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Diverse Youth Titles: January Releases 2023

  • Ashley S.
  • Friday, January 06

Check out these diverse titles releasing in January!

Covers of youth titles releasing in January 2023

Here at Richland Library we are committed to fostering an inclusive culture that celebrates and respects our differences and unique learning styles. Each month a blog post will go live that showcases forthcoming diverse youth titles that have been purchased by the library. From differences in race, ethnicity, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, ability and more, these titles are great reads for the entire family.

Be sure to check out the 5 titles that I'm most excited for in the slideshow below as well as the curated list of releases at the bottom of this post.

Enjoy!

Cover of the book Cookie Monsters

Twelve-year-old Brooklyn Ace is ready to take the Valentine World Scouts by storm and build her own cookie empire. She nearly won the top cookie selling spot last year and is determined to make her mom—who recently passed away—proud by coming in first this time around. With her fabulous best friends by her side, Brooklyn knows she’ll become Santa Monica’s District Cookie Queen. The crown is practically in the bag. Then Piper Parker arrives. Piper has a rich dad, a fancy hotel, and a drive to steal the cookie crown right off Brooklyn’s head. Before long, most of the seventh grade is under Piper’s spell. But Brooklyn is in it to win the biggest cookie war the school has ever seen. With the help of her cookie squad, her rockstar grandmother, her super cool therapist, and a lot of self-love and inner growth, maybe—just maybe—Brooklyn can end up a winner after all. 

Cover of the book Friday I'm In Love

Mahalia Harris wants.

She wants a big Sweet Sixteen like her best friend Naomi. She wants the super cute new girl Siobhan to like her back. She wants a break from worrying--about money, snide remarks from white classmates, pitying looks from church ladies . . . all of it. Then inspiration strikes: It's too late for a Sweet Sixteen, but what if she had a Coming Out Party? A singing, dancing, rainbow-cake-eating celebration of queerness on her own terms. The idea lights a fire in her, and soon Mahalia is scrimping and saving, taking on extra hours at her afterschool job, trying on dresses, and awkwardly flirting with Siobhan, all in preparation for the Coming Out of her dreams. But it's not long before she's buried in a mountain of bills, unfinished schoolwork, and enough drama to make her English Lit teacher blush. With all the responsibility on her shoulders, will Mahalia's party be over before it's even begun? A novel about finding yourself, falling in love, and celebrating what makes you you.

Cover of the lost year

Thirteen-year-old Matthew is miserable. His journalist dad is stuck overseas indefinitely, and his mom has moved in his one-hundred-year-old great-grandmother to ride out the pandemic, adding to his stress and isolation. But when Matthew finds a tattered black-and-white photo in his great-grandmother’s belongings, he discovers a clue to a hidden chapter of her past, one that will lead to a life-shattering family secret. Set in alternating timelines that connect the present-day to the 1930s and the US to the USSR, Katherine Marsh’s latest novel sheds fresh light on the Holodomor – the horrific famine that killed millions of Ukrainians, and which the Soviet government covered up for decades.

Cover of the book Spice Road

In the hidden desert city of Qalia, there is secret spice magic that awakens the affinities of those who drink the misra tea. Sixteen-year-old Imani has the affinity for iron and is able to wield a dagger like no other warrior. She has garnered the reputation as being the next great Shield for battling djinn, ghouls, and other monsters spreading across the sands. Her reputation has been overshadowed, however, by her brother, who tarnished the family name after it was revealed that he was stealing his nation's coveted spice—a telltale sign of magical obsession. Soon after that, he disappeared, believed to have died beyond the Forbidden Wastes. Despite her brother’s betrayal, there isn’t a day that goes by when Imani doesn’t grieve him. But when Imani discovers signs that her brother may be alive and spreading the nation's magic to outsiders, she makes a deal with the Council that she will find him and bring him back to Qalia, where he will face punishment. Accompanied by other Shields, including Taha, a powerful beastseer who can control the minds of falcons, she sets out on her mission. Imani will soon find that many secrets lie beyond the Forbidden Wastes—and in her own heart—but will she find her brother?

