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We Need Diverse Books
@weneeddiversebooks.bsky.social
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We Need Diverse Books is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit revolutionizing what we read to create a world where everyone can find themself in the pages of a book.

🔗 bio.site/WeNeedDiverseBooks
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Stay tuned for more updates about our Adopt-a-Library program! We’d also like to take a moment to thank you, our supporters. It’s only with your help that we can provide these grants, which represent books, supplies — and hope — to students nationwide.
Collage graphic displaying eight photographs around the graphic’s border. At the center is text that says, “Thank you for your support! It’s only with your help that we can provide these grants, which represent books, supplies — and hope — to students nationwide.” Going clockwise from the top left, the photos included are: a picture of shelved books; a We Need Diverse Books table display, including all of WNDB’s published anthologies; a craft table where a 100-piece puzzle has been assembled; a distant shot from outside the library looking in towards a table displaying a WNDB banner; an overhead view of a fully-stocked shelf of young adult books; a distant shot of the library’s shelving; a photo showing a group of young teenagers sitting at a table together and working on a project, their backs to the camera; and a photograph of students reading underneath a mural of a Nelson Mandela quote that says, “Education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world.”
November 10, 2025 at 3:30 PM
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We’re incredibly proud of what we were able to help the Green Street Academy library accomplish this past year! That’s why we’re thrilled to announce the next recipient of our Adopt-a-Library grant: Odyssey Charter School in Altadena, California.
Graphic designed to look like the front page of a newspaper titled “Adopt-a-Library”. The “headline” says, “Our Next Project.” The “article” contains the following description: “WNDB will help an Altadena charter school rebuild library collection. We Need Diverse Books is proud to announce that our next Adopt-a-Library recipient is Odyssey Charter School in Altadena, California! When the devastating Los Angeles wildfires struck Altadena this past January, the school was burned down and their library collection was completely destroyed. WNDB is eager to help this charter school rebuild! On the right-hand side is a side-by-side photo showing Odyssey Charter School prior to 2025 and then a photo of the school burned down. Beneath the photo is pull-quote from Boonrasi Norman, a representative of Odyssey Charter, regarding their excitement about their Adopt-a-Library selection.
November 10, 2025 at 3:30 PM
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Green Street Academy in Baltimore, Maryland was the recipient of our first Adopt-a-Library grant. Since 2024, WNDB has been working with the academy’s faculty to provide books and supplies to the school — which as of last year had no library.
Collage graphic titled “Green Street Academy” and containing the following description: “Since 2024, WNDB has been working with the faculty of Green Street Academy in Baltimore to provide $10,000 in diverse books and supplies to the school — which as of last year had no library. This year, with WNDB’s help, the school established a library, hired a librarian, and got the students reading!” There are five photographs bordering the graphic. From the top right going counterclockwise: a photo of informational papers found on the librarians desk such as “Why Reading? and “What Books Do You Love”?, a circular display shelf displaying various young adult novels, a wall mural of a Nelson Mandela quote says “Education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world”, a close-up of a students hands holding an open book, and a photo overlooking books displayed on top of a library shelf with students working busily at a table in the distant background. White graphic containing the following caption: “On Literacy Night, students visited the library to sign up for library cards, meet Mr. Keal, and check out the new space, filled with books and sunlight. WNDB provided hundreds of diverse titles to fill the shelves — and even bought some of the shelves!” Beneath that is a pull-quote from Robert Keal, the Green Street Academy Librarian, who says, “The books are flying off the shelves as the high schoolers catch wind of the collection. It's been fun!” Along the left-hand side of the graphic is a column of three photos: a young student reading a book called “Young, Gifted, Black”; a close-up photo of the school’s new computers; and a photo of WNDB Program Director Elizza Petruzzi, librarian Robert Keal, and WNDB Executive Director Caroline Richmond standing next to the library’s circular shelf display.
November 10, 2025 at 3:30 PM
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🔔 Adopt-a-Library updates + Announcement!

