National Network for Equitable Library Service

A young Indigenous girl searching for a sense of home finds strength and courage in her gifts, her deepening connection to the land, and her own cultural awakening in this moving coming-of-age story. The last thing that twelve-year-old Misko wants to do is to move away from the city to spend time on the rez with her grandmother. She feels strangely compelled to go to the place where her dreams have been tugging at her to come home. Maybe she can finally find out what happened to her mother, who mysteriously disappeared when she was four years old.

Adopted into a mixed family, thirteen-year-old Jacob Jollimore is having the worst summer of his life helping to care for an elderly Vietnamese woman that he ran into and injured while trying to escape a bully. Worse still, he’s Vietnamese. But a hundred-year old letter hidden in a bureau in the Edwardian hotel his parents are renovating sends him on a treasure hunt that will require him to think like Sherlock Holmes and just may prove to be everyone’s salvation.

A charming early chapter book series that explores Vietnamese culture and identity through the eyes of the Nguyen siblings, with elements of the supernatural, spirituality, and social justice woven in. Organized and introspective nine-year-old Anne Nguyen misses her Grandma Nội, a lot. But even though Grandma Nội passed away, it doesn't mean she's disappeared. When Anne and her younger siblings Jacob and Liz are given gifts passed on to them by Grandma, Anne soon realizes that hers--a beautiful jade bangle--has a secret power.

Charming, creative Salma takes on big feelings with even bigger ideas as she navigates life in a new country, Syrian identity, family changes and new friendships in this engaging and heartfelt early chapter book series. After a year, eleven months, and six days apart, Salma's dad is finally joining her family in their new home. Salma is so happy to see her baba-but she's also worried. What if he misses Syria so much that he leaves them again?

A charming early chapter book series that explores Vietnamese culture and identity through the eyes of the Nguyen siblings, with elements of the supernatural, spirituality, and social justice woven in. Spontaneous and energetic Liz, the middle Nguyen sibling, grew up hearing stories from her Grandma Nội about the fantastically fierce Trung Sisters, freedom fighters in ancient Vietnam. And with a new school year about to start, Liz is determined that her taekwondo classes will prove she is just as important and brave as the famous warriors.

The third book in the early chapter book series The Nguyen Kids features the youngest sibling, Jacob, and continues the series’ exploration of social justice themes, specifically gender expression and identity, with a supernatural twist. Thoughtful and creative, Jacob is tired of being the baby of the family. He is ready to fully express himself in all of the ways that feel right to him, but not everyone seems as eager to accept change—even his own parents. He still loves hockey, yet he also wants to try something new, even if others may not understand.

Ghosts aren't the only thing that can haunt a house. Trynne Delaney's debut novel explores the insidious legacies of violence and oppression--and how Black, queer love and resistance can disrupt them. With her dad's incarceration, escalating fights with her mom, and an overbearing step dad she's not sure she can trust, Asha is desperate for the fresh start promised by a move to the country. Her great aunt Aggie's crumbling, pest-ridden house isn't exactly what she had in mind, but the immediate connection she makes with her new neighbor Cole seems like a good sign.

It's the day of the first hockey game and Kareema is about to take a big step into the locker room and into the world of hockey. Overwhelmed and unsure of what's ahead, Kareema enters the changeroom and meets her new teammates -- a group of young players who are also wondering if they will fit in with the team and find their place in the game. When their coach arrives with a bag full of brand new uniforms and hands each player their jersey, Kareema and her teammates will discover something special while they get dressed for the game.

At Last Count is a novel that flips between the protagonist's broadly appealing coming-of-age journey and her complicated inner adult world as a woman living with obsessive-compulsive disorder.

“It is the part that is missing that I am drawn to, that I try to pin down. My gaze is always divided by what is here and what is no longer here. That, for me, is where the deepest pleasure lies, where the sweet overcomes the bitter." A couple coping with a recent loss are tasked with taking stock of a late biology enthusiast’s hoard. A support worker dedicated to rehabilitating young women suffering from, among other things, a certain unexpected effect of the climate apocalypse faces a truth that shatters the illusion separating her work and her personal life.