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We Need Diverse Books is excited to reveal the cover of ANCESTOR APPROVED: INTERTRIBAL STORIES FOR KIDS, an anthology set at a powwow that bursts with community and Native pride, edited by Cynthia Leitich Smith and illustrated by Nicole Neidhardt.

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During Pride Month and every month, WNDB honors the lives of trans and non-binary people. Here are Own Voices books by trans and non-binary authors, whom we have featured on our blog or recognized with Walter Awards.

Also check out Maya Sungold’s essay, “The Importance of Celebrating Trans Stories” on our blog.

GEORGE by Alex Gino

ZENOBIA JULY by Lisa Bunker

FELIX EVER AFTER by Kacen Callender

CEMETERY BOYS by Aiden Thomas

DARK AND DEEPEST RED by Anna-Marie McLemore

I WISH YOU ALL THE BEST by Mason Deaver

THE SHIP WE BUILT by Lexie Bean

EACH OF US A DESERT by Mark Oshiro

DRAGON PEARL by Yoon Ha Lee

PET by Akwaeke Emezi (Walter Award Honoree)

IF I WAS YOUR GIRL by Meredith Russo (Walter Award Honoree)

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The fight is far from over but in celebration of the Supreme Court’s decision this week, here’s a list of books by authors whose identities and works reflect those of DACA recipients! Here’s to the Dreamers. 💖

We’ve featured these titles on our blog, curated them with the help of educators and librarians for the OurStory app, or honored the authors with Walter Awards/Grants:

PICTURE BOOKS

ALREADY A BUTTERFLY by Julia Alvarez, Illustrated by Raúl Colón

ANTONIO’S CARD/LA TARJETA DE ANTONIO by Rigoberto González, Illustrated by Cecilia Concepción Álvarez

CARMELA FULL OF WISHES by Matt de la Peña, Illustrated by Christian Robinson

A GIFT FROM ABUELA by Cecilia Ruiz

A MOVIE IN MY PILLOW/UNA PELICULA EN MI ALMOHADA by Jorge Argueta, Illustrated by Elizabeth Gomez

MY DIARY FROM HERE TO THERE/MI DIARIO DE AQUÍ HASTA ALLÁ by Amada Irma Pérez, Illustrated by Maya González

MIDDLE GRADE

THE DISTANCE BETWEEN US: YOUNG READERS EDITION by Reyna Grande

GHOST SQUAD by Claribel Ortega

I LIVED ON BUTTERFLY HILL by Marjorie Agosín

MAÑANALAND by Pam Muñoz Ryan

THEY CALL ME GÜERO by David Bowles (Walter Honoree)

THE WAY TO RIO LUNA by Zoraida Córdova

YOUNG ADULT

AMERICAN STREET by Ibi Zoboi

BLANCA & ROJA by Anna Marie-McLemore

CLAP WHEN YOU LAND by Elizabeth Acevedo

COME ON IN edited by Adi Alsaid

DISAPPEARED by Francisco X. Stork (Walter Honoree)

DON’T ASK ME WHERE I’M FROM by Jennifer de Leon (Walter Grant Winner)

FURIA by Yamile Saied Méndez (Walter Grant Winner)

I AM NOT YOUR PERFECT MEXICAN DAUGHTER by Erika L. Sánchez

THE SUN IS ALSO A STAR by Nicole Yoon (Walter Honoree)

WOVEN IN MOONLIGHT BY Isabel Ibañez Davis

WE ARE NOT FROM HERE by Jenny Torres Sanchez

WHERE WE GO FROM HERE by Lucas Rocha

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The Cooperative Children’s Book Center has released the results of their 2019 survey on diversity in kidlit/YA.

We thank them for this invaluable work, note their commitment to adding Arabs/Arab Americans in future surveys, and present these graphs of their findings.

The 3,716 books surveyed have this many main characters total for the following groups:

Black/African: 11.9%

First/Native Nations: 1%

Asian/Asian American: 8.7%

Latinx: 5.3%

Pacific Islander: 0.05%

White: 41.8%

Animal/Other: 29.2%

LGBTQIAP+: 3.1%

Disability: 3.4%

“Taken together, books about white children, talking bears, trucks, monsters, potatoes, etc. represent nearly three quarters (71%) of children’s and young adult books published in 2019.” - librarian Madeline Tyner

When we looked at the breakdown for IPOC creatives who wrote and/or illustrated stories with characters of their own race, we found the following:

First/Native Nations: 68.2%

Pacific Islander: 80%

Latinx: 95.7%

Asian/Asian American: 100%*

*NOTE: these percentages include both authors and illustrators and, as pointed out by author Linda Sue Park for past surveys, Asians/Asian Americans are frequently illustrators but not necessarily authors of their own stories, meaning this is not fully reflective of #OwnVoices representation.

Black/African creatives wrote and/or illustrated only 46.4% of stories featuring Black/African characters.

This is the work that still needs to be done.

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“Black kids’ lives are particularly complex. And while it’s way past time for people to understand we are more than Black pain (so, so much more), our pain does have a way of vining its way into our stories. It has to. It’s part of our story. So yes, a book about a Black girl that is primarily about friendships shifting, family, and a first crush also has to be about police brutality. Why? Because that’s the truth of being Black in America. Black kids know this; other kids should know it too.”

—

Lisa Moore Ramée, WNDB Summer Reading: Both Pain and Joy Are Part of Kids’ Lives