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by June Davis Arnold
MoreScore: 6 non-white non-binary non-straight perseverance autobiographical New York City Protest Lesbians 240 pages
In New York City, lesbian activists took over an abandoned building in lower Manhattan on New Year's Eve, 1970. They named the building The Fifth Street Women's Building and renovated it to feed, clothe, shelter, and educate women in need. The take-over was a huge success, attracting hundreds of activists and community members. Thirteen days later, the New York City Tactical Police stormed the building, expelled the women, and ended the action. The City then tore the building down and built a parking lot on the site. This is the autobiographical novel of those events.
by June Davis Arnold
MoreScore: 6 non-white non-binary non-straight perseverance autobiographical New York City Protest Lesbians 240 pages
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by Leslie Marmon Silko
MoreScore: 5 non-white cis-female non-straight perseverance historical Western North and Central America Indigenous People Colonization 832 pages
Almanac of the Dead is intentionally not a novel in the western European sense of the word. Rather is borrows it structure from the Mayan almanacs that were written during the time of Spanish colonization. It is told in six parts: The United States of America, Mexico, Africa, The Americas, The Fifth World, and One World Many Tribes. Characters from one part are not necessarily in other parts. The central theme is the reclaiming of history from the colonizing Europeans that came to North and Central America.
by Leslie Marmon Silko
MoreScore: 5 non-white cis-female non-straight perseverance historical Western North and Central America Indigenous People Colonization 832 pages
Almanac of the Dead is intentionally not a novel in the western European sense of the word. Rather is borrows it structure from the Mayan almanacs that were written during the time of Spanish colonization. It is told in six parts: The United States of America, Mexico, Africa, The Americas, The Fifth World, and One World Many Tribes. Characters from one part are not necessarily in other parts. The central theme is the reclaiming of history from the colonizing Europeans that came to North and Central America.
by Alice Walker
Pulitzer Prize MoreScore: 5 non-white cis-female non-straight perseverance confessional American South African American Letters 288 pages Lexile: HL670L
Celie has grown up poor in rural Georgia, abused by her own family. Yet she is able to protect her younger sister Nettie who escapes to Africa as a missionary. Nettie's escape gives Celie hope for freedom too. Celie seizes her chance with her female lover Shug and they escape to Memphis. Ultimately, Celie and Nettie have a happy reunion in Georgia.
by Alice Walker
Pulitzer Prize MoreScore: 5 non-white cis-female non-straight perseverance confessional American South African American Letters 288 pages Lexile: HL670L
Celie has grown up poor in rural Georgia, abused by her own family. Yet she is able to protect her younger sister Nettie who escapes to Africa as a missionary. Nettie's escape gives Celie hope for freedom too. Celie seizes her chance with her female lover Shug and they escape to Memphis. Ultimately, Celie and Nettie have a happy reunion in Georgia.
by Bernardine Evaristo
MoreScore: 5 non-white cis-female non-straight perseverance realistic England Black British Lesibans 464 pages
The twelve central characters of this multi-voiced novel lead vastly different lives: Amma is a newly acclaimed playwright whose work explores her Black lesbian identity; her friend Shirley is a teacher, jaded after decades of work in London’s funding-deprived schools; From a nonbinary social media influencer to a 93-year-old woman living on a farm in Northern England, these unforgettable characters also intersect in shared aspects of their identities, from age to race to sexuality to class.
by Bernardine Evaristo
MoreScore: 5 non-white cis-female non-straight perseverance realistic England Black British Lesibans 464 pages
The twelve central characters of this multi-voiced novel lead vastly different lives: Amma is a newly acclaimed playwright whose work explores her Black lesbian identity; her friend Shirley is a teacher, jaded after decades of work in London’s funding-deprived schools; From a nonbinary social media influencer to a 93-year-old woman living on a farm in Northern England, these unforgettable characters also intersect in shared aspects of their identities, from age to race to sexuality to class.
by Nicole Dennis Benn
Featured Book Lambda Literary Award MoreScore: 5 non-white cis-female non-straight perseverance realistic Jamaica Lesbians Poverty 336 pages
At an opulent resort in Montego Bay, Jamaica, Margot hustles to send her younger sister, Thandi, to school. Taught as a girl to trade her sexuality for survival, Margot is ruthlessly determined to shield Thandi from the same fate. When plans for a new hotel threaten their village, Margot sees not only an opportunity for her own financial independence but also perhaps a chance to win the love of her cherished Verdene.
by Nicole Dennis Benn
Featured Book Lambda Literary Award MoreScore: 5 non-white cis-female non-straight perseverance realistic Jamaica Lesbians Poverty 336 pages
At an opulent resort in Montego Bay, Jamaica, Margot hustles to send her younger sister, Thandi, to school. Taught as a girl to trade her sexuality for survival, Margot is ruthlessly determined to shield Thandi from the same fate. When plans for a new hotel threaten their village, Margot sees not only an opportunity for her own financial independence but also perhaps a chance to win the love of her cherished Verdene.
by Jia Qing Wilson Yang
Featured Book Lambda Literary Award MoreScore: 5 non-white trans-female undisclosed perseverance domestic Canada Chinese Family History 176 pages
Mei, a mixed race trans woman, revisits a town from her family's past and discovers a queer family history while parsing through her own anger and trauma. Cycling through time, points of view, and rural and city life, the novel introduces us to Mei's community: other Asian trans women; Sandy, Mei's older cousin and constant support; Diane, an older lesbian with a pick-up and secret links to Mei's blood family.
by Jia Qing Wilson Yang
Featured Book Lambda Literary Award MoreScore: 5 non-white trans-female undisclosed perseverance domestic Canada Chinese Family History 176 pages
Mei, a mixed race trans woman, revisits a town from her family's past and discovers a queer family history while parsing through her own anger and trauma. Cycling through time, points of view, and rural and city life, the novel introduces us to Mei's community: other Asian trans women; Sandy, Mei's older cousin and constant support; Diane, an older lesbian with a pick-up and secret links to Mei's blood family.
by Sabina Khan
MoreScore: 5 non-white cis female non-straight perseverance realistic corpus christi pakistani american immigration 256 pages
Seventeen-year-old Pakistani immigrant, Zara Hossain, has been leading a fairly typical life in Corpus Christi, Texas, since her family moved there for her father to work as a pediatrician. While dealing with Islamophobia at school, Zara keeps a low profile, trying not to stir up any trouble that might jeopardize their family's immigration status while they await their green card approval, a process that has taken almost nine years. When a hate crime puts Zara's entire future at risk, she must choose between fighting to stay in the only place she's ever called home or losing the life she loves and everyone in it.
by Sabina Khan
MoreScore: 5 non-white cis female non-straight perseverance realistic corpus christi pakistani american immigration 256 pages
Seventeen-year-old Pakistani immigrant, Zara Hossain, has been leading a fairly typical life in Corpus Christi, Texas, since her family moved there for her father to work as a pediatrician. While dealing with Islamophobia at school, Zara keeps a low profile, trying not to stir up any trouble that might jeopardize their family's immigration status while they await their green card approval, a process that has taken almost nine years. When a hate crime puts Zara's entire future at risk, she must choose between fighting to stay in the only place she's ever called home or losing the life she loves and everyone in it.
by Rabih Alameddine
Lambda Literary Award MoreScore: 4 non-white cis-male non-straight perseverance magical realism San Fransisco Lebanese Americans AIDS Epidemic 304 pages
Set over the course of one night in the waiting room of a psych clinic, The Angel of History follows Yemeni-born poet Jacob as he revisits the events of his life, from his maternal upbringing in an Egyptian whorehouse to his adolescence under the aegis of his wealthy father and his life as a gay Arab man in San Francisco at the height of AIDS. Hovered over by the presence of alluring, sassy Satan who taunts Jacob to remember his painful past and dour, frigid Death who urges him to forget and give up on life, Jacob is also attended to by 14 saints.
by Rabih Alameddine
Lambda Literary Award MoreScore: 4 non-white cis-male non-straight perseverance magical realism San Fransisco Lebanese Americans AIDS Epidemic 304 pages
Set over the course of one night in the waiting room of a psych clinic, The Angel of History follows Yemeni-born poet Jacob as he revisits the events of his life, from his maternal upbringing in an Egyptian whorehouse to his adolescence under the aegis of his wealthy father and his life as a gay Arab man in San Francisco at the height of AIDS. Hovered over by the presence of alluring, sassy Satan who taunts Jacob to remember his painful past and dour, frigid Death who urges him to forget and give up on life, Jacob is also attended to by 14 saints.
by Deborah Ellis
MEOC Award MoreScore: 4 non-white cis-female undisclosed perseverance realistic Kabul, Afghanistan Afghan Family Responsibilities 176 pages Lexile: HL700L
Parvana's father is arrested and taken away by the Taliban soldiers. Under Taliban law, women and girls are not allowed to leave the house on their own. Parvana, her mother, and sisters must stay inside. Four days later, the food runs out. They face starvation. So Parvana must pretend to be a boy to save her family. It is a dangerous plan, but their only chance. In fear she goes out - and witnesses the horror of landmines, and the bruality of the Taliban. She suffers beatings and the desperation of trying to survive. But even in despair lies hope.
by Deborah Ellis
MEOC Award MoreScore: 4 non-white cis-female undisclosed perseverance realistic Kabul, Afghanistan Afghan Family Responsibilities 176 pages Lexile: HL700L
Parvana's father is arrested and taken away by the Taliban soldiers. Under Taliban law, women and girls are not allowed to leave the house on their own. Parvana, her mother, and sisters must stay inside. Four days later, the food runs out. They face starvation. So Parvana must pretend to be a boy to save her family. It is a dangerous plan, but their only chance. In fear she goes out - and witnesses the horror of landmines, and the bruality of the Taliban. She suffers beatings and the desperation of trying to survive. But even in despair lies hope.
by Sharon M Draper
Coretta Scott King Award MoreScore: 4 non-white cis-female undisclosed perseverance historical Carolina African Americans Slavery 302 pages Lexile: 820L
When pale strangers enter fifteen-year-old Amari's village, her entire tribe welcomes them; for in her remote part of Africa, visitors are always a cause for celebration. But these strangers are not here to celebrate. They are slave traders. Sold to a plantation owner in the Carolinas, survival and escape are all Amari dreams about. She finds friendship in unexpected places. Polly, an outspoken indentured white girl, proves not to be as hateful as she'd first seemed. When an opportunity to escape presents itself, Amari and Polly decide to work together to find the thing they both want most...freedom
by Sharon M Draper
Coretta Scott King Award MoreScore: 4 non-white cis-female undisclosed perseverance historical Carolina African Americans Slavery 302 pages Lexile: 820L
When pale strangers enter fifteen-year-old Amari's village, her entire tribe welcomes them; for in her remote part of Africa, visitors are always a cause for celebration. But these strangers are not here to celebrate. They are slave traders. Sold to a plantation owner in the Carolinas, survival and escape are all Amari dreams about. She finds friendship in unexpected places. Polly, an outspoken indentured white girl, proves not to be as hateful as she'd first seemed. When an opportunity to escape presents itself, Amari and Polly decide to work together to find the thing they both want most...freedom
by Julius Lester
MoreScore: 4 non-white cis-female undisclosed perseverance historical slavery american south american civil war 177 pages
When gambling debts and greed enter into the Butler household, Pierce Butler decides to host the biggest slave auction in American history and breaks a promise by selling Emma, his most-valued slave and caretaker of his children--a decision that brings about unthinkable consequences.
