I skipped writing this post last year, but this year it seems like a good time to revive the theme. 2024 marked the five-year anniversary of the Carrie and Erin Birthday Book Drive. Carrie is a frequent guest author on the blog.
In 2019, on a whim I decided instead of celebrating my birthday with stuff for me I wanted to donate 40 books to schools in my neighborhood. I vaguely mentioned it on Facebook, Carrie saw the post and text to say she wished she could do the same. Since we both have February birthdays I invited/told her to join me. It worked out great since she brings a disability justice focus which compliments my focus on POC authors — both of which are under-represented in publishing and books.
How it works
The short version of how this project works, is for our birthdays instead of accepting gifts or other stuff for ourselves we put together a wishlist of books that match our criteria. Any book we accept has to be by an author of color, or about disabilities. We have rules – the books about disabilities can’t be overly sad, no disability porn, and nothing about people with disability dying. For the books by authors of color, they must be K-12 appropriate. We also request new books or very gently used books.
Our friends and family are generous and have fun choosing books that resonate with them to donate. The books get shipped to me and part of my house becomes a temporary book warehouse. I keep a spreadsheet of what is donated and who sent it. We share the progress on social media and this becomes a fun community project.
In the spring the books are delivered to schools. We have a few schools we consistently donate to their school libraries. It’s been fun to develop relationships with the librarians and teachers at these schools. They know we are bringing high quality books that often help to diversify their school libraries. I often add new releases to our wishlists which can help schools get these books more quickly into the hands of students. I like reading the new releases and know students feel the same.
New this Year
One of the reasons I wanted to re-share this annual project this year is several friends have done similar projects for their birthdays. Nisha, a teacher friend, said she now wants to be like Dolly Parton, and create her own Dolly Parton Imagination Library. For her birthday she held a birthday book drive too and had her family and friends gift her books. She wrapped the books so her first graders could each open a new book for their classroom library refresh. Another friend did the same and invited her friends to bring books to a silent reading party during her birthday and donated them to school libraries.
It’s been so much fun to watch this project grow. Knowing we’re helping to diversify the books students have access to. With people trying to ban books – books mostly about people of color, LGBTQ, and other experiences that make them feel something – it is important to ensure we’re providing access to high quality books where we can.
This year we focused on including books by Washington authors of color. This was really fun since it made the connections even more local. A friend who wrote the book Nervous was so thrilled to know her book was heading into the hands of high school students. I was at one of the schools that received her book and saw it prominently displayed in the school library – I’m sure it will be read many times.
You!
I hope this inspires you to do something for your local community. I realize how privileged I am to have so many good friends who embrace this book drive every year. Maybe the something for you is different, such as sharing your favorite POC authored book title with someone else so they learn about it. Or during your birthday you invite someone to trade a book with you so you both learn something new. For me the book drive is about connections and wanting to share something I love with students. I hope you find something that matters to you and share it with others.
Book List
Here are some of the books that were donated. Sharing this list is always a fun part of this blog post since it is such a rich list of titles, authors, and hopefully you find a new book to read.
The coding is mine, apologies for any errors — I tried my best.
