Ordinary, Extraordinary Jane Austen: The Story of Six Novels, Three Notebooks, a Writing Box, and One Clever Girl By Deborah Hopkinson (Grades 1-3)

Deborah Hopkinson is an award winning American author of many historical fiction, non-fiction, and picture books. Before she started writing full-time, Hopkinson worked in several different fields such as a philanthropic fundraiser, a marketing director, and a director for foundation relations. Ordinary, Extraordinary Jane Austen is a bibliography of Jane Austen who is one of the most beloved writers of all time.

Dead White Writer on the Floor By Drew Hayden Taylor (Grades 10+)

Dead White Writer on the Floor uses theatre of the absurd and mystery novels to create a funny and thought-provoking play about identity politics. It follows six “savages”, noble, innocent, ignorant, fearless, wise and gay, respectively, who find themselves in a locked room with the body of a white writer, which they stash in a closet. No one knows how the writer died, or who killed him. As they accuse each other of being the killer, they each come to the conclusion that they are happy with their lives. They decide that they can use the dead writer's tools to write themselves a new destiny.

The Sercret Pocket By Peggy Janicki (Grades 1-3)

Peggy Janicki lives on theTraditional, Ancestral, Unceded Ch’iyáqtel territory and is committed to seeing their land safely returned to them or compensated for. As such, one of her goals is to recognize her obligations to the Coast Salish/Dakelh Law, governance, kinship, language, land, and culture. Peggy wants to raise awareness of Indian Residential School in BC Schools. With permission, she added the story to herrole-drama history lesson she had been teaching for decades. Mary was four years old when she was first taken away to the Lejac Indian Residential School. It was far away from her home and family. Always hungry and cold, there was little comfort for young Mary. Speaking Dakelh was forbidden and the nuns and priest were always watching, ready to punish. Mary and the other girls had a genius drawing on the knowledge from their mothers, aunts and grandmothers who were all master sewers, the girls would sew hidden pockets in their clothes to hide food. They secretly gathered materials and sewed at nighttime, then used their pockets to hide apples, carrots and pieces of bread to share with the younger girls. Based on the author's mother's experience at residential school, The Secret Pocket is a story of survival and resilience in the face of genocide and cruelty. But it's also a celebration of quiet resistance to the injustice of residential schools and how the sewing skills passed down through generations of Indigenous women gave these girls a future, stitch by stitch.

Only Drunks and Children Tell the Truth By Drew Hayden Taylor (Grade 10+)

Only Drunks and Children Tell The Truth is a two-act play written by Drew Hayden Taylor. It is the sister play to Someday. The play follows Grace, a victim of the Sixties Scoops, as she struggles with the news of her birth mother being dead. It follows Grace and her biological sister as they work through their relationship and their traumas of growing up. It is a play that only requires four people; Grace, her sister Barb, Rodney (Barb's partner) and Tonto (Rodney's brother). It is easy to read and has both humorous and heartfelt moments.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian By Sherman Alexie (Grades 7-9)

Sherman Alexie is a Native American novelist, short story writer, poet, screenwriter, and filmaker. He grew up on the Spokane Indian Reserve and now lives in Seattle, Washington. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is a first person novel in the perspective of Native American teenager Arnold Spirit Jr. who is determined to take his future in his own hands. Arnold leaves his school on the rez to attend an all-white highschool where he is the only Indian.

Indian Horse By Richard Wagamese (Grades 10+)

Richard Wagamese was an Ojibwe author from the Wabaseemoong Independent Nations in Northwestern Ontario. He is best known for his novel Indian Horse, which centers on Saul Indian Horse, a Residential school survivor who becomes a talented hockey player, however, his past traumas resurface in his adulthood.

Little Moons By Jen Storm (Grades 7-9)

Jen Storm is an Ojibwe writer Couchiching First Nation in Northwestern Ontario. Little Moons explores the many ways that families cope with greif after a death in the family. Jen Storm presents the mourning traditions and culture of her Ojibwe heritage.