by Julius Lester
MoreScore: 4 non-white cis-female undisclosed perseverance historical slavery american south american civil war 177 pages
When gambling debts and greed enter into the Butler household, Pierce Butler decides to host the biggest slave auction in American history and breaks a promise by selling Emma, his most-valued slave and caretaker of his children--a decision that brings about unthinkable consequences.
by Anne Frank
MoreScore: 4 non-white cis-female undisclosed perseverance realistic Netherlands Jewish Holocaust 283 pages Lexile: 1020L
When Anne Frank was thirteen, she received a diary for her birthday. It was her favorite present and she couldn't wait to start writing in it. But just a few weeks later thirteen-year-old Anne's world was turned upside down. German Nazi soldiers invaded her country and Anne's family were forced to hide away from everyone and everything they knew and loved. Over the next two years Anne's diary became her only friend. She wrote everything down, from her daily routine in the Secret Annex to her hopes and dreams of becoming a famous writer one day.
by Anne Frank
MoreScore: 4 non-white cis-female undisclosed perseverance realistic Netherlands Jewish Holocaust 283 pages Lexile: 1020L
When Anne Frank was thirteen, she received a diary for her birthday. It was her favorite present and she couldn't wait to start writing in it. But just a few weeks later thirteen-year-old Anne's world was turned upside down. German Nazi soldiers invaded her country and Anne's family were forced to hide away from everyone and everything they knew and loved. Over the next two years Anne's diary became her only friend. She wrote everything down, from her daily routine in the Secret Annex to her hopes and dreams of becoming a famous writer one day.
by Sherri L. Smith
MoreScore: 4 non-white cis-female undisclosed perseverance war world war II women airplane pilots 278 pages Lexile: HL680L
All Ida Mal Jones wants to do is fly. Ida's father was a pilot, and when he took her flying, she never want to come down again. But after his death, the sky is off-limits to a young black woman such as herself. When America enters World War II, the Army forms the WASP-Women Airforce Service Pilots-and Ida has a chance to join, if she's willing to use her light skin to pass as white.
by Sherri L. Smith
MoreScore: 4 non-white cis-female undisclosed perseverance war world war II women airplane pilots 278 pages Lexile: HL680L
All Ida Mal Jones wants to do is fly. Ida's father was a pilot, and when he took her flying, she never want to come down again. But after his death, the sky is off-limits to a young black woman such as herself. When America enters World War II, the Army forms the WASP-Women Airforce Service Pilots-and Ida has a chance to join, if she's willing to use her light skin to pass as white.
by Leslie Marmon Silko
MoreScore: 4 non-white cis-female undisclosed perseverance realistic Southwestern America Sand Lizard Indians Forced Acculturation 480 pages
Indigo, who is taken from her tribe, the Sand Lizard people, by white soldiers who destroy her home and family. Placed in a government school to learn the ways of a white child, Indigo is rescued by the kind-hearted Hattie and her worldly husband, Edward, who undertake to transform this complex, spirited girl into a “proper” young lady. Bit by bit, and through a wondrous journey that spans the European continent, traipses through the jungles of Brazil, and returns to the rich desert of Southwest America, Indigo bridges the gap between the two forces in her life.
by Leslie Marmon Silko
MoreScore: 4 non-white cis-female undisclosed perseverance realistic Southwestern America Sand Lizard Indians Forced Acculturation 480 pages
Indigo, who is taken from her tribe, the Sand Lizard people, by white soldiers who destroy her home and family. Placed in a government school to learn the ways of a white child, Indigo is rescued by the kind-hearted Hattie and her worldly husband, Edward, who undertake to transform this complex, spirited girl into a “proper” young lady. Bit by bit, and through a wondrous journey that spans the European continent, traipses through the jungles of Brazil, and returns to the rich desert of Southwest America, Indigo bridges the gap between the two forces in her life.
by Saleem Haddad
Stonwall Award MoreScore: 4 non-white cis-male non-straight perseverance realistic Middle East Arab Coming Out 358 pages
Set over the course of twenty-four hours, Guapa follows Rasa, a gay man living in an unnamed Arab country, as he tries to carve out a life for himself in the midst of political and social upheaval. Rasa spends his days translating for Western journalists and pining for the nights when he can sneak his lover, Taymour, into his room.
by Saleem Haddad
Stonwall Award MoreScore: 4 non-white cis-male non-straight perseverance realistic Middle East Arab Coming Out 358 pages
Set over the course of twenty-four hours, Guapa follows Rasa, a gay man living in an unnamed Arab country, as he tries to carve out a life for himself in the midst of political and social upheaval. Rasa spends his days translating for Western journalists and pining for the nights when he can sneak his lover, Taymour, into his room.
by Angie Thomas
Featured Book MoreScore: 4 non-white cis-female undisclosed perseverance realistic police violence racism prep school 464 pages Lexile: HL590L
Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed. Soon afterward, his death is a national headline. Some are calling him a thug, maybe even a drug dealer and a gangbanger. Protesters are taking to the streets in Khalil’s name. The only person alive who knows what really happened is Starr.
by Angie Thomas
Featured Book MoreScore: 4 non-white cis-female undisclosed perseverance realistic police violence racism prep school 464 pages Lexile: HL590L
Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed. Soon afterward, his death is a national headline. Some are calling him a thug, maybe even a drug dealer and a gangbanger. Protesters are taking to the streets in Khalil’s name. The only person alive who knows what really happened is Starr.
by Julia Álvarez
MoreScore: 4 non-white cis-female undisclosed perseverance historical dominican republic revolution women 339 pages Lexile: 910L
It is November 25, 1960, and the bodies of three beautiful, convent-educated sisters have been found near their wrecked Jeep at the bottom of a 150-foot cliff on the north coast of the Dominican Republic. El Caribe, the official newspaper, reports their deaths as an accident. It does not mention that a fourth sister lives. Nor does it explain that the sisters were among the leading opponents of Gen. Raphael Leonidas Trujillo's dictatorship. It doesn't have to. Everyone knows why they died.
by Julia Álvarez
MoreScore: 4 non-white cis-female undisclosed perseverance historical dominican republic revolution women 339 pages Lexile: 910L
It is November 25, 1960, and the bodies of three beautiful, convent-educated sisters have been found near their wrecked Jeep at the bottom of a 150-foot cliff on the north coast of the Dominican Republic. El Caribe, the official newspaper, reports their deaths as an accident. It does not mention that a fourth sister lives. Nor does it explain that the sisters were among the leading opponents of Gen. Raphael Leonidas Trujillo's dictatorship. It doesn't have to. Everyone knows why they died.
by Louise Erdrich
MoreScore: 4 non-white trans-male undisclosed perseverance confessional Ojibwe Transgender Miracles 400 pages
For more than a half century, Father Damien Modeste has served his beloved Native American tribe, the Ojibwe, on the remote reservation of Little No Horse. Now, nearing the end of his life, Father Damien dreads the discovery of his physical identity, for he is a woman who has lived as a man. A colleague comes to investigate the life of the perplexing, possibly false saint Sister Leopolda. Should he tell all or manufacture a protective history for Leopolda, though he believes her wonder-working is motivated solely by evil?
by Louise Erdrich
MoreScore: 4 non-white trans-male undisclosed perseverance confessional Ojibwe Transgender Miracles 400 pages
For more than a half century, Father Damien Modeste has served his beloved Native American tribe, the Ojibwe, on the remote reservation of Little No Horse. Now, nearing the end of his life, Father Damien dreads the discovery of his physical identity, for he is a woman who has lived as a man. A colleague comes to investigate the life of the perplexing, possibly false saint Sister Leopolda. Should he tell all or manufacture a protective history for Leopolda, though he believes her wonder-working is motivated solely by evil?
by Alice Pung
MoreScore: 4 non-white cis-female undisclosed perseverance realistic chinese bullying boarding school 336 pages Lexile: 900L
Lucy is a bit of a pushover, but she’s ambitious and smart, and she has just received the opportunity of a lifetime: a scholarship to a prestigious school, and a ticket out of her broken-down suburb. Though she’s worried she will stick out like badly cut bangs among the razor-straight students, she is soon welcomed into the Cabinet, the supremely popular trio who wield influence over classmates and teachers alike. Linh is blunt, strong-willed, and fearless—everything Lucy once loved about herself.
by Alice Pung
MoreScore: 4 non-white cis-female undisclosed perseverance realistic chinese bullying boarding school 336 pages Lexile: 900L
Lucy is a bit of a pushover, but she’s ambitious and smart, and she has just received the opportunity of a lifetime: a scholarship to a prestigious school, and a ticket out of her broken-down suburb. Though she’s worried she will stick out like badly cut bangs among the razor-straight students, she is soon welcomed into the Cabinet, the supremely popular trio who wield influence over classmates and teachers alike. Linh is blunt, strong-willed, and fearless—everything Lucy once loved about herself.
by David Treuer
MoreScore: 4 non-white cis-male non-straight perseverance war Leech Lake Indian Reservation Ojibwe Homosexuality 272 pages
It's August 1942, Frankie Washburn returns to his family’s rustic Minnesota resort for one last visit before he joins the war as a bombardier. Awaiting him at the Pines are those he’s about to leave behind: his hovering mother; the distant father; the Indian caretaker who’s been more of a father to him than his own; and Billy, the childhood friend who, over the years, has become something much more intimate. The goodbyes are interrupted when a German soldier escapes from the POW camp across the river, leading to an act of shocking violence, with consequences that will reverberate years.
by David Treuer
MoreScore: 4 non-white cis-male non-straight perseverance war Leech Lake Indian Reservation Ojibwe Homosexuality 272 pages
It's August 1942, Frankie Washburn returns to his family’s rustic Minnesota resort for one last visit before he joins the war as a bombardier. Awaiting him at the Pines are those he’s about to leave behind: his hovering mother; the distant father; the Indian caretaker who’s been more of a father to him than his own; and Billy, the childhood friend who, over the years, has become something much more intimate. The goodbyes are interrupted when a German soldier escapes from the POW camp across the river, leading to an act of shocking violence, with consequences that will reverberate years.
