Amp up your love of #WeNeedDiverseBooks by checking out these great diverse books by diverse authors.
DIA REEVES
Dia came under my radar with her deliciously psychotic book, A Slice of Cherry, about two charming serial killer sisters.
ROBIN TALLEY
Robin writes sweet, poignant books about growing up, tough stuff, gay relationships, and gender fluidity.
MALINDA LO
Malinda is famous for her sharp fantasy, and for being one of the sassy ladies behind #WeNeedDiverseBooks. Her tweets are also always on point.
RIN CHUPECO
Rin came on the scene with eerie, atmospheric horror based on real Japanese legend.
MARJANE SATRAPI
I found Marjane recently while looking for new authors, and realized that I recognized her books–from the cool black and white movie! Her memoirs are about her life growing up in Iran.
JASON REYNOLDS
Jason writes gritty contemporary, most recently The Boy in the Black Suit, which I’m super excited about.
WALTER DEAN MYERS
Walter is ridiculously prolific and highly acclaimed. I’ll never forget his book Monster.
DAVID LEVITHAN
David writes sweet, romantic contemporaries with multifaceted gay characters growing up and finding themselves.
Who are some of your favorite authors with diverse characteristics and diverse backgrounds? I’m looking out for ideas for volume 2!
About C.J. I’m a font of useless knowledge and an endless source of sarcasm. Oh, and I guess I read, too. Goodreads | Twitter | Facebook | all of C.J.’s posts →
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Ooh, thank you for this! Honestly, I don’t usually pay attention to the diversity of an author when reading books — so this was really interesting. I’m not sure what nationality she is, but I adored AN EMBER IN THE ASHES by Sabaa Tahir. :)
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I didn’t used to, but I feel like it’s a good idea trying to support all kinds of authors as much as possible. EMBER IN THE ASHES was pretty good! I look forward to the sequel.
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Great post. I have only read from David Levithan but a couple of these authors are on my TBR. I will have to check out the rest!
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Thanks! Hopefully you’ll find some new favorites.
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Thank you for the diverse posts. Keep ’em coming.
Adam Silvera, More Happy Than Not, Puerto Rican, gay, book has a gay Puerto Rican MC.
Alex London, Proxy & Guardian, gay. Book has a black, gay, MC.
Becky Albertalli, Jewish, Simon Vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda, gay characteristics, biracial couple, (although that’s a huge spoiler, sorry if you haven’t read by now.), multiple black MCs, one black & Jewish.
Nic Stone, book Dear Martin releases January 2017, has a black MC discusses police brutality against black males, Nic is black.
Mackenzie Lee, queer author, debut novel THIS MONSTROUS THING releases next month.
That will be all for now!
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I will! Oooh, thanks so much for these! I’ll definitely include them in Part 2. I know Adam Silvera (oh god, his debut! so good!) but I haven’t heard of some of these. You rock!
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Thank you! RIGHT?! I LOVEDDDDD MHTN! :D
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That book KILLED me. In a good way.
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This is a SUPER fabulous list. Oh dear, I think my TBR just grew by a mile, but I can’t even bring myself to regret it because diverse authors are as important as diverse representation. There’s just something about identity and collective memory that’s so very hard for someone who hasn’t experienced it to capture. And coincidentally, I was just writing a post about how to write diversely from your own experiences — totally linking to this post!
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Thanks! Mine did too, in making this, and I already have at least 2 more installments planned… I agree! Oooh, can I quote you about collective memory for the next post? That’s so well said! Also, I’ll definitely be along to read your post. Sounds cool!
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Thank you for bringing these books on my radar. :)
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Any time!
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Very interesting post! I have been lacking on the Diverse books read and I really need to read more of them. I have heard of David Levithan, RIn Chupeco, and Robin Talley but haven’t read any books from them. (Booooo :() The others I have not yet heard of but will definitely check out! Thanks for sharing!
~Kaitlin
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Me too! Which is what inspired me to write this. I hope you enjoy them!
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The Color of Our Sky by Amita Trasi is one great diverse book! It’s about our ties to each of our own country’s culture. Seriously, read it!