| Title | Author | School | Race | Disability |
| Hi’iaka and Panaewa Hawaiian Graphic Legend | Ahuli’i, Gabrielle | Elementary | Native Hawaiian | |
| Head Above Water | Alshammari, Shahd | High School | MENA | 1 |
| One Person No Vote | Anderson, Craol | High School | Black | |
| Keep Dancing Through | Boss, Allison Holker and Stephen “tWitch” Boss | Elementary | Black | |
| Fire Keeper’s Daughter | Boulley, Angeline | High School | Native American | |
| Rez Dogs | Bruchac, Joseph | Elementary | Native American | |
| Fall Down Seven Times, Stand Up Eight Times | Bryant, Jen | Elementary | Asian | |
| Empathy is your Super Power | Bussolari, Cori | Elementary | ||
| First Gen | Campoverdi, Alejandra | High School | Latino | |
| Ordinary Ohana | Cataluna, Lee | Elementary | Native Hawaiian | 1 |
| Chinese Soul Food — Vegetarian | Chou, Hsiao-Ching | High School | Asian | |
| Crying in H Mart | Zauner, Michelle | High School | Asian | |
| Parker’s Big Feelings | Curry, Parker and Jessica Curry | Elementary | Black | |
| Freedom is a Constant Struggle | Davis, Angela Y. | High School | Black | |
| Maria Tallchief, She Persisted | Day, Christine | Elementary | Native American | |
| We Still Belong | Day, Christine | Elementary | Native American | |
| Across a Field of Starlight | Delliquanti, Blue | |||
| Invisible | Diaz, Christina | Elementary | Latino | 1 |
| Season of the Bruja | Durán, Aaron and Sara Soler | Middle School | ||
| Being Ace | Dyer, Madeline | High School | 1 | |
| Bitter | Emezi, Akwaeke | Middle School | Black | |
| Huda F Are You? | Fahmy, Huda | Middle School | ||
| Miss Quinces | Fajardo, Kat | Elementary | Latino | 1 |
| Swimming Toward a Dream | Faruqi, Reem | Elementary | MENA | |
| I Will Dance | Flood, Nancy Bo | Elementary | 1 | |
| Of Blood and Sweat Black Lives and the Making of White Power and Wealth | Ford, Clyde W. | High School | Black | |
| Essential Labor Mothering as Social Change | Garbes, Angela | High School | Asian | |
| Friday I’m in Love | Garrett, Camryn | Middle School | Black | |
| I was Their American Dream | Gharib, Malaka | Middle School | MENA | |
| Ghost Roast | Gibbs, Shawnelle and Shawneé Gibbs, Emily Cannon | Elementary | Black | |
| Samira Surfs | Guiroz, Rukhsanna | Middle School | Asian | |
| I Never Thought of it That Way | Guzmán, Mónica | High School | Latino | |
| Hijab Butch Blues | H, Lamya | High School | MENA | |
| A Day With No Words | Hammond, Tiffany | Elementary | Black | 1 |
| We Deserve Monuments | Hammonds, Jas | High School | Black | |
| Sal & Gabi Break the Universe | Hernandez, Carlos | Middle School | Latino | 1 |
| Sal & Gabi Fix the Universe | Hernandez, Carlos | Middle School | Latino | 1 |
| La Última Cuentista — Spanish | Higera, Donna Barba | Middle School | Latino | |
| The Last Cuentista | Higuera, Donna Barba | High School | Latino | |
| Alebriejes | Higuera, Donna Barba | Elementary | Latino | |
| Push Girl | Hill, Chelsie and Jessica Love | Middle School | 1 | |
| Say My Name | Ho, Joanna | Elementary | Asian | |
| all about love | hooks, bell | High School | Black | |
| Displacement | Hughes, Kiku | Elementary | Asian | |
| Mango Delight | Hyman, Fra,caswell | Elementary | ||
| Quietly Hostile | Irby, Samantha | High School | Black | |
| Good Talk | Jacob, Mira | High School | MENA | |
| The Laughter | Jha, Sonora | High School | Asian | |
| How to Raise a Feminist Son | Jha, Sonora | High School | Asian | |
| All Boys Aren’t Blue | Johnson, George M. | High School | Black | 1 |
| Strange Weather in Tokyo | Kawakami, Hiromi | High School | Asian | |
| Jennifer Chan is not Alone | Keller, Tae | Middle School | Asian | |
| Tryout | Keller, Tae | Elementary | Asian | |
| Jennifer Chan is not Alone | Keller, Tae | Elementary | Asian | |
| Stamped YA | Kendi, I and J Reynolds | High School | Black | |
| Our Brave Foremothers | Kennedy, Rozella | Elementary | Black | |
| Rescue & Jessica | Kensky, Jessica and Patrick Downes | Elementary | 1 | |
| Brown Album Essays on exile and Identity | Khakpour, Porochista | High School | MENA | 1 |
| I am the Night Sky | Khan, Hena | Middle School | MENA | |