by S K Ali
MoreScore: 4 non-white cis-female undisclosed perseverance realistic Divorce Muslim Sexual Assault 336 pages
There are three kinds of people in my world: 1. Saints, those special people moving the world forward. Sometimes you glaze over them. Or, at least, I do. 2. Misfits, people who don’t belong. Like me—the way I don’t fit into Dad’s brand-new family. 3. Monsters. Well, monsters wearing saint masks, like in Flannery O’Connor’s stories. Like the monster at my mosque. People think he’s holy, untouchable, but nobody has seen under the mask. Except me.
by S K Ali
MoreScore: 4 non-white cis-female undisclosed perseverance realistic Divorce Muslim Sexual Assault 336 pages
There are three kinds of people in my world: 1. Saints, those special people moving the world forward. Sometimes you glaze over them. Or, at least, I do. 2. Misfits, people who don’t belong. Like me—the way I don’t fit into Dad’s brand-new family. 3. Monsters. Well, monsters wearing saint masks, like in Flannery O’Connor’s stories. Like the monster at my mosque. People think he’s holy, untouchable, but nobody has seen under the mask. Except me.
by Ann Petry
MoreScore: 4 non-white cis-female undisclosed perseverance realistic harlem mothers 448 pages
The poignant, often heartbreaking story of Lutie Johnson, a young black woman, and her spirited struggle to raise her son amid the violence, poverty, and racial dissonance of Harlem in the late 1940s.
by Ann Petry
MoreScore: 4 non-white cis-female undisclosed perseverance realistic harlem mothers 448 pages
The poignant, often heartbreaking story of Lutie Johnson, a young black woman, and her spirited struggle to raise her son amid the violence, poverty, and racial dissonance of Harlem in the late 1940s.
by Jason / Brendan Reynolds / Kiely
Coretta Scott King Award MoreScore: 3 non-white cis-male undisclosed perseverance realistic Racial Profiling Police Violence African Americans 316 pages Lexile: HL770L
A bag of chips. That’s all sixteen-year-old Rashad is looking for at the corner bodega. What he finds instead is a fist-happy cop, Paul Galluzzo, who mistakes Rashad for a shoplifter. There were witnesses: Quinn, a varsity basketball player and Rashad’s classmate, who has been raised by Paul Galluzzo since his own father died in Afghanistan — and a video camera.
by Jason / Brendan Reynolds / Kiely
Coretta Scott King Award MoreScore: 3 non-white cis-male undisclosed perseverance realistic Racial Profiling Police Violence African Americans 316 pages Lexile: HL770L
A bag of chips. That’s all sixteen-year-old Rashad is looking for at the corner bodega. What he finds instead is a fist-happy cop, Paul Galluzzo, who mistakes Rashad for a shoplifter. There were witnesses: Quinn, a varsity basketball player and Rashad’s classmate, who has been raised by Paul Galluzzo since his own father died in Afghanistan — and a video camera.
by Tiffany D Jackson
MoreScore: 3 non-white cis-female straight perseverance realistic Innocence African Americans Infanticide 400 pages Lexile: HL620L
Mary B. Addison killed a baby. Allegedly. She didn’t say much in that first interview with detectives, and the media filled in the only blanks that mattered: a white baby had died while under the care of a churchgoing black woman and her nine-year-old daughter. The public convicted Mary and the jury made it official. But did she do it? There wasn’t a point to setting the record straight before, but now she’s got Ted—and their unborn child—to think about. When the state threatens to take her baby, Mary’s fate now lies in the hands of the one person she distrusts the most: her Momma. No one knows the real Momma. But does anyone know the real Mary?
by Tiffany D Jackson
MoreScore: 3 non-white cis-female straight perseverance realistic Innocence African Americans Infanticide 400 pages Lexile: HL620L
Mary B. Addison killed a baby. Allegedly. She didn’t say much in that first interview with detectives, and the media filled in the only blanks that mattered: a white baby had died while under the care of a churchgoing black woman and her nine-year-old daughter. The public convicted Mary and the jury made it official. But did she do it? There wasn’t a point to setting the record straight before, but now she’s got Ted—and their unborn child—to think about. When the state threatens to take her baby, Mary’s fate now lies in the hands of the one person she distrusts the most: her Momma. No one knows the real Momma. But does anyone know the real Mary?
by Ibi Zoboi
MoreScore: 3 non-white cis-female straight perseverance realistic Detroit Hatians Immigrants 336 pages Lexile: HL690L
On the corner of American Street and Joy Road, Fabiola Toussaint thought she would finally find une belle vie — a good life. But after they leave Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Fabiola’s mother is detained by U.S. immigration, leaving Fabiola to navigate her loud American cousins, Chantal, Donna, and Princess; the grittiness of Detroit’s west side; a new school; and a surprising romance, all on her own. Just as she finds her footing in this strange new world, a dangerous proposition presents itself, and Fabiola soon realizes that freedom comes at a cost.
by Ibi Zoboi
MoreScore: 3 non-white cis-female straight perseverance realistic Detroit Hatians Immigrants 336 pages Lexile: HL690L
On the corner of American Street and Joy Road, Fabiola Toussaint thought she would finally find une belle vie — a good life. But after they leave Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Fabiola’s mother is detained by U.S. immigration, leaving Fabiola to navigate her loud American cousins, Chantal, Donna, and Princess; the grittiness of Detroit’s west side; a new school; and a surprising romance, all on her own. Just as she finds her footing in this strange new world, a dangerous proposition presents itself, and Fabiola soon realizes that freedom comes at a cost.
by Toni Morrison
Pulitzer Prize MoreScore: 3 non-white cis-female straight perseverance historical Ghosts African Americans Slavery 352 pages Lexile: 870L
Staring unflinchingly into the abyss of slavery, this spellbinding novel transforms history into a story as powerful as Exodus and as intimate as a lullaby. Sethe, its protagonist, was born a slave and escaped to Ohio, but eighteen years later she is still not free. She has too many memories of Sweet Home, the beautiful farm where so many hideous things happened.
by Toni Morrison
Pulitzer Prize MoreScore: 3 non-white cis-female straight perseverance historical Ghosts African Americans Slavery 352 pages Lexile: 870L
Staring unflinchingly into the abyss of slavery, this spellbinding novel transforms history into a story as powerful as Exodus and as intimate as a lullaby. Sethe, its protagonist, was born a slave and escaped to Ohio, but eighteen years later she is still not free. She has too many memories of Sweet Home, the beautiful farm where so many hideous things happened.
by Anita Amirrezvani
MoreScore: 3 non-white cis-female straight perseverance historical iran women weaving 400 pages
In 17th-century Iran, a 14-year-old woman believes she will be married within the year. But when her beloved father dies, she and her mother find themselves alone and without a dowry. With nowhere else to go, they are forced to sell the brilliant turquoise rug the young woman has woven to pay for their journey to Isfahan, where they will work as servants for her uncle, a rich rug designer in the court of the legendary Shah Abbas the Great.
by Anita Amirrezvani
MoreScore: 3 non-white cis-female straight perseverance historical iran women weaving 400 pages
In 17th-century Iran, a 14-year-old woman believes she will be married within the year. But when her beloved father dies, she and her mother find themselves alone and without a dowry. With nowhere else to go, they are forced to sell the brilliant turquoise rug the young woman has woven to pay for their journey to Isfahan, where they will work as servants for her uncle, a rich rug designer in the court of the legendary Shah Abbas the Great.
by Erika Wurth
MoreScore: 3 non-white cis-female straight perseverance realistic Idaho Springs, CO Native American 285 pages
Margaritte is an observant, witty, drug-dealing, sixteen-year-old Native American floundering in a Colorado town crippled by poverty, unemployment, and drug abuse. She hates the burnout, futureless kids surrounding her and dreams that she can move far beyond her family's legacy. Her path out is beset by danger, some of her own making, but it's resolution strikes a hopeful if not necessarily rosy picture of the future.
by Erika Wurth
MoreScore: 3 non-white cis-female straight perseverance realistic Idaho Springs, CO Native American 285 pages
Margaritte is an observant, witty, drug-dealing, sixteen-year-old Native American floundering in a Colorado town crippled by poverty, unemployment, and drug abuse. She hates the burnout, futureless kids surrounding her and dreams that she can move far beyond her family's legacy. Her path out is beset by danger, some of her own making, but it's resolution strikes a hopeful if not necessarily rosy picture of the future.
by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch
MoreScore: 3 non-white cis-female straight perseverance historical Turkey Kurdish Genocide 288 pages Lexile: HL800L
Ali and his fiancee Zeynep dream about leaving their home in Anatolia and building a new life together in Canada. Ali finds passage to Canada to work, but he is forced to leave Zeynep behind until he can earn enough money. When the First World War breaks out and Canada joins Britain, Ali is declared an enemy alien and interned in a camp. Meanwhile, Zeynep tries to protect her Christian Armenian neighbors from persecution. If she is successful, will Zeynep still find a way to cross the ocean to search out Ali?
by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch
MoreScore: 3 non-white cis-female straight perseverance historical Turkey Kurdish Genocide 288 pages Lexile: HL800L
Ali and his fiancee Zeynep dream about leaving their home in Anatolia and building a new life together in Canada. Ali finds passage to Canada to work, but he is forced to leave Zeynep behind until he can earn enough money. When the First World War breaks out and Canada joins Britain, Ali is declared an enemy alien and interned in a camp. Meanwhile, Zeynep tries to protect her Christian Armenian neighbors from persecution. If she is successful, will Zeynep still find a way to cross the ocean to search out Ali?
by Cristina Garcia
MoreScore: 3 non-white cis-female straight perseverance realistic cuba new york mothers 272 pages Lexile: 940L
Three generations of Cuban women struggle to understand and accept the Cuban revolution. The lives of Celia del Pino and her husband, daughters, and grandchildren mirror the magical realism of Cuba itself, a landscape of beauty and poverty, idealism and corruption.
by Cristina Garcia
MoreScore: 3 non-white cis-female straight perseverance realistic cuba new york mothers 272 pages Lexile: 940L
Three generations of Cuban women struggle to understand and accept the Cuban revolution. The lives of Celia del Pino and her husband, daughters, and grandchildren mirror the magical realism of Cuba itself, a landscape of beauty and poverty, idealism and corruption.
by Susan Froetschel
MEOC Award MoreScore: 3 non-white cis-female straight perseverance detective Afganistan Extremism Literacy 270 pages
The body of an Afghan boy is found at the base of a cliff outside a remote village in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. Sofi, the boy's illiterate young mother, is desperate to find the truth about her son's death. In time, and defying all odds, Sofi secretly learns to read--with the help of Mita Samuelson, an American aid worker. Through reading, Sofi discovers the identity of her son's murderer. As they search for answers, Sofi and Mita come to the same realization: trying to preserve a way of life can lead to a fundamentalism that destroys a society's basic values.
