"#OwnVoices is a movement that promotes books about diverse characters whose authors are from the same diverse group. This draws attention to authentic representations of diverse lives and to authors who might otherwise be missed. In this list, you'll find books that portray a wide variety of different experiences, and hopefully you'll find some new authors to love!
In every mirror she's Black : a novel
Author(s):
Description:
"Three Black women are linked in unexpected ways to the same influential white man in Stockholm as they build their new lives in the most open society run by the most private people. Successful marketing executive Kemi Adeyemi is lured from the U.S. to Sweden by Jonny von Lundin, CEO of the nation's largest marketing firm, to help fix a PR fiasco involving a racially tone-deaf campaign. A killer at work but a failure in love, Kemi's move is a last-ditch effort to reclaim her social life. A chance meeting with Jonny in business class en route to the U.S. propels former model-turned-flight-attendant Brittany-Rae Johnson into a life of wealth, luxury, and privilege--a life she's not sure she wants--as the object of his unhealthy obsession. And Somali refugee Muna Saheed, who lost her entire family, finds a job cleaning the toilets at Jonny's office as she works to establish her residency in Sweden and, more importantly, seeks connection and a place she can call home. Told through the perspectives of each of the three women, In Every Mirror She's Black is a fast-paced, richly nuanced yet accessible contemporary novel that touches on important social issues of racism, classism, fetishization, and tokenism, and what it means to be a Black woman navigating a white-dominated society" --
Format:
Book
Call Number:
FIC Aki
Something spectacular
Author(s):
Description:
"Reluctantly agreeing to help her former flame, Arabella Tarleton woo the famous and flamboyant opera singer Orfeo, Peggy Delancey unexpectedly finds common ground with this celebrated soprano--and an instant connection as they walk the line between friendship, flirtation and something more"--
Format:
Book
Call Number:
The kiss quotient
Author(s):
Description:
"Stella Lane thinks math is the only thing that unites the universe. She comes up with algorithms to predict customer purchases--a job that has given her more money than she knows what to do with, and way less experience in the dating department than the average thirty-year-old. It doesn't help that Stella has Asperger's and French kissing reminds her of a shark getting its teeth cleaned by pilot fish. Her conclusion: she needs lots of practice--with a professional. Which is why she hires escort Michael Phan. The Vietnamese and Swedish stunner can't afford to turn down Stella's offer, and agrees to help her check off all the boxes on her lesson plan--from foreplay to more-than-missionary position... Before long, Stella not only learns to appreciate his kisses, but crave all of the other things he's making her feel. Their no-nonsense partnership starts making a strange kind of sense. And the pattern that emerges will convince Stella that love is the best kind of logic.."--
Format:
Book
Call Number:
FIC Hoa
Always only you
Author(s):
Description:
"Ren: The moment I met her, I knew Frankie Zeferino was someone worth waiting for. Deadpan delivery, secret heart of gold, and a rare one-dimpled smile that makes my knees weak, Frankie has been forbidden since the day she and I became coworkers, meaning waiting has been the name of my game--besides, hockey, that is. I'm a player on the team, she's on staff, and as long as we work together, dating is off-limits. But patience has always been my virtue. Frankie won't be here forever--she's headed for bigger, better things. I just hope that when she leaves the team and I tell her how I feel, she won't want to leave me behind, too. Frankie: I've had a problem at work since the day Ren Bergman joined the team: a six foot three hunk of happy with a sunshine smile. I'm a grumbly grump and his ridiculously good nature drives me nuts, but even I can't entirely ignore that hot tamale of a ginger with icy eyes, the perfect playoff beard, and a body built for sin that he's annoyingly modest about. Before I got wise, I would have tripped over myself to get a guy like Ren, but with my diagnosis, I've learned what I am to most people in my life--a problem, not a person. Now, opening my heart to anyone, no matter how sweet, is the last thing I'm prepared to do."--Provided by publisher.
Format:
Book
Call Number:
FIC Lie
Elatsoe
Author(s):
Little Badger, Darcie, 1987-
Cai, Rovina,
Description:
"Imagine an America very similar to our own. It's got homework, best friends, and pistachio ice cream. There are some differences. This America has been shaped dramatically by the magic, monsters, knowledge, and legends of its peoples, those Indigenous and those not. Some of these forces are charmingly everyday, like the ability to make an orb of light appear or travel across the world through rings of fungi. But other forces are less charming and should never see the light of day. Seventeen-year-old Elatsoe ("Ellie" for short) lives in this slightly stranger America. She can raise the ghosts of dead animals, a skill passed down through generations of her Lipan Apache family. Her beloved cousin has just been murdered, in a town that wants no prying eyes. But she is going to do more than pry. The picture-perfect fa?cade of Willowbee masks gruesome secrets, and she will rely on her wits, skills, and friends to tear off the mask and protect her family" --
Format:
Book
Call Number:
YA FIC Lit
A magic steeped in poison
Author(s):
Description:
For Ning, the only thing worse than losing her mother is knowing that it's her own fault. She was the one who unknowingly brewed the poison tea that killed her--the poison tea that now threatens to also take her sister, Shu. When Ning hears of a competition to find the kingdom's greatest shennong-shi--masters of the ancient and magical art of tea-making--she travels to the imperial city to compete. The winner will receive a favor from the princess, which may be Ning's only chance to save her sister's life. But between the backstabbing competitors, bloody court politics, and a mysterious (and handsome) boy with a shocking secret, Ning might actually be the one in more danger.
