We Need Diverse Books

In 2014, young adult fiction writer Malinda Lo penned an essay called "Book Challenges Suppress Diversity." Drawing on the ALA's annual list of the most frequently challenged books, Lo demonstrated that "over half of the Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books from 2000-2009 addressed issues about race, sexuality and/or disability; or were about non-white, LGBTQ and/or disabled characters." We Need Diverse Books, part of the Banned Books Week Coalition, is a grassroots organization that aims to promote diversity and representation in young adult literature. The group defines diversity as "including (but not limited to) LGBTQIA, people of color, gender diversity, people with disabilities, and ethnic, cultural, and religious minorities." The organization's tumblr, which collects articles and reviews from around the web, provides an excellent way for readers, educators, librarians, youth workers, and caretakers to find books that are by diverse authors or feature diverse characters and topics. A few past posts include a profile of author Linda Sue Park for Kirkus Reviews; a story about the the first ever Well-Read Black Girl Festival that originally appeared in Electric Lit; and a story from Indian Country Today about Kinsale Hueston, a Navajo high school student who was named one of five National Student Poets. [--SAMPLE RECORD--]