Imagine a world in which all children can see themselves in the pages of a book by relating to a character … a protagonist*.
Diverse literature often reflects and honors the lives of young people, and mirrors our own experience. These stories are curiously written to help children and teens discover their identity, feel more valued, less afraid and alone.
This type of literature provides opportunities for children and teens to learn about someone’s life and experience their own life through the eyes of the characters. When you assign diverse literature, you can help to foster a new respect for students’ differences, and promote more empathy toward others.
Introducing diverse literature in your school reading program is a great way to widen class discussions and build a new culture of readers, that includes all types of learners.
Did you know that Learning Ally has many audiobooks that can be classified as diverse literature?
The Hate U Give
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas is a great example of juvenile fiction in our current times. The book was published in February 2017 and remained on the New York Times YA best-sellers list for 50 weeks. The story is in movie theaters now across the U.S. and receiving positive reviews.
Why not download and listen to our human-narrated audiobook version of The Hate U Give with your students. The heroine, Starr Carter, is a high schooler who describes how she feels living two lives in a world of racism and activism. It is appropriate for students in grade 9 (age 14 and above), and has a Lexile level of HL59OL. The movie is rated PG13.
To date, this audiobook has been downloaded more than 1700 times by Learning Ally members. Listen to this video clip of our skilled voice-over artist narrating this story and bringing the characters to life.
Do you have a favorite diverse literature title? If so feel free to share it with us in the comments.
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Definition of pro·tag·o·nist / /prōˈtaɡənəst,prəˈtaɡənəst/
*A protagonist (from Ancient Greek πρωταγωνιστής (protagonistes), meaning 'one who plays the first part, chief actor') is the leading character of a story. The protagonist is at the center of the story, makes the key decisions, and experiences the consequences of those decisions.