Diversify
African / African American
AFRICAN
Farmer, Nancy. A Girl Named Disaster
The humorous and heart-wrenching story of young girl who discovers her own courage and strength when she makes the dangerous journey from Mozambique to Zimbabwe.
Ferreira, Anton. Zulu Dog
Vusi, an eleven-year-old Zulu boy growing up in poverty in rural South Africa, is enchanted by the helpless puppy he finds in the bush.
Naidoo, Beverley. Other Side of Truth
Smuggled out of Nigeria after their mother's murder, Sade and her younger brother are abandoned in London.
Quintana, Anton. The Baboon King
Son of a Kikuyu mother and a Masai herdsman father, Morengru the hunter lives on the edges of tribal society until an actual banishment forces him to make a life for himself among a troop of baboons.
AFRICAN AMERICAN
Armstrong, William. Sounder
Set in the South, it's a poignant story of a dog, his master and master's family, whose lives are forever changed by one incident.
Codell, Esme. Sahara Special
Sahara Jones is going into fifth grade-again. Although she won't be "Sahara Special" anymore (special needs, that is), she doesn't expect this year to be any better than last year.
Collier, James. With Every Drop of Blood
While trying to transport food to Richmond, Virginia, during the Civil War, 14-year-old Johnny is captured by a black Union soldier.
Collier, Kristi. Jericho Walls
In 1957, when her preacher father accepts a post in Jericho, Alabama, Jo wants to fit in but her growing friendship with a black boy forces her to confront the racism of the South and to reconsider her own values.
Curtis, Christopher. Bud, Not Buddy
It's 1936, in Flint, Michigan, and when 10-year-old Bud decides to hit the road to find his father, nothing can stop him.
Curtis, Christopher. Elijah of Buxton
Elijah embarks on a dangerous journey to America in pursuit of the thief, and he discovers firsthand the unimaginable horrors of the life his parents fled a life from which he'll always be free, if he can find the courage to get back home.
Curtis, Christopher. The Watsons go to Birmingham-1963
The ordinary interactions and everyday routines of the Watsons, an African American family living in Flint, Michigan, are drastically changed after they go to visit Grandma in Alabama in the summer of 1963.
Draper, Sharon. Romiette and Julio
Romiette, an African-American girl, and Julio, a Hispanic boy, discover that they attend the same high school after falling in love on the Internet, but are harrassed by a gang whose members object to their interracial dating.
Flake, Sharon. Money hungry
All 13-year-old Raspberry can think of is making money so that she and her mother never have to worry about living on the streets again.
Forrester, Sandra. My Home is Over Jordan
No longer a slave now that the Civil War is over, 15-year-old Maddie dreams of getting an education and becoming a teacher, but she finds the reality of freedom harsh.
Frost, Helen. Keesha's House
Seven teens facing such problems as pregnancy, closeted homosexuality, and abuse each describe in poetic forms what caused them to leave home and where they found home again.
Gutman, D. Jackie and Me: A Baseball Card Adventure
Joe travels back to 1947 to meet Jackie Robinson, who was the first African-American to play major league baseball.
Hamilton, Virginia. The House of Dies Drear
A black family tries to unravel the secrets of their new home which was once a stop on the Underground Railroad.
Hansen, J. The Heart Calls Home
After fighting as a Union officer in the Civil War, former slave Obi Booker returns to South Carolina to make a new life for himself and his beloved Easter.
Johnson, A. The First Part Last
Bobby's carefree teenage life changes forever when he becomes a father and must care for his adored baby daughter.
Kidd, Sue Monk. The Secret Life of Bees
The story of Lily Owens, whose life has been shaped around the blurred memory of the afternoon her mother was killed.
Klass, David. Danger Zone
When he joins a predominantly black "Teen Dream Team" that will be representing the United States in an international basketball tournament in Rome, Jimmy Doyle makes some unexpected discoveries about prejudice, racism, and politics.
Lasky, K. True North
Because of the strong influence which her grandfather, an abolitionist, has in her life,14-year-old Lucy assists a fugitive slave girl in her escape.
Myers, W. Beast
Anthony "Spoon" Witherspoon, 17, leaves Harlem, and his girl, Gabi, to spend his senior year at Wallingford Academy in Connecticut, with the hope that he will get into an Ivy League college.
Myers, W. The Glory Field
Follows a family's two hundred 41 year history, from the capture of an African boy in the 1750s through the lives of his descendants, as their dreams and circumstances lead them away from and back to the small plot of land in South Carolina that they call the Glory Field.
