Top Ten Tuesday: Diverse Reads!

This is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. They feature a different top ten list every week. This week's topic is books that celebrate diversity!

1. The Art of Being Normal by Lisa Williamson - I really, really loved this book about a transgender character. David's transformation and his longing to be a girl was heartbreaking. Such an important book to read.

2. Two Boys Kissing by David Levithan - I just finished this one and it was hands down one of the most beautiful books I have ever read. It is about two boys trying to break the Guinness World Record for longest kiss (over thirty two hours). Oh . . . and it's narrated by a chorus of the generation of men who have died from AIDS. Loved this!

3. Skyscraping by Cordelia Jensen - This is one of the best books I have read this year, hands down. In this book, the main character has to come to terms with the fact that her father is gay and the fact that he is dying of AIDS. I cried buckets with this one.

4. Salvage The Bones by Jesmyn Ward - If you haven't read this one, do it! This is a fictional story of a lower class black family in the days leading up to Hurricane Katrina. The daughter is fourteen and pregnant and the family actually raises pitbulls to fight other dogs. This book is so incredibly heartbreaking, yet riveting. 

5. What You Left Behind by Jessica Verdi - I just read this one and it was so different and so good. It was the story of a teen pregnancy told from the father's perspective! I had a few issues with it, but I was still so happy with it overall. 

6. Black Iris by Leah Raeder - I will use any excuse to rave about this book. The main character is bisexual and dealing with bullying and the death of her mother, who was mentally ill. Laney is about as messed up a character as I have ever seen, but I still love her.

7. Shanghai Girls by Lisa Lee - I loved this book way more than I thought I would. It starts in 1937 China where two sisters (Pearl and May) are sold by their father to men who have traveled from Los Angeles to find Chinese brides. The story tells of their journey from China to America and continues with them trying to make a life for themselves in America. I really, really, REALLY loved reading the story of these two girls.

8. I'll Meet You There by Heather Demetrios - There are just not enough books that deal with PTSD, but this book does it well. Josh has PTSD and he has lost his leg in the war. I loved the realistic way his issues were addressed and loved the romance between him and Skylar.

9. A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines - This is another book that I was surprised to like as much as I did. A young black man is an unwitting accomplice to a liquor store robbery that leaves three men dead. He is then sentenced to death. His aunt and godmother convince another young black man (a teacher) to visit Jefferson in jail and give him some pride before going to the electric chair. This one was so sad. 

10. Tell The Wolves I'm Home by Carol Rifka Brunt - One of my favorites from last year! This book takes place during a time when people knew very little about HIV and were very scared of it. When June's uncle dies from the illness, she reaches out to his partner (also dying of the disease) and forms a friendship, despite the wishes of her parents.

Bonus:

11. Not Otherwise Specified by Hannah Moscowitz - Okay, so I just finished this one today (after this list was already drafted), but I just had to include it. It was so incredibly good. A girl who doesn't feel she is white enough, straight enough, gay enough, thin enough, etc, etc. I absolutely loved this book about a girl trying to make her own rules and form her own identity. 

What are a few of your favorite books dealing with diversity? I really want to know!