Cover of Sincerely Sicily & World Made of Glass
Rosa Parks & Claudette Colvin

Rosa Parks & Claudette Colvin

Civil Rights Heroes
Baptiste, Tracey, author.
Published in 2023
"Introduces readers to two brave Black women who stood up against segregation, setting in motion the Montgomery Bus Boycott and showing the nation how positive change can start with a single defiant act"-- Provided by publisher.
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Book
 
Promise Boys

Promise Boys

Brooks, Nick, 1989- author.
Published in 2023
J.B., Ramaon, and Trey, students of the Urban Promise Prep School, must follow the school's strict rules, but when their principal is murdered, the three boys must band together to track down the real killer before they are arersted.
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Book
 
My Selma

My Selma

True Stories of a Southern Childhood at the Height of the Civil Rights Movement
Brown, Willie Mae, author.
Published in 2023
"A stirring memoir of growing up Black in a town at the epicenter of the fight for freedom, equality, and human rights"-- Provided by publisher.
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Book
 
Sincerely Sicily

Sincerely Sicily

Burgess, Tamika, author.
Published in 2023
Sixth-grader Sicily Jordan learns to use her voice and to find joy in who she is--a Black Panamanian fashionista who rocks her braids with pride--while confronting prejudice both in the classroom and at home.
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Book
 
Figure It Out, Henri Weldon

Figure It Out, Henri Weldon

Davis, Tanita S., author.
Published in 2023
Henri has attended a special school for her learning disability, dyscalculia, but when she is mainstreamed, she finds herself struggling to balance other parts of her life, and not just in math class--a family feud, drama on the soccer team, and a passionfor poetry.
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Book
 
Little Black Lives Matter

Little Black Lives Matter

Dill, Khodi, author.
Published in 2022
"Little Black Lives Matter empowers all children, but Black children especially, by affirming that their lives, however little they may yet be, matter. Featuring fifteen great Black heroes of the past and the powerful words they spoke and actions they took, Little Black Lives Matter is a rhyming board book that incorporates memorable quotations and a reminder to little ones that each of these great people once lived a little Black life themselves. From Harriet Tubman and Malcolm X to other inspiring freedom fighters like Marsha P. Johnson, Fred Hampton, and Frederick Douglass, writers James Baldwin, Audre Lorde, and Maya Angelou, musical artists Billie Holiday and Sister Rosetta Tharpe, athletes Wilma Rudolph, Jesse Owens, and Muhammad Ali, and Rosa Parksand Martin Luther King, Jr., this little book encourages young readers to find their inner heroes and see their own self-worth and agency through the acts of great Black heroes who came before them"-- Provided by publisher.
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Book
 
A Tale of Two Princes

A Tale of Two Princes

Geron, Eric, author.
Published in 2023
When long-lost twins Edward, a closeted prince, and Billy, an out-and-proud cowboy, meet by chance in New York City, their lives are forever changed as they each come to terms with who they really are and what they really want.
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Book
 
Then Everything Happens at Once

Then Everything Happens at Once

Girard, M-E, author.
Published in 2023
Sixteen-year-old Baylee goes from having never been kissed to navigating two potential relationships, one with her long-time crush Freddie and the other with funny barista Alex, as the world begins to shut down from COVID-19.
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Book
 
The Buried and the Bound

The Buried and the Bound

Hassan, Rochelle, author.
Published in 2023
Seventeen-year-old Aziza El-Amin, the only hedgewitch in Blackthorn, Massachusetts, teams up with a cursed boy looking for answers and a young necromancer in order to eradicate a new threat in the woods and take back her hometown.
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Book
 
How to Be a (young) Antiracist

How to Be a (young) Antiracist

Kendi, Ibram X., author.
Published in 2022
"The #1 New York Times bestseller that sparked international dialogue is now a book for young adults! Based on the adult bestseller by Ibram X. Kendi, and co-authored by bestselling author Nic Stone, How to be a (Young) Antiracist will serve as a guide for teens seeking a way forward in acknowledging, identifying, and dismantling racism and injustice"-- Provided by publisher.
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Book
 
Hands

Hands

Maldonado, Torrey, author.
Published in 2023
Twelve-year-old Trevor has an adult problem to deal with: how to protect himself, his sisters, and his mother from his abusive stepfather (currently in prison) and he thinks the way to do that is to take up boxing--although he would really rather draw.
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Book
 