Myers, W. Monster
While on trial as an accomplice to a murder, 16-year-old Steve Harmon records his experiences in prison and in the courtroom in the form of a film script as he tries to come to terms with the course his life has taken.
Rinaldi, A. Hang a Thousand Trees With Ribbons
Kidnapped from her home in Senegal and sold as a slave in 1761, Phillis Wheatley--as she comes to be known--stuns her adopted country by becoming America's first published black poet.
Rinaldi, A. Numbering All the bones
The Civil War is at an end, but for 13-year-old Eulinda, it is no time to rejoice.
Stowe, Harriet Beecher. Uncle Tom's Cabin
Stirring indictment and portrait of human dignity in the most inhumane circumstances enlightened hundreds of thousands by revealing the human costs of slavery, which had until then been cloaked and justified by the racist misperceptions of the time.
Taylor, Mildred. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
The story of one African American family fighting to stay together and strong in the face of brutal racist attacks, illness, poverty, and betrayal in the Deep South of the 1930s.
Walker, A. The Color Purple
Celie is a poor black woman whose letters tell the story of 20 years of her life, beginning at age 14 when she is being abused and raped by her father and attempting to protect her sister from the same fate, and continuing over the course of her marriage to "Mister," a brutal man who terrorizes her.
Wolff, Virginia. True Believer
Living in the inner city amidst guns and poverty, 15-year-old LaVaughn learns from old and new friends, and inspiring mentors, that life is what you make it--an occasion to rise to.
Updated January 2008
Asian / Asian American
ASIAN
Choi, Sook Nyul. Echoes of the White Giraffe
15-year-old Sookan adjusts to life in the refugee village in Pusan but continues to hope that the civil war will end and her family will be reunited in Seoul.
Choi, Sook Nyul. Year of Impossible Goodbyes
A young Korean girl survives the oppressive Japanese and Russian occupation of North Korea during the 1940s, to later escape to freedom in South Korea.
Lee, M. Somebody's Daughter
Adopted and raised by Scandinavian-American parents in Minnesota, a Korean teenager returns to her native country to find her mother.
Namioka, Lensey. Ties that Bind, Ties That Break
Ailin realizes for the first time how powerless a girl of good family with no prospect of marriage is in Chinese society.
Whelan, Gloria. Chu Ju's House
In order to save her baby sister, 14-year-old Chu Ju leaves her rural home in modern China and earns food and shelter by working on a sampan, tending silk worms, and planting rice seedlings, while wondering if she will ever see her family again.
Wilson, Daniel Lee. I Rode a Horse of Milk White Jade
Oyuna tells her granddaughter the story of how love for her horse enabled her to win a race and bring good luck to her family living in Mongolia in 1339.
ASIAN AMERICAN
Brown, Jackie. Little Cricket
After the upheaval of the Vietnam War reaches them, twelve-year-old Kia and her Hmong family flee from the mountains of Laos to a refugee camp in Thailand and eventually to the alien world of Saint Paul, Minnesota.
Na, An. A Step From Heaven
A young Korean girl and her family find it difficult to learn English and adjust to life in America.
Tan, Amy. The Joy Luck Club
In 1949 four Chinese women - drawn together by the shadow of their past - begin meeting in San Francisco to play mah jong, invest in stocks, eat dim sum, and "say" stories. They call their gathering the Joy Luck Club. Nearly forty years later, one of the members has died. When her daughter comes to take her place, she learns of her mother's lifelong wish, and the tragic way in which it has come true.
Updated January 2008
Australian / NZ / Pacific Islands
Australia
Cohn, Rachel. The Steps
Over Christmas vacation, Annabel goes from her home in Manhattan to visit her father, his new wife, and her half- and step-siblings in Sydney, Australia.
Hausman, Gerald & Loretta. Escape from Botany Bay
In 1791, after being transported to Australia in the first shipment of convicts, Mary Bryant, her husband, two children, and seven other convicts, unable to endure the terrible conditions of the penal colony, organize a daring escape in an open boat.
Lester, Alison. The Snow Pony
Prolonged drought has strained Dusty's ranching family to the breaking point, but she finds consolation with her wild and beautiful horse.
Pilkington, Doris. Rabbit-Proof Fence
A story of three Aboriginal girls, among them Pilkington's mother Molly Craig, who escaped from the Moore River Settlement in Western Australia and traveled for nine weeks to return to their family. It is considered a powerful example of the mistreatments endured by the Stolen Generation.
