In 1990, Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop published a seminal essay entitled ‘Mirrors, Windows, and Sliding Glass Doors’ which brought about an examination of trends in children’s literature, especially with regard to featuring diverse characters. 31 years later, the Children’s and YA publishing world has made some progress, but there is still much more work to be done with actively promoting diversity in this field. 

The holiday of Juneteenth has long been celebrated in the African-American community, but with the establishment of June 19 as a federal holiday in 2021, many more books on this topic and others of a positive, hopeful outlook have been published. We continually pore over the recent additions to the Children’s and YA collection, and while not every title below is brimming with joy, many highlight resilience and the belief in a brighter future. 

Fiction and Graphic Novel Recommendations

Count To Love! | Davis, Andrea Pinkney & Brian Pinkney   Recommended for ages 0-3

The King of Kindergarten & The Queen of Kindergarten | Barnes, Derrick   Recommended for ages 3-6

Parker Looks Up | Curry, Parker & Jessica   Recommended for ages 3-6

Bedtime for Sweet Creatures, Off to See the Sea, & Playtime for Restless Rascals | Grimes, Nikki    Recommended for ages 3-7

Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut | Barnes, Derrick & James, Gordon C.   Recommended for ages 3-7

Sulwe | Nyong'o, Lupita & Harrison, Vashti   Recommended for ages 3-7

I Am Every Good Thing | Barnes, Derrick & James, Gordon C.   Recommended for ages 3-8

Climb On! | Paul, Baptiste   Recommended for ages 3-8

Nigel and the Moon | Eady, Antwan   Recommended for ages 3-8

Daddy Speaks Love | Henderson, Leah   Recommended for ages 3-8

Magnificent Homespun Brown | Doyon, Samara Cole & Juanita, Kaylani  Recommended for ages 3-8

Hands Up! | McDaniel, Breanna J. & Evans, Shane W.   Recommended for ages 3-8

Your Name is a Song | Thompkins-Bigelow, Jamilah   Recommended for age 3-8

Bedtime Bonnet | Redd, Nancy & Myers, Nneka  Recommended for ages 3-9

Rocket Says Look Up | Bryon, Nathan & Adeola, Dapo  Recommended for ages 4-7

All Because You Matter | Charles, Tami & Collier, Bryan   Recommended for ages 4-8

A Place Inside of Me | Elliott, Zetta & Denmon, Noa   Recommended for ages 4-8

Black is a Rainbow Color | Joy, Angela & Holmes, Ekua   Recommended for ages 4-8

The Me I Choose to Be | Tarpley, Natasha Anastasia   Recommended for ages 4-8

We Are Here | Charles, Tami   Recommended for ages 4-8

The Kindest Red | Muhammad, Ibtihaj   Recommended for ages 4-8 

Yellow Dog Blues | Duncan, Alice Faye   Recommended for ages 4-8

When Langston Dances | Langley, Kaija   Recommended for ages 4-8

Uncle John's City Garden | Ford, Bernette G.   Recommended for ages 4-9

Build a House | Giddens, Rhiannon   Recommended for ages 4-10

The Year We Learned to Fly & The World Belonged to Us | Woodson, Jacqueline   Recommended for ages 5-8

Dream Street | Walker, Tricia Elam   Recommended for ages 5-8 

Soul Food Sunday | Bingham, Winsome   Recommended for ages 5-8

Too Small Tola | Atinuke   Recommended for ages 6-9

Magnolia Flower | Hurston, Zora Neale   Recommended for ages 7-9

Dragons in a Bag | Elliott, Zetta   Recommended for ages 7-10 

The Dragon Thief | Elliott, Zetta   Recommended for ages 7-10

Stuntboy, In the Meantime | Reynolds, Jason   Recommended for ages 7-12

Ways to Make Sunshine | Watson, Renee   Recommended for ages 8-10

Meet Claudie: An American Girl | Bennett, Brit   Recommended for ages 8-11 

Ways to Make Sunshine, Ways to Grow Love, etc. | Watson, Renee   Recommended for ages 8-11

Nic Blake and The Remarkables: The Manifestor Prophecy | Thomas, Angie   Recommended for ages 8-12

