Inclusive Books
Recommended titles for a culturally responsive collection.
Imagine a world in which all children can see themselves in the pages of a book. --We Need Diverse Books
This past summer, the Library Service's Collection Development team created equity carts for elementary, middle and high schools of highly recommended, inclusive titles. It is our goal to immerse students in books that cultivate empathy and reflect all students' unique identities and experiences.
You can view our selections here.
LOWER ELEMENTARY READS
ANOTHER BY CHRISTIAN ROBINSON
Available in Sora.
What if you...
encountered another perspective?
Discovered another world?
Met another you?
What might you do? --Publisher
A FRIEND FOR HENRY BY JENN BAILEY
Available in Sora.
With insight and warmth, this heartfelt story from the perspective of a boy on the autism spectrum celebrates the everyday magic of friendship. --Publisher
LUBNA AND PEBBLE BY WENDY MEDDOUR
This emotionally stirring and stunningly illustrated picture book explores one girl's powerful act of friendship in the midst of an unknown situation. --Publisher
UPPER ELEMENTARY READS
THE BRIDGE HOME BY PADMA VENKATRAMAN
Available in Sora.
Life on the streets of the teeming city of Chennai is harsh for girls considered outcasts, but the sisters manage to find shelter on an abandoned bridge. There they befriend Muthi and Arul, two boys in a similar predicament, and the four children bond together and form a family of sorts.
They are often hungry and scared but they have each other-and Kutti, the best dog ever. Viji and Arul must decide whether to risk going for help-when most adults in their lives have proven themselves untrustworthy-or to continue holding on to their fragile, hard-fought freedom. --Publisher
PLANET EARTH IS BLUE BY NICOLE PANTELEAKOS
Available in Sora.
While foster families and teachers dismiss Nova as severely autistic and nonverbal, Bridget understands how intelligent and special Nova is, and all that she can't express. As the liftoff draws closer, Nova's new foster family and teachers begin to see her potential, and for the first time, she is making friends without Bridget. But every day, she's counting down to the launch, and to the moment when she'll see Bridget again. Because Bridget said, "No matter what, I'll be there. I promise." --Publisher
TO NIGHT OWL FROM DOGFISH BY HOLLY GOLDBERG SLOAN
Available in Sora.
Avery Bloom, who's bookish, intense, and afraid of many things, particularly deep water, lives in New York City. Bett Devlin, who's fearless, outgoing, and loves all animals as well as the ocean, lives in California. What they have in common is that they are both twelve years old, and are both being raised by single, gay dads.
When their dads fall in love, Bett and Avery are sent, against their will, to the same sleepaway camp. Their dads hope that they will find common ground and become friends--and possibly, one day, even sisters. --Publisher
MIDDLE SCHOOL READS
OTHER WORDS FOR HOME BY JASMINE WARGA
Available in Sora.
A gorgeously written, hopeful middle grade novel in verse about a young girl who must leave Syria to move to the United States.
Jude never thought she'd be leaving her beloved older brother and father behind, all the way across the ocean in Syria. But when things in her hometown start becoming volatile, Jude and her mother are sent to live in Cincinnati with relatives.
At first, everything in America seems too fast and too loud. The American movies that Jude has always loved haven't quite prepared her for starting school in the US--and her new label of "Middle Eastern," an identity she's never known before.
But this life also brings unexpected surprises--there are new friends, a whole new family, and a school musical that Jude might just try out for. Maybe America, too, is a place where Jude can be seen as she really is. --Publisher
THE CROSSOVER (ADAPTATION) BY KWAME ALEXANDER
Available in Sora.
"With a bolt of lightning on my kicks . . . The court is SIZZLING. My sweat is DRIZZLING. Stop all that quivering. 'Cuz tonight I'm delivering," raps twelve-year-old Josh Bell. Thanks to their dad, he and his twin brother, Jordan, are kings on the court. But Josh has more than basketball in his blood--he's got mad beats, too, which help him find his rhythm when it's all on the line.
See the Bell family in a whole new light through Dawud Anyabwile's dynamic illustrations as the brothers' winning season unfolds, and the world as they know it begins to change. --Publisher
DRAGON PEARL BY YOON HA LEE
Available in Sora.
Rick Riordan Presents Yoon Ha Lee's space opera about thirteen-year-old Min, who comes from a long line of fox spirits. But you'd never know it by looking at her. To keep the family safe, Min's mother insists that none of them use any fox-magic, such as Charm or shape-shifting. They must appear human at all times.
Min feels hemmed in by the household rules and resents the endless chores, the cousins who crowd her, and the aunties who judge her. She would like nothing more than to escape Jinju, her neglected, dust-ridden, and impoverished planet. She's counting the days until she can follow her older brother, Jun, into the Space Forces and see more of the Thousand Worlds.
Min's quest will have her meeting gamblers, pirates, and vengeful ghosts. It will involve deception, lies, and sabotage. She will be forced to use more fox-magic than ever before, and to rely on all of her cleverness and bravery. The outcome may not be what she had hoped, but it has the potential to exceed her wildest dreams. --Publisher
HIGH SCHOOL READS
I WISH YOU ALL THE BEST BY MASON DEAVER
Available in Sora.
But Ben's attempts to survive the last half of senior year unnoticed are thwarted when Nathan Allan, a funny and charismatic student, decides to take Ben under his wing. As Ben and Nathan's friendship grows, their feelings for each other begin to change, and what started as a disastrous turn of events looks like it might just be a chance to start a happier new life. --Publisher
INTERNMENT BY SAMIRA AHMED
Available in Sora.
Rebellions are built on hope.
Set in a horrifying near-future United States, seventeen-year-old Layla Amin and her parents are forced into an internment camp for Muslim American citizens.
With the help of newly made friends also trapped within the internment camp, her boyfriend on the outside, and an unexpected alliance, Layla begins a journey to fight for freedom, leading a revolution against the camp's Director and his guards.
Heart-racing and emotional, Internment challenges readers to fight complicit silence that exists in our society today. --Publisher
ON THE COME UP BY ANGIE THOMAS
Available in Sora.
This is the highly anticipated second novel by Angie Thomas, the author of the #1 New York Times bestselling, award-winning The Hate U Give.
Sixteen-year-old Bri wants to be one of the greatest rappers of all time. Or at least win her first battle. As the daughter of an underground hip hop legend who died right before he hit big, Bri's got massive shoes to fill.
Bri soon finds herself at the center of a controversy, portrayed by the media as more menace than MC. But with an eviction notice staring her family down, Bri doesn't just want to make it--she has to. Even if it means becoming the very thing the public has made her out to be. --Publisher
Need more resources for finding inclusive children's and YA literature?
Denver Public Schools Library Services
Email: library_helpdesk@dpsk12.org
Website: https://lion.dpsk12.org
Location: 1617 S Acoma St., Denver CO
Phone: 7204231842