Last year, WNDB announced our Adopt-a-Library grant program, where we select one library in need to receive $10,000 in books, resources, technology, & materials to help make their library a welcoming and inclusive space for their students. 🧵
Graphic with a photograph of light oak library shelves filled with multi-colored books as the background. In the forefront is an illustration of a lined library card. At the center is the title “WNDB’s Adopt-a-Library Program: Updates!”
November 10, 2025 at 3:30 PM
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🌿 30 educators have a chance to win a copy of BRAIDED ROOTS by Pasha Westbrook and Madelyn Goodnight! Each winner will also receive an exclusive art print featuring artwork from the book, courtesy of Scholastic 🖼️

Full details below:

📗 bit.ly/BraidedRoots
Light orange graphic titled “Educator Giveaway! Win a copy of ‘Braided Roots’ along with an exclusive art print!” Beneath the title text is a mock-up hardcover of the picture book “Braided Roots” written by Pasha Westbrook and illustrated by Madalyn Goodnight. The cover illustrations shows a young Freedman-descended Native child with dark brown hair that’s being braided by a set of older hands, with deep green foliage being braided into her hair at the same time. There’s also a mock-up art print off to the side, showing a text-less version of the book cover art. Around the border of the graphic are bunches of green and orange leaves. Light orange graphic with bunches of green and orange leaves along the border. The graphic contains the following synopsis for “Braided Roots”: “ Father braids my hair, just like his, / scented of coconut oil, the familiar tug of fingers on my scalp, / love in every twist… As a young girl's father lovingly yet painstakingly braids her hair, he weaves a story about the strength and resilience of their ancestors, Freedmen who walked the Trail of Tears from Mississippi to Oklahoma. In this enchanting picture book, past and present come together in a tale about endurance, history, and love. With beautiful, sweeping illustrations by Madelyn Goodnight and debut author Pasha Westbrook's lyrical writing, Braided Roots tenderly explores the unwavering love between a father and daughter.”
November 7, 2025 at 3:30 PM
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✨ To learn more about the history of Freedman and Black Natives, visit IndigenousReadsRisin...

