Top Ten Tuesday: Diverse Books

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish.

Each week there’s a different Top Ten list. It’s a great way to find and connect with other awesome bloggers.

A quick note! I’m going to be giving you more than ten books. Just putting that out there. It’s impossible to stick to so few!

I mean, I’m sure you guys have NOTHING to read. I’m sure your TBR piles are TINY and not reaching the roof. (is it even possible to have a small TBR? Or is that an urban legend?)

So let’s begin!

Oh, and I almost forgot. I made a group on Goodreads called YA Bloggers Celebrating Diverse Books. If you want to give some more recommendations, or have some awesome discussions, you can join the group here.

DIVERSITY IN SETTING

The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer

There’s debate about whether Cinder herself is Asian or white, but a lot of the series is set in Beijing, which is a lovely change!

NON-FICTION

This Star Won’t Go Out by Esther Earl, and Mao’s Last Dancer by Li Cunxin

This Star Won’t Go Out is filled with letters, photos, writings and diary entries from both Esther Earl and her friends and family. It explores the life of Esther Earl, who died of cancer, and the idea that her life was still fulfilling and beautiful.

Mao’s Last Dancer is a fantastic book – I absolutely love it. It’s written almost in a fictional way, but it’s a true story of a boy who went from a life of poverty to one of dance. Just…read it.

CULTURES AND ETHNICITIES

  

  

Bird by Crystal Chan – if you haven’t already read this book, you need to. It is incredible.

The Mimosa Tree by Antonella Preto – more an NA, but I liked the Italian culture in this

The First Third by Will Kostakis – Greek culture and influences, as well as a disabled best friend

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian – one of the most banned books of all time (if that’s not a reason to read it, I don’t know what is!)

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe – this could also fit into the LGBT/GENDER category, but I decided to put it here. I finished it recently and…oh my goodness, guys. It is beautiful.

Looking for Alibrandi – Italian culture again! An Aussie classic.

LGBT/GENDER

Every Day by David Levithan – the protagonist doesn’t have a gender, and that was a really interesting concept to explore

Will Grayson, Will Grayson – one of the protagonists in this book is gay, and while it’s not one of my favourite books out there, I still like it 🙂

I Am J by Cris Beam – again, not one of my favourites, but there are VERY few YA books about transgendered people, and this is one, so I thought I’d include it

MENTAL HEALTH

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky – one of my absolute favourite YA books

It’s Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini – ditto

This Song Will Save Your Life by Leila Sales – this book is so sad but also hopeful

The Impossible Knife of Memory – a father with PTSD.

Perfect by Ellen Hopkins – revolving around a number of different teens who try to be, you guessed it, perfect

OTHER

Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell – we have a main character who is Asian, and our second main character who is weird, and an outsider. It’s also quite dark in some parts, but the romance aspect is adorable.

Dead Ends by Erin Lange – a bully, a boy with Down syndrome, a girl with two dads – there’s diversity bursting out of this book

It’s weird how most of these books are contemporary YA. I mean, yeah, that’s the genre I read most of, but it’s definitely a trend.

And it’s a trend I’m going to talk about tomorrow. 

Do you have any other recommendations for me? Thoughts? Have you read any of these books? Let me know in comments (and link me to your TTTs!)