Diverse Book Recommendations Spanning Thrillers, Self-Discovery, and New Dimensions
The twelve books in this carefully chosen collection represent a rich tapestry of diverse perspectives, and each one weaves together stories that personify the unyielding spirit of resilience and the unrelenting pursuit of justice. They provide us with a compass to navigate the complex terrain of our world, equipping us with the tools necessary to forge a path towards a more just and inclusive society.
Diverse Children's Books
Looks Like Me!
by Sang Vo - Ivan Kerner
A young girl and her Pop-Pop spend the day in the wood shop creating special dolls for her friends. Each doll showcases the beautifully unique way everyone is different--from skin color to body shape-- because being who you are is worth celebrating!
The Carpet: An Afghan Family Story
by Dezh Azaad - Nan Cao
This poignant story, about an Afghan refugee child and the family carpet that connects them to home, inspires readers to live and learn in love, not fear
We sip our tea and talk together,
Ruby cushions of goose feather.
The carpet is for sitting.
The Carpet follows a day in the life of an Afghan refugee child, where every moment revolves around love, family, and the carpet that connects them to home. The carpet is the centerpiece of family life, where meals, stories, laughs, and memories are shared. This moving story, inspired by the author's life, celebrates what makes a home--no matter where you are.
Finding My Dance
by Ria Thundercloud - Kalila J Fuller
In her debut picture book, professional Indigenous dancer Ria Thundercloud tells the true story of her path to dance and how it helped her take pride in her Native American heritage.
At four years old, Ria Thundercloud was brought into the powwow circle, ready to dance in the special jingle dress her mother made for her. As she grew up, she danced with her brothers all over Indian country. Then Ria learned more styles--tap, jazz, ballet--but still loved the expressiveness of Indigenous dance. And despite feeling different as one of the only Native American kids in her school, she always knew she could turn to dance to cheer herself up.
Follow along as Ria shares her dance journey--from dreaming of her future to performing as a professional--accompanied by striking illustrations that depict it while bringing her graceful movements to life.
Diverse Teen and Young Adult Books
Nic Blake and the Remarkables: The Manifestor Prophecy
by Angie Thomas
Internationally bestselling superstar author Angie Thomas makes her middle grade debut with the launch of an inventive, hilarious, and suspenseful new contemporary fantasy trilogy inspired by African American history and folklore.
It's not easy being a Remarkable in the Unremarkable world. Some things are cool--like getting a pet hellhound for your twelfth birthday. Others, not so much--like not being trusted to learn magic because you might use it to take revenge on an annoying neighbor.
All Nic Blake wants is to be a powerful Manifestor like her dad. But before she has a chance to convince him to teach her the gift, a series of shocking revelations and terrifying events launch Nic and two friends on a hunt for a powerful magic tool she's never heard of...to save her father from imprisonment for a crime she refuses to believe he committed.
Frontera
by Julio Anta - Jacoby Salcedo
Mateo makes the dangerous journey back home to the United States through the Sonoran Desert with the help of a new friend, a ghost named Guillermo in a supernatural borderland odyssey by debut graphic novelists Julio Anta and Jacoby Salcedo.
As long as he remembers to stay smart and keep his eyes open, Mateo knows that he can survive the trek across the Sonoran Desert that will take him from Mexico to the United States. That is until he's caught by the Border Patrol only moments after sneaking across the fence in the dead of night.
Escaping their clutches comes at a price and, lost in the desert without a guide or water, Mateo is ill-prepared for the unforgiving heat that is sure to arrive come sunrise. With the odds stacked against him, his one chance at survival may be putting his trust in something, or rather someone, that he isn't even sure exists.
Spice Road
by Maiya Ibrahim
In the hidden desert city of Qalia, there is secret spice magic that awakens the affinities of those who drink the misra tea. Sixteen-year-old Imani has the affinity for iron and is able to wield a dagger like no other warrior. She has garnered the reputation as being the next great Shield for battling djinn, ghouls, and other monsters spreading across the sands.
Her reputation has been overshadowed, however, by her brother, who tarnished the family name after it was revealed that he was stealing his nation's coveted spice--a telltale sign of magical obsession. Soon after that, he disappeared, believed to have died beyond the Forbidden Wastes. Despite her brother's betrayal, there isn't a day that goes by when Imani doesn't grieve him.
"An epic, sand-swept adventure." ― Ayana Gray, New York Times bestselling author of Beasts of Prey
Diverse Adult Books
The Haunting of Alejandra
by V Castro
A woman is haunted by the Mexican folk demon La Llorona in this "utterly terrifying and wholly immersive . . . story about generational trauma, colonization, systemic oppression, and the horror at the heart of motherhood" (Library Journal, starred review).
"Castro is one of the most exciting genre authors on the scene right now, and this might be her most powerful book yet."--Paste (Most Anticipated Horror Novels of 2023)
Alejandra no longer knows who she is. To her husband, she is a wife, and to her children, a mother. To her own adoptive mother, she is a daughter. But they cannot see who Alejandra has become: a woman struggling with a darkness that threatens to consume her.
Nor can they see what Alejandra sees. In times of despair, a ghostly vision appears to her, the apparition of a crying woman in a ragged white gown.
When Alejandra visits a therapist, she begins exploring her family's history, starting with the biological mother she never knew. As she goes deeper into the lives of the women in her family, she learns that heartbreak and tragedy are not the only things she has in common with her ancestors.
The Power of Latino Leadership, Second Edition, Revised and Updated: Culture, Inclusion, and Contribution
by Juana Bordas
This updated and expanded edition is the first and only book to offer a leadership model firmly based on the Latino experience and culture.
50 million Latinos live in the U.S. and it's estimated that by 2050, one in three Americans will be Hispanic. By sheer numbers alone Latinos will shape the 21st century. What does it take to lead a varied and vibrant people who hail from twenty-six different countries and are a blend of different races? What can leaders of all cultures and ethnicities learn from how Latinos lead?
Juana Bordas takes us on a journey to the very heart and soul of Latino leadership. She offers ten principles that guide Latino leaders and features numerous examples of these principles in action.
Loot
by Tania James
A MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK OF THE SUMMER - A spellbinding historical novel set in the eighteenth century: a hero's quest, a love story, the story of a young artist coming of age, and an exuberant heist adventure that traces the bloody legacy of colonialism across two continents and fifty years.
"Addictively absorbing." --The New York Times Book Review
This wildly inventive, irresistible feat of storytelling from a writer at the height of her powers is "an expertly-plotted, deeply affecting novel about war, displacement, emigration, and an elusive mechanical tiger" (Maggie O'Farrell, best-selling author of Hamnet and The Marriage Portrait).
Abbas is just seventeen years old when his gifts as a woodcarver come to the attention of Tipu Sultan, and he is drawn into service at the palace in order to build a giant tiger automaton for Tipu's sons, a gift to commemorate their return from British captivity. His fate--and the fate of the wooden tiger he helps create--will mirror the vicissitudes of nations and dynasties ravaged by war across India and Europe.
Working alongside the legendary French clockmaker Lucien du Leze, Abbas hones his craft, learns French, and meets Jehanne, the daughter of a French expatriate. When Du Leze is finally permitted to return home to Rouen, he invites Abbas to come along as his apprentice. But by the time Abbas travels to Europe, Tipu's palace has been looted by British forces, and the tiger automaton has disappeared. To prove himself, Abbas must retrieve the tiger from an estate in the English countryside, where it is displayed in a collection of plundered art.