Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion Friendship troubles

There are many wonderful books with the main character being a well-liked girl who may be Latina, Asian, African American, Jewish, Italian, etc, and not blonde. Reading books like these may be a form of bibliotherapy and help reinforce that people with every look from every culture are popular, well-respected, accepted in social circles for who they are, and can form great friendships.

"Amazing Grace" comes immediately to mind as a book which our family enjoyed. A bonus is the beautiful, compelling artwork! Very memorable.

Lists of books can be found online. For example, here is a list of Hispanic and Latino books: http://childrensbooks.about.com/od/culturalhispanic/tp/hispanic_latino.htm, a list of books featuring African American girls http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/?category_id=980863, and more book lists can be found with a web search.

There are also the works of author Cheryl Willis Hudson and books by Sharon Draper.

ETA: blog by Dr. Joy Lawson Davis, crediting Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop with the concept of "mirror books" and "window books": Mirrors for reflecting one's own culture, and Windows for providing a glimpse into other cultures.

ETA: In real life...
Miss USA, 2016 - Deshauna Barber
Miss USA, 2017 - Kára McCullough, "[i]one of the most intelligent contestants in recent memory[/i]"

Thank you for the list! Our girls are Chinese adoptees, and I am always on the lookout for other books about Asian girls, but there are few so we look for books about other girls of color. "Amazing Grace" was a great book! We read it a couple of years ago. Interesting concept - window and mirror books. I am in grad school for social work and am very interested in power struggles and racial identity so will definitely check out her blog. It's been a struggle to watch my youngest struggle with what we thought were issues all related to adoption only to find out that some of the items are probably related to her giftedness.

You may like this list as well... it is a Barnes&Noble list of books featuring Asian and Asian American girls: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/?category_id=986141 There are lots of lists to be found through web searches.

Many, if not most, "American" families are a blend of cultures & ethnicities... with both a "melting pot" of different customs and a celebration of a mix of ancestral traditions. It is fascinating to learn of similarities and differences.

There are many resources to read about giftedness... enjoy!

ETA: Here is another post with some resources about friendships.

ETA: Here is a crowd-sourced list on movies.

Thanks!! I just bought "The Gifted Kids' Survival Guide" from Barnes and Noble a couple of hours ago. Our daughter flashed through that, but I want to read it with her to get some thoughts out of her about it! I am going to see if there are books on the B and N list that we have not read - hopefully they are at the library!

Good book! If she read it, that must mean she found it interesting!

Yes, that's the thing, isn't it? The discussion and the connection. Parents may sometimes be the only other gifted person a kiddo knows for years at a stretch!

You may already know... If your local branch does not have titles you are looking for, you may wish to ask about their inter-library loan program.

Has everyone seen this list of #1000blackgirlbooks created by Marley Dias?
Resource guide here.

Article: From Activist To Author: How 12-Year-Old Marley Dias Is Changing The Face Of Children's Literature
Maggie McGrath
Forbes
June 13, 2017

Marley's own book, chronicling this adventure, is due out January 30, 2018:
Marley Dias Gets It Done: And So Can You!

For future readers of this thread, adding a link to a thread with additional resources, including more books:
New interest - indigenous peoples of the Americas