Biracial and Multiracial Protagonists for Young Readers

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 ...

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.

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.

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.

Biracial and Multiracial Protagonists for Young Readers

Heartbeat, Drumbeat

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Miracle's Boys

Sorceress

Rain Is Not My Indian Name

The Dark Pond

Enchanted Runner

The River Between Us

The Black Canary