by Susan Froetschel
MEOC Award MoreScore: 3 non-white cis-female straight perseverance detective Afganistan Extremism Literacy 270 pages
The body of an Afghan boy is found at the base of a cliff outside a remote village in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. Sofi, the boy's illiterate young mother, is desperate to find the truth about her son's death. In time, and defying all odds, Sofi secretly learns to read--with the help of Mita Samuelson, an American aid worker. Through reading, Sofi discovers the identity of her son's murderer. As they search for answers, Sofi and Mita come to the same realization: trying to preserve a way of life can lead to a fundamentalism that destroys a society's basic values.
by L. S. Matthews
MoreScore: 3 non-white cis-male undisclosed perseverance war Refugees 192 pages Lexile: 910L
War and drought have come to Tiger's country. Just before Tiger's family leaves, Tiger finds a fish struggling for life in a drying-up puddle - and rescues it. And so they set off on a dangerous journey across the mountains, with only what they can carry on their backs - the fish's grip on survival mirroring their own.
by L. S. Matthews
MoreScore: 3 non-white cis-male undisclosed perseverance war Refugees 192 pages Lexile: 910L
War and drought have come to Tiger's country. Just before Tiger's family leaves, Tiger finds a fish struggling for life in a drying-up puddle - and rescues it. And so they set off on a dangerous journey across the mountains, with only what they can carry on their backs - the fish's grip on survival mirroring their own.
by Lynda Mullaly Hunt
MoreScore: 3 undisclosed cis-female undisclosed perseverance realistic Neurodiversity Dyslexia Reading 274 pages Lexile: 550L
Ally is smart enough to fool a lot of smart people. Every time she lands in a new school, she is able to hide her inability to read by creating clever yet disruptive distractions. Her newest teacher, however, sees the bright, creative kid underneath the trouble maker. With his help, Ally learns not to be so hard on herself and that dyslexia is just part of how her brain works. As her confidence grows, Ally feels free to be herself and the world starts opening up with possibilities.
by Lynda Mullaly Hunt
MoreScore: 3 undisclosed cis-female undisclosed perseverance realistic Neurodiversity Dyslexia Reading 274 pages Lexile: 550L
Ally is smart enough to fool a lot of smart people. Every time she lands in a new school, she is able to hide her inability to read by creating clever yet disruptive distractions. Her newest teacher, however, sees the bright, creative kid underneath the trouble maker. With his help, Ally learns not to be so hard on herself and that dyslexia is just part of how her brain works. As her confidence grows, Ally feels free to be herself and the world starts opening up with possibilities.
by Livia Bitton-Jackson
MoreScore: 3 non-white cis-female straight perseverance historical Hungary Jewish Holocaust 224 pages Lexile: 720L
What is death all about? What is life all about? So wonders thirteen-year-old Elli Friedmann as she fights for her life in a Nazi concentration camp. It wasn’t long ago that Elli led a normal life that included family, friends, school, and thoughts about boys. A life in which Elli could lie and daydream for hours that she was a beautiful and elegant celebrated poet. But these adolescent daydreams quickly darken in March 1944, when the Nazis invade Hungary.
by Livia Bitton-Jackson
MoreScore: 3 non-white cis-female straight perseverance historical Hungary Jewish Holocaust 224 pages Lexile: 720L
What is death all about? What is life all about? So wonders thirteen-year-old Elli Friedmann as she fights for her life in a Nazi concentration camp. It wasn’t long ago that Elli led a normal life that included family, friends, school, and thoughts about boys. A life in which Elli could lie and daydream for hours that she was a beautiful and elegant celebrated poet. But these adolescent daydreams quickly darken in March 1944, when the Nazis invade Hungary.
by Janet Campbell Hale
MoreScore: 3 non-white cis-female straight perseverance realistic Idaho Coeur d'Alene Memoir 201 pages
Cecelia Capture Welles, an Indian law student and mother of two, is jailed on her thirtieth birthday for drunk driving. Held on an old welfare fraud charge, she reflects back on her life on the reservation in Idaho, her days as an unwed mother in San Francisco, her marriage to a white liberal, and her decision to return to college. This mixed inheritance of ambition and despair brings her to the brink of suicide.
by Janet Campbell Hale
MoreScore: 3 non-white cis-female straight perseverance realistic Idaho Coeur d'Alene Memoir 201 pages
Cecelia Capture Welles, an Indian law student and mother of two, is jailed on her thirtieth birthday for drunk driving. Held on an old welfare fraud charge, she reflects back on her life on the reservation in Idaho, her days as an unwed mother in San Francisco, her marriage to a white liberal, and her decision to return to college. This mixed inheritance of ambition and despair brings her to the brink of suicide.
by Amy Tan
MoreScore: 3 non-white cis-female straight perseverance realistic chinese-american mothers daughters 288 pages Lexile: 930L
The story examines the sometimes painful, often tender, and always deep connection between mothers and daughters. As each woman reveals her secrets, trying to unravel the truth about her life, the strings become more tangled, more entwined. Mothers boast or despair over daughters, and daughters roll their eyes even as they feel the inextricable tightening of their matriarchal ties.
by Amy Tan
MoreScore: 3 non-white cis-female straight perseverance realistic chinese-american mothers daughters 288 pages Lexile: 930L
The story examines the sometimes painful, often tender, and always deep connection between mothers and daughters. As each woman reveals her secrets, trying to unravel the truth about her life, the strings become more tangled, more entwined. Mothers boast or despair over daughters, and daughters roll their eyes even as they feel the inextricable tightening of their matriarchal ties.
by Octavia E. Butler
MoreScore: 3 non-white cis-female straight perseverance science fiction time travel slavery american south 264 pages Lexile: 580L
Dana, a modern black woman, is celebrating her twenty-sixth birthday with her new husband when she is snatched abruptly from her home in California and transported to the antebellum South. Rufus, the white son of a plantation owner, is drowning, and Dana has been summoned to save him. Dana is drawn back repeatedly through time to the slave quarters, and each time the stay grows longer, more arduous, and more dangerous until it is uncertain whether or not Dana's life will end, long before it has a chance to begin.
by Octavia E. Butler
MoreScore: 3 non-white cis-female straight perseverance science fiction time travel slavery american south 264 pages Lexile: 580L
Dana, a modern black woman, is celebrating her twenty-sixth birthday with her new husband when she is snatched abruptly from her home in California and transported to the antebellum South. Rufus, the white son of a plantation owner, is drowning, and Dana has been summoned to save him. Dana is drawn back repeatedly through time to the slave quarters, and each time the stay grows longer, more arduous, and more dangerous until it is uncertain whether or not Dana's life will end, long before it has a chance to begin.
by Elizabeth Laird
MEOC Award MoreScore: 3 non-white cis-male undisclosed perseverance realistic West Bank Palestinians Occupation 240 pages Lexile: 830L
A Little Piece Of Ground explores the human cost of the occupation of Palestinian lands through the eyes of a young boy. Twelve-year-old Karim Aboudi and his family are trapped in their Ramallah home by a strict curfew. In response to a Palestinian suicide bombing, the Israeli military subjects the West Bank town to a virtual siege. Meanwhile, Karim, trapped at home with his teenage brother and fearful parents, longs to play football with his friends. When the curfew ends, he and his friend discover an unused patch of ground that’s the perfect site for a football pitch.
by Elizabeth Laird
MEOC Award MoreScore: 3 non-white cis-male undisclosed perseverance realistic West Bank Palestinians Occupation 240 pages Lexile: 830L
A Little Piece Of Ground explores the human cost of the occupation of Palestinian lands through the eyes of a young boy. Twelve-year-old Karim Aboudi and his family are trapped in their Ramallah home by a strict curfew. In response to a Palestinian suicide bombing, the Israeli military subjects the West Bank town to a virtual siege. Meanwhile, Karim, trapped at home with his teenage brother and fearful parents, longs to play football with his friends. When the curfew ends, he and his friend discover an unused patch of ground that’s the perfect site for a football pitch.
by Louise Erdrich
MoreScore: 3 non-white cis-female straight perseverance domestic North Dakota Chippewa Love 400 pages Lexile: 780L
Love Medicine tells the story of two Chippewa families—the Kashpaws and the Lamartines. It is a multigenerational portrait of new truths and secrets whose time has come, of strong men and women caught in an unforgettable drama of anger, desire, and the healing power that is "love medicine."
by Louise Erdrich
MoreScore: 3 non-white cis-female straight perseverance domestic North Dakota Chippewa Love 400 pages Lexile: 780L
Love Medicine tells the story of two Chippewa families—the Kashpaws and the Lamartines. It is a multigenerational portrait of new truths and secrets whose time has come, of strong men and women caught in an unforgettable drama of anger, desire, and the healing power that is "love medicine."
by Libby Ware
Stonwall Award MoreScore: 3 white non-binary undisclosed perseverance historical West Virginia Rural Development Intersex Adults 224 pages
Lum has always been on the outside. At eight, she was diagnosed with what we now call an intersex condition and is told she can't expect to marry. Now, at thirty-three, she has no home of her own but is shuttled from one relative's house to another. When the Blue Ridge Parkway is slated to come through her family’s farmland, the community begins to tear apart — culminating in an act of violence and betrayal. However, the Parkway brings opportunities as well as loss.
by Libby Ware
Stonwall Award MoreScore: 3 white non-binary undisclosed perseverance historical West Virginia Rural Development Intersex Adults 224 pages
Lum has always been on the outside. At eight, she was diagnosed with what we now call an intersex condition and is told she can't expect to marry. Now, at thirty-three, she has no home of her own but is shuttled from one relative's house to another. When the Blue Ridge Parkway is slated to come through her family’s farmland, the community begins to tear apart — culminating in an act of violence and betrayal. However, the Parkway brings opportunities as well as loss.
by ReShonda Tate Billingsley
MoreScore: 3 non-white cis-male undisclosed perseverance realistic Mothers African Americans Murder 336 pages
The breaking TV news rocks Jasper, Texas, to the core: a white police officer is fatally shot in a scuffle with three black youths—and a cellphone video captures Jamal Jones, the sixteen-year-old son of esteemed Reverend Elton Jones, escalating the tragic encounter. Now, as the national spotlight shines on a town already rife with racial tension, Jamal is a murder suspect on the run. And all of Jasper—even the Reverend’s congregation—rushes to judge the boy they thought they knew. But Gloria Jones knows her son best, and she races to find Jamal before the law does.
