This award is given annually to a "diverse author (or co-author) whose work features a diverse main character or addresses diversity in a meaningful way." For more information on The Walter, please visit weneeddiversebooks.org.
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Shark Teeth
by Sherri Winston
Seventh-grader Sharkita, known as "Kita," embarks on a tumultuous journey to keep her family together while handling the consequences of her mother's alcoholism.
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Black Girl You Are Atlas
by Renée Watson
Poet Renee Watson looks back at her childhood and urges readers to look forward at their futures with love, understanding, and celebration in this fully illustrated poetry collection.
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The Creepening of Dogwood House
by Eden Royce
At night, Roddie still dreams of sitting at his mother's feet while she braids his Afro down. But that's a memory from before. Before his mom died in a tragic accident. Before he was taken in by an aunt he barely knows. Before his aunt brought him to Dogwood House, the creepiest place Roddie has ever seen. It was his family's home for over a hundred years. Now the house, abandoned and rotting, draped in Spanish moss that reminds him too much of hair--is his home, too. Aunt Angie has returned to South Carolina to take care of Roddie and reconnect with their family's hoodoo roots. Roddie, however, can't help but feel lost. His mom had never told him anything about hoodoo, Dogwood House, or their family. And as they set about fixing the house up, Roddie discovers that there is even more his mother never said.
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A Crane Among Wolves
by Hur, June
In 1506 Joseon (Korea), Iseul sets out to steal her sister back after she's been kidnapped by tyrant King Yeonsan and collides with Prince Daehyun, the king's half-brother, to discover that their contempt for each other is transcended only by their mutual hatred for the king.
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We have selected our favorite Walter Dean Myers Award winning and honor titles just for you. Please note that some of these titles can be found in the Teen High (TH) section of the library.
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Remember Us
by Jacqueline Woodson
It seems like Sage's whole world is on fire the summer before she starts seventh grade. As house after house burns down, her Bushwick neighborhood gets referred to as "The Matchbox" in the local newspaper. And while Sage prefers to spend her time shooting hoops with the guys, she's also still trying to figure out her place inside the circle of girls she's known since childhood.
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Grounded
by Aisha Saeed
Told from alternating viewpoints, this story of one unexpected night at an airport brings together four kids—poet Feek, cat lover Hanna, karate champ Sami, and politician's daughter Nora—in an encounter that forever changes their lives.
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All the Fighting Parts
by Hannah V. Sawyerr
In the wake of being sexually assaulted by her pastor, sixteen-year-old Amina struggles to regain her footing until she finds the strength within herself to confront her abuser in court.
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The Last Mapmaker
by Christina Soontornvat
Joining an expedition to chart the southern seas, 12-year-old mapmaker's assistant Sai, posing as a well-bred young lady with a glittering future, realizes she's not the only one on board harboring secrets when she discovers the ship's true destination.
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The Firekeeper's Daughter
by Angeline Boulley
Treated like an outsider in both her hometown and on the Ojibwe reservation, a half-Native American science geek and star hockey player places her dreams on hold in the wake of a family tragedy.
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Red, White, and Whole
by Rajani LaRocca
Told in verse, Reha, already dealing with being the only Indian American student in middle school, must now take care of her mother who is diagnosed with leukemia.
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Last Night at the Telegraph Club
by Malinda Lo
When Lily realizes she has feelings for a girl in her math class, it threatens Lily's oldest friendships and even her father's citizenship status and eventually, Lily must decide if owning her truth is worth everything she has ever known.
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Punching the Air
by Ibi Aanu Zoboi
This book traces the story of a young artist and poet whose prospects at a diverse art school are threatened by a racially biased system and a tragic altercation in a gentrifying neighborhood.
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When Stars Are Scattered
by Victoria Jamieson
A Somali refugee who spent his childhood at the Dadaab camp and the Newbery Honor-winning creator of Roller Girl present the story of a young refugee who struggles with leaving behind his nonverbal brother when he has an opportunity to help his family by going to school.
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Almost American Girl
by Robin Ha
Moving abruptly from Seoul to Alabama, a Korean teen struggles in a hostile blended home and a new school where she does not speak English before forging unexpected connections in a local comic drawing class.
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We Are Not Free
by Traci Chee
Growing up together in the community of Japantown, San Francisco, four second-generation Japanese American teens find their bond tested by widespread discrimination and the mass incarcerations of people of Japanese ancestry during World War II.
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Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me
by Mariko Tamaki
Upset about her on-again, off-again relationship with her girlfriend Laura Dean, Freddy Riley depends on her friends, a local mystic, and a relationship columnist for help in dealing with her situation.
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King and the Dragonflies
by Kacen Callender
A 12-year-old boy spends days in the mystical Louisiana bayou to come to terms with a sibling’s sudden death, his grief-stricken family, and the disappearance of his former best friend amid whispers about the latter’s sexual orientation.
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Everything Sad is Untrue (A True Story)
by Daniel Nayeri
At the front of a middle school classroom in Oklahoma, a boy named Khosrou (whom everyone calls "Daniel") stands, trying to tell a story. His story. But no one believes a word he says. But Khosrou's stories are beautiful, and terrifying, from the moment his family fled Iran in the middle of the night with the secret police moments behind them, back to the refugee camps of Italy, and further back to Isfahan.
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The Bridge Home
by Padma Venkatraman
Facing daunting prospects on the streets of Chennai, two runaway sisters find shelter and friendship on an abandoned bridge with two homeless boys before an illness forces them to choose between survival and freedom.
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