Biracial and Multiracial Protagonists for Young Readers
Discover inspiring books with biracial and multiracial protagonists for young readers. Explore diverse stories that celebrate mixed heritage and foster inclusivity.
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Chloe Leiberman (sometimes Wong)
by Carrie Rosten
Chloe, an aspiring fashion designer, dreams of going to design school in London, but first has to tell her parents that she does not plan to go to college.
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The River Between Us
by Richard Peck
During the early days of the Civil War, the Pruitt family takes in two mysterious young ladies who have fled New Orleans to come north to Illinois.
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Black Storm Comin'
by Diane L. Wilson
Diane Lee Wilson is the author of "Black Storm Comin', " a "Booklist" Editors' Choice, a "VOYA" Top Shelf Fiction Pick and a "Book Links" Lasting Connection, and "Firehorse," which received a starred review in "Booklist, " a "Booklist" Top Ten Mystery/Suspense for Youth, and a winner of the ALA Amelia Bloomer Project. She has always ridden horses and has an extensive collection of horse books in her home in Escondido, California.
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Half and Half
by Lensey Namioka
FIONA CHENG IS half and half: Her father is Chinese and her mother is Scottish. Fiona looks more like her father than her mother, so people always expect her to be more interested in her Chinese half than her Scottish half. Lately even Fiona’s confused about who she really is. “A realistic, gentle and funny tale.”—Detroit News & Free Press “Readers will identify with Fiona’s struggle to fit in.”—Publishers Weekly
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The Land
by Mildred D. Taylor
The 14-year-old son of a prosperous white landowner and a former slave in Georgia strikes out on his own after face discrimination from both races and within his own family.
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The Black Canary
by Jane Louise Curry
As the child of two musicians, twelve-year-old James has no interest in music until he discovers a portal to seventeenth-century London in his uncle's basement, and finds himself in a situation where his beautiful voice and the fact that he is biracial might serve him well.
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The Dark Pond
by Joseph Bruchac
As soon as he arrives at the North Mountains School, Armie senses something strange about the dark pond in the forest. An eerie presence haunts his dreams and calls to Armie, begging him to come out and play. But Armie knows this is no game. Whatever lives in the dark pond plays for keeps. In the past, Armie has always turned to the tales of his Shawnee ancestors for help, and this time is no different. He does his research, and when spring break arrives Armie knows this is his chance to discover what lives deep in the still, black waters of the dark pond. But this time, he may need to call upon more than his wits to help him survive ...
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Sorceress
by Celia Rees
The spellbinding sequel to "Witch Child" reveals what happened to Mary Newbury through a young, modern descendant with an uncanny connection to the past.
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Rain Is Not My Indian Name
by Cynthia Leitich Smith
The next day was my fourteenth birthday, and I'd never kissed a boy -- domestic style or French. Right then, I decided to get myself a teen life. Cassidy Rain Berghoff didn't know that the very night she decided to get a life would be the night that Galen would lose his. It's been six months since her best friend died, and up until now Rain has succeeded in shutting herself off from the world. But when controversy arises around her aunt Georgia's Indian Camp in their mostly white midwestern community, Rain decides to face the outside world again -- at least through the lens of her canera. Hired by her town newspaper to photograph the campers, Rain soon finds that she has to decide how involved She wants to become in Indian Camp. Does she want to keep a professional distance from the intertribal community she belongs to? And just how willing is she to connect with the campers after her great loss? In a voice that resonates with insight and humor, Cynthia Leitich Smith tells of heartbreak, recovery, and reclaiming one's place in the world.
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Whale Talk
by Chris Crutcher
A high-school bus provides surprising sanctuary for seven unlikely swim teammates who are, in the words of their coach, "A perennial road team. Mermen without a pond." These invisible kids resonate because of how the author sees them, believes in them, and lets them speak.
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Miracle's Boys
by Jacqueline Woodson
Winner of the 2001 Coretta Scott King Award, in Miracle's Boys, three young outsiders struggle to make it through when their parents die and leave them to survive on their own. An ALA Best Book for Young Adults.
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Kim/Kimi
by Hadley Irwin
Despite a warm relationship with her mother, stepfather, and half brother, sixteen-year-old Kim feels the need to find answers about the Japanese American father she never knew.
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Heartbeat, Drumbeat
by Irene Beltran Hernandez
A coming-of-age story set in the multicultural American Southwest, Heartbeat Drumbeat is rich in descriptions of Native-American and Mexican coming-of-age rituals.
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A Place to Call Home
by Jackie French Koller
Caring for her two younger siblings after their unreliable mother abandons them, fifteen-year-old Anna discovers the difficulties of trying to be a parent.
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Enchanted Runner
by Kimberley Griffiths Little
Twelve-year-old Kendall, half Anglo and half Acoma, discovers his heritage and his destiny as a runner when he visits his great-grandfather's pueblo and finds a culture he used to hear about from his deceased mother.