by ReShonda Tate Billingsley
MoreScore: 3 non-white cis-male undisclosed perseverance realistic Mothers African Americans Murder 336 pages
The breaking TV news rocks Jasper, Texas, to the core: a white police officer is fatally shot in a scuffle with three black youths—and a cellphone video captures Jamal Jones, the sixteen-year-old son of esteemed Reverend Elton Jones, escalating the tragic encounter. Now, as the national spotlight shines on a town already rife with racial tension, Jamal is a murder suspect on the run. And all of Jasper—even the Reverend’s congregation—rushes to judge the boy they thought they knew. But Gloria Jones knows her son best, and she races to find Jamal before the law does.
by Virginia Woolf
MoreScore: 3 white cis-female non-straight perseverance domestic London Bisexuality Stream of Conciousness 141 pages Lexile: 950L
Society hostess, Clarissa Dalloway is giving a party. Her thoughts and sensations on that one day, and the interior monologues of others whose lives are interwoven with hers gradually reveal the characters of the central protagonists. Clarissa's life is touched by tragedy as the events in her day run parallel to those of Septimus Warren Smith, whose madness escalates as his life draws toward inevitable suicide.
by Virginia Woolf
MoreScore: 3 white cis-female non-straight perseverance domestic London Bisexuality Stream of Conciousness 141 pages Lexile: 950L
Society hostess, Clarissa Dalloway is giving a party. Her thoughts and sensations on that one day, and the interior monologues of others whose lives are interwoven with hers gradually reveal the characters of the central protagonists. Clarissa's life is touched by tragedy as the events in her day run parallel to those of Septimus Warren Smith, whose madness escalates as his life draws toward inevitable suicide.
by Sharon M Draper
Coretta Scott King Award MoreScore: 3 non-white cis-female straight perseverance realistic African Americans Pregnancy 400 pages Lexile: 670L
When November Nelson loses her boyfriend, Josh, to a pledge stunt gone horribly wrong, she thinks her life can't possibly get any worse. But Josh left something behind that will change November's life forever, and now she's faced with the biggest decision she could ever imagine. How in the world will she tell her mom? And how will Josh's parents take the news? She's never needed a friend more. Enter Jericho Prescott.
by Sharon M Draper
Coretta Scott King Award MoreScore: 3 non-white cis-female straight perseverance realistic African Americans Pregnancy 400 pages Lexile: 670L
When November Nelson loses her boyfriend, Josh, to a pledge stunt gone horribly wrong, she thinks her life can't possibly get any worse. But Josh left something behind that will change November's life forever, and now she's faced with the biggest decision she could ever imagine. How in the world will she tell her mom? And how will Josh's parents take the news? She's never needed a friend more. Enter Jericho Prescott.
by Suzy Zail
MoreScore: 3 non-white cis-female straight perseverance historical Poland Jewish Holocaust 256 pages Lexile: HL700L
Hanna and her sister when their family are separated at the gates of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. Before, Hanna was going to be a famous concert pianist. She was going to wear her yellow dress to a dance. And she was going to dance with a boy. But then the Nazis came. Now it is up to Hanna to do all she can to keep her mother and sister alive, even if that means playing piano for the commandant and his guests.
by Suzy Zail
MoreScore: 3 non-white cis-female straight perseverance historical Poland Jewish Holocaust 256 pages Lexile: HL700L
Hanna and her sister when their family are separated at the gates of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. Before, Hanna was going to be a famous concert pianist. She was going to wear her yellow dress to a dance. And she was going to dance with a boy. But then the Nazis came. Now it is up to Hanna to do all she can to keep her mother and sister alive, even if that means playing piano for the commandant and his guests.
by Alice Walker
MoreScore: 3 non-white cis-female straight perseverance realistic Africa African American Female Circumcision 288 pages
Tashi, the protagonist of Possessing the Secret of Joy, was first introduced as a character in The Color Purple. Tashi is living in America and married to an American man, but is still strongly connected to her African Olinka heritage. As an adult she chooses to return to Olinka to be circumcised. Despite generations of tradition, it does not bring Tashi the cultural connection she hoped. Instead, the trauma begins to drive her insane. Her journey back to health sheds a light on a practice which should be consigned to history but remains all to current an issue.
by Alice Walker
MoreScore: 3 non-white cis-female straight perseverance realistic Africa African American Female Circumcision 288 pages
Tashi, the protagonist of Possessing the Secret of Joy, was first introduced as a character in The Color Purple. Tashi is living in America and married to an American man, but is still strongly connected to her African Olinka heritage. As an adult she chooses to return to Olinka to be circumcised. Despite generations of tradition, it does not bring Tashi the cultural connection she hoped. Instead, the trauma begins to drive her insane. Her journey back to health sheds a light on a practice which should be consigned to history but remains all to current an issue.
by Diane Glancy
MoreScore: 3 non-white cis female straight perseverance historical Oklahoma Trail of Tears Cherokee 241 pages
Opening paragraph: "Maritole!" I heard my husband from the field. I sat on the cabin step helping the baby stand. "Maritole," Knobowtee called again. I started to get up, but the baby wobbled at my knees." -- Pushing the Bear is a fictional account of the Trail of Tears: the 1838 forced relocation of 13,000 Cherokee from the forests of the southeastern United States to the plains of Oklahoma. It uses multi-perspective narration to tell a nuanced and heart-breaking story.
by Diane Glancy
MoreScore: 3 non-white cis female straight perseverance historical Oklahoma Trail of Tears Cherokee 241 pages
Opening paragraph: "Maritole!" I heard my husband from the field. I sat on the cabin step helping the baby stand. "Maritole," Knobowtee called again. I started to get up, but the baby wobbled at my knees." -- Pushing the Bear is a fictional account of the Trail of Tears: the 1838 forced relocation of 13,000 Cherokee from the forests of the southeastern United States to the plains of Oklahoma. It uses multi-perspective narration to tell a nuanced and heart-breaking story.
by Natalie Baszile
MoreScore: 3 non-white cis-female straight perseverance realistic american south sugar cane women 384 pages Lexile: 870L
When Charley unexpectedly inherits eight hundred acres of sugarcane land, she and her eleven-year-old daughter say goodbye to smoggy Los Angeles and head to Louisiana. She soon learns, however, that cane farming is always going to be a white man’s business. As the sweltering summer unfolds, Charley struggles to balance the overwhelming challenges of a farm in decline with the demands of family and the startling desires of her own heart.
by Natalie Baszile
MoreScore: 3 non-white cis-female straight perseverance realistic american south sugar cane women 384 pages Lexile: 870L
When Charley unexpectedly inherits eight hundred acres of sugarcane land, she and her eleven-year-old daughter say goodbye to smoggy Los Angeles and head to Louisiana. She soon learns, however, that cane farming is always going to be a white man’s business. As the sweltering summer unfolds, Charley struggles to balance the overwhelming challenges of a farm in decline with the demands of family and the startling desires of her own heart.
by Virginia Woolf
MoreScore: 3 white cis-female non-straight perseverance historical England Feminism Writing 132 pages
With a fictional character, Judith Shakespeare (William's sister), Woolf illustrates the importance of a woman having money and space of her own to fully develop. Judith has gifts equal to William but is denied the same opportunities to develop them. She stays trapped at home while William goes off to school. Judith is betrothed, and when she resists marriage, she is beaten and then shamed into marriage by her father. While Shakespeare establishes himself, Judith is trapped by the confines of the expectations of women. Judith kills herself, and her genius goes unexpressed, while Shakespeare lives on and establishes his legacy.
by Virginia Woolf
MoreScore: 3 white cis-female non-straight perseverance historical England Feminism Writing 132 pages
With a fictional character, Judith Shakespeare (William's sister), Woolf illustrates the importance of a woman having money and space of her own to fully develop. Judith has gifts equal to William but is denied the same opportunities to develop them. She stays trapped at home while William goes off to school. Judith is betrothed, and when she resists marriage, she is beaten and then shamed into marriage by her father. While Shakespeare establishes himself, Judith is trapped by the confines of the expectations of women. Judith kills herself, and her genius goes unexpressed, while Shakespeare lives on and establishes his legacy.
by Hala Ayan
MoreScore: 3 non-white cis-female straight perseverance realistic West Bank Palestinian Refugee 320 pages
On the eve of her daughter Alia’s wedding, Salma reads the girl’s future in a cup of coffee dregs. She sees an unsettled life for Alia and her children; she also sees travel, and luck. While she chooses to keep her predictions to herself that day, they will all soon come to pass when the family is uprooted in the wake of the Six-Day War of 1967.
by Hala Ayan
MoreScore: 3 non-white cis-female straight perseverance realistic West Bank Palestinian Refugee 320 pages
On the eve of her daughter Alia’s wedding, Salma reads the girl’s future in a cup of coffee dregs. She sees an unsettled life for Alia and her children; she also sees travel, and luck. While she chooses to keep her predictions to herself that day, they will all soon come to pass when the family is uprooted in the wake of the Six-Day War of 1967.
by Tayari Jones
MoreScore: 3 non-white cis-female pending perseverance realistic Atlanta, GA African American Bigamy 340 pages Lexile: 770L
Set in a middle-class neighborhood in Atlanta in the 1980s, the novel revolves around James Witherspoon 's two families the public one and the secret one. When the daughters from each family meet and form a friendship, only one of them knows they are sisters. It is a relationship destined to explode when secrets are revealed and illusions shattered. As Jones explores the backstories of her rich yet flawed characters the father, the two mothers, the grandmother, and the uncle she also reveals the joy, as well as the destruction, they brought to one another 's lives.
by Tayari Jones
MoreScore: 3 non-white cis-female pending perseverance realistic Atlanta, GA African American Bigamy 340 pages Lexile: 770L
Set in a middle-class neighborhood in Atlanta in the 1980s, the novel revolves around James Witherspoon 's two families the public one and the secret one. When the daughters from each family meet and form a friendship, only one of them knows they are sisters. It is a relationship destined to explode when secrets are revealed and illusions shattered. As Jones explores the backstories of her rich yet flawed characters the father, the two mothers, the grandmother, and the uncle she also reveals the joy, as well as the destruction, they brought to one another 's lives.
by Victoria Christopher Murray
MoreScore: 3 non-white cis-female straight perseverance realistic Motherhood African Americans Criminal Justice 432 pages
A black teenage boy is dead. A white man shot him. Was he standing his ground or was it murder? Janice Johnson is living every black mother’s nightmare. Her seventeen-year-old son was murdered and the shooter has not been arrested. Meredith Spencer is married to the man accused of the killing and she sees her husband and the situation with far more clarity than anyone realizes. Will she have the courage to come forward in time so that justice can be done?
