Finding Diverse Books 2024 | Young Teen Fiction & Graphic Novels

Updated December 13, 2023
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Something like home
Arango, Andrea Beatriz
Paper Book
The Pura Belpré Honor winning novel in verse, in which a lost dog helps a lonely girl find a way home to her family . . . only for them to find family in each other along the way. From the Newbery Honor winning author of Iveliz Explains It All. "Trust me: this book will touch...

The ongoing opioid crisis affects people of all ages--including children whose parents are struggling with addiction. This novel in verse by Newbery Honor-winning author features a middle school girl sent to live with her aunt after an attempt to get her parents help sends them to rehab. The verse format is accessible for reluctant readers and the stray puppy Laura trains to be a therapy dog is a big draw for animal lovers.

Income Inequality

The spirit glass
Chokshi, Roshani
Paper Book
Best-selling author Rick Riordan presents a standalone quest adventure based on Filipino mythology by Roshani Chokshi, author of the best-selling Aru Shah series. Corazon yearns to finally start training as a babaylan (a mystical healer and spirit guide) under her powerful...

The author of the popular Aru Shah series has a new book focusing on Filipino folklore! The Rick Riordan Presents books are always a big hit with young teen readers. (Rick Riordan, author of the Percy Jackson series, selects books that would appeal to his readers and feature world mythology by authors from the cultures they're writing about. He writes a short intro and uses his brand to promote them, but the content is totally generated by the authors themselves.)

Race & Ethnicity | Asian & Pacific Islander

We still belong
Day, Christine
Paper Book
A thoughtful and heartfelt middle grade novel by American Indian Youth Literature Honor-winning author Christine Day (Upper Skagit), about a girl whose hopeful plans for Indigenous Peoples' Day (and plans to ask her crush to the school dance) go all wrong--until she finds herself...

Set in Seattle, this story takes place in a single day--Indigenous Peoples' Day--and one girl's feelings of both isolation and belonging throughout. I really like the way it balances big picture ideas of heritage and identity with everyday concerns like asking your crush to the big dance. As Walt Whitman might have said: Middle schoolers are vast; they contain multitudes!

Race & Ethnicity | Indigenous

Tiger daughter
Lim, Rebecca
Paper Book
★FIVE STARRED REVIEWS★ NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY KIRKUS REVIEWS, BOOKLIST AND MORE! Equal parts heartbreaking and hopeful, Tiger Daughter is an award-winning novel about finding your voice amidst the pressures of growing up in an immigrant...

When do high expectations cross the line? Lots of our kids from all backgrounds are under a lot of pressure to do well in school, whether it's coming from parents or from within themselves. This novel from Australian author Rebecca Lim takes a look at the way this dynamic plays out in a Chinese immigrant community.

Citizenship Status

The dubious pranks of Shaindy Goodman
Lowe, Mari
Paper Book
SYDNEY TAYLOR BOOK AWARD WINNER NATIONAL JEWISH BOOK AWARD WINNER Kirkus Top 10 Middle Grade for Fall '23 SHAINDY is a twelve-year-old Orthodox Jewish girl who struggles in school and has no good friends. She watches with...

The most popular girl in Shaindy's class lures her into assisting with a series of increasingly nasty pranks at their Orthodox Jewish girls' school on the eve of Rosh Hashanah. When they're caught and Shaindy is blamed, she uses the approaching Yom Kippur to figure out how to make amends. A great choice for fans of Mean Girls and Jennifer Chan Is Not Alone by Tae Keller.

Religion | Jewish

Mexikid : a graphic memoir
Martin, Pedro
Paper Book
NEWBERY HONOR AWARD WINNER * An unforgettable graphic memoir about a Mexican American boy's family and their adventure-filled road trip to bring their abuelito back from Mexico "One of those books that kids will pass to their friends as soon as they have finished it."-...

An absolutely true family road trip graphic novel about the time Pedro's family drove to Mexico to bring his grandpa--a Mexican Revolutionary War veteran with a library of epic stories--back to the US to live with them. Hand this one to fans of graphic novel memoirs like Sisters and Chunky. Also available in Spanish!

Language | Spanish


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