| Golden Domes and Silver Lanterns | Khan, Hena | Elementary | MENA | |
| Amulet 9 | Kibushi, K | Elementary | Asian | |
| Tomorow is New Year’s Day | Kim, Aram | Elementary | Asian | |
| Last Fallen Star | Kim, Graci | Elementary | Asian | |
| Borders | King, Thomas | Elementary | Native American | |
| In the Lives of Puppets | Klune, TJ | High School | ||
| Pieometry | Ko, Lauren | High School | Asian | |
| Measuring Up | LaMotte, Lily | Elementary | Asian | |
| Mindy Kim and the lunar new Year Parade (2) | Lee, Lyla | Elementary | Asian | |
| Autum Pelteir, Water Warrior | Lindstrom, Carole | Elementary | Native American | |
| Allergic | Lloyd, Megan Wagner | Elementary | 1 | |
| When the Stars Came Home | Luby, Brittany | Elementary | Native American | |
| The Unbeatable Lily Hong | Ma, Diana | Elementary | Asian | |
| Revolution of our Time – The Black Panther Party’s Promise to the People | Magoon, Kekla | Middle School | Black | |
| I am a nurse: Color Me Exceptional! | Maheady, Donna | Elementary | 5 | |
| Mexikid | Martín, Pedro | Elementary | Latino | |
| The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store | McBride, James | High School | Black | |
| The Sum of Us | McGhee, Heather | High School | Black | |
| Furia | Méndez, Yamile Saied | High School | Latino | |
| Latinas Celebrating 40 Big Dreams | Menedez, Juliet | Elementary | Latino | |
| The Kindest Red | Muhammad, Ibtihaj | Elementary | MENA | |
| The Last Sakura Tales of the Yuta | Nakanishi, Ashley | Middle School | Asian | |
| Saving Sorya Change and the Sun Bear | Nguyen, Trang | Elementary | Asian | |
| The Magic Fish | Nguyen, Trung Le | High School | Asian | |
| The Light We Carry | Obama, Michelle | High School | Black | |
| Mediocre | Oluo, Ijemoa | High School | Black | |
| Be a Revolution | Oluo, Ijemona | High School | Black | |
| Heartstopper series | Oseman, Alice | High School | 1 | |
| ADHD for Smart Ass Women | Otsuka, Tracy | High School | Asian | 1 |
| My Grandffather’s Song | Quang, Phung Nguyên and Huynh Kim Liên | Elementary | Asian | |
| Dancing Hands, a Story of Friendship in Filipino Sign Language | Que, Joanna & Charina Marquez | Elementary | Asian | 1 |
| The Only Way to Make Bread | Quintero, Cristina | Elementary | Latino | |
| There Was a Party for Langston | Reynolds, Jason | Elementary | Black | |
| Ain’t Burned All the Bright | Reynolds, Jason | Elementary | Black | |
| There Was a Party for Langston | Reynolds, Jason | Elementary | Black | |
| Ain’t Burned All the Bright | Reynolds, Jason | Elementary | Black | |
| Stuntboy In the Meantime (2) | Reynolds, Jason | Elementary | Black | |
| The Last slice a Three Kings Day Treat | Richardson, Melissa Seron | Elementary | Latino | |
| Barely Floating | Rivera, Lilliam | Elementary | Latino | |
| Unearthed, a Jessica Cruz Story | Rivera, Lilliam and Steph C. | Middle School | ||
| The Song that Called Me Home | Robertson, David A. | Elementary | Native American | |
| When We Were Alone | Robertson, David A. and Julie Flett | Elementary | Native/Indigenous | |
| Para Chicas Fuertes De Corazón Tierno Y Piel Canela | Rodríguez, Prisca Dorcas Monica | High School | Latino | 1 |
| Our Work is Everywhere | Rose, Syan | High School | 1 | |
| A Quick & Easy Guide to Consent | Rotman, Isabella | Middle School | ||
| Grounded | Saeed, Aisha et al | Elementary | MENA | |
| Jovita Llevaba Panalones | Salazar, Aida | Elementary | Latino | |
| Victory. Stand! | Smith, Tommie | Elementary | Black | |
| Nervous | Soriano, Jen | High School | Asian | 1 |
| Wilma Mankiller, She Persisted | Sorrell, Traci | Elementary | Native American | 1 |
| Give Me a Sign | Sortino, Anna | High School | 1 | |
| The Autism Friendly Guide to Periods | Steward, Robyn | Elementary | 1 | |
| The Chance to Fly | Stroker, Ali and Stacy Davidowitz | Elementary | 1 | |
| Cut Loose! | Stroker, Ali and Stacy Davidowitz | Elementary | 1 | |
| All my Rage | Tahir, Sabaa | High School | MENA | |
| I am Not Starfire | Tamaki, Mariko | Elementary | Asian | |
| I’m Going to Be a Princess | Taylor, Stephanie | Elementary | Black | |