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A West Chester teacher makes her picks for kids—and adults.
Looking to expand your cultural awareness? Michele Curay-Cramer has a few suggestions. An eighth grade English teacher at E.N. Peirce Middle School in West Chester, Curay-Cramer regularly includes authors of color on her syllabi. Here are the books her class will be reading this year.
A Very Large Expanse of Sea by Tahereh Mafi (HarperCollins, 320 pages)
Ahimsa by Supriya Kelkar (Tu Books, 304 pages)
All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely (Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books, 320 pages)
All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 320 pages)
Amal Unbound by Aisha Saeed (Nancy Paulsen Books, 240 pages)
Better Nate than Never by Tim Federle (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 304 pages)
Black Brother, Black Brother by Jewell Parker Rhodes (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 240 pages)
Blended by Sharon Draper (Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books, 320 pages)
Booked by Kwame Alexander (HMH Books for Young Readers, 320 pages)
Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi (Henry Holt and Co., 544 pages)
Children of Virtue and Vengeance by Tomi Adeyemi (Henry Holt and Co., 416 pages)
Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo (Quill Tree Books, 432 pages)
Clean Getaway by Nic Stone (Crown Books for Young Readers, 240 pages)
Crossover by Kwame Alexander (HMH Books for Young Readers, 240 pages)
Dear Martin by Nic Stone (Crown Books for Young Readers, 224 pages)
Dragon Hoopes by Gene Luen Yang (First Second, 448 pages)
Front Desk by Kelly Yang (Arthur A. Levine Books, 304 pages)
George by Alex Gino (Scholastic Inc., 224 pages)
Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 224 pages)
Hurricane Child by Kacen Callender (Scholastic Press, 224 pages)
Ignite the Stars by Maura Milan (AW Teen, 400 pages)
Internment by Samira Ahmed (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 400 pages)
It’s Trevor Noah: Born a Crime (Young Readers Version) by Trevor Noah (Delacorte Books for Young Readers, 304 pages)
Kingdom of Back by Marie Lu (G. P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers, 336 pages)
Let Me Hear A Rhyme by Tiffany Jackson (Katherine Tegen Books, 384 pages)
Look Both Ways by Jason Reynolds (Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books, 208 pages)
March Book I, II and III by Andrew Aydin and John Lewis (Top Shelf Productions, 256 pages)
Miles Morales Spider Man by Jason Reynolds (Marvel Press, 272 pages)
Monday’s Not Coming by Tiffany Jackson (Katherine Tegen Books, 448 pages)
New Kid by Jerry Craft (Quill Tree Books, 256 pages)
On the Come Up by Angie Thomas (Balzer + Bray, 464 pages)
Other Words for Home by Jasmine Warga (HarperCollins Publishers, 352 pages)
Pet by Akwaeke Emezi (Make Me A World, 208 pages)
Piecing Me Together by Renée Watson (Bloomsbury USA Children’s, 288 pages)
Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo (Quill Tree Books, 368 pages)
Rebound by Kwame Alexander (HMH Books for Young Readers, 416 pages)
Refugee by Alan Gratz (Scholastic Press, 352 pages)
Shadowshaper by Daniel Jose Older (Scholastic Inc., 320 pages)
Solo by Kwame Alexander (Blink, 464 pages)
Some Places More Than Others by Renée Watson (Bloomsbury USA Children’s, 208 pages)
Stamped by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 320 pages)
Swing by Kwame Alexander (Blink, 448 pages)
The 57 Bus by Dashka Slater (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 320 pages)
The Benefits of Being an Octopus by Ann Braden (Sky Pony, 191 pages)
The Boy in the Black Suit by Jason Reynolds (Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books, 304 pages)
The Brooklyn 9 by Alan Gratz (Puffin Books, 299 pages)
The Epic Fail of Arturo Zamora by Pablo Cartaya (Viking Books for Young Readers, 256 pages)
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas (Balzer + Bray, 464 pages)
The Night Diary by Veera Hiranandani (Kokila, 272 pages)
The Parker Inheritance by Varian Johnson (Arthur A. Levine Books, 352 pages)
The Stars Beneath Our Feet by David Barclay Moore (Knopf Books For Young Readers, 304 pages)
The Track Series by Jason Reynolds (Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books, 832 pages)
They Called Us Enemy by George Takei, Justin Eisinger, and Steven Scott (Top Shelf Productions, 208 pages)
Warcross by Marie Lu (G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers, 368 pages)
We Are Not From Here by Jenny Torres Sanchez (Philomel Books, 368 pages)
With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo (Quill Tree Books, 400 pages)