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Oh, thanks! I’ve never heard of it but it sounds awesome! TBRing.
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I’ve become a huge advocate of diversity in books. Stacey Lee’s Under A Painted Sky has a beautiful story filled with diverse characters, and she made me realize just how important it is to have different cultures and different races/ethnicities portrayed in books. Lovely post and thanks for the recs! I adored Persepolis so much.
Rachel @ A Perfection Called Books
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I didn’t realize that. I guess I don’t know much about that book. Thanks, Rachel! I haven’t read Persepolis yet, but it’s definitely on my list now.
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Thanks for writing this post CJ! Diversity and the way it is portrayed is such an hot issue in literature nowadays so I am so glad to see some recommendations for even more wonderful diverse books. <3
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It’s the very, very least I can do. I hope you find some that you love!
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David Levithan also co-wrote Will Grayson, Will Grayson with John Green, another diverse book! I haven’t yet read The Girl From The Well but it’s basically in the second spot on my to-read list!
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That one is on my shelf, waiting for me. I decided for sanity’s sake not to put ALL the books by any author, because I was also writing this at like, 3am. xD I hope you like Girl From the Well! It wasn’t one of my favorites, but I did appreciate the legend stuff.
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Great list of books, C.J. I will definitely have to look into some of them. Some that comes to mind are the Xia series by Cindy Pon (Chinese based fantasy by a Chinese writer).
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Thanks! Cindy Pon was going to be on here, and then I decided to make this multiple parts so it didn’t get too long. I definitely will have her on Part 2, and I’m super excited for Serpentine!
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omg, I OWN a Walter Dean Meyers book and haven’t even touched it yet. :O THIS INSPIRES ME TO EAT IT ASAP. I love Robin Talley’s first book and oh! Oh! I need read more of Melinda Lo.
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Me too. Same with many of these. Sigh. EAT IT. And then tell me how it was! Me too, and I have an ARC of her second one and I’m super excited to read it!
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THANK YOU FOR THIS. I needed it. I’m super interested to see how Malinda Lo will turn out, because I’m very interested in Ash. I mean, a queer Cinderella? Count me in :’D And also…
I have a LOT of books to add to my TBR after this post. So. Many. Good. Books. Lovely post, C.J <3
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Right? Talk about a cool fairy tale retelling!
Thank you! :D :D :D Also I love your screen name.
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Oh, thank you for these! I’m always on the lookout to expand my repertoire of diverse books. Have heard of some of these authors as well, which is great.
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If you’re interested, there will be a part 2 at some point. I always love finding new books too!
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This is FABULOUS! I love this list, there are a LOT of books here I need to be reading ASAP. A few I can think of, just off the top of my head, are Nicola Yoon’s Everything, Everything, Adam Silvera’s More Happy Than Not, Renée Ahdieh’s The Wrath and the Dawn… I know I am likely forgetting a TON, but it’s a start! Thanks SO much for sharing these :D
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Thank you! They’ll all definitely make a future post. Maybe I’ll do a debut edition…. :D You’re welcome! thanks for reading.
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Oh, this list is AMAZING! I’ve been meaning to widen my reading comfort zone, and these will give me a great starting point – thank you for the recommendations!
Beth x
http://www.thequietpeople.com
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I’m glad you found it helpful! :D
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How interesting – I didn’t realise Malinda Lo was one of the We Need Diverse Book drivers. I haven’t heard of Dia Reeves before but woah, a Slice of Cherry sounds creepy and totally up my alley!
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Yay! My fondest goal is to get more people to read that. I hope you love it!
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Robin Talley is amazing. I met her at BEA in 2014, and she was simply just one of my favorite people. Her writing is wonderful as well,and I love that she advocated gay rights on her Twitter.
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I love how this is just Part 1 so this means we’ll expect more awesome recs in the future. Except for David Levithan books, I didn’t any of these titles and authors until now. Thank you for this post. Adding all these on my TBR, stat.
Jennilyn @ RurouniJenniReads
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