Let's not forget about our middle grade readers! When it comes to teaching about diversity, there are many avenues we can take to help students learn ways to make their schools and communities inclusive, to encourage them to challenge prejudices, and to develop anti-bias states of mind.
Consider promoting some of these special books to your young readers this summer:
1. Mañanaland by Pam Muñoz Ryan
Genre: magic realism, culture - Latinx
Topics: hope, compassion, humanity
Synopsis: If Max could see tomorrow, he would know if he'd make Santa Maria's celebrated fútbol team and whether he'd ever meet his mother, who disappeared when he was a baby. He longs to know more about her, but Papá won't talk. So when Max uncovers a buried family secret--involving an underground network of guardians who lead people fleeing a neighboring country to safety--he decides to seek answers on his own.
2. Asha and the Spirit Bird by Jasbinder Bilan
Genre: magic realism, culture - Indian Topics: financial hardship, determination, friendship
Synopsis: Asha lives on the family farm with her mother in rural India. Her father is away working in the city, and when the money he sends stops suddenly, a wicked aunt arrives. She’s determined to seize the property – and the treasure rumoured to be hidden on the land. Guided by a majestic bird which Asha believes to be the spirit of her grandmother, she and her best friend Jeevan embark on a journey to the city, across the Himalayas, to find her father and save her home.
3. The Lost Book of Adana Moreau by Michael Zapata
Genre: historical fiction, culture - Dominican
Topics: immigration, memories, Hurricane Katrina
Synopsis: In 1929 in New Orleans, a Dominican immigrant named Adana Moreau writes a science fiction novel. The novel earns rave reviews, and Adana begins a sequel. Then she falls gravely ill. Just before she dies, she destroys the only copy of the manuscript. Decades later in Chicago, Saul Drower is cleaning out his dead grandfather’s home when he discovers a mysterious manuscript written by none other than Adana Moreau. With the help of his friend Javier, Saul tracks down an address for Adana’s son in New Orleans, but as Hurricane Katrina strikes they must head to the storm-ravaged city for answers.
4. Not Your All-American Girl by Madelyn Rosenberg & Wendy Wan-Long Shang
Genre: contemporary, culture - Asian, Jewish
Topics: identity, appearances, family, theater
Synopsis: Lauren and her best friend, have always done absolutely everything together, even trying out for the school play. But when the show is cast, Lauren lands in the ensemble, while Tara scores the lead role. Their teacher explains: Lauren just doesn't look the part of the all-American girl. What audience would believe that she, half-Jewish, half-Chinese Lauren, was the everygirl star from Pleasant Valley, USA? With the help of a button-making business, the music of Patsy Cline, and her two bickering grandmothers, can Lauren find her voice again?
5. Can You See Me by Libby Scott & Rebecca Westcott
Genre: contemporary, realistic fiction
Topics: autism, identity, friendships
Synopsis: Tally isn't ashamed of being autistic -- even if it complicates life sometimes, it's part of who she is. But this is her first year at Kingswood Academy, and her best friend, Layla, is the only one who knows. And while a lot of other people are uncomfortable around Tally, Layla has never been one of them . . . until now. Something is different about sixth grade, and Tally now feels like she has to act "normal." But as Tally hides her true self, she starts to wonder what "normal" means after all and whether fitting in is really what matters most.
6. Kid Quixotes by Stephen Haff
Genre: nonfiction, memoir
Topics: immigration, culture - Latinx
Synopsis: Still Waters in a Storm is an after-school program held in a small room in Bushwick, Brooklyn; it is a place for kids to practice reading and writing in English, Spanish, and Latin. For the students, many living in constant fear of deportation, Still Waters is a refuge. For Stephen Haff, a former public-school teacher, it is the sanctuary he built following a breakdown caused by bipolar depression. At Still Waters, all agreed that there would only be one rule: "Everyone listens to everyone." And this has unlocked spectacular potential.
7. Cast Away by Naomi Shihab Nye
Genre: poetry
Topics: humanity, social responsibility
Synopsis: With poems about food wrappers, lost mittens, plastic straws, refugee children, trashy talk, the environment, connection, community, responsibility to the planet, politics, immigration, time, junk mail, trash collectors, garbage trucks, all that we carry and all that we discard, this is a rich, engaging, moving, and sometimes humorous collection for readers ages twelve to adult.