Shin-chi's Canoe By Nicola I. Campbell (Grades 1-3)

Nicola I. Campbell is a Nłeʔkepmx, Syilx, and Metis poet, author, and educator who lives in British Columbia. She has written many award winning books incorporating her indigenous culture, the most famous being Shi-shi-etko and Shin-chi's Canoe. Shin-chi's Canoe won the 2009 TD Canadian Children's Literature Award and was a finalist for two other awards in 2009 and 2010. Shin-chi's Canoe is the sequel to Shi-shi-etko and explores the story of 6 year old Shin-chi while he's at residential school.

Girls Like Girls By Hayley Kiyoko (Grades 10+)

Hayley Kiyoko was a child actress and modle, she starred in things such as Scooby-Doo! film series, Lemonade Mouth, Blue Lagoon: The Awakening, Jem and the Holograms, Insidious: Chapter 3, and XOXO. However, as she got older, she started persuing things such as music and writting. In 2015 she released a song titled Hirls like Girld and in 2023 she wrote a book under the same named, based of the events in the song. The book has become a New York Times best seller and a movie.

Victories Greater Than Death By Charlie Jane Anders (Grades 7-9)

Known for her inventive, funny and unique speculative fiction writing, as well as being the founder of Other magazine and co-creator (along with Annalee Newitz) of the SF website io9, Charlie Jane Anders has made waves most recently for her contributions to YA literature. Featuring compelling and complex characters, and a thrilling story of alien origins, Victories Greater than Death is just the first in an award-winning YA trilogy, including the Locus Award for Best Young Adult Book. With themes of love, friendship, inclusion and anti-imperialism, this series is not only a thrilling, high-concept rollercoaster ride, it is, as one reviewer said, "a very genuine celebration of difference."

Key Player By Kelly Yang (Grades 4-6)

Kelly Yang  is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the FRONT DESK series. Yang immigrated to America when she was 6 years old and grew up in Southern California. She overcame poverty to go to college at the age of 13 and law school at the age of 17. She is a graduate of UC Berkeley, where she majored in Political Science, and Harvard Law School. After law school, she gave up law to pursue her passion of writing and teaching children writing. Before turning to fiction, she was also a columnist for the South China Morning Post for many years. Her writing has been published in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Atlantic.

Téo's Tutu By Maryann Jacob Macias (Grades 1-3)

Chosen as one of Amazon’s Best Books of 2021 and named a 2023 Rainbow Book by the American Library Association, Teo’s Tutu tells the story of a boy’s first ballet class. Teo loves to dance whether itis the cumbia, or the bhangra, or ballet – and he loves the way dancing in a tutu makes him feel. When he has to decide what to wear to the big dance recital, Teo considers if being his authentic self will put him too much in the spotlight. This book is a celebration of gender-creativity, dance, and being true to yourself. Maryann Jacob Macias is a graduate of the City College of New York, CUNY, and the Solstice MFA Low-Residency Program at Pine Manor College. Her first picture book, Teo’s Tutu, is inspired by her Indian and Colombian heritage and her love for dance.

Hiroshima By Sarah Kay (Grades 10+)

Sarah Kay is a Japanese and American poet born in New York in 1988. She started writing poetry around the age of 14. Sarah primarily makes spoken word poetry and is known worldwide for her famous slam poems. She dedicated a non-profit to using slam poetry as an educational tool. Through the heartbreaking words of Kay, she motivated people to be more like themselves and to accept what comes with being a woman. She attended Brown University and got her Master of Arts degree. Her piece Hiroshima uses the tragedies of this land to talk about human experiences, loss, and endorsement.

The Bonesetter's Daughter By Amy Tan (Grades 7-9)

Amy Tan was born in California to Chinese immigrants. When she was 15, her elder brother and father died due to brain tumours, leaving her, her mother, and her younger brother. Tan had a difficult relationship with her mother, which ended up being the basis of many of her novels such as her first novel, Joy Luck Club. The Bonesetter’s Daughter tells the story of Ruth in the first half of the book, who is having to deal with her mother who is seemingly getting more demented, her boyfriend and his two daughters, and her work as a ghostwriter for self-help books. The other half of the book recounts the story of Ruth’s mother, Lu Ling, and her past. Through this, Ruth finally understands the roots of her mother’s seemingly erratic behaviours.