Format:
Book
Call Number:
YA FIC Lin
Signal to noise
Author(s):
Description:
"Mexico City, 1988: Long before iTunes or MP3s, you said "I love you" with a mixtape. Meche, awkward and fifteen, has two equally unhip friends, Sebastian and Daniela, and a whole lot of vinyl records to keep her company. When she discovers how to cast spells using music, the future looks brighter for the trio. The three friends will piece together their broken families, change their status as non-entities, and maybe even find love. Mexico City, 2009: Two decades after abandoning the metropolis, Meche returns for her estranged father's funeral. It's hard enough to cope with her family, but then she runs into Sebastian, reviving memories from her childhood she thought she buried a long time ago"--Back of cover.
Format:
Book
Call Number:
FIC Mor
Hungry Ghost
Author(s):
Description:
Format:
Book
Call Number:
The book itch : freedom, truth, and Harlem's greatest bookstore
Author(s):
Nelson, Vaunda Micheaux
Christie, R. Gregory,
Description:
Relates the story of the National Memorial African Bookstore, founded in Harlem by Louis Michaux in 1939, as seen from the perspective of Louis Michaux Jr., who met famous men like Muhammad Ali and Malcolm X while helping there.
Format:
Book
Call Number:
E Nel
Trombone Shorty
Author(s):
Troy Andrews
Bryan Collier
Description:
A Grammy-nominated headliner for the New Orleans Jazz Fest describes his childhood in Tremé and how he came to be a bandleader by age six.
Format:
Book
Call Number:
E And
I Am Jazz!
Author(s):
Jessica Herthel
Jazz Jennings
Shelagh McNicholas, illustrator
Description:
From the time she was two years old, Jazz knew that she had a girl's brain in a boy's body. She loved pink and dressing up as a mermaid and didn't feel like herself in boys' clothing. This confused her family, until they took her to a doctor who said that Jazz was transgender and that she was born that way.
Format:
Book
Call Number:
E Her
Sit-in : how four friends stood up by sitting down
Author(s):
Pinkney, Andrea Davis
Pinkney, J. Brian,
Description:
A celebration of the momentous Woolworth's lunch counter sit-in when four college students staged a peaceful protest that became a defining moment in the struggle for racial equality and the growing Civil Rights Movement.
Format:
Book
Call Number:
J 323.1 Pin
Redwoods
Author(s):
Description:
A young city boy, riding the subway, finds an abandoned book about redwoods. He finds himself in the very forest described in the book. After finishing the book, he leaves it for someone else to read.
Format:
Book
Call Number:
E Chi
Spirits abroad : stories
Author(s):
Description:
Nineteen sparkling stories that weave between the lands of the living and the lands of the dead. Spirits Abroad is an expanded edition of Zen Cho’s Crawford Award winning debut collection with nine added stories including Hugo Award winner “If at First You Don't Succeed, Try, Try Again.” A Datin recalls her romance with an orang bunian. A teenage pontianak struggles to balance homework, bossy aunties, first love, and eating people. An earth spirit gets entangled in protracted negotiations with an annoying landlord, and Chang E spins off into outer space, the ultimate metaphor for the Chinese diaspora.
Format:
Book
Call Number:
FIC Cho
Bitter root. Volume one, Family business
Author(s):
Walker, David, 1968-
Renzi, Rico,
Description:
"In the 1920s, the Harlem Renaissance is in full swing, and only the Sangerye Family, once known as the greatest monster hunters of all time, can save New York -- and the world -- from the supernatural forces threatening to destroy humanity. But those days are fading and the once-great family that specialized in curing the souls of those infected by racism and hate has been torn apart by tragedies and conflicting moral codes. A terrible tragedy has claimed most of the family, leaving the surviving cousins divided between by the desire to cure monsters or to kill them; they must heal the wounds of the past and move beyond their differences ... or sit back and watch a force of unimaginable evil ravage the human race" --Provided by publisher.
Format:
Book
Call Number:
FIC Wal
