Diverse Books: Race, Colour, Ethnic Origin

When Violet's father comes to pick her up at school, one of her classmates asks: “How come your Dad is blue and you’re not?” Violet has never even thought about this before. Her mother is red, and her father is blue – so why is she violet?

Shu-Li and Diego tells the story of how these two classmates meet the challenge of taking care of Baxter, a neighbor's dog. The two friends face disaster when Baxter runs away and they have to break the news to its owner.

Set in San Francisco's Chinatown before and after 1906, this novel portrays a young Jackson Leong coping with the ghost of his brother who died in the earthquake, as well as the mysterious ghost of a young woman. Jackson must find out the reasons why the ghosts are haunting the world of the living. If he fails, his family will face disgrace and ruin.

This contemporary story of the true friendship between two girls is set in Vancouver’s Commercial Drive neighborhood. Shu-Li’s parents run a local Chinese deli and much of the story revolves around food. There is a helpful compendium of recipes at the end of the book for kids to try out. Beautifully illustrated throughout with line drawings.

Fourteen-year-old Bing is upset with his father for forcing him to help him dig up the bones of Chinese men and women in order to send them back to China. After they discover a skeleton without a skull, Ba is haunted by the powerful ghost. Later Bing gets a job as houseboy for a wealthy family, where he finds another ghost haunting the family. Bing is finally able to find out what both ghosts want from the living and rescues his father from impending death.