Many thanks to Pasha Westbrook, Stacy V. Wells, and Cynthia Leitich Smith for collaborating on this resource and book lists! Special thanks to historian Alaina E. Roberts for her guidance.
Light brown graphic with orange and gold beaded flowers bordering the top left and bottom right corners. Body text at the top of the graphic says, “Read the full article and find more information about these titles on IndigenousReadsRising.com, written and compiled by Pasha Westbrook, Stacy V. Wells, & Cynthia Leitich Smith, with guidance from Alaina E. Roberts.” Beneath the text is a mock-up internet browser containing a screenshot of an article titled “Freedman & Black Natives” that can be found on the Indigenous Reads Rising website. Light brown graphic with orange and gold beaded flowers bordering the top left and bottom right corners. At the center of the graphic is a white pop-up window with rounded corners. At the top of the window is the logo for We Need Diverse Books, followed by the name of the organization and a subtitle denoting it as a Nonprofit Organization. Body text beneath says, “Follow us to discover & support even more diverse stories like this!” Underneath the body text is a row of light orange colored icons indicating how people can engage with this post by liking, sharing, commenting, and saving. At the bottom of the white window is a bright yellow bubble containing the handle @WeNeedDiverseBooks.
November 6, 2025 at 3:30 PM
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📚 Young Adult books about Freedman & Black Natives
Light brown graphic with orange and gold beaded flowers bordering the top left and bottom right corners. Bold white title text says, "TeenBooks About Freedman & Black Natives” The one mock-up hardcover featured on this slide is “Legendary Frybread Drive-In” edited by Cynthia Leitich Smith. There is a gold arrow sprouting off from the book cover and pointing to the right-hand side of the graphic where white text specifies that the short story “Mvskoke Joy” by Marcella Bell is suggested reading about Freedman and/or Black Natives.
November 6, 2025 at 3:30 PM
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📚 Middle Grade books about Freedman & Black Natives
Light brown graphic with orange and gold beaded flowers bordering the top left and bottom right corners. Bold white title text says, "Middle Grade Books About Freedman & Black Natives” The one mock-up hardcover featured on this slide is “Blue Stars, Mission One: The Vice Principal Problem” by Kekla Magoon, Cynthia Leitich Smith, and Molly Murakami.
November 6, 2025 at 3:30 PM
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📚 Picture books about Freedman & Black Natives
Light brown graphic with orange and gold beaded flowers bordering the top left and bottom right corners. Bold white title text says, "Picture Books About Freedman & Black Natives” The one mock-up hardcover featured on this slide is “Stronger Than” by Nikki Grimes, Stacy Wells, and E.B. Lewis. To the right-hand side of the cover is a yellow starburst illustration that says, “Out 2026!”
November 6, 2025 at 3:30 PM
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📚 Picture books about Freedman & Black Natives
Light brown graphic with orange and gold beaded flowers bordering the top left and bottom right corners. Bold white title text says, "Picture Books About Freedman & Black Natives” The one mock-up hardcover featured on this slide is “George Crum and the Saratoga Chip” by Gaylia Taylor and Frank Morrison.
November 6, 2025 at 3:30 PM
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📚 Picture books about Freedman & Black Natives
Light brown graphic with orange and gold beaded flowers bordering the top left and bottom right corners. Bold white title text says, "Picture Books About Freedman & Black Natives” The one mock-up hardcover featured on this slide is “Fry Bread” by Kevin Noble Maillard and Juana Martinez-Neal.
November 6, 2025 at 3:30 PM
weneeddiversebooks.bsky.social
📚 Picture books about Freedman & Black Natives
Light brown graphic with orange and gold beaded flowers bordering the top left and bottom right corners. Bold white title text says, "Picture Books About Freedman & Black Natives” The one mock-up hardcover featured on this slide is “Beautiful You, Beautiful Me” by Tasha Spillett-Sumner and Salini Perera.
November 6, 2025 at 3:30 PM
weneeddiversebooks.bsky.social
📚 Picture books about Freedman & Black Natives
Light brown graphic with orange and gold beaded flowers bordering the top left and bottom right corners. Bold white title text says, "Picture Books About Freedman & Black Natives” The one mock-up hardcover featured on this slide is “Magnolia Flower” by Zora Neale Hurston, Ibram X. Kendi, and Loveis Wise.
November 6, 2025 at 3:30 PM
weneeddiversebooks.bsky.social
📚 Picture books about Freedman & Black Natives
Light brown graphic with orange and gold beaded flowers bordering the top left and bottom right corners. Bold white title text says, "Picture Books About Freedman & Black Natives” The one mock-up hardcover featured on this slide is “Braided Roots” by Pasha Westbrook and Madelyn Goodnight.
November 6, 2025 at 3:30 PM
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This Native American Heritage Month, we encourage you to learn more about Freedman & Black Natives!

Visit IndigenousReadsRisin... for an insightful article on the history of Native Freedman and the legacy of Black Natives as well as related book lists for children, tweens, and teens.
Light brown graphic with orange and gold beaded flowers bordering the top left and bottom right corners. Bold white title text says, “Learn More About Native Freedman & Black Natives: a book list and resource”. There is a small orange “We Need Diverse Books” logo in the bottom left-hand corner of the graphic. Light brown graphic with orange and gold beaded flowers bordering the top left and bottom right corners. Bold white title text says, “Who are Native Freedman?” Beneath that is the following description: “Freedmen is the term for enslaved African Americans emancipated in 1865. Native Freedmen are those people of African descent enslaved by members of the five southeastern tribal nations—Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Muscogee, and Seminole—and like their Native slaveholders, they were forcibly removed during the Trail of Tears from their Indigenous ancestral lands to Indian Territory, now Oklahoma. Today, descendants of Native Freedmen are commonly known simply as Freedmen.” Underneath is a note to read the full article at IndigenousReadsRising.com
November 6, 2025 at 3:30 PM
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✨ COVER REVEAL ✨ Take a look at the beautiful cover for I AM THE RIVER: SARAH E. RAY AND THE BOB-LO BOAT by Leah Henderson, Patricia Lee Gauch, and Kristle Marshall, a biographical picture book forthcoming from Levine Querido on January 6th, 2026!

