Even More Biracial and Multiracial Protagonists for Young Readers
Discover a diverse collection of children's books featuring biracial and multiracial protagonists. Perfect for young readers, these stories celebrate identity, culture, and inclusivity.
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The True Meaning of Smekday
by Adam Rex
Gratuity Tucci (call her Tip)& gets a fairly early start behind the wheel.& She's 11--and she's good if you want to know.& & Plus, laws don't matter too much& these days, and Tip is desperate to find her mom who was abducted by aliens on Christmas Eve (technically Smekday Eve since the Boov& invasion).& So while the rest of the American population gets shipped via rocketpod to Florida--the proposed new United State of America--Tip heads south in& the family car to search for her mother. & On the way, & she meets a solitary Boov mechanic named J. Lo.& He's unarmed, and he can fix her battered car (make it fly), so she agrees to give him a ride, which leads to two& alarming discoveries.& One is that J.Lo turns out to be not so bad.& & The other& is that J.Lo is #1 on the Boov's most wanted list for making the hugest mistake in the history of Smekland (or earth depending on your point of view).& Now Tip and her many-legged friend are the only ones who can save the planet from a really big catastrophe. & &
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Going Going
by Naomi Shihab Nye
Florrie's favorite coffee shop, with its open mike night, dreamy candles, and cute waiters ... Going? The mysterious little hut selling fresh lemon ice on the west side of town ... Going? The boutique featuring clothes you don't find at the mall, allowing you to look like ... an interesting person ... Going? Individuality. Originality. Quality. Independence. Opportunity. Going, going, gone. What's a girl to do?
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Magic Or Madness
by Justine Larbalestier
From the Sydney, Australia home of a grandmother she believes is a witch, fifteen-year-old Reason Cansino is magically transported to New York City, where she discovers that friends and foes can be hard to distinguish.
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Black Mirror
by Nancy Werlin
After her brother Daniel's death, sixteen-year-old Frances uncovers surprising truths about their boarding school's charitable group, of which Daniel was a member.
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Melonhead
by Katy Kelly
In the Washington, D.C. neighborhood of Capitol Hill, Lucy Rose's friend Adam "Melonhead" Melon, a budding inventor with a knack for getting into trouble, enters a science contest that challenges students to recycle an older invention into a new invention.
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The Death of Jayson Porter
by Jaime Adoff
Sixteen-year-old Jayson Porter wants to believe things will get better. But the harsh realities of his life never seem to change. Living in the inland-Florida projects with his abusive mother, he tries unsuccessfully to fit in at his predominately white school, while struggling to maintain even a thread of a relationship with his drug-addicted father. As the pressure mounts, there’s only one thing Jayson feels he has control over—the choice of whether to live or die. In this powerful, gripping novel, Coretta Scott King Award–winning author Jaime Adoff explores the harsh reality of a teenager’s life, giving hope even in the bleakest of hours.
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Last Dance on Holladay Street
by Elisa Lynn Carbone
In 1878, thirteen-year-old Eva seeks her birth mother in Colorado, only to find the city and her mother are not what she imagined.
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I Wanna Be Your Shoebox
by Cristina Garcia
Because Yumi RuĂŤz-Hirsch has grandparents from Japan, Cuba, and Brooklyn, her mother calls her a poster child for the twenty-first century. Yumi would laugh if only her life wasn't getting as complicated as her heritage. All of a sudden she's starting eighth grade with a girl who collects tinfoil and a boy who dresses like a squid. Her mom's found a new boyfriend, and her punk-rock father still can't sell a song. She's losing her house; she's losing her school orchestra. And worst of all she's losing her grandfather Saul. Yumi wishes everything could stay the same. But as she listens to Saul tell his story, she learns that nobody ever asks you if you're ready for life to happen. It just happens. The choice is either to sit and watch or to join the dance. National Book Award finalist Cristina GarcĂa's first middle-grade novel celebrates the chaotic, crazy, and completely amazing patchwork that makes up our lives.
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Fly on the Wall
by E. Lockhart
"I think this might be the best YA novel . . . I've ever read." —John Green From E. Lockhart, author of We Were Liars—the New York Times bestselling phenomenon—and the uproarious and heartwarming Ruby Oliver books, comes a fast-paced and hysterically funny novel that answers the question: What would it be like to be a fly on the wall in the boy's locker room? At the Manhattan School for Art and Music, where everyone is “different” and everyone is “special,” Gretchen Yee feels ordinary. She’s the kind of girl who sits alone at lunch, drawing pictures of Spider-Man, so she won’t have to talk to anyone; who has a crush on Titus but won’t do anything about it; who has no one to hang out with when her best (and only real) friend Katya is busy. One day, Gretchen wishes that she could be a fly on the wall in the boys’ locker room–just to learn more about guys. What are they really like? What do they really talk about? Are they really cretins most of the time? Fly on the Wall is the story of how that wish comes true.
