I’m participating in the Diversity on the Shelf challenge hosted by Akilah at the Englishist.
I read 19 books in June, not including two I didn’t finish – one because it wasn’t working for me and one because I was reading Harriet the Invincible by Ursula Vernon aloud to my daughter, who liked it so much that she finished it on her own. By the levels, one early chapter-ish book, 9 middle grade, 3 teen, and 6 adult.
Four books by authors of color:
- Booked by Kwame Alexander (middle grade)
- Sewing Happiness by Sanae Ishida (craft, adult nonfiction)
- Spirit Week Showdown. The Magnificent Mya Tibbs 1 by Crystal Allen (middle grade)
- Sorcerer to the Crown by Zen Cho (adult)
Three by white authors with main characters of color:
- Little Robot by Ben Hatke (children’s graphic novel, low word count)
- Court of Fives by Kate Elliott (teen)
- The Beatriceid by Kate Elliott (adult short fiction/ epic poem)
Bonus nonfiction interviewing lots of girls, including many of color:
- Girls and Sex by Peggy Orenstein (adult)
My total count for authors of color this year is now at 30, with an additional 18 books by white authors with main characters of color. That puts me exactly halfway to my goal of reading 60 books by authors of color this year – right on target, but I can’t slack off now!
I’m still working on finding and reading more chapter books starring girls of color suitable for classroom read-alouds from K-3. The ones I’m reading now will show up next month, but I’m still open to suggestions! I’m especially in need of books with Asian and Latina protagonists.
alibrarymama 
There’s a cute little early chapter book called Shu-Li and Tamara, by Paul Yee. It has a sequel, Shu-Li and Diego which I haven’t read yet.
Thank you, Kim! I’ll look into that!
The Nikki and Deja series by… Karen English? Claudia Mills has Izzy Barr, Running Star. Draper’s Sassy is a great series. I know I’ve been seeing more and more. Winston’s President of the whole 5th grade. Mars den has some short books set in different countries that are quite good, too.
Thank you so much, Karen! I will look into these! Izzy Barr was the only one I’d seen, and saw people complaining about the girl of color being the one not good at academics, so I was trying to find something else.
I just came across this list that you might like:
28 Black Picture Books That Aren’t About Boycotts, Buses or Basketball
https://scottwoodsmakeslists.wordpress.com/2016/01/30/28-black-picture-books-that-arent-about-boycotts-buses-or-basketball/
and it also refers to another resource I hadn’t seen yet,
thebrownbookshelf.com
Thank you! That is a great booklist! We used it to make a display at my library this year. The Brown Bookshelf is also a great resource.
I loved Little Robot and Booked. I have a few of the others on my TBR shelf. Court of Fives is one I really want to get to. As for early chapter books with Latina characters, I love the new series by Monica Brown – Lola Levine and also Sofia Martinez by Jacqueline Jules.
Ooh, thank you for the reminder about Lola Levine! I have been meaning to read her. Sofia Martinez is already on my list – so fun!