🌊 bit.ly/IAmTheRiverBook
Promotional graphic with an illustration of a river winding through green brush as the background. The graphic is titled “Cover Reveal” and shows a mock-up hardcover of “I Am The River: Sarah E. Ray And The Bob-Lo Boat” by Leah Henderson, Patricia Lee Gauch, and Kristle Marshall, a biographical picture book forthcoming from Levine Querido in January 2026. The cover illustration shows Sarah E. Ray, a young Black woman, wearing a blue boat and clutching a brochure for Detroit’s Bob-Lo boat in her hand. She is standing before a blue river, upon which a white steamboat is sailing towards her. The Detroit skyline and a far-off ferris wheel are also visible in the distant background At the bottom of the graphic is the book’s release date: January 6th, 2026. Promotional graphic with an illustration of a river winding through green brush as the background. The graphic contains the following synopsis: The Detroit River has long had a story to tell. It has seen a time before people. And it has seen many faces cross its waters, from Indigenous people guiding canoes to settlers on its banks and freedom seekers riding the underground railroad north toward liberty, with Bob-Lo Island at the river’s end, so close to Canada. At one time, a giant steamboat carried hundreds of excited children and adults to the amusement park that was built on Bob-Lo. But Sarah E. Ray discovered in 1945 that not all people were invited on this boat, to this island, once a symbol of the journey to freedom. It depended, she discovered, on the color of your skin. This is the dramatic story of how one young woman’s courage could create a dramatic turning point that would stand out proudly, and forevermore, in the history of a river older than the country called America.
November 5, 2025 at 3:30 PM
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If you found this helpful, please consider sharing! We Need Diverse Books recently re-opened our Emergency Grants for diverse writers, illustrators, publishing professionals, and educators facing food insecurity (application link below), made possible by your support!

