A Great Big List of MG and YA Collection Development Resources

When I give presentations on doing Collection Diversity Audits, I get asked a lot about how I determine whether or not a book is counted as diverse. The process is always changing for me as I learn more and grow, and at this point I focus on Own Voices. The truth is, the answer to this question is that I continually engage in listening, learning, reading and growing. The work is never done and it must be intentional. I keep and continually add to an ongoing list of resources that help me do this work. Today I am sharing the bare bones of that list with you. It is by no means complete, and I’m sure that there are many more that I need to add. But it is a really good starting point.

Anti Racist and Social Justice Reading Lists, A Collection of Resources (in random order)

Chicago Public Library/Ibram X. Kendi (adult books): https://chipublib.bibliocommons.com/list/share/204842963/1357692923?page=1

Publisher’s Weekly (kids books): https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-book-news/article/83549-a-children-s-and-ya-anti-racist-reading-list.html

The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2020/jun/03/do-the-work-an-anti-racist-reading-list-layla-f-saad

Center for Racial Justice in Education: https://centerracialjustice.org/resources/reading-lists/

Teen Librarian Toolbox (teen books on social justice and activism): https://www.teenlibrariantoolbox.com/2020/06/33269/

15 Books about Social Justice and Human Rights: https://www.rebekahgienapp.com/social-justice-picture-books/

We Are Teachers 24 Books That Teach Social Justice for Kids: https://www.weareteachers.com/books-about-social-justice/

40 Picture Books for Young Activists: http://www.allthewonders.com/books/forty-picture-books-for-young-activists/

Scholastic 25 Picture Books to Teach Kindness, Empathy and Justice: https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/blog-posts/christy-crawford/2017/Picture-Books-to-Promote-Kindness-Empathy-and-Social-Justice/

We Need Diverse Books has an actual roundup of lists and discussion posts: https://diversebooks.org/resources-for-race-equity-and-inclusion/

Diverse and Own Voices Reading Lists for Youth, by age and format (not comprehensive)

Young Readers

SLJ Diverse Board Books: https://www.slj.com/?detailStory=50-Board-Books-That-Show-IBPOC-Faces-diversity-baby

45 Favorite #OwnVoices Diverse Picture Books: https://imaginationsoup.net/diverse-ownvoices-picture-books/

Read Brightly Black Boy Joy Picture Books: https://www.readbrightly.com/picture-books-featuring-black-male-protagonists/

Read Brightly Black Girl Magic: https://www.readbrightly.com/picture-books-featuring-black-female-protagonists/

#OwnVoices Picture Books: https://imaginationsoup.net/diverse-ownvoices-picture-books/

Own Voices Beginning Chapter Books: https://imaginationsoup.net/ownvoices-beginning-chapter-books/

Middle Grade Readers

#OwnVoices Middle Grade Books: https://imaginationsoup.net/diverse-realistic-chapter-books-middle-school-ownvoices/

#OwnVoices Fiction for Grades 2-6: https://seattle.bibliocommons.com/list/share/220740577/650702937

Diverse Realistic Chapter Books for Middle School by #Own Voices: https://imaginationsoup.net/diverse-realistic-chapter-books-middle-school-ownvoices/

Diverse Books for Tweens and Teens by Own Voices Authors: https://www.readbrightly.com/diverse-books-tweens-teens-written-voices-authors/

8 #OwnVoices Middle Grade Books by LatinX Authors: https://multiculturalchildrensbookday.com/8-fabulous-ownvoices-middle-grade-latinx-novels-giveaway/

Teen/YA Readers

Read Black Authors (MG and YA book lists): https://www.teenlibrariantoolbox.com/2020/06/because-black-lives-matter-read-black-authors/

45 Black YA Books to Read to Your TBR: https://afomaumesi.com/black-young-adult-novels/

16 YA Books by Black Authors You Can Pre-order Right Now: https://www.epicreads.com/blog/preorder-books-by-black-authors/#.Xt-kJSzjuw8.twitter

YA Black Girl Magic: https://www.epicreads.com/blog/black-girl-magic-books/?fbclid=IwAR0ft7qSt4YeMPtEN_jXWzewOQjdElvQFj0ZXY1_RBJ_Mg2C5fiePvJxrVc

Diverse Meet Cutes and Rom Coms: https://www.slj.com/?detailStory=meet-cutes-come-all-colors-YA-diversity-romance-POC&fbclid=IwAR0GmjLvKNt_p16R_12_ohYYmIRDmK1loDKox9pr-YjXzUip2mPQgr3LW68

YA with Black Authors 2020: https://www.buzzfeed.com/farrahpenn/young-adult-books-by-black-authors-2020?fbclid=IwAR2RiRZdAHwZ-x5dxNan2O5CuYSAL6ieppEg7Sz2aHOhCdxsWpGFPgFJ4ko

General Resources, to follow important conversations, read reviews, and diversify your reading

Lee and Low Books: https://www.leeandlow.com/

We Need Diverse Books: https://diversebooks.org/

The Brown Bookshelf: https://thebrownbookshelf.com/

Latinx in Kidlit: https://latinosinkidlit.com/

Disability in Kidlit (no longer updated, but a great resource for important discussions and reviews): http://disabilityinkidlit.com/

American Indians in Children’s Lit: https://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/

LGBTQ Reads https://lgbtqreads.com/young-adult/

Social Justice Books: https://socialjusticebooks.org/booklists/new/

Diverse Bookfinder.org: https://diversebookfinder.org/

Teaching Tolerance: https://www.tolerance.org/

Read Woke Librarian: https://cicelythegreat.wordpress.com/

Project LIT: https://thebrownbookshelf.com/28days/day-28-jarred-amato-talks-project-lit/