by Victoria Christopher Murray
MoreScore: 3 non-white cis-female straight perseverance realistic Motherhood African Americans Criminal Justice 432 pages
A black teenage boy is dead. A white man shot him. Was he standing his ground or was it murder? Janice Johnson is living every black mother’s nightmare. Her seventeen-year-old son was murdered and the shooter has not been arrested. Meredith Spencer is married to the man accused of the killing and she sees her husband and the situation with far more clarity than anyone realizes. Will she have the courage to come forward in time so that justice can be done?
by Khaled Hosseini
MoreScore: 3 non-white cis-female straight perseverance historical afghanistan families 372 pages Lexile: 830L
An incredible chronicle of thirty years of Afghan history and a deeply moving story of family, friendship, faith, and the salvation to be found in love. Mariam and Laila are two women brought jarringly together by war, by loss and by fate. As they endure the ever escalating dangers around them-in their home as well as in the streets of Kabul-they come to form a bond that makes them both sisters and mother-daughter to each other.
by Khaled Hosseini
MoreScore: 3 non-white cis-female straight perseverance historical afghanistan families 372 pages Lexile: 830L
An incredible chronicle of thirty years of Afghan history and a deeply moving story of family, friendship, faith, and the salvation to be found in love. Mariam and Laila are two women brought jarringly together by war, by loss and by fate. As they endure the ever escalating dangers around them-in their home as well as in the streets of Kabul-they come to form a bond that makes them both sisters and mother-daughter to each other.
by Ann Petry
Featured Book MoreScore: 3 non-white cis-female straight perseverance historical salem witch trials women slavery 256 pages Lexile: 840L
In 1688, Tituba and her husband, John, are sold to a Boston minister and sent to the strange world of Salem, Massachusetts. Rumors about witches are spreading like wildfire throughout the state, filling the heads of Salem’s superstitious, God-fearing residents. When the reverend’s suggestible young daughter, Betsey, starts having fits, the townsfolk declare it to be the devil’s work. Suspicion falls on Tituba, who can read fortunes and spin flax into thread so fine it seems like magic.
by Ann Petry
Featured Book MoreScore: 3 non-white cis-female straight perseverance historical salem witch trials women slavery 256 pages Lexile: 840L
In 1688, Tituba and her husband, John, are sold to a Boston minister and sent to the strange world of Salem, Massachusetts. Rumors about witches are spreading like wildfire throughout the state, filling the heads of Salem’s superstitious, God-fearing residents. When the reverend’s suggestible young daughter, Betsey, starts having fits, the townsfolk declare it to be the devil’s work. Suspicion falls on Tituba, who can read fortunes and spin flax into thread so fine it seems like magic.
by Christopher Paul Curtis
Coretta Scott King Award MoreScore: 3 non-white cis-male undisclosed perseverance historical Birmingham, AL African American Church Bombing 240 pages Lexile: 920L
Enter the hilarious world of ten-year-old Kenny and his family, the Weird Watsons of Flint, Michigan. There's Momma, Dad, little sister Joetta, and brother Byron, who's thirteen and an "official juvenile delinquent." When Byron gets to be too much trouble, they head South to Birmingham to visit Grandma, the one person who can shape him up. And they happen to be in Birmingham when Grandma's church is blown up.
by Christopher Paul Curtis
Coretta Scott King Award MoreScore: 3 non-white cis-male undisclosed perseverance historical Birmingham, AL African American Church Bombing 240 pages Lexile: 920L
Enter the hilarious world of ten-year-old Kenny and his family, the Weird Watsons of Flint, Michigan. There's Momma, Dad, little sister Joetta, and brother Byron, who's thirteen and an "official juvenile delinquent." When Byron gets to be too much trouble, they head South to Birmingham to visit Grandma, the one person who can shape him up. And they happen to be in Birmingham when Grandma's church is blown up.
by Radclyffe Hall
MoreScore: 3 white cis-female non-straight perseverance romance world war II lesbians 513 pages
Follow the life of Stephen Gordon, an Englishwoman from an upper-class family whose homosexuality is apparent from an early age. She finds love with Mary Llewellyn, whom she meets while serving as an ambulance driver in World War I, but their happiness together is marred by social isolation and rejection. One of the first novels written by a lesbian about life as a lesbian.
by Radclyffe Hall
MoreScore: 3 white cis-female non-straight perseverance romance world war II lesbians 513 pages
Follow the life of Stephen Gordon, an Englishwoman from an upper-class family whose homosexuality is apparent from an early age. She finds love with Mary Llewellyn, whom she meets while serving as an ambulance driver in World War I, but their happiness together is marred by social isolation and rejection. One of the first novels written by a lesbian about life as a lesbian.
by Ernesto Quiñonez
MoreScore: 2 non-white cis-male straight perseverance realistic new york puerto ricans 224 pages
Willie Bodega is king. Need college tuition for your daughter? Start-up funds for your fruit stand? Bodega can help. He gives everyone a leg up, in exchange only for loyalty—and a steady income from the drugs he pushes. Lyrical, inspired, and darkly funny.
by Ernesto Quiñonez
MoreScore: 2 non-white cis-male straight perseverance realistic new york puerto ricans 224 pages
Willie Bodega is king. Need college tuition for your daughter? Start-up funds for your fruit stand? Bodega can help. He gives everyone a leg up, in exchange only for loyalty—and a steady income from the drugs he pushes. Lyrical, inspired, and darkly funny.
by Marcus Zusak
MoreScore: 2 white cis-female undisclosed perseverance historical world war II holocaust libraries 552 pages Lexile: 730L
It is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will become busier still. Liesel Meminger is a foster girl living outside of Munich, who scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can't resist–books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement.
by Marcus Zusak
MoreScore: 2 white cis-female undisclosed perseverance historical world war II holocaust libraries 552 pages Lexile: 730L
It is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will become busier still. Liesel Meminger is a foster girl living outside of Munich, who scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can't resist–books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement.
by Bernice L. McFadden
Coretta Scott King Award MoreScore: 2 non-white cis-male straight perseverance historical Germany African Americans Holocaust 400 pages
When Harlan and his best friend, trumpeter Lizard Robbins, are invited to perform at a popular cabaret in the Parisian enclave of Montmartre--affectionately referred to as "The Harlem of Paris" by black American musicians--Harlan jumps at the opportunity, convincing Lizard to join him. Shockingly, the City of Light falls under Nazi occupation, Harlan and Lizard are imprisoned in the Buchenwald Concentration Camp. Based on exhaustive research and told in McFadden's mesmeric prose, The Book of Harlan skillfully blends the stories of McFadden's familial ancestors with those of real and imagined characters.
by Bernice L. McFadden
Coretta Scott King Award MoreScore: 2 non-white cis-male straight perseverance historical Germany African Americans Holocaust 400 pages
When Harlan and his best friend, trumpeter Lizard Robbins, are invited to perform at a popular cabaret in the Parisian enclave of Montmartre--affectionately referred to as "The Harlem of Paris" by black American musicians--Harlan jumps at the opportunity, convincing Lizard to join him. Shockingly, the City of Light falls under Nazi occupation, Harlan and Lizard are imprisoned in the Buchenwald Concentration Camp. Based on exhaustive research and told in McFadden's mesmeric prose, The Book of Harlan skillfully blends the stories of McFadden's familial ancestors with those of real and imagined characters.
by Leslie Marmon Silko
MoreScore: 2 non-white cis-male straight perseverance war Laguna, CA Laguna Indians World War II Veterans 243 pages Lexile: 890L
Tayo, a World War II veteran of mixed ancestry, returns to the Laguna Pueblo Reservation. He is deeply scarred by his experience as a prisoner of the Japanese and further wounded by the rejection he encounters from his people. Only by immersing himself in the Indian past can he begin to regain the peace that was taken from him.
by Leslie Marmon Silko
MoreScore: 2 non-white cis-male straight perseverance war Laguna, CA Laguna Indians World War II Veterans 243 pages Lexile: 890L
Tayo, a World War II veteran of mixed ancestry, returns to the Laguna Pueblo Reservation. He is deeply scarred by his experience as a prisoner of the Japanese and further wounded by the rejection he encounters from his people. Only by immersing himself in the Indian past can he begin to regain the peace that was taken from him.
by Elizabeth E Wein
MoreScore: 2 white cis-female undisclosed perseverance historical France World War II Spies 304 pages Lexile: 1020L
Oct. 11th, 1943—A British spy plane crashes in Nazi-occupied France. There are two women aboard, a pilot and a spy. One of the girls has a chance at survival. The other has lost the game before it's barely begun. When "Verity" is arrested by the Gestapo, she's sure she doesn't stand a chance. As a secret agent captured in enemy territory, she's living a spy's worst nightmare. Her Nazi interrogators give her a simple choice: reveal her mission or face a grisly execution. All may not be lost as a rescue mission led by the pilot is underway.
by Elizabeth E Wein
MoreScore: 2 white cis-female undisclosed perseverance historical France World War II Spies 304 pages Lexile: 1020L
Oct. 11th, 1943—A British spy plane crashes in Nazi-occupied France. There are two women aboard, a pilot and a spy. One of the girls has a chance at survival. The other has lost the game before it's barely begun. When "Verity" is arrested by the Gestapo, she's sure she doesn't stand a chance. As a secret agent captured in enemy territory, she's living a spy's worst nightmare. Her Nazi interrogators give her a simple choice: reveal her mission or face a grisly execution. All may not be lost as a rescue mission led by the pilot is underway.
by Ravi Howard
Coretta Scott King Award MoreScore: 2 non-white cis-male straight perseverance historical Fame African Americans Jim Crow 352 pages
The war is over, the soldiers are returning, and Nat King Cole is in Montgomery, Alabama, for a rare performance. His friend Nat Weary plans to propose to his sweetheart at the concert. When a white man attacks Cole with a pipe, Weary leaps from the audience to defend him — an act that will lead to a ten-year prison sentence. Six months before Weary is released, he receives a remarkable offer: will he be Nat King Cole’s driver and bodyguard in L.A.?
by Ravi Howard
Coretta Scott King Award MoreScore: 2 non-white cis-male straight perseverance historical Fame African Americans Jim Crow 352 pages
The war is over, the soldiers are returning, and Nat King Cole is in Montgomery, Alabama, for a rare performance. His friend Nat Weary plans to propose to his sweetheart at the concert. When a white man attacks Cole with a pipe, Weary leaps from the audience to defend him — an act that will lead to a ten-year prison sentence. Six months before Weary is released, he receives a remarkable offer: will he be Nat King Cole’s driver and bodyguard in L.A.?
by Davida Wills Hurwin
Stonwall Award MoreScore: 2 white cis-male non-straight perseverance historical Homophobia Holocaust Redemption 240 pages Lexile: HL560L
This raw, moving novel follows two teenagers-one, a Mohawk-wearing 17-year-old violent misfit; the other, a gay 13-year-old cast out by his family, hustling on the streets and trying to survive. This tragic but ultimately inspirational journey of two polarized teens, their violent first meeting, and their peaceful reunion years later is an unforgettable story of survival and forgiveness.
