Tag: diversity

Bright yellow cover with red words POPCORN, half of a face of a boy in glasses and a collared shirt
Posted in Award Winners, MG Novels, So Many Good Books

Popcorn

Posted on by Susan Uhlig

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday

Popcorn (Dial Books for Young Readers, 2024) by Rob Harrell is such a good book–full of humor and heart! And it only covers one day in the of the main character. Well worth a read.

Seventh-grader Andrew has problems. His grandmother, G, is living with them and has Alzheimer’s, he has to hide his odd behaviors at school, there’s always the threat of Mean Gene, and it’s school picture day. If that’s not enough to provoke anxiety in anyone, it’s worse for Andrew who struggles with anxiety. His biggest fear is to explode into a panic attack at school.

Andrew was inspired by the author’s own experiences with anxiety, so comes across as very real. I had such sympathy for Andrew and for others in the book. I loved his relationship with his best friend, Jonesy. I enjoyed all the mishaps during his day.

Popcorn received a Schneider Family Book Award for Middle Grades (2025) and has been nominated for others this year. Inside are sketches “by” Andrew of what his life is like.

Read about Rob here and see his other books here.

cover of City Spies - three kids under the base of the Eiffel Tower.
Posted in Award Winners, MG Novels, So Many Good Books

City Spies

Posted on by Susan Uhlig

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday

City Spies, Book 1 of 7, (Aladdin, 2020) by James Ponti is a fun romp with kid spies. It’s also an award winner: Florida Sunshine State Young Readers Award 2021.

12-year-old Sara Martinez hacked into the New York City foster care system to expose her abusive foster parents, but she’s the one arrested in jail. Ready to be convicted a man shows up saying he’s her new lawyer, but really he’s recruiting her for his MI6 spy team in Scotland. Sara says yes and is flown to meet the other four kids on the team with a mission only three weeks away. Can she fit in and learn the ropes before they go to Paris?

It’s very fun that the kids in the story are mostly from different countries.

The author has several other series–see them here. Read about James here.

cover of picture book titled "Between Us and Abuela"
Posted in PB, So Many Good Books

Between Us and Abuela

Posted on by Susan Uhlig

Perfect Picture Book Friday

Between Us and Abuela: A Family Story from the Border (Farrar Straus Giroux, 2019) by Mitali Perkins and illustrated by Sara Palacios is a good story to introduce what’s it like to have family on opposite sides of the line between two countries. And it’s still a timely story.

Maria and her little brother Juan have not seen their grandmother for five years. Maria and her mother knit a scarf for Abuela and Juan makes a picture. But when they are at the fence of the border and get to see their grandmother nothing can be passed through. Juan is brokenhearted. Maria turns his picture into a kite and they fly it across the border.

Mitali has lived in six countries and knows what it is like to leave people behind. Read about her here and check out her books here. Plus, she’s one really nice lady–I got to meet her in February.

See Sara’s illustrations here. Read about her here and see her many books here.

cover of Across So Many Seas
Posted in Award Winners, MG Novels, So Many Good Books

Across So Many Seas

Posted on by Susan Uhlig

Marvelous Middle Grade Monday

Across So Many Seas (Nancy Paulsen Books, 2024) by Ruth Behar is about immigrants–it covers four time periods and explores a variety of reasons why people leave their country.

We start in Spain in 1492 when Jews are forced to leave or face death. Twelve-year-old Benvenida’s family goes to Turkey where they are allowed to live freely. Of course, it wasn’t an easy journey. Next, we meet twelve-year-old Reina whose father ships her off to Cuba because of a small act of disobedience–there she is promised to marry a stranger. The story picks up in 1961 Cuba with Reina’s daughter, twelve-year-old Alegra, who becomes a brigadista teaching country people how to read. Again, the family has to leave their home–this time for the United States. In 2003 Miami, we meet Alegra’s twelve-year-old daughter Paloma, who with her family makes an amazing trip back to Spain.

Ruth was inspired by her two grandmothers, a Polish Jew, and a Turkish Jew, both who sailed on different ships to Cuba. She obviously had to do a lot of research into the times and places for this story, and makes them each feel real.

Read her fascinating bio here and check out all her books here–it also shows all the awards this book has won.

Previously, I recommended Ruth’s Lucky Broken Girl, another immigrant story.

photo of globe with dolls dressed as from other countries - different skin color faces
Posted in PB, So Many Good Books

Inclusive Picture Books

Posted on by Susan Uhlig

Perfect Picture Books

I haven’t been reading and recommending picture books lately, but thought it might be helpful to share some that include other cultures, immigrants, and books about acceptance of those who are “different.” I strongly believe that exposing young children to these topics will help them understand our beautiful diverse world better. And perhaps there will be a little less “othering.”

Little Bird Laila (Dial Books for Young Readers, 2025)
by Kelly Yang and illustrated by Xindi Yan

New (HarperCollins, 2025)
by Niña Mata

So Loud! (Annick Press, 2024)
by Sahar Golshan and illustrated by Shiva Delsooz

The Light Within You (Two Lions, 2023)
by Namita Moolani Mehra and illustrated by Kamala Nai

American Desi (Little, Brown and Company, 2022)
by Jyoti Rajan Gopal and illustrated by Supriya Kelka

Powwow Day (Charlesbridge, 2022)
by Traci Sorell and illustrated by Madelyn Goodnight

The Capybaras (Greystone Kids, 2021)
by Alfredo Soderguit

Swashby and the Sea (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2020)
by Beth Ferry and illustrated by Juana Martinez-Neal

When Your Daddy’s a Soldier (Viking Books for Young Readers, October 2022)
by Gretchen Brandenburg McLellan and illustrated by EG Keller

The Star Festival (Albert Whitman & Company, 2021)
by Moni Ritchie Hadley and illustrated by Mizuho Fujisawa

Federico and the Wolf (Clarion Books, 2020)
by Rebecca J. Gomez and illustrated by Elisa Chavarri

Let’s Dance! (Boyds Mill & Kane, 2020)
by Valerie Bolling and illustrated by Maine Diaz

No Party Poopers (little bee books, 2020)
by Gretchen McLellan and illustrated by Lucy Semple

Ohana Means Family (Neal Porter Books, 2020)
by Ilima Loomis and illustrated by Kenard Pak

A Friend for Henry (Chronicle Books, 2019)
by Jenn Bailey and illustrated by Mika Song

Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story (Roaring Brook Press, 2019)
by Kevin Noble Maillard and illustrated by Juana Martinez-Neal