The Marvellers | Clayton, Dhonielle   Recommended for ages 8-12

Swim Team | Christmas, Johnnie   Recommended for ages 8-12

Twins | Johnson, Varian and Wright, Shannon   Recommended for ages 8-12

Out of My Mind, Out of My Heart | Draper, Sharon   Recommended for ages 9+

The Season of Styx Malone | Magoon, Kekla   Recommended for ages 9-13

Freewater | Luqman-Dawson, Amina      Recommended for ages 9-13  

Maya and the Rising Dark., Maya and the Return of the Godlings | Barron, Rena   Recommended for ages 10-12

Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky | Mbalia, Kwame   Recommended for ages 10-13

Fast Pitch | Stone, Nic   Recommended for ages 10-13

Track series: Ghost. Patina. Sunny. Lu. | Reynolds, Jason   Recommended for ages 10-14

Rebound, graphic novel edition of The Crossover. The Crossover | Alexander, Kwame   Recommended for age 11-15, 

Akata Witch (series) | Okorafor, Nnedi   Recommended for age 11+

The Poet X | Acevedo, Elizabeth   Recommended for age 12+

A Phoenix First Must Burn | Caldwell, Patrice, ed.,   Recommended for age 12+

A Girl's Guide to Love & Magic | Rigaud, Debbie   Recommended for ages 12+ 

The Field Guide to the North American Teenager | Philippe, Ben   
Recommended for age 12+

Love is a Revolution | Watson, Renee   Recommended for age 12+

Legendborn | Deonn, Tracy   Recommended for age 13+

Blackout | Various authors   Recommended for ages 13+ 

Pride | Zoboi, Ibi   Recommended for age 13+

Yesterday is History | Jackson, Kosoko   Recommended for ages 13+

Instructions for Dancing | Yoon, Nicola   Recommended for ages 13+

Whiteout | Dhonielle Clayton, Tiffany D. Jackson, Nic Stone, Angie Thomas, Ashley Woodfolk, Nicola Yoon   Recommended for ages 13+

Rust in the Root | Ireland, Justina   Recommended for ages 13+

Bloodmarked | Deonn, Tracy   Recommended for ages 14+

Happily Ever Afters | Bryant, Elise   Recommended for ages 14+

Now That I've Found You | Forest, Kristina,    Recommended for age 14+

You Should See Me in a Crown | Johnson, Leah   Recommended for age 14+

The Sun Is Also a Star | Yoon, Nicola   Recommended for age 14+

Non-fiction and Biography Recommendations

Harlem Grown | Hillery, Tony   Recommended for age 3-8

Seeing into Tomorrow | Wright, Richard & Crews, Nina   Recommended for age 4-8

H is for Harlem | Johnson, Dinah   Recommended for ages 5-9

We Wait for the Sun | McCabe, Katie   Recommended for ages 5-9

Free at Last: A Juneteenth Poem | Kincaid-Rolle, Sojourner   Recommended for ages 6-9 

Sail Away | Hughes, Langston & Bryan, Ashley   Recommended for age 6-10

Radiant Child | Steptoe, Javaka    Recommended for age 6-10

Maya's Song | Watson, Renee   Recommended for ages 7-12

Nina: A Story of Nina Simone | Todd, Traci   Recommended for ages 7-12

The Undefeated | Alexander, Kwame & Nelson, Kadir  Recommended for ages 8+

All Different Now | Johnson, Angela & Lewis, E.B.   Recommended for ages 8+

Young, Gifted, and Black | Wilson, Jamia    Recommended for age 8+

Black Heroes of the Wild West | Smith, James Otis    Recommended for age 9-11

One Last Word | Grimes, Nikki   Recommended for age 10+

Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer, Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement | Weatherford, Carole Boston & Holmes, Ekua  
Recommended for age 10+

Star Child: A Biographical Constellation of Octavia Estelle Butler | Zoboi, Ibi   Recommended for ages 10+

Lifting as We Climb | Dionne, Evette   Recommended for ages 10-12

Victory. Stand! Raising My Fist for Justice | Smith, Tommie   Recommended for ages 12+

Run | Lewis, John   Recommended for ages 13+