by Davida Wills Hurwin
Stonwall Award MoreScore: 2 white cis-male non-straight perseverance historical Homophobia Holocaust Redemption 240 pages Lexile: HL560L
This raw, moving novel follows two teenagers-one, a Mohawk-wearing 17-year-old violent misfit; the other, a gay 13-year-old cast out by his family, hustling on the streets and trying to survive. This tragic but ultimately inspirational journey of two polarized teens, their violent first meeting, and their peaceful reunion years later is an unforgettable story of survival and forgiveness.
by Ginny Rorby
MoreScore: 2 white cis-female undisclosed perseverance realistic Sign Language Chimpanzees Deafness 267 pages Lexile: 870L
Thirteen-year-old Joey Willis is used to being left out of conversations. Though she's been deaf since the age of six, Joey's mother has never allowed her to learn sign language. She strains to read the lips of those around her, but often fails. Everything changes when Joey meets Dr. Charles Mansell and his baby chimpanzee, Sukari. Her new friends use sign language to communicate, and Joey secretly begins to learn to sign.
by Ginny Rorby
MoreScore: 2 white cis-female undisclosed perseverance realistic Sign Language Chimpanzees Deafness 267 pages Lexile: 870L
Thirteen-year-old Joey Willis is used to being left out of conversations. Though she's been deaf since the age of six, Joey's mother has never allowed her to learn sign language. She strains to read the lips of those around her, but often fails. Everything changes when Joey meets Dr. Charles Mansell and his baby chimpanzee, Sukari. Her new friends use sign language to communicate, and Joey secretly begins to learn to sign.
by Ralph Ellison
MoreScore: 2 non-white cis-male straight perseverance realistic New York City African American Racism 460 pages Lexile: 870L
The nameless narrator of the novel describes growing up in a black community in the South, attending a Negro college from which he is expelled, moving to New York and becoming the chief spokesman of the Harlem branch of "the Brotherhood", and retreating amid violence and confusion to the basement lair of the Invisible Man he imagines himself to be.
by Ralph Ellison
MoreScore: 2 non-white cis-male straight perseverance realistic New York City African American Racism 460 pages Lexile: 870L
The nameless narrator of the novel describes growing up in a black community in the South, attending a Negro college from which he is expelled, moving to New York and becoming the chief spokesman of the Harlem branch of "the Brotherhood", and retreating amid violence and confusion to the basement lair of the Invisible Man he imagines himself to be.
by Upton Sinclair
MoreScore: 2 non-white cis-male straight perseverance realistic Chicago Lithuanian Meat Packing 320 pages Lexile: 1170L
The brutally grim story of a Lithuanian family who emigrates to America, The Jungle tells of their rapid and inexorable descent into numbing poverty, moral degradation, and social and economic despair. Vulnerable and isolated, the family of Jurgis Rudkus struggles — unsuccessfully — to survive in an urban jungle.A powerful view of turn-of-the-century poverty, graft, and corruption.
by Upton Sinclair
MoreScore: 2 non-white cis-male straight perseverance realistic Chicago Lithuanian Meat Packing 320 pages Lexile: 1170L
The brutally grim story of a Lithuanian family who emigrates to America, The Jungle tells of their rapid and inexorable descent into numbing poverty, moral degradation, and social and economic despair. Vulnerable and isolated, the family of Jurgis Rudkus struggles — unsuccessfully — to survive in an urban jungle.A powerful view of turn-of-the-century poverty, graft, and corruption.
by Jason Reynolds
MoreScore: 2 non-white cis-male pending perseverance magical realism Ghosts Revenge Murder 320 pages Lexile: HL720L
This novel takes place in sixty potent seconds — the time it takes a kid to ride an elevator down to the ground floor, to decide whether or not he’s going to murder the guy who killed his brother. A cannon. Told in short, fierce staccato narrative verse, Long Way Down is a fast and furious, dazzlingly brilliant look at teenage gun violence.
by Jason Reynolds
MoreScore: 2 non-white cis-male pending perseverance magical realism Ghosts Revenge Murder 320 pages Lexile: HL720L
This novel takes place in sixty potent seconds — the time it takes a kid to ride an elevator down to the ground floor, to decide whether or not he’s going to murder the guy who killed his brother. A cannon. Told in short, fierce staccato narrative verse, Long Way Down is a fast and furious, dazzlingly brilliant look at teenage gun violence.
by Colson Whitehead
MoreScore: 2 non-white cis-male pending perseverance coming-of-age Tallahassee, FL African American Institutional Abuse 224 pages Lexile: HL940L
As the Civil Rights movement begins to reach the black enclave of Frenchtown in segregated Tallahassee, Elwood Curtis takes the words of Dr. Martin Luther King to heart: He is "as good as anyone." Abandoned by his parents, but kept on the straight and narrow by his grandmother, Elwood is about to enroll in the local black college. But for a black boy in the Jim Crow South of the early 1960s, one innocent mistake is enough to destroy the future. Elwood is sentenced to a juvenile reformatory called the Nickel Academy. Based on the real story of a reform school in Florida that operated for one hundred and eleven years and warped the lives of thousands of children.
by Colson Whitehead
MoreScore: 2 non-white cis-male pending perseverance coming-of-age Tallahassee, FL African American Institutional Abuse 224 pages Lexile: HL940L
As the Civil Rights movement begins to reach the black enclave of Frenchtown in segregated Tallahassee, Elwood Curtis takes the words of Dr. Martin Luther King to heart: He is "as good as anyone." Abandoned by his parents, but kept on the straight and narrow by his grandmother, Elwood is about to enroll in the local black college. But for a black boy in the Jim Crow South of the early 1960s, one innocent mistake is enough to destroy the future. Elwood is sentenced to a juvenile reformatory called the Nickel Academy. Based on the real story of a reform school in Florida that operated for one hundred and eleven years and warped the lives of thousands of children.
by Elie Wiesel
MoreScore: 2 non-white cis-male undisclosed perseverance historical Germany Jewish Holocaust 144 pages Lexile: 570L
A candid, horrific, and deeply poignant autobiographical account of his survival as a teenager in the Nazi death camps. It offers much more than a litany of the daily terrors, everyday perversions, and rampant sadism at Auschwitz and Buchenwald. It eloquently addresses many of the philosophical as well as personal questions implicit in any serious consideration of what the Holocaust was, what it meant, and what its legacy is and will be.
by Elie Wiesel
MoreScore: 2 non-white cis-male undisclosed perseverance historical Germany Jewish Holocaust 144 pages Lexile: 570L
A candid, horrific, and deeply poignant autobiographical account of his survival as a teenager in the Nazi death camps. It offers much more than a litany of the daily terrors, everyday perversions, and rampant sadism at Auschwitz and Buchenwald. It eloquently addresses many of the philosophical as well as personal questions implicit in any serious consideration of what the Holocaust was, what it meant, and what its legacy is and will be.
by John Okada
MoreScore: 2 non-white cis-male straight perseverance realistic japanese internment world war II 264 pages Lexile: 900L
Ichiro Yamada is a fictional version of the real-life "no-no boys" who answered "no" twice to a compulsory government questionnaire as to whether he would serve in the armed forces and swear loyalty to the United States after he and his entire family were forcibly interned during world war II. Ichiro earns two years in prison and the hostility of his family and community when he returns home to Seattle.
by John Okada
MoreScore: 2 non-white cis-male straight perseverance realistic japanese internment world war II 264 pages Lexile: 900L
Ichiro Yamada is a fictional version of the real-life "no-no boys" who answered "no" twice to a compulsory government questionnaire as to whether he would serve in the armed forces and swear loyalty to the United States after he and his entire family were forcibly interned during world war II. Ichiro earns two years in prison and the hostility of his family and community when he returns home to Seattle.
by Lorraine Hansberry
MoreScore: 2 non-white cis-male straight perseverance drama chicago african americans families 151 pages
When an insurance settlement provides Walter and Ruth Younger the chance at changing their life for the better, practical plans collide with wild dreams. Walter wants to leave his job as a limo driver and open a liquor store. Walter's mother wants to put a down payment on a house in white neighborhood. White neighbors try to buy out the Younger's to prevent them from moving to the neighborhood. Walter's business associates steal the money. Dreams shrivel like a raisin in the sun.
by Lorraine Hansberry
MoreScore: 2 non-white cis-male straight perseverance drama chicago african americans families 151 pages
When an insurance settlement provides Walter and Ruth Younger the chance at changing their life for the better, practical plans collide with wild dreams. Walter wants to leave his job as a limo driver and open a liquor store. Walter's mother wants to put a down payment on a house in white neighborhood. White neighbors try to buy out the Younger's to prevent them from moving to the neighborhood. Walter's business associates steal the money. Dreams shrivel like a raisin in the sun.
by Wendelin Van Draanen
MoreScore: 2 white cis-female undisclosed perseverance realistic High School Prosthetics Running 352 pages Lexile: HL650L
Jessica thinks her life as a runner is over when she loses a leg in a car accident. As she struggles to cope with crutches and a first cyborg-like prosthetic, Jessica feels oddly both in the spotlight and invisible. People act like she's not there. Which she could handle better if she hadn't done the same thing to Rosa, a math whiz with Cerebral Palsy. As Rosa helps Jessica catch back up in math class, Jessica becomes determined to help Rosa and her wheelchair catch up with the runners in their community.
by Wendelin Van Draanen
MoreScore: 2 white cis-female undisclosed perseverance realistic High School Prosthetics Running 352 pages Lexile: HL650L
Jessica thinks her life as a runner is over when she loses a leg in a car accident. As she struggles to cope with crutches and a first cyborg-like prosthetic, Jessica feels oddly both in the spotlight and invisible. People act like she's not there. Which she could handle better if she hadn't done the same thing to Rosa, a math whiz with Cerebral Palsy. As Rosa helps Jessica catch back up in math class, Jessica becomes determined to help Rosa and her wheelchair catch up with the runners in their community.
by Christopher Isherwood
MoreScore: 2 white cis-male non-straight perseverance realistic Middle Age Death Survivor 192 pages
Welcome to sunny suburban 1960s Southern California. George Falconer is a gay middle-aged English professor, adjusting to solitude after the tragic death of his long-time partner. He is determined to persist in the routines of his former life. Behind his British reserve, tides of grief, rage, and loneliness surge—but what is revealed is a man who loves being alive despite all the everyday injustices.