New Zealand
Cowley, Joy. Hunter
A Maori boy in 1803 and a plane crash survivor marooned on a deserted island in 2003 experience interconnecting visions.
Ihimaera, Witi. Whale Rider
As her beloved grandfather, chief of the Maori tribe of Whangara, New Zealand, struggles to lead in difficult times and to find a male successor, young Kahu is developing a mysterious relationship with whales, particularly the ancient bull whale whose legendary rider was their ancestor.
Savage, Deborah. Kotuku
Still having difficulty facing the death of her best friend, Wim must deal with a difficult great-aunt and Maori visitors from New Zealand who uncover a dark family secret.
Pacific Islands
Cindrich, Lisa. In the Shadow of Pali
In the late nineteenth century, 12-year-old Liliha is sent to the Kalaupapa Leprosy Colony at Molokai, Hawaii, where she struggles to endure savage living conditions and people, as well as her own disease.
Fama, Elizabeth. Overboard
Escaping from a sinking ferry in the waters off Sumatra, fourteen-year-old Emily fights for survival for herself and a young Indonesian boy, who draws courage from his quiet but firm Islamic faith.
Mazer, Harry. A Boy At War
While fishing with his friends off Honolulu on December 7, 1941, teenaged Adam is caught in the midst of the Japanese attack and through the chaos of the subsequent days tries to find his father, a naval officer who was serving on the U.S.S. Arizona when the bombs fell.
Salisbury, Graham. Lord of the Deep
Working for his stepfather on a charter fishing boat in Hawaii teaches thirteen-year-old Mikey about fishing, and about taking risks, making sacrifices, and facing some of life's difficult choices.
Salisbury, Graham. Under the Blood-Red Sun
Tomikazu Nakaji's biggest concerns are baseball, homework, and a local bully, until life with his Japanese family in Hawaii changes drastically after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in December 1941.
Yamanaka, Lois-Ann. Name Me Nobody
Emi-Lou struggles to come of age in her middle school years in Hawaii.
Updated January 2008
Hispanic / Latino American
Cisneros, Sandra. The House on Mango Street
Esperanza Cordero, a girl coming of age in the Hispanic quarter of Chicago, uses poems and stories to express thoughts and emotions about her oppressive environment.
Draper, Sharon. Romiette and Julio
Romiette, an African-American girl, an Julio, a Hispanic boy, discover that they attend the same high school after falling in love on the Internet, but are harrassed by a gang whose members object to their interracial dating.
Ryan, Pam Munoz. Esperanza Rising
Esperanza and her mother are forced to leave their life of wealth and privilege in Mexico to go work in the labor camps of Southern California, where they must adapt to the harsh circumstances facing Mexican farm workers on the eve of the Great Depression.
Triana, G. Cubanita
17-year-old Isabel, eager to leave Miami to attend the University of Michigan and escape her overprotective Cuban mother, learns some truths about her family's past and makes important decisions about the type of person she wants to be.
Veciana-Suarez, Ana. The Flight to Freedom
Writing in the diary which her father gave her, 13-year-old Yara describes life with her family in Havana, Cuba, in 1967 as well as her experiences in Miami, Florida, after immigrating there to be reunited with some relatives while leaving others behind.
Updated January 2008
Indian
Indian
Bosse, Malcolm. Tusk and Stone
After a criminal gang attacks his caravan and he loses his identity as a Brahmin, Arjun resigns himself to his new life as a soldier, becomes an elephant driver, and searches for his kidnapped sister. At the height of his fame he is captured again, and as a slave once more, finds unexpected fulfillment as a stone carver.
Divakaruni, Banerjee. The Conch Bearer
In India, a healer invites twelve-year-old Anand to join him on a quest to return a magical conch to its safe and rightful home, high in the Himalayan Mountains. Read the sequel: The Mirror of fire & Dreaming.
Krishnaswami, Uma. Shower of Gold
A collection of stories featuring strong female figures from Hindu mythology, Buddhist tales, and others from the history and folklore of the Indian subcontinent. Each piece is accompanied by background information.
Markandaya, Kamala. Nectar in a Sieve
The story of a peasant woman in India, married as a child bride to a tenant farmer, working with her husband to wrest a living from land ravaged by droughts, monsoons, and insects.
McCormick, Patricia. Sold
13-year-old Lakshmi, though poor, enjoys her life until the Himalayan monsoons wash away her family's crops and she is sold to a brothel in India by her stepfather. She remembers her mother's wisdom, "Simply to endure is to triumph," until the day comes that she can reclaim her life.