When You Trap a Tiger By Tae Keller (Grades 5-6)

"When You Trap a Tiger" is a children's fiction book addressing many themes including family history, identity, loss and LGBTQ+. Lily, the protagonist move in with her sick grandmother and soon faces a magical tiger from her halmoni's Koream folktales. Lily must find her courage and her voice to face this tiger and truly understand her family history. This book has won the 2021 John Newbery Medal and the Asian/Pacific American Award for Children's Literature. Tae Keller grew up in Honolulu, Hawaii and now lives in Seattle. She continues to explore the many themes regarding identity, biraciality and girls trying to find their voices.

My Day with Gong Gong By Sennah Yee (Grades 1-3)

"My Day with Gong Gong" is a children's picture book written by Sennah Yee and illustrated by Elaine Chen. The book follows the day of a little girl and her grandpa in Chinatown. She becomes bored, but her day flips when she creates a connection with her grandpa. He does not speak much english and May cannot understand Chinese. Just when May feels like she is being excluded from him and his friends, he surprises May with a gift that shows that he has been paying more attention than she thinks she is. This adorable and charming book captures the small moments of life in the city and proves that small, shared moments of care, love, and patience can bridge the gap of generations and cultures. Sennah Yee is writer from Toronto where she writes poems, prose, and film criticism. She is also the co-creator and managing editor of the pop culture journal "In The Mood Magazine".

Big Clock By Li Young Lee (Grades 10+)

Li-Young Lee was born in Indonesia to Chinese parents, later immigrating to the United States. A distinct and influential voice in Asian American poetry, he is most known for his collection The City in Which I Love You. Influenced by classical Chinese poetry, Lee's work embody characteristics of strength, silence, and simplicity, often in conjunction with existentialism, as exhibited in his poem "Big Clock", a rumination on time, aging, and grief. On the writing of this poem, Lee: “This poem is an attempt, I suppose, to understand time—the nature of time—and it seems to me that each of these stanzas is a figure of time on the one hand, and on the other hand a figure for eternity. I’m not sure if I’ve successfully communicated that, and I don’t mean in terms of subject matter or narrative, but in terms of what the language might inspire in the reader: the images, the ideas, but even more than the images and ideas (which are all in the head) something at a cellular level of understanding, something at a logic beyond our diurnal logic."

Elegy for my Sadness By Chen Chen (Grades 7-9)

A queer Chinese American poet, Chen Chen's work has appeared in Poetry, The New York Times Magazine, and The Best American Poetry. His first collection, When I Grow Up I Want to Be a List of Further Possibilities, was selected by Jericho Brown for the A. Poulin, Jr. Poetry Prize and longlisted for the 2017 National Book Award for Poetry. From the same book, Elegy for My Sadness is an intimate and lyrical examination of love, romancing, and poetic whimsy.

While I was Away By Waka T. Brown (Grades 4-6)

This inspring memoir, While I was Away talks about the unfamiliar feeling author Waka T. Brown feels when she's forced to go to Japan. Known as the "smart Japanese girl" in rural Kansas, she is soon labelled as the "dumb foreigner" in Japan as she struggles with reading and writing in kanji, doesn’t quite mesh with her complicated, distant, and strict Obaasama (grandma), and gets made fun of by the students in her Japanese public-school classes. Waka T. Brown is a Stanford graduate with a BA in International Relations and a Master's in Secondary Education.

Yes We Will: Asian Americans Who Shaped This Country By Kelly Yang (Grades 1-3)

Written by Front Desk author, Kelly Yang, Yes We Will: Asian Americans Who Shaped This Country is a valuable survey of influential Asian Americans who have had profound impact on contemporary society. From Yo-Yo Ma to Jeremy Lin to Sandra Oh to Kamala Harris, kids (and grownups!) will read about and be inspired by the stories of Asian Americans and their stories of success and overcoming obstacles to get to where they were.

Kelly Yang, as mentioned, is the award winning author of the Front Desk series. Yes We Will has garnered recognition from the Texas Topaz Reading List, the Bank Street College Best Children's Books of the Year, and is a NCSS-CBC Notable Social Studies Trade Book