a book by an #ownvoices or #diversebooks author

George

by Alex Gino

From School Library Journal: "Before her mother and older brother Scott come home, George has a few, treasured moments to experience life as she's always wanted to live it. She looks in the mirror and calls herself Melissa, combs her hair over her forehead to mimic the appearance of bangs, and reads glossy magazines full of ads for lipstick, perfume, and tampons. Once her mom and brother come home, however, the magazines must go back to their secret hiding place. While George has no doubt she's a girl, her family relates to her as they always have: as a boy. George's mother remarks that while she can handle having a gay child, she simply can't accept her as 'that kind of gay.' George hopes that if she can secure the role of Charlotte in her class's upcoming production of Charlotte's Web, her mom will finally see her as a girl and be able to come to terms with the fact that George is transgender."

On the Edge of Gone

by Corinne Duyvis

This is a fantastic pick for the #ownvoices or #diversebooks category of the 2017 Reading Challenge. January 29, 2035. That’s the day the comet is scheduled to hit—the big one. Denise and her family—along with everyone else—are racing to secure passage on the ships that will transport them off the planet. From Kirkus: "...what makes this a winner is the nerve-racking adventure. Life-affirming science fiction with spaceships, optimism in the apocalypse, and a diverse cast that reflects the real world."

El Deafo

by Cece Bell

In her graphic memoir, Cece Bell tells the story of her own childhood, when a case of meningitis at age 4 left her unable to hear. She was promptly fitted with a hearing aid, the Phonic Ear, which allows her to hear her teacher, even when her teacher is in another part of the school. The other kids think it's pretty cool. It's like a superpower, even (just call her El Deafo). But as Cece puts it, "Superheroes might be awesome, but they are also different. And being different feels a lot like being alone." A wonderful, touching story (that many readers assume to be a novel). Don't miss the afterword from the author.

Behold the Dreamers

by Imbolo Mbue

A Book of the Month selection, which I've been meaning to read since The Tenement Museum in NYC called it a must-read immigrant story. The publisher calls this "a compulsively readable debut novel about marriage, immigration, class, race, and the trapdoors in the American Dream—the unforgettable story of a young Cameroonian couple making a new life in New York just as the Great Recession upends the economy." A 2016 Book of the Year for all kinds of publications.

Head Off & Split: Poems

by Nikky Finney

From the publisher: "The poems in Nikky Finney's breathtaking new collection sustain a sensitive and intense dialogue with emblematic figures and events in African American life: from civil rights matriarch Rosa Parks to former secretary of state Condoleezza Rice, from a brazen girl strung out on lightning to a terrified woman abandoned on a rooftop during Hurricane Katrina. Finney's poetic voice is defined by an intimacy that holds a soft yet exacting eye on the erotic, on uncanny political and family events, like her mother's wedding waltz with South Carolina senator Strom Thurmond, and then again on the heartbreaking hilarity of an American president's final State of the Union address. Artful and intense, Finney's poems ask us to be mindful of what we fraction, fragment, cut off, dice, dishonor, or throw away, powerfully evoking both the lawless and the sublime."

The Hate U Give

by Angie Thomas

At age 16, Starr Carter has lost two close friends to gun violence: one in a drive-by; one shot by a cop. The latter is the focus of this novel: Starr is in the passenger seat when her friend Khalil is fatally shot by a police officer. She is the sole witness. Thomas seamlessly blends current events with lower-stakes themes common to teens everywhere, with great success. Fun fact: the title comes from a Tupac lyric. Publication date: February 28.

Piecing Me Together

by Renee Watson

Engaging coming-of-age story about a 16-year-old African American girl struggling to find her place in the world. This is a nuanced but easy read about feeling out of place, coming into your own, and the perils of good intentions.

Everything I Never Told You

by Celeste Ng

“Lydia is dead, but they don’t know this yet.” That’s not a spoiler, that’s the opening line of Ng’s stunning debut. When this unexpected loss is discovered, the family begins to fall apart, and as they struggle to understand why it happened, they realize they don’t know their daughter at all. Ng’s use of the omniscient narrator is brilliant: she reveals what’s going on in her characters hearts and minds, allowing the reader to learn the truth of the tragedy, even if the family never does. An exploration of love and belonging, fraught with racial and gender issues. This is one that will stay with you long after you turn the last page. Powerful, believable, utterly absorbing.

When Dimple Met Rishi

by Sandhya Menon

Dimple and Rishi are destined to marry—their parents arranged it years ago. And when both teens decide they want to attend the same residential summer program, their parents think there's no harm in letting them get to know each other. Rishi can't wait to meet—and woo—his future wife over the summer. But, unbeknownst to Rishi, Dimple's parents haven't told her anything. Can you saw awkward? When they meet, sparks fly—and not the good kind. At least not at first. This is bubble-gum feel-good Bollywood YA, tons of fun and surprisingly insightful. Publication date: May 30.

Between the World and Me

by Ta-Nehisi Coates

This is an incredible book, and a timely one. From Entertainment Weekly: "A work that’s both titanic and timely . . . the latest essential reading in America’s social canon." I listened to the fantastic audio edition myself.