The Davenports

The Davenports

Marquis, Krystal, author.
Published in 2023
The Davenports are one of the few Black families of immense wealth and status in 1910 Chicago, and the two daughters, Olivia and Helen, are finding their way and finding love--even where they are not supposed to.
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Book
 
All That It Ever Meant

All That It Ever Meant

A Novel
Musariri, Blessing, 1973- author.
Published in 2023
Reeling from the death of her mother, fourteen-year-old Mati's family leaves England to visit their native Zimbabwe, where Mati finds comfort in Meticais, a gender-neutral spirit or ghost who only she can see, and who helps her navigate her mercurial interpersonal relationships and feelings of grief.
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Book
 
Just Jerry

Just Jerry

How Drawing Shaped My Life
Pinkney, Jerry, author, illustrator.
Published in 2023
"Jerry Pinkney, Caldecott Medal winner and illustrator of over one hundred books, tells the story of his childhood and how he developed his artistic talent"-- Provided by publisher.
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Book
 
6 Times We Almost Kissed (and One Time We Did)

6 Times We Almost Kissed (and One Time We Did)

Sharpe, Tess, author.
Published in 2023
Penny and Tate have often clashed, despite their mothers' epic friendship; but now that they are living in the same house, beset by medical crises and Penny's problems dealing with the trauma of her father's death, they have to come to terms with their true feelings for each other.
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Book
 
The Love Match

The Love Match

Taslim, Priyanka, author.
Published in 2023
When her mother sets her up with handsome, aloof Harun, eighteen-year-old Bangladeshi American Zahra pretends to date him while she pursues her coworker, Nayim, but she quickly finds herself second-guessing her true feelings.
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Book
 
Holding Her Own

Holding Her Own

The Exceptional Life of Jackie Ormes
Todd, Traci N., author.
Published in 2022
"When Jackie Ormes sees an opportunity, she takes it. She's a journalist, cartoonist, fashionista, philanthropist, and activist -- and she wants to use her artistry to bring joy and hope to Black people everywhere. But in post-World War II America, Blackpeople are still being denied their civil rights, and Jackie has a dilemma: How can her art remain true to her signature Jackie joy, while also staying honest about the inequalities Black people have been fighting against? Traci N. Todd and Shannon Wrighthave crafted a gorgeous and moving tribute to the indelible legacy of America's first Black woman cartoonist"-- Provided by publisher.
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Book
 
Brighter Than the Moon

Brighter Than the Moon

Valdes Greenwood, David, author.
Published in 2023
When online friends Jonas and Shani meet for the first time, they along with Shani's best Ash, find they are all keeping secrets, and coming clean will require them to figure out who they really are, which is not easy when one's identity goes beyond labels.
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Book
 
One Last Shot

One Last Shot

Based on a True Story of Wartime Heroism: the Story of Wartime Photographer Gerda Taro
Wilson, Kip, author.
Published in 2023
"Tells the story of Gerda Taro, a headstrong photojournalist with a passion for capturing the truth amid political turmoil and the first woman photojournalist killed in combat"-- Provided by publisher.
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Book
 
As You Walk on by

As You Walk on by

Winters, Julian, author.
Published in 2023
After a disastrous promposal at a party, seventeen-year-old Theo has an existential crisis in an empty bedroom, but as the night progresses, various classmates also seek refuge from the party, and Theo finds he is not as alone as he thinks he is.
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Book
 
The Cartographers

The Cartographers

Zhang, Amy, 1996- author.
Published in 2022
Seventeen-year-old Ocean Wu moves to New York City to start college, but she defers her enrollment, keeping it a secret from her immigrant mother, and instead uses the time to deal with her ambivalence about her place in the world.
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Book
 
Author

Ashley S.

Collection Strategist - Youth
Series
Diverse Youth Titles
Tags
Book Recommendations
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Audience
Parents
Families
Young children (0-5 years)
Toddlers (19 months-2 years)
Preschoolers (3-5)
School age children (6-12 years)
6-8 years
9-12 years
Teens (12-18 years)

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