💻 bit.ly/WNDB-emergency
White graphic displaying a white pop-up window with rounded corners. At the top of the window is the logo for We Need Diverse Books, followed by the name of the organization and a subtitle denoting it as a Nonprofit Organization. Body text beneath says, “Follow us to discover & support even more diverse stories like this!” Underneath the body text is a row of lime green colored icons indicating how people can engage with this post by liking, sharing, commenting, and saving. At the bottom of the white window is a light orange bubble containing the handle @WeNeedDiverseBooks.
November 4, 2025 at 3:30 PM
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🍽️ Adult nonfiction books about food insecurity & food access
White graphic sharing five adult nonfiction books that address food insecurity or food access. The titles shown are as follows: “How the Other Half Eats” by Priya Fielding-Singh, “Food Waste, Food Insecurity, and the Globalization of Food Banks” by Daniel N. Warshawsky, “The New Breadline” by Jean-Martin Bauer, “A Mass Conspiracy to Feed People” by David Boarder Giles, and “Black Food Geographies” by Ashanté M. Reese.
November 4, 2025 at 3:30 PM
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🍽️ Middle Grade books about food insecurity & food access
White graphic sharing seven middle grade books that address food insecurity or food access. The titles shown are as follows: “Free Lunch” by Rex Ogle, “No Place Like Home” by James Bird, “Heroes Like Us: Two Stories” by Onjali Q. Raúf, “Crenshaw” by Katherine Applegate, “Boundless” by Chaunté Lowe, “Morning Sun in Wuhan” by Ying Chang Compestine, and “Ida in the Middle” by Nora Lester Murad.
November 4, 2025 at 3:30 PM
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🍽️ Picture Books about food insecurity & food access
White graphic sharing four picture books that address food insecurity or food access. The titles shown are as follows: “Food for the Future” by Mia Wenjen & Robert Sae-Heng; “A Plate of Hope” by Erin Frankel & Paola Escobar; “Farmer Will Allen and the Growing Table” by Jacqueline Briggs Martin & Shabazz Larkin; and “Pa, Me, and Our Sidewalk Pantry” by Toni Buzzeo & Zara González Hoang.
November 4, 2025 at 3:30 PM
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🍽️ Picture Books about food insecurity & food access
White graphic sharing five picture books that address food insecurity or food access. The titles shown are as follows: “Watercress” by Andrea Wang & Jason Chin; “Everybody Eats” by Jasmine Crowe & Nadia Fisher; “We Care” by Megan Madison, Jessica Ralli, & Sharee Miller; “Food for Hope” by Jeff Gottesfeld & Michelle Laurentia Agatha; and “Our Little Kitchen” by Jillian Tamaki.
November 4, 2025 at 3:30 PM
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🍽️ If you or someone you know is facing food insecurity or loss of access to food, here are a few national organizations providing food to those in need (and if you’re not facing food insecurity, consider donating food or your monetary support):
White graphic sharing national organizations that address food insecurity and provide food donations to people in need. The seven organizations listed are as follows: Feeding America (website: FeedingSmerica.org), No Kid Hungry (website: NoKidHungry.org), Meals on Wheels (website: MealsOnWheelsAmerica.org), U.S. Hunger (website: USHunger.or)g, Little Free Pantry (website: LittleFreePantry.org), Partnership with Native Americans (website: NativePartnership.org/food-and-water), and Food Research & Action Center (database website: frac.org/about/1303-2). Beneath the name of each organization is their Instagram handle and the web address for their websites.
November 4, 2025 at 3:30 PM
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With roughly 42 million people across the U.S. losing access to food assistance amid the federal government shutdown, it’s more important than ever to educate ourselves about the realities and impacts of food insecurity in our communities.

Here are some resources and reading suggestions ⬇️
White graphic with an illustration of a globe cut in half and filled with fresh fruits and vegetables. The graphic is titled “21 Books About Food Insecurity & Food Access” with a logo for We Need Diverse Books at the bottom.
November 4, 2025 at 3:30 PM
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It’s thanks to the continued generosity of our donors that we’re able to provide emergency aid for our community in times of need. Please share far and wide so we can reach those who need this aid most! ❤️📚

💻 bit.ly/WNDB-emergency
Royal blue promotional graphic displaying a white pop-up window with rounded corners at the center. At the top of the window is the logo for We Need Diverse Books, followed by the name of the organization and a subtitle denoting it as a Nonprofit Organization. Body text beneath says, “Follow us to discover & support even more initiatives like this!” Underneath the body text is a row of gold icons indicating how people can engage with this post by liking, sharing, commenting, and saving. At the bottom of the white window is a bright red bubble containing the Instagram handle @WeNeedDiverseBooks. At the bottom of the graphic there is a row of three illustrations depicting boxes of food donations.
November 3, 2025 at 3:30 PM
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How to apply:

💻 bit.ly/WNDB-emergency
Royal blue promotional graphic displaying a mock-up internet browser. The page displayed on the browser is titled “How to Apply”. Beneath that is the following description: Head to the Emergency Grants page on our website to find the application form. (Direct link can also be found on our profile.) Prepare to submit short form responses about your profession/employment, income, income loss, household, estimated monthly expenses, etc. At the bottom is an illustration of a search bar containing the URL “bit.ly/WNDB-emergency”, which will redirect folks to the application page, as well as a screenshot of the Emergency Grants page on WNDB’s website.
November 3, 2025 at 3:30 PM