Monthly Book Tasting YA List: Over 550 Book Titles to Diversify your Library!

Need to grow or diversify your classroom library, but don't know where to start?

I was in your shoes last year! After countless hours of researching the newest and highest interest books, I organized all of the titles I found into Monthly themes. Obviously, we want to celebrate diverse identities all year round, but I have found that putting a rotating book tasting wall up in my room for students to explore when they finish their work early has really helped expose them to diverse characters, authors, and human experiences.

Currently there are 583 titles on this list, including a cheat sheet at the end for quick references to give to students who need to find books in the library. Each month is color coded and includes the title, author, and genre so you know where to place your book in your classroom library or genre recs to make to students. I also included a list of places I help students access online books. By no means do I have all the titles on this list, but whenever my school gives me the opportunity to place a book order or I have extra money to spend on thriftbooks or firstbookmarketplace, I always reference this list so I can grow my library's diversity. It is also an awesome reference for students who are looking to read about a particular human experience.

Months Included:

• August = New Beginnings (for Back to School Season)
• September = Hispanic/Latinx Heritage Month (Books by strong Latinx authors including strong Latinx characters)
• October = Scary Stories (for spooky season)
• November = American Indian/Native American Heritage Month (Books by strong Indigenous authors including strong Indigenous characters)
• December = Human Rights & (dis)Ability Awareness Month (Books including characters with (dis)abilities)
• January = Fresh Start (for the new year)
• February = Black History Month (Books by strong Black authors including strong Black characters)
• March = Women's History Month (Strong Female characters & authors)
• April = deaf History Month (Books including deaf characters & exploring/normalizing deaf culture)
• May = Mental Health Awareness Month AND Asian Pacific Islander Month (books normalizing and exploring the topic mental health and books by strong AAPI authors with strong AAPI characters)
• June = Pride Month (Strong LGBTQ+ authors & characters)

Print it out and put it in a binder, or just access it and share it digitally with the other teachers at your school. Add it to your google drive to revise it to your liking/needs and add more current books.I have included a place to mark off which teachers have which books so if you do not have a title, you can send your student to another teacher to pick it up instead of purchasing another copy. Overall, this resource is great for a newer English teacher overwhelmed by the thought of starting a classroom library, or a current teacher looking to update their knowledge on current YA titles and up their game!