Nearly every day I see social media posts from educators looking for new book ideas for their whole class novel units. The recommendations from fellow educators are often the same handful of books -– Restart, Holes, anything by Alan Gratz, The Giver, etc. Now, don’t get me wrong. I adore each of these books. But, some of these have been around for a loooooong time, and they all center around white, mostly male, cisgender, able-bodied, neurotypical characters.
If you’re interested in refreshing and diversifying your whole class novels, here are some books that have been home runs with my book club students. They all feature protagonists with diverse lived experiences and identities that will allow more students to either see themselves in a book (“mirror books”) or expand their awareness and empathy of others (“window books”).
You can also download this PDF and click on the covers to read full summaries and see reviews from Bookopolis kid readers.
Book Ideas to Refresh & Diversity Your Whole Class Novel Unit (6th-7th graders)
If you like Realistic Fiction like RESTART by Gordon Korman, try:
- A Duet For Home by Glaser, Karina Yan
- Ellie Engle Saves Herself by Johnson, Leah
- Efren Divided by Cisneros, Ernesto
- Finding Perfect by Swartz, Elly
If you like Historical Fiction like REFUGEE by Alan Gratz, try:
- The Night Diary by Hiranandani, Veera
- The Blackbird Girls by Blankman, Anne
- Ghost Boys by Rhodes, Jewell Parker
- A Seed In The Sun by Salazar, Aida
If you like Dystopian/Sci-Fi like THE GIVER by Lois Lowry, try:
- Legend by Lu, Marie
- The Unexplainable Disappearance of Mars Patel by Chari, Sheela
- Futureland by Hunter, H. D.
- Diverse Energies by 11 Speculative Fiction Authors
Need more book recommendations? Check out our AI-Powered Book Bot search, or visit the Bookopolis Picks lists organized by grade level and genre. Click on covers to read summaries and explore reviews written by kids, for kids.
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