The Boy at the Back of the Class
by
Onjali Q. Raúf
When a Syrian refugee boy joins their class, the determined students in Mrs. Kahn's schoolroom learn the newcomer's sad story before concocting a plan to reunite him with his loved ones.
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From the Desk of Zoe Washington
by
Janae Marks
Receiving an unexpected letter on her 12th birthday from the incarcerated father she has never met, a courageous young baker prepares for a cooking-show competition while scrambling to determine her father’s innocence.
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Can You See Me?
by
Libby Scott
Hiding her struggles on the autism spectrum from her new classmates, sixth grader Tally questions her understanding of what normal means when her best friend begins to feel uncomfortable.
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Black Brother, Black Brother
by
Jewell Parker Rhodes
Routinely compared to his submissive lighter-skinned brother, a black boy at an elitist prep school is unfairly suspended in the wake of an incident involving the school bully, whom he tries to defeat in a fencing competition.
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Pie in the Sky
by Remy Lai
Feeling as out of place as if he landed on Mars when his family moves to an English-speaking country, 11-year-old Jingwen dreams about the cakes he would have baked with his late father, a hope that is challenged by his mother's strict kitchen safety rules.
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