Crazy Quilt Edi List of Diversity Resources (including book awards): https://crazyquiltedi.blog/diversity-resources/

Again, We Need Diverse Books has a really great list of resources on Where to Find Diverse Books: https://diversebooks.org/resources/where-to-find-diverse-books/

Blogs that focus on younger readers in general

Brightly: https://www.readbrightly.com/

JBrary: https://jbrary.com/

Celebrate Picture Books: https://celebratepicturebooks.com/

The Picture Book Review: https://thepicturebookreview.com/

Multicultural Children’s Book Day: https://multiculturalchildrensbookday.com

A Mighty Girl: https://www.amightygirl.com/blog?p=11056

Imagination Soup: https://imaginationsoup.net/

A Fuse 8 Production: http://blogs.slj.com/afuse8production/

The Yarn: http://blogs.slj.com/theyarn/

Blogs that focus on Middle Grade readers in general

The Nerdy Book Club: https://nerdybookclub.wordpress.com/

Ms. Yingling Reads: http://msyinglingreads.blogspot.com/

MG Book Village: https://mgbookvillage.org/

Here Wee Read: http://hereweeread.com/

Mr. Schu Reads: http://mrschureads.blogspot.com/

CeCeLibrarian’s Book Blog: https://cecelibrarian.com/

Kid Lit Frenzy: http://www.kidlitfrenzy.com/

Books in the Middle: https://booksinthemiddle.wordpress.com/

Afoma Umesi: All My Beautiful Things https://afomaumesi.com/

Blogs that focus on YA/Teens in general

Publisher Blogs

Epic Reads (Harper): https://www.epicreads.com/

Fierce Reads (MacMilan): https://www.fiercereads.com/

I Read YA (Scholastic): https://www.ireadya.com/

Sourcebooks Fire: https://www.sourcebooks.com/young-adult.html

Get Underlined (Random House): https://www.getunderlined.com/

The Novl (Little, Brown): https://www.thenovl.com/

Riveted (Simon & Schuster): https://rivetedlit.com/

General Blogs

YA Books Central: https://www.yabookscentral.com/

YA Interrobang: https://yainterrobang.tumblr.com/

Teen Librarian Toolbox: https://www.teenlibrariantoolbox.com/

Rec it Rachel: https://recitrachel.com/

Diversity in YA: http://www.diversityinya.com/

LGBTQ Reads by Dahlia: https://lgbtqreads.com/author/dailydahlia/

Reading While White: http://readingwhilewhite.blogspot.com/

Rich in Color: http://richincolor.com/

Book Riot: https://bookriot.com/

Professional Journals and Sources

School Library Journal: https://www.slj.com/

Booklist: https://www.booklistonline.com/

Kirkus: https://www.kirkusreviews.com/

Publisher’s Weekly: https://www.publishersweekly.com/

Edelweiss: https://www.edelweiss.plus/#dashboard

VOYA: http://voyamagazine.com/

Early Word: http://www.earlyword.com/

Children’s Bookshelf: https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/index.html

Publishing Trends: http://www.publishingtrends.com/

Hasthags to Search and Follow

#OwnVoices

#PictureBooks

#KidLit

#MGLit

#YALit

#WeNeedDiverseBooks

#ActuallyAutistic

#CritLib

#DisruptTexts

Blogs that also talk about books on occasion, mostly YA

Buzzfeed: https://www.buzzfeed.com/

The Mary Sue: https://www.themarysue.com/

Hypable: https://www.hypable.com/

Den of Geek: https://www.denofgeek.com/books/top-new-ya-books-2020/

Paste Magazine: https://www.pastemagazine.com/

PopSugar: https://www.popsugar.com/

Teen Vogue: https://www.teenvogue.com/

Resources for Examining Bias in Books

Teaching Tolerance Examining Stereotypes in Books: https://www.tolerance.org/classroom-resources/tolerance-lessons/examining-stereotypes-in-books

In Time Examining Children’s Books for Bias: https://intime.uni.edu/evaluating-childrens-books-bias

Resources from Lee and Low:

Guide for Selecting Anti-Bias Children’s Books from Social Justice Books, A Teaching for Change Project

A Guide to Selecting Multicultural Literature by Dr. Barbara D. Brown, African Studies Center, Boston University

A Checklist for Evaluating Diverse Children’s Media from The Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop

Examining Children’s Books for Bias: http://www.racialequityvtnea.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Evaluating-Children%E2%80%99s-Books-for-Bias-Criteria-MAY-2018-3.pdf

10 Criteria for Choosing Diverse Texts in Your Classroom from the Writing Mindset

Classroom Libraries as Windows and Mirrors: Ensuring Diverse, Representative Books for Our Students 2018 ILA expert panel (Answer starts at minute 03:05)

Assessing Children’s Literature from the Anti-Defamation League

Diverse Classroom Libraries for K–6 Students from Reading Rockets

Lee and Low: https://blog.leeandlow.com/ (many of the above Resources for Examining Bias in Books is    from the Lee and Low blog page)

And older list of previous resources

https://www.teenlibrariantoolbox.com/2017/11/doing-a-diversity-audit-resources-and-sources-part-3/

What resources would you add to this list? I’m always looking for new ones. Please leave a comment as I would love to have a more comprehensive list.

Filed under: Collection Development, Professional Development