Diversifying Your Cultural Reading

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Check out our cultural reading list below for reading suggestions for adults, middle grade/young adults, and children.

Juneteenth Reading List

Adult:

Non-Fiction

  • "Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America" by Ibram X. Kendi
  • "The 1619 Project" by Nikole Hannah-Jones
  • "Four Hundred Souls" By Ibram X. Kendi and Keisha N. Blain
  • "On Juneteenth" by Annette Gordon-Reed
  • "How to Be an Antiracist" by Ibram X. Kendi
  • "Black Women Writers at Work" by Claudia Tate (Editor), Tillie Olsen (Foreword)

Fiction:

  • "The Vanishing Half: A Novel" by Brit Bennett
  • "Seven Days in June" by Tia Williams
  • "Black Girls Must Die Exhausted: A Novel (Black Girls Must Die Exhausted, Book 1)" by Jayne Allen

Young Adult:

Non-Fiction:

  • "Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You: A Remix of the National Book Award-winning Stamped from the Beginning" by Ibram X. Kendi
  • "How to Be a (Young) Antiracist" by Ibram X. Kendi

Fiction:

  • "A Taste of Magic" by J. Elle
  • "The Marvellers" by Dhonielle Clayton
  • "Rain Rising" by Courtne Comrie

Middle Grade:

Non-Fiction

  • "This Book Is Anti-Racist: 20 Lessons on How to Wake Up, Take Action, and Do The Work" by Tiffany Jewell
  • "Stamped (For Kids): Racism, Antiracism, and You" by Sonja Cherry-Paul (Adapter), Jason Reynolds (Author), Ibram X. Kendi (Author

Fiction:

  • "Freewater" by Amina Luqman-Dawson
  • "Ways to Make Sunshine" by Renée Watson
  • "The Parker Inheritance" by Varian Johnson

Picture Books:

Non-Fiction

  • "Juneteenth for Mazie" by Floyd Cooper
  • "Juneteenth" by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson, Drew Nelson
  • "Opal Lee and What It Means to Be Free: The True Story of the Grandmother of Juneteenth" by Alice Faye Duncan
  • "Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre" by Carole Boston Weatherford
  • "The 1619 Project: Born on the Water" by Nikole Hannah-Jones, Renee Watson

Fiction: 

  • "All Different Now: Juneteenth, the First Day of Freedom" by Angela Johnson
  • "Free at Last: A Juneteenth" by Sojourner Kincaid Rolle
  • "The Year We Learned to Fly" by Jacqueline Woodson

 

Native American Heritage Month Reading List

Adult 

  • "Reclaiming Two-Spirits: Sexuality, Spiritual Renewal & Sovereignty in Native America" by Gregory D. Smithers 
  • "Calling for a Blanket Dance" by Oscar Hokeah  
  • "Fevered Star" by Rebecca Roanhorse  
  • "An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States" by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz 
  • "When the Light of the World Was Subdued, Our Songs Came Through" by Joy Harjo, LeAnne Howe, Jennifer Elise Foerster 
  • "An Afro-Indigenous History of the United States" by Kyle T. Mays 

Young Adult 

  • "Firekeeper's Daughter" by Angeline Boulley  
  • "The Summer of Bitter and Sweet" by Jen Ferguson  
  • "Everything You Wanted to Know About Indians but Were Afraid to Ask (Young reader edition)" by Anton Treuer 
  • "An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States for Young People by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz" Adapted by Jean Mendoza and Debbie Reese 
  • "The Mourning Road to Thanksgiving" by Larry Spotted Crow Mann 

Middle Grade 

  • "Ancestor Approved: Intertribal Stories for Kids" by Cynthia L. Smith 
  • "Healer of the Water Monster" by Brian Young 
  • "Rain Is Not My Indian Name" by Cynthia L. Smith  
  • "The Sea in Winter" by Christine Day  
  • "Classified: The Secret Career of Mary Golda Ross, Cherokee Aerospace Engineer" by Traci Sorell
  • "Rising Voices: Writings of Young Native Americans" Edited by Arlene Hirschfelder, Beverly Singer   

Picture Books/Chapter Books 

  • "When we Were Alone" by David Robertson 
  • "Jingle Dancer" by Cynthia L. Smith 
  • "Berry Song" by Michaela Goade   
  • "At the Mountain’s Base" by Traci Sorell illustrated by: Weshoyot Alvitre  
  • "We are the Water Protectors" by Carole Lindstrom illustrated by Michaela Goade  
  • "Jojo Makoons Series" by Dawn Quigley, Illustrated by Tara Audibert (Chapter Book Series) 

 

Transgender Day of Remembrance Reading List 

Adult 

  • “Amateur A true Story About What Makes a Man” by Thomas Page McBee 
  • “The Subtweet” by Vivek Shraya  
  • “The Thirty Names of Night” by Zeyn Joukhadar 
  • “Light From Uncommon Stars” by Ryka Aoki 
  • “Genderqueer” by Maia Kobabe 
  • “The Nearest Exit Behind You” by S. Bear Bergman 

Young Adult 

  • “King and the Dragon Flies” by Kacen Callender 
  • “What’s the T?” Juno Dawson 
  • “Sasha Masha” by Agnes Borinsky 
  • “The Sunbearer Trials” by Aiden Thomas 
  • “Nimona” by Nate Stevenson  

Middle Grade 

  • “Ana on the Edge” by AJ Sass 
  • “Zenobia July” by Lisa Bunker 
  • “Almost Flying" by Jake Maia Arlow 
  • “Alice Austen Lived Here” by Alex Gino 
  • “This Is Our Rainbow: 16 STORIES OF HER, HIM, THEM, AND US” Edited by Katherine Locke and Nicole Melleby 

Picture Books/Chapter Books 

  • “When Aiden Became a Brother” Kyle Lukoff 
  • “Calvin” by JR Ford and Vanessa Ford; Illustrated by Kayla Harren 
  • “I'm Not a Girl: A Transgender Story” by Maddox Lyons and Jessica Verdi; illustrated by Dana Simpson 
  • “My Rainbow” By DeShanna Neal and Trinity Neal; Illustrated by Art Twink 

Diwali Reading List

Adult

  • "The Jasmine Throne" by Tasha Suri
  • "The Last Queen" by Chitra BanerJee Divakaruni
  • "Kaikeyi" by Vaishnavi Patel
  • "The Last White Man" by Mohsin Hamid
  • "The Death of Vivek Oji" by Akwaeke Emezi

Middle Grade/Young Adult

  • "Thirst" by Varsha Bajaj
  • "Golden Girl" by Reem Faruqi
  • "Aru Shah and the Nectar of Immortality" by Roshani Chokshi
  • "The Dream Runners" by Shvetea Thakrar
  • "The Loophole" by Naz Kutub

Picture Books

  • "Diwali in my New Home" by Shacki Kaushik; Illustrated by Aishwarya Tandon
  • "It's Diwali!" By Kabir Sehgal, Surishtha Sehgal; Illustrated by Archana Sreenivasan
  • "Binny's Diwali" by Thrity Umrigar; Illustrated by Nidhi Chanani
  • "Dancing in Thatha's Footsteps" by Srividhya Venkat; Illustrated by Kavita Ramchadran