Dreamland Burning

by Jennifer Latham

This well-crafted YA release smoothly bridges the divide between present-day Tulsa, Oklahoma and the little-known race riots that occurred there during two terrifying days in 1921. During renovations of seventeen-year-old Rowan Chase's historic family home, a skeleton is unearthed in the backyard. The police don't care who the bones belong to, but Rowan sure does. Unbeknownst to her, this skeleton links Rowan with another teen, Will Tillman, who lived in Tulsa nearly a hundred years ago. Latham flips back and forth in time, between two teens facing their own kinds of crossroads, to give her readers a page-turning history/mystery mash-up, as her young protagonists wrestle through issues of family, friendship, identity, and belonging. I read this in an afternoon—I couldn't put it down. Publication date: February 21.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

by Sherman Alexie

I'm reading this for the banned books category of the 2016 Reading Challenge. From the publisher: "Bestselling author Sherman Alexie tells the story of Junior, a budding cartoonist growing up on the Spokane Indian Reservation. Determined to take his future into his own hands, Junior leaves his troubled school on the rez to attend an all-white farm town high school where the only other Indian is the school mascot."

Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood

by Trevor Noah

The Daily Show star does a masterful job of alternating the deathly serious with the laugh-out-loud funny, sometimes even combining the two, in this collection of coming-of-age essays about his South African childhood. His mischievous childhood and unconventional youth provide wonderful fodder for not-quite-polite (thus the "scandalous" part of this juicy memoir) but always entertaining stories. I highly recommend the audiobook, read by the author.

A Thousand Splendid Suns

by Khaled Hosseini

Hosseini's followup to his bestselling debut The Kite Runner was inspired by his first visit to his homeland, Afghanistan, in nearly thirty years. Moved by the stories of the women he met there, he wrote his second novel about Laila and Mariam, two women from radically different backgrounds, oppressed for different reasons, struggling to survive while their country is in upheaval. Amazingly, this story never veers into "depressing" territory, buoyed by the spirit and courage of the women at its core.

The Sun Is Also a Star

by Nicola Yoon

Yoon's latest is a YA novel with ALL THE FEELS. Daniel and Natasha meet and fall in love over the course of one whirlwind day in NYC, the day before her family is set to be deported to Jamaica; they lack the documentation to stay. In his own way, Daniel is also trapped: his Korean family has big plans for his future, plans that don't align with what he wants for himself. Yoon tackles serious issues here—identity, family, fate—but she does it with such a light touch, it almost reads as breezy. I read this in an afternoon.

Homegoing

by Yaa Gyasi

I keep hearing this new debut novel mentioned in the same breath as "best of the year" and now I understand why. For the first hundred pages I didn't quite grasp what the author was up to, but when it hit me it was powerful. By exploring the stories of two sisters, who met different fates in Ghana more than 200 years ago, Gyasi traces subtle lines of cause and effect through the centuries, illuminating how the deeds of ages past still haunt all of us today. A brilliant concept, beautifully executed. Read it.

Out of My Mind

by Sharon M. Draper

From the publisher: "Eleven-year-old Melody has a photographic memory. Her head is like a video camera that is always recording. Always. Most people—her teachers and doctors included—don't think she's capable of learning. If only she could speak up, if only she could tell people what she thinks and knows . . . but she can't, because Melody can't talk. Being stuck inside her head is making Melody go out of her mind—that is, until she discovers something that will allow her to speak for the first time ever. At last Melody has a voice . . . but not everyone around her is ready to hear it."

The Mothers

by Brit Bennett

I loved this book, an MMD Book Club flight pick and a book recommended on today's episode of WSIRN. Not an easy read, but so good, and one that I still think about even though I read it many moons ago. In this coming-of-age story, debut author Bennett shows us how grief predictably consumes a 17-year old girl growing up in a tight-knit community in Southern California, and how two friends get pulled into the tangled aftermath. Bennett tells the story through the eyes of the community's mothers—the community pillars who show up with casseroles when somebody's sick—but in this story, the mothers' vicious gossip causes nothing but trouble.

If I Was Your Girl

by Meredith Russo

From the publisher: "Amanda Hardy is the new girl in school. Like anyone else, all she wants is to make friends and fit in. But Amanda is keeping a secret, and she's determined not to get too close to anyone. But when she meets sweet, easygoing Grant, Amanda can't help but start to let him into her life. As they spend more time together, she realizes just how much she is losing by guarding her heart. She finds herself yearning to share with Grant everything about herself, including her past. Because the secret that Amanda’s been keeping? It's that at her old school, she used to be Andrew."

The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl

by Issa Rae

In her debut collection of essays, Issa Rae discusses how difficult it is to be an awkward introvert—especially when people are constantly expecting her to be "cool" just because she's black. She's funny, and her tone is lighthearted—yet also speaks frankly about the stereotypes she faces as a black woman.

a book by an #ownvoices or #diversebooks author

George

On the Edge of Gone

El Deafo

Behold the Dreamers

Head Off & Split: Poems

The Hate U Give

Piecing Me Together

Everything I Never Told You

When Dimple Met Rishi

Between the World and Me

Dreamland Burning

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood

A Thousand Splendid Suns

The Sun Is Also a Star

Homegoing

Out of My Mind

The Mothers

If I Was Your Girl

The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl

Find your next read with:

100 Book recommendations
for every mood

a book by an #ownvoices or #diversebooks author

Find your next read with:

100 Book recommendations for every mood

100 Book recommendations
for every mood