#OwnVoices: Diversity in Children's and Young Adult Books

A collection of authentic diverse books. Each tab has its own unique collection of books organized by marginalized group. This collection does not include every own voices book but serves as a starting point.

What is own voices?

#OwnVoices is a term that was coined by YA author, Corinne Duyvis. The term refers to books about characters from underrepresented/marginalized groups in which the author shares the same identity. The writing is inspired by the author's own experiences and written from their own perspective. The term started as a Twitter hashtag to make it easier to find own voices books in kids literature. 

While own voices books are a good representation of the group they represent it's important to note that an own voices book is not representative of everyone that identifies within that particular group. 

Diversity in Children's Publishing

The Cooperative Children's Book Center at the School of Education at the University Wisconsin-Madison conducts audits on representation in children's literature. The latest report is from 2018 and the graphic below highlights their findings. More information on their research can be found here

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