8. King and the Dragonflies by Kacen Callender
Genre: LGBT, magic realism
Topics: grief, identity, friendships
Synopsis: Twelve-year-old Kingston James is sure his brother Khalid has turned into a dragonfly when he unexpectedly passed away. It would be easier if King could talk with his best friend, Sandy Sanders. But just days before he died, Khalid told King to end their friendship, after overhearing a secret about Sandy-that he thinks he might be gay. "You don't want anyone to think you're gay too, do you?" But when Sandy goes missing, sparking a town-wide search, and King finds his former best friend hiding in a tent in his backyard, he agrees to help Sandy escape from his abusive father, and the two begin an adventure as they build their own private paradise down by the bayou and among the dragonflies.
9. Superman Smashes the Klan by Gene Luen Yang
Genre: graphic novel, culture - Asian American
Topics: racism, social justice
Synopsis: While the Lees try to adjust to their new lives, an evil is stirring in Metropolis: the Ku Klux Klan. The Klan targets the Lee family, beginning a string of terrorist attacks. They kidnap Tommy, attack the Daily Planet, and even threaten the local YMCA. But with the help of Roberta's keen skills of observation, Superman is able to fight the Klan's terror, while exposing those in power who support them--and Roberta and Superman learn to embrace their own unique features that set them apart.
10. Girl of the Southern Sea by Michelle Kadarusman
Genre: realistic fiction
Topics: death, grief, poverty
Synopsis: From the time she was a little girl, Nia has dreamed up adventures about the Javanese mythical princess, Dewi Kadita. Now fourteen, Nia would love nothing more than to continue her education and become a writer. But high school costs money her family doesn’t have; everything her father earns selling banana fritters at the train station goes to their meager existence in the Jakarta slums―assuming he doesn’t drink it all away first.
11. Turtle Boy by M. Evan Wolkenstein
Genre: realistic fiction
Topics: growing up, grief, self-image
Synopsis: Seventh grade is not going well for Will Levine. Kids at school bully him, he gets in trouble with his science teacher, and for his bar mitzvah community service project, he has to go to the hospital to visit RJ, an older boy struggling with an incurable disease. At first, the boys don't get along, but then RJ shares his bucket list with Will. As RJ's disease worsens, Will realizes he needs to tackle the bucket list on his new friend's behalf before it's too late.
12. The Silence Between Us by Alison Gervais
Genre: romance, contemporary
Topics: disabilities, illness
Synopsis: Deaf teen Maya moves across the country and must attend a hearing school for the first time. As if that wasn’t hard enough, she also has to adjust to the hearing culture, which she finds frustrating—and also surprising when some classmates, including Beau Watson, take time to learn ASL. As Maya looks past graduation and focuses on her future dreams, nothing, not even an unexpected romance, will derail her pursuits. But when people in her life—deaf and hearing alike—ask her to question parts of her deaf identity, Maya stands proudly, never giving in to the idea that her deafness is a disadvantage.
13. How to Make Friends with the Sea by Tanya Guerrero
Genre: realistic fiction, culture - Philippines
Topics: anxiety, friendships, family
Synopsis: Pablo is homesick. After his parents divorced, he and his mother have moved from place to place for years, never settling anywhere long enough to call it home. And along the way, Pablo has collected more and more fears: of dirt, of germs, and most of all, of the ocean. Now they’re living in the Philippines, and his mother, a zoologist, is too busy saving animals to notice that Pablo might need saving, too. Then his mother takes in Chiqui, an orphaned girl with a cleft lip—and Pablo finds that through being strong for Chiqui, his own fears don’t seem so scary.
14. Lila and Hadley by Kody Keplinger
Genre: LGBT, realistic fiction
Topics: pets, incarceration, moving
Synopsis: Hadley is angry about a lot of things: Her mom going to jail. Having to move to another state to live with her older sister, Leaving her friends and her school behind. And going blind. But then Hadley meets Lila. Lila is an abandoned dog who spends her days just quietly lying around at the local dog rescue. She doesn't listen to directions or play with the other dogs or show any interest in people. So when Lila comes and sits by Hadley, things start looking up.
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