by Christopher Isherwood
MoreScore: 2 white cis-male non-straight perseverance realistic Middle Age Death Survivor 192 pages
Welcome to sunny suburban 1960s Southern California. George Falconer is a gay middle-aged English professor, adjusting to solitude after the tragic death of his long-time partner. He is determined to persist in the routines of his former life. Behind his British reserve, tides of grief, rage, and loneliness surge—but what is revealed is a man who loves being alive despite all the everyday injustices.
by Viet Thanh Nguyen
Pulitzer Prize MoreScore: 2 non-white cis-male straight perseverance war Los Angeles, CA Vietnamese Spies 384 pages
The narrator, a communist double agent, is a “man of two minds,” a half-French, half-Vietnamese army captain who arranges to come to America after the Fall of Saigon, and while building a new life with other Vietnamese refugees in Los Angeles is secretly reporting back to his communist superiors in Vietnam. The Sympathizer is a blistering exploration of identity and America, a gripping espionage novel, and a powerful story of love and friendship.
by Viet Thanh Nguyen
Pulitzer Prize MoreScore: 2 non-white cis-male straight perseverance war Los Angeles, CA Vietnamese Spies 384 pages
The narrator, a communist double agent, is a “man of two minds,” a half-French, half-Vietnamese army captain who arranges to come to America after the Fall of Saigon, and while building a new life with other Vietnamese refugees in Los Angeles is secretly reporting back to his communist superiors in Vietnam. The Sympathizer is a blistering exploration of identity and America, a gripping espionage novel, and a powerful story of love and friendship.
by Alison Goodman
MoreScore: 2 undisclosed cis-female straight perseverance fantasy magic women 512 pages
Under the harsh regime of an ambitious master, candidate Eon is training to become a Dragoneye - a powerful Lord able to master wind and water to protect the land. But Eon also harbours a desperate secret. Eon is, in fact, Eona, a young woman who has endured years of disguise as a boy for the chance to practice the Dragoneye's Art.
by Alison Goodman
MoreScore: 2 undisclosed cis-female straight perseverance fantasy magic women 512 pages
Under the harsh regime of an ambitious master, candidate Eon is training to become a Dragoneye - a powerful Lord able to master wind and water to protect the land. But Eon also harbours a desperate secret. Eon is, in fact, Eona, a young woman who has endured years of disguise as a boy for the chance to practice the Dragoneye's Art.
by Kate Chopin
MoreScore: 1 white cis-female straight perseverance realistic new orleans women desire 296 pages Lexile: 960L
As the heroine, Edna Pontellier, awakens to her own desires, she begins to question her ideas about marriage, motherhood, society, art, and the nature of love itself.
by Kate Chopin
MoreScore: 1 white cis-female straight perseverance realistic new orleans women desire 296 pages Lexile: 960L
As the heroine, Edna Pontellier, awakens to her own desires, she begins to question her ideas about marriage, motherhood, society, art, and the nature of love itself.
by Sarah Schulman
MoreScore: 1 white cis-female straight perseverance historical New York City Society Adultery 296 pages
Bette, a lonely spinster, has worked as a secretary at an ad agency for thirty years. Her only real friend is her apartment neighbor Earl, a black, gay actor with a miserable job in a meatpacking plant. Shamed and disowned by their families, both find refuge in New York and in their friendship. Everything changes when Hortense, Bette’s wealthy niece from Ohio, moves to the city to pursue her own acting career. Bette uses her connections in the television ad world to destroy those who have wronged her.
by Sarah Schulman
MoreScore: 1 white cis-female straight perseverance historical New York City Society Adultery 296 pages
Bette, a lonely spinster, has worked as a secretary at an ad agency for thirty years. Her only real friend is her apartment neighbor Earl, a black, gay actor with a miserable job in a meatpacking plant. Shamed and disowned by their families, both find refuge in New York and in their friendship. Everything changes when Hortense, Bette’s wealthy niece from Ohio, moves to the city to pursue her own acting career. Bette uses her connections in the television ad world to destroy those who have wronged her.
by Fannie Flagg
MoreScore: 1 white cis-female straight perseverance humor american south racism homophobia 432 pages Lexile: 940L
Folksy and fresh, endearing and affecting, A novel about two women: Evelyn, who’s in the sad slump of middle age, and gray-headed Mrs. Threadgoode, who’s telling her life story. Her tale includes two more women—the irrepressibly daredevilish tomboy Idgie and her friend Ruth—who back in the thirties ran a little place in Whistle Stop, Alabama, offering good coffee, southern barbecue, and all kinds of love and laughter—even an occasional murder.
by Fannie Flagg
MoreScore: 1 white cis-female straight perseverance humor american south racism homophobia 432 pages Lexile: 940L
Folksy and fresh, endearing and affecting, A novel about two women: Evelyn, who’s in the sad slump of middle age, and gray-headed Mrs. Threadgoode, who’s telling her life story. Her tale includes two more women—the irrepressibly daredevilish tomboy Idgie and her friend Ruth—who back in the thirties ran a little place in Whistle Stop, Alabama, offering good coffee, southern barbecue, and all kinds of love and laughter—even an occasional murder.
by Tillie Olsen
MoreScore: 1 white cis-female straight perseverance realistic mothers daughters 10 pages
When a mother is contacted by a guidance counselor at her daughter Emily's school to say that Emily is in trouble, the mother remembers the joys and regrets of raising Emily in the Depression. The mother resolves to help Emily break free free from the past and help her to dig her way onward to a new life.
by Tillie Olsen
MoreScore: 1 white cis-female straight perseverance realistic mothers daughters 10 pages
When a mother is contacted by a guidance counselor at her daughter Emily's school to say that Emily is in trouble, the mother remembers the joys and regrets of raising Emily in the Depression. The mother resolves to help Emily break free free from the past and help her to dig her way onward to a new life.
by George Eliot
MoreScore: 1 white cis-female straight perseverance domestic England Women Gender Roles 880 pages Lexile: 1210L
In the fictional town of Middlemarch, selflessness, social reform, and romantic love struggle to survive against human foolishness, economic missteps, and societal ideals. Young and intelligent, Dorothea Brooke marries a middle-aged scholar working tirelessly on his supposed masterwork. Elsewhere in town, Tertius Lydgate, an idealistic young doctor, is caught in an ill-fated union with the sweet but superficial Rosamund Vincy, again disappointed with the institution of marriage. Fortunately, husbands die and accidents happen.
by George Eliot
MoreScore: 1 white cis-female straight perseverance domestic England Women Gender Roles 880 pages Lexile: 1210L
In the fictional town of Middlemarch, selflessness, social reform, and romantic love struggle to survive against human foolishness, economic missteps, and societal ideals. Young and intelligent, Dorothea Brooke marries a middle-aged scholar working tirelessly on his supposed masterwork. Elsewhere in town, Tertius Lydgate, an idealistic young doctor, is caught in an ill-fated union with the sweet but superficial Rosamund Vincy, again disappointed with the institution of marriage. Fortunately, husbands die and accidents happen.
by John Steinbeck
MoreScore: 1 white cis-male undisclosed perseverance historical California Developmental Disability Great Depression 144 pages Lexile: 630L
An unlikely pair, George and Lennie, two migrant workers in California during the Great Depression, grasp for their American Dream. They hustle work when they can, living a hand-to-mouth existence. George and Lennie have a plan: to own an acre of land and a shack they can call their own. When they land jobs on a ranch in the Salinas Valley, the fulfillment of their dream seems to be within their grasp. But even George cannot guard Lennie from the provocations, nor predict the consequences of Lennie's unswerving obedience to the things George taught him.
by John Steinbeck
MoreScore: 1 white cis-male undisclosed perseverance historical California Developmental Disability Great Depression 144 pages Lexile: 630L
An unlikely pair, George and Lennie, two migrant workers in California during the Great Depression, grasp for their American Dream. They hustle work when they can, living a hand-to-mouth existence. George and Lennie have a plan: to own an acre of land and a shack they can call their own. When they land jobs on a ranch in the Salinas Valley, the fulfillment of their dream seems to be within their grasp. But even George cannot guard Lennie from the provocations, nor predict the consequences of Lennie's unswerving obedience to the things George taught him.
by Charles Dickens
MoreScore: 1 white cis-male undisclosed perseverance historical England Orphans Poverty 630 pages Lexile: 900L
Oliver Twist endures a miserable existence in a workhouse and then is placed with an undertaker. He escapes and travels to London where he meets the Artful Dodger, leader of a gang of juvenile pickpockets. Naively unaware of their unlawful activities, Oliver is led to the lair of their elderly criminal trainer Fagin.
by Charles Dickens
MoreScore: 1 white cis-male undisclosed perseverance historical England Orphans Poverty 630 pages Lexile: 900L
Oliver Twist endures a miserable existence in a workhouse and then is placed with an undertaker. He escapes and travels to London where he meets the Artful Dodger, leader of a gang of juvenile pickpockets. Naively unaware of their unlawful activities, Oliver is led to the lair of their elderly criminal trainer Fagin.
by Nathaniel Hawthorne
MoreScore: 1 white cis-female straight perseverance historical revenge adultery women 322 pages Lexile: 1280L
Set in 17th-century Puritan Massachusetts Bay Colony, during the years 1642 to 1649, it tells the story of Hester Prynne, who conceives a daughter through an affair and struggles to create a new life of repentance and dignity.
by Nathaniel Hawthorne
MoreScore: 1 white cis-female straight perseverance historical revenge adultery women 322 pages Lexile: 1280L
Set in 17th-century Puritan Massachusetts Bay Colony, during the years 1642 to 1649, it tells the story of Hester Prynne, who conceives a daughter through an affair and struggles to create a new life of repentance and dignity.
by R J Palacio
MoreScore: 1 white cis-male undisclosed perseverance realistic New York Developmental Difference Middle School 416 pages Lexile: 790L
August Pullman was born with a facial difference that, up until now, has prevented him from going to a mainstream school. Starting 5th grade at Beecher Prep, he wants nothing more than to be treated as an ordinary kid—but his new classmates can’t get past Auggie’s extraordinary face. The story begins from Auggie’s point of view, but soon switches to include his classmates, his sister, her boyfriend, and others. These perspectives converge in a portrait of one community’s struggle with empathy, compassion, and acceptance.
by R J Palacio
MoreScore: 1 white cis-male undisclosed perseverance realistic New York Developmental Difference Middle School 416 pages Lexile: 790L
August Pullman was born with a facial difference that, up until now, has prevented him from going to a mainstream school. Starting 5th grade at Beecher Prep, he wants nothing more than to be treated as an ordinary kid—but his new classmates can’t get past Auggie’s extraordinary face. The story begins from Auggie’s point of view, but soon switches to include his classmates, his sister, her boyfriend, and others. These perspectives converge in a portrait of one community’s struggle with empathy, compassion, and acceptance.