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Minn and Jake's Almost Terrible Summer
by Janet S. Wong
There are a few things / about your best friend that you can only learn / when you see where he's from. Minn knew / that Jake was from the city. But she didn't know / that his grandmother was Korean. That he liked taking bubble baths. / That his brother, Soup, might be an eating champion. / That Jake was a cheater, and that he had a . . . / girlfriend?! There are some things / about your best friend that it's better not / to know. Bouncing free verse and playful black-and-white illustrations combine to make this a charming follow-up to Minn and Jake. Minn and Jake's Almost Terrible Summer is a 2009 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.
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Cuba 15
by Nancy Osa
For fans of Matt de la Peña and Sandra Cisneros comes a novel about family and identity, where Violet Paz prepares for her quinceañero and learns about her Cuban heritage. Violet Paz has just turned fifteen, a pivotal birthday in the eyes of her Cuban grandmother. Fifteen is the age when a girl enters womanhood, traditionally celebrating the occasion with a quinceañero. But while Violet is half Cuban, she’s also half Polish, and more importantly, she feels 100% American. Except for her zany family’s passion for playing dominoes, smoking cigars, and dancing to Latin music, Violet knows little about Cuban culture, nada about quinces, and only tidbits about the history of Cuba. So when Violet begrudgingly accepts Abuela’s plans for a quinceañero–and as she begins to ask questions about her Cuban roots–cultures and feelings collide. The mere mention of Cuba and Fidel Castro elicits her grandparents’sadness and her father’s anger. Only Violet’s aunt Luz remains open-minded. With so many divergent views, it’s not easy to know what to believe. All Violet knows is that she’s got to form her own opinions, even if this jolts her family into unwanted confrontations. After all, a quince girl is supposed to embrace responsibility–and to Violet that includes understanding the Cuban heritage that binds her to a homeland she’s never seen. “Violet’s hilarious cool first-person narrative veers between farce and tenderness, denial and truth.”—Booklist, Starred Review "This funny and tender chronicle of Violet's 15th year...[has] heart and humor."-Kirkus Reviews “Cuba 15 will make readers laugh, whether or not their families are as loco as Violet’s.”—The Horn Book Magazine "Osa's tale about a warmhearted, fun-loving family, a teenager's typical ambivalence about different cultures, the stress of dealing with high school demands and pressures, a budding romance, and how an imaginative, high-spirited young woman handles some thorny issues and does some growing up in the process, rings true and makes for an entertaining story."-VOYA "The characters are so charming that while readers are in their company, the experience is interesting and engaging."-SLJ A Pura Belpré Honor Book An ALA Notable Book An ALA Best Book for Young Adults A Booklist Top Ten Youth First Novels
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The Lion Hunter
by Elizabeth Wein
It is the sixth century in Aksum, Africa. Young Telemakos?King Arthur's half-Ethiopian grandson'is still recovering from his ordeal as a government spy in the far desert, trying to learn who was breaking the Emperor's plague quarantine. Before he is fully himself again, tragedy and menace strike, and he finds himself sent, with his baby sister, Athena, to live with Abreha, the ruler of Himyar'a longtime enemy of the Aksumites, now perhaps a friend. His aunt Goewin, Arthur's daughter, warns him that Abreha is a man to be wary of, someone to watch carefully. Telemakos promises he will be mindful'but he does not realize that Goewin's warnings are not enough to protect him. The Sunbird (?Intense, absorbing, and luminously written,? Kirkus Reviews, starred review) was the first book about Telemakos. The Lion Hunter continues his story, to be quickly followed by The Empty Kingdom'a two-book sequence called The Mark of Solomon.
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Lionboy
by Zizou Corder
When his parents are kidnapped, what's ten-year-old Charlie Ashanti to do? Rescue them, that's what! He doesn't know who has taken his parents, or why. But he does know that one special talent will aid him on his journey--his amazing ability to speak Cat. Charlie calls on his clever feline friends--from stray city cats to magnificent caged lions--for help. With them by his side, Charlie uses wit and courage to try to find his parents before it's too late. With its whirlwind action and suspense, Lionboy is a nonstop page-turner. This mother-daughter writing team will fascinate readers of all ages with their Cat-speaking hero! "A zinger of a story, told with a J.K. Rowling-like blend of humor, drama and headlong plotting." --The Washington Post
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Daughter of Light
by Pam Walker
On her fourteenth birthday, Cassidy Chen receives five ancient and mysterious Chinese coins, which introduce her to the supernatural world known to her Chinese and Irish ancestors and which lead her to accept her destiny as a warrior princess.
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The Amethyst Road
by Louise Spiegler
Having fled the city of Oestia after attacking an official, sixteen-year-old Serena--an outcast as well as a mixed-race child of a Gorgio father and Yulang mother--seeks to reunite her family and regain her honor.
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Hidden Roots
by Joseph Bruchac
Although he is uncertain why his father is so angry and what secret his mother is keeping from him, eleven-year-old Sonny knows that he is different from his classmates in their small New York town.
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