People of color, especially, need to find themselves reflected in the characters they see and deserve to hear their own voices through the stories they read. But diverse representation in literature is incredibly important to ALL readers and plays a crucial role in combatting harmful stereotypes.
Below we offer recommended book lists that include protagonists of color and/or feature authors of color.
Picture Books
A Bike Like Sergio’s, by Maribeth Boelts
A Shelter in Our Car, by Monica Gunning
Ada Twist, Scientist, by Andrea Beaty
Alma and How She Got Her Name, by Juana Martinez-Neal
Bippity Bop Barbershop, by Natasha Tarpley
Better Than You, by Trudy Ludwig
Chavela and the Magic Bubble, by Monica Brown
Counting on Katherine, by Helaine Becker
Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut, by Derrick Barnes
David’s Drawings, by Cathryn Falwell
Dear Baobab, by Cheryl Foggo
Desmond and the Very Mean Word, by Archbishop Desmond Tutu
Destiny’s Gift, by Natasha Tarpley
Emmanuel’s Dream, by Laurie Ann Thompson
From Far Away, by Robert Munsch
Full, Full, Full of Love, by Trish Cooke
Good Morning, Superman, by Michael Dahl
Grandma’s Purse, by Vanessa Brantley-Newton
Harriet Gets Carried Away, by Jessie Sima
Homemade Love, by bell hooks
I Am Enough, by Grace Byers
I Am New Here, by Anne Sibley O’Brien
Izzy Gizmo, by Pip Jones
Jabari Jumps, by Gaia Cornwall
Julián is a Mermaid, by Jessica Love
King for a Day, by Rukhsana Khan
Kitchen Dance, by Maurie Manning
Liza and the Crow, by Gabrielle Grimard
Lizard from the Park, by Mark Pett
Lola series, by Anna McQuinn
Lucía the Luchadora, by Cynthia Leonor Garza
Maggie’s Chopsticks, by Alan Woo
Mary Had a Little Glam, by Tammi Sauer
Maybe Something Beautiful, by Isabel Campoy and Theresa Howell
Milo’s Museum, by Zetta Elliott
Monster Trouble, by Lane Fredrickson
Mommy’s Khimar, by Jamilah Thompson-Bigelow
Most People, by Michael Leannah
My Cold Plum Lemon Pie Bluesy Mood, by Tameka Fryer Brown
My Friend Maya Loves to Dance, by Cheryl Hudson
One Little, Two Little, Three Little Children, by Kelly DiPucchio
One Word From Sophia, by Jim Averbeck
Princess Truly series, by Kelly Greenawalt
Salam Alaikum, by Harris J and Ward Jenkins
Say Hello!, by Rachel Isadora
The Big Bed, by Bunmi Laditan
The Name Jar, by Yangsook Choi
The One Day House, by Julia Durango
The Thing Lou Couldn’t Do, by Ashley Spires
The Word Collector, by Peter H. Reynolds
Those Shoes, by Maribeth Boelts
Twenty Yawns, by Jane Smiley
Wangari’s Trees of Peace, by Jeanette Winter
What If, by Samantha Berger
White Flour, by David LaMotte
Who’s in My Family, by Robie H. Harris
Elementary/Early Chapter Books(featuring protagonists of color)
Akimbo series, by Alexander McCall Smith
Blended, by Sharon Draper
Calvin Coconut series, by Graham Salisbury
Dyamonde Daniel series, by Nikki Grimes
Ellray Jakes series, by Sally Warner
Jada Jones series, by Kelly Starling Lyons
Jaden Toussaint series, by Marti Dumas
Juana and Lucas, by Juana Medina
Jupiter Storm, by Marti Dumas
Keena Ford series, by Melissa Thomson
Precious Ramotswe series, by Alexander McCall Smith
Ruby and the Booker Boys series, by Derrick Barnes
Sofia Martinez series, by Jacqueline Jules
Sophie Washington series, by Tonya Duncan Ellis
Sugar Plum Ballerina series, by Whoopi Goldberg
The Carver Chronicles series, by Karen English
Zapato Power series, by Jacqueline Jules
Ziggy and the Black Dinosaurs series, by Sharon Draper
Middle and High School (featuring protagonists of color)
All American Boys, by Jason Reynolds
