TTT : Celebrating diversity

♪ So raise your glass if you are wrong, in all the right ways, all my underdogs ♪

Hosted by : The Broke & The Bookish

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday focuses on diversity in fiction !

While I’m all for diversity, doing this list made me realize that I really have to expand my readings a bit more. That being said, I tried to compile a list focusing on different “diversities”, mainly sexuality, social background, race and psychological issues.

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I will not quote Born This Way. I will not quote Born This Way. I will not –

Aristotle & Dante discover the secrets of the universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz : A beautiful coming-of-age story featuring two boys growing together and coming to terms with who they are.

Coda by Emma Trevayne : Actually the first book I’ve read with an explicitly bisexual character, so I was beyond happy, add to that the fact that it’s not even an issue (there’s no prejudice, no one saying that he’s just confused, “gay in denial”, or greedy) and I was sold. The book also features other LGBTQ characters.

The Song Of Achilles by Madeline Miller : I just love how Ancient Greece was just like “Yes homo”, it’s seriously one of my favourite things about Greek mythology, and so, of course I would love a retelling of Achilles’ and Patroclus’ story.

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MEGA COMBO

Afterworlds by Scott Westerfeld : I will never stop mentioning Afterworlds, just deal with it ! Not only Afterworlds is a crazy good book with dual perspective, mythology, and paranormal creepy elements, but it also features an amazing lesbian-probably demisexual/probably grey-sexual main character with Hindu origins and an Hindu god as a love interest. It also focuses a lot on a religion we, westerners, don’t particularly know a lot about, so it’s definitely great to discover it through the characters’ points of view.

 

 

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I’m friends with the monster that’s under my bed

It’s Kind Of A Funny Story by Ned Vizzini : I remember just loving this book because, while it starts with a main character not hiding his depression and trying to commit suicide, it also has a lot of beautiful moments. He’s not feeling good enough, and trying to come to terms with that as well. And I loved the tentacles metaphor !

The Perks Of Being A Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky : Charlie is socially awkward, has some psychological issues and some pretty heavy repressed memories. He’s an outsider who finally finds the place where he belongs. I just love this book, okay ?

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It don’t matter if you’re black or white

The Absolutely True Diary Of A Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie : I’m going to be honest, I’ve never really understood what was going on with Indian-Americans in the US. Like, seriously, another example of cultural differences (because I’m not American and so I’m not faced with it as they are), but I never understood why there was such a huge stigma on them. So, I was pretty ignorant of a lot of things, and this book helped me understand a bit more, but I’m still not there yet. So yeah, lots of racism and bullying in this book since Junior is the only kid of colour in his very white high-school, a bit about cultural appropriation and poverty too.

 

 

Money, money money must be funny, in the rich man’s world

A Tree Grows In Brooklyn by Betty Smith : One of my favourite books of all time. It was such an unexpected gem ! I really didn’t know I would love it that much. It made me laugh, it made me cry, it inspired me. This book is mostly autobiographical and tells the story of Francie, how she grew up in poverty, but also how she learned to love books and words. It is a book about a bookworm. Her father is a musician, her mother is slaving away to earn the money her husband doesn’t earn and makes sure her family survives. This book is just beautiful.

 

 

All I wanna say is that they don’t really care about us

This one is not really about prisoners but more about people who are considered less because of social reasons.

The Enchanted by Rene Denfeld : it takes place inside a prison, with criminals sentenced to death. I love that it doesn’t really shy away from the monstrosities committed, but also brings a bit of humanization to those characters. It’s difficult to realize that you can feel sympathy for a truly awful person.

Les Misérables by Victor Hugo : Of course, I was going to mention Victor Hugo, I’m such a big fan, and of course, I was going to include Les Mis, it’s one of my all time favourites ! The very title of the book is all for the minorities, it means the Wretched : you have a former prisoner finding his path, children living in utter misery, revolutionaries trying to overcome the government, thieves and murderers, and all of them victims of their fate. There are no words to express how much I love this book.