We’re close to halfway on the official clock and I’ve been absolutely heart eyes emoji about the online #24in48 community today. Between Instagram, Litsy, Twitter, Facebook, and Booktube, you guys are really making this weekend a team sport. I love how inclusive and supportive everyone is and I am here for it. Keep going, guys, you’re doing great!
One of the best ways that the online readathon community works is by exposing your fellow 24in48-ers to books that they may not otherwise have heard of or thought they’d be interested in. Personally, I recommend using readathon to check out diverse titles and authors. We Need Diverse Books in particular is an organization that advocates for changes in the children’s publishing industry in order to promote and encourage greater diversity of authors, characters, and subject matter. Diverse books normalize, empower, and make visible people who otherwise feel invisible or forgotten.
If you’re not familiar with it, #ownvoices describes books written by authors that identify with the same marginalized group as the protagonists that they’re writing. This could include authors that identify as and are writing characters that are POCs, disabled, LGBTQ+, non-cisgender, etc.
The intention is two-fold: 1) reading #ownvoices books sends a message to the publishing community (which is traditionally, white, able-bodied, straight, and cisgender) that these books have audiences and encourage them to publish more of them, and 2) reading about characters from marginalized groups expands your own awareness of diversity and empathy, something I think we can all benefit from.
So for this hour’s challenge, I want you to recommend books by diverse/#ownvoices authors. Either leave a comment with your recommendations or take a photo of some of your favorite diverse books and drop the link/image in the comments. Give your fellow readers some suggestions for diverse books, and think about adding #ownvoices books to your TBR stack for the rest of the ‘thon.
Here’s a stack of our favorite diverse titles that would be perfect for readathoning:
You have until Hour 24 to enter this diversity challenge. And now to announce prize winners for the Hour 12 roadtrip challenge.
Veronica Éles (@vveronica96 on Twitter)
Jess (b-ookaddict.tumblr.com)
Austin R. (@aerobins13 on Litsy)
Stephanie (@realbooks4ever on Litsy)
Karina (@karina.reads on Litsy)
Julie (@den_siste_heksa on Instagram)
Michelle Sorensen (@hikingnugg on Twitter)
Allison Ivy (@msallisonivy on Twitter)
Michelle B. (@coffeecatsbooks on Litsy)
Britain Callen (@callemarie @ Litsy)
Head over to the Prize page and pick your poison in the form. And don’t forget you have six hours left to enter the Intro Challenge from Hour Zero.
24in48 Readathon 
Here are my recommendations: https://twitter.com/thatlibrarian9/status/888945247555813376
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I’m sure everyone has mentioned it by now but The Hate U Give is amazing. Another book I loved growing up is Jason & Kyra by Dana Davidson!
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https://instagram.com/p/BW3-6gPhNXy/
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The Leavers by Lisa Ko!
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I will never stop recommending N.K. Jemisin. My newest SFF rec though is Nicky Drayton’s The Prey of Gods. So so good.
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librariankris’s post on Litsy
http://litsy.com/p/V0M0a3E2U2NG
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So many great book recommendations! Here’s my stack: https://www.instagram.com/p/BW32ij4g7Nd/
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DebinHawaii’s post on Litsy
http://litsy.com/p/dTg3VmpSOTRm
Some diverse and/or #own voices picks from my TBR and read stacks that would be good for a readathon.
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Some of my favorite diverse books of late are Homegoing, What We Lose and The God of Small Things. I am looking forward to reading through all of the suggestions!
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I posted a picture on Instagram of some of the diverse titles that I’m including in my classroom library this year. https://www.instagram.com/p/BW34jj3BI-S/?taken-by=read_write_make
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Diverse Books I’d Recommend:
The Perks Of Being A Wallflower by Stephen Chobsky
If I Fall by Anne Eliot
If I Fly by Anne Eliot
The Help by Kathryn Stockett
Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon
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Diverse cast, The Upside of Unrequited. I finished that last month and loved it.
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My best recommendations I have read this year for diversity :
The Hate U Give which is currently a very important and needed story.
Of Fire and Stars which is a fairytale for those who would love to see more LGBTQ+ romances, it’s a fun and quick read.
🙂
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https://www.instagram.com/p/BW35FuYnaak/?taken-by=anniepallam
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I just finished We Are Okay by Nina LaCour, and I’d also recommend The Crossover by Kwame Alexander, Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass by Meg Medina, and The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas (duh!).
@ferskner on Litsy
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stacybmartin’s post on Litsy
http://litsy.com/p/REhiOGdOcWIz
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So many incredible options. Here are a handful of favorites.
http://litsy.com/p/d3RON3FMRXQ5
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just a few of my favorite diverse reads: https://instagram.com/p/BW38W7OHIwu/
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A recent diverse book I loved – When Dimple Met Rishi (YA) – Perfect summer read.
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A recent read I loved was Lucky Boy by Shanti Sekaran. Great debut novel!
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A few of my favorite diverse reads:
catebutler’s post on Litsy
http://litsy.com/p/UXNrek5jcjg1
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Soubhiville’s post on Litsy
http://litsy.com/p/WVkxRzZKYWlP
Diverse books I’ve either just finished or still in my 24in48 stack 😊
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The Hate You Give and Everything Everything are both diverse books that I have stacked, but haven’t actually read yet. I’m loving seeing all the recs.
monkeygirlsmama on Litsy
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I’ve got many more on my tbr list than I’ve read. But some of my favorites are The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon, and The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh. Instagram – @bloghappy
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Anything by either Haruki Murakami (maybe IQ84) or Jeanette Winterson (Written on the Body). I could read either of their books forever.
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just a few of my favourite diverse reads: https://twitter.com/CoffeeandBook18/status/889130363473108994
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Are you planning on participating in either or both readathons? Even if not, do you have any recommendations of diverse authors or books that I might want to add to my potential reading list for the upcoming readathons?
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