Amal Unbound, by Aisha Saeed
American Street, by Ibi Zoboi
Children of Orisha series, by Tomi Adeyemi
Dear Martin, by Nic Stone
Ghost Boys, by Jewel Parker Rhodes
Harbor Me, by Jacqueline Woodson
Hazelwood High Trilogy, by Sharon Draper
I Am Alfonso Jones, by Tony Medina
I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter, by Erika L. Sanchez
If I Ever Get Out of Here, by Eric Gansworth
Mexican WhiteBoy, by Matt de la Peña
Monster, by Walter Dean Myers
My Name is Not Easy, by Debby Dahl Edwardson
Piecing Me Together, by Renee Watson
The Education of Margot Sanchez, by Lilliam Rivera
The Hate U Give, by Angie Thomas
The Improbable Rise of Paco Jones, by Dominic Carrillo
The Marrow Thieves, by Cherie Dimaline
The Poet X, by Elizabeth Acevedo
The Sun is Also a Star, by Nicola Yoon
Track series, by Jason Reynolds
Coloring Books (featuring non-stereotypical and/or non-white characters)
The Colorful Adventures of Zoe and Star, by Crystal Swain-Bates
Curly Kids Coloring Book, by Akirashanti Byrd
Fairies in Dreamland, by Denyse Klette
The Amazing Colouring Book for Awesome Girls, by Rachel Garlick
Dream Big! More Than a Princess Coloring Book, by Stephanie Tabashneck and Tanja Tadic
Downloadable Black Lives Matter Coloring Book
We will be pulling from the following lists for our
virtual book club, coming soon!
Adult Fiction (authors are all people of color)
A Place For Us, by Fatima Farheen Mirza
Americanah, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
An American Marriage, by Tayari Jones
Behold the Dreamers, by Imbolo Mbue
Cutting for Stone, by Abraham Verghese
Exit West, by Mohsin Hamid
Extra Indians, by Eric Gansworth
Fruit of the Drunken Tree, by Ingrid Rojas Contreras
Home Fire, by Kamila Shamsie
Homegoing, by Yaa Gyasi
Little Fires Everywhere, by Celeste Ng
Pachinko, by Min Jin Lee
Purple Hibiscus, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Salvage the Bones, by Jesmyn Ward
Season of Crimson Blossoms, by Abubakar Adam Ibrahim
Sing, Unburied, Sing, by Jesmyn Ward
Song of the Exile, by Kiana Davenport
Stay With Me, by Ayobami Adebayo
The Good Lord Bird, by James McBride
The Known World, by Edward P. Jones
The Sympathizer, by Viet Than Nyugen
The Underground Railroad, by Colson Whitehead
The Wedding Date, by Jasmine Guillory
What We Lose, by Zinzi Clemmons
What We Were Promised, by Lucy Tan
Adult Nonfiction (addressing issues of race, ethnicity, gender and sexuality)
Between the World and Me, by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Eloquent Rage, by Brittney Cooper
Good White People, by Shannon Sullivan
I’m Still Here, by Austin Channing
My Own Country, by Abraham Verghese
No Ashes in the Fire, by Darnell Moore
So You Want to Talk About Race, by Ijeoma Oluo
The Color of Water, by James McBride
The Displaced: Refugee Writers on Refugee Lives, edited by Viet Thanh Nguyen
The New Jim Crow, by Michelle Alexander
The Rising Man, by Abir Mukherjee
The Talented Ribkins, by Ladee Hubbard
This Will Be My Undoing, By Morgan Jenkins
Unimagined: A Muslim Boy Meets the West, by Imran Ahmad
When They Call You a Terrorist, by Patrisse Khan-Cullors and asha bandele
White Fragility, by Robin DiAngelo
Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?, by Beverly Daniel Tatum
Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race, by Reni Eddo-Lodge
Resources for Talking With Kids About Race
http://brownicity.com/category/kids-and-race/
https://www.readbrightly.com/how-to-talk-to-kids-about-race-books-and-resources-that-can-help/