Mukherjee, Bharati. Jasmine
When Jasmine is suddenly widowed at 17, she seems fated to a life of quiet isolation in the small Indian village where she was born. But the force of Jasmine's desires propels her explosively into a larger, more dangerous, and ultimately more life-giving world.
Sheth, Kashmira. Koyal Dark, Mango Sweet
Growing up with her family in Mumbai, India, sixteen-year-old Jeeta disagrees with much of her mother's traditional advice about how to live her life and tries to be more modern and independent.
Staples, Suzanne. Shiva's Fire
In India, a talented dancer sacrifices friends and family for her art.
Whelan, Gloria. Homeless Bird
When thirteen-year-old Koly enters into an ill-fated arranged marriage, she must either suffer a destiny dictated by India's tradition or find the courage to oppose it.
Indian American/Canadian/English
Banerjee, Anjali. Maya Running
Maya, a Canadian of East Indian descent, struggles with her ethnic identity, infatuation with a classmate, and the presence of her beautiful Bengali cousin, Pinky, who comes for a visit bearing a powerful statue of the god Ganesh, the Hindu elephant boy.
Desai, Anita. Fasting, Feasting
The moving story of Uma, the plain older daughter of an Indian family, tied to the household of her childhood and tending to her parents' every extravagant demand, and of her younger brother, Arun, across the world in Massachusetts, bewildered by his new life in college and the suburbs, where he lives with the Patton family.
Dhami, Narinder. Bend it Like Beckham
If you're 18, love Beckham and can bend a ball like him the world's your oyster, right? Wrong. If you're Jess - 18, Indian and a girl - forget it.
Dhami, Narinder. Bindi Babes
Three Indian-British sisters team up to marry off their traditional, nosy aunt and get her out of the house. Read the sequel: Bollywood Babes.
Hidier, Tenuja Desai. Born Confused
17-year-old Dimple, whose family is from India, discovers that she is not Indian enough for the Indians and not American enough for the Americans, as she sees her hypnotically beautiful, manipulative best friend taking possession of both her heritage and the boy she likes.
Krishnaswami, Uma. Naming Maya
When Maya accompanies her mother to India to sell her grandfather's house, she uncovers family history relating to her parents divorce and learns more about herself and her relationship with her mother.
Perkins, Mitali. Monsoon Summer
Secretly in love with her best friend and business partner Steve, 15-year-old Jazz must spend the summer away from him when her family goes to India during that country's rainy season to help set up a clinic.
Perkins, Mitali. Sunita Sen
When her grandparents come for a visit from India to California, 13-year-old Sunita finds herself resenting her Indian heritage and embarrassed by the differences she feels between herself and her friends.
Sheth, Kashmira. Blue Jasmine
When 12-year-old Seema moves to Iowa City with her parents and younger sister, she leaves friends and family behind in her native India but gradually begins to feel at home in her new country.
Vijayaraghavan, Vineeta. Motherland
15-year-old Maya is disgruntled when her mother impels her to visit India for the summer to reacquaint herself with her extended Indian family.
Updated January 2008
Middle East
Banks, Lynne Reid. Broken Bridge
The murder of 14-year-old Glen Shelby, soon after his arrival in Israel to visit his father's family, has a dramatic effect on the lives of his relatives, the other members of their kibbutz, and the Arabs responsible for his death.
Fletcher, Susan. Shadow Spinner
When Marjan, a 13-year-old crippled girl, joins the Sultan's harem in ancient Persia, she gathers for Shahrazad the stories which will save the queen's life.
Lester, Julius. Pharaoh's Daughter
A fictionalized account of the Biblical tale in which a Hebrew infant, rescued by the daughter of the Pharaoh, passes through a turbulent adolescence to eventually become a prophet of his people while his sister finds her true self as a priestess to the Egyptian gods.
Nye, Naomi. Habibi
When 14-year-old Liyanne Abboud, her younger brother, and her parents move from St. Louis to a new home between Jerusalem and the Palestinian village where her father was born, they face many changes and must deal with the tensions between Jews and Palestinians.
Staples, S. Under the Persimmon Tree
During the 2001 Afghan War, the lives of Najmal, a young refugee from Kunduz, Afghanistan, and Nusrat, an American-Muslim teacher who is awaiting her huband's return from Mazar-i-Sharif, intersect at a school in Peshawar, Pakistan.
Updated January 2008
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