Buying books for the kids or teens in your life this season? We consulted the well-read team at the grassroots organization We Need Diverse Books (WNDB) for some of their go-to gift recommendations:

Caroline Richmond, Executive Director:

"I'm always on the lookout for a picture book that I won't mind reading a hundred times to my kids and Mixed fits that bill to a tee! It has vibrant illustrations and a really poignant plot that demonstrates to readers the importance of tolerance and embracing our differences."

Best Age Range: Pre-K to 2nd Grade

Kandace Coston, Internship Grants Commitee Chair:

"With a perfect blend of humor and heart, The Electric Slide and Kai speaks to readers who sometimes feel out of step, and reminds them that everyone's got a different groove. This fun celebration of mixed families always makes me wanna get up and bust a move!"

Best Age Range: Grades K to 3

Ann Marie Wong, Project Director:

"Every child deserves to go to magic school -- and in the wonderful, whimsical, sensational world of The Marvellers, now they finally have that chance. Filled with high stakes adventures, ride or die friendships, laugh out loud humor, and plenty of fantastical twists and turns, this always inclusive tale truly has something for everyone!"

Best Age Range: Grades 3 & up

Chelsea Villareal, Senior Program Manager:

"Just like Ananse's tales, the spider trickster of Ghanian folklore, author Elizabeth Agyemang smartly weaves an imaginative graphic novel connecting the importance of knowing your family roots with environmental activism and, of course, magic — your young reader won't be able to put it down."

Best Age Range: Grades 3 to 7

Elissa Bongiorno, Senior Program Manager:

"The teen angst jumps off the page — along with the pops of pink — as Laura Dean and her signature hair swoop drive Freddy (and readers!) to distraction over and over again. My favorite graphic novel, it reads like a teen movie."

Best Age Range: Grades 8 & up

Alaina Lavoie, Program Manager:

"One of the best books I've read in 2022. Self-Made Boys is a powerful The Great Gatsby retelling for YA readers who thought the original should be much gayer. It explores LGBTQ+ and Latine identity in the 1920s with nuance."

Best Age Range: Grades 9 to 12

Kaitlyn Sage Patterson, Development Manager:

"This devastatingly beautiful novel illuminates a period in history that is often overlooked. The protagonist, Csilla, faces an impossible choice: the safety of escape or the magic and promise of her flawed country. With incredibly wrought magic, gorgeous queer representation, and fantastic prose, this novel has lived rent-free in my mind since the day I read it for the first time."

Best Age Range: Grades 9 to 12

We Need Diverse Books is a nonprofit organization that strives to create a world in which all children can see themselves in the pages of a book. To reach this goal, they've created programs to celebrate diverse books, to mentor diverse writers and illustrators, to support diverse publishing professionals, and to provide books to classrooms nationwide.

Learn more and consider supporting the mission of We Need Diverse Books in your year-end giving.

**For every book or membership purchased on Tertulia on #GivingTuesday, (November 29 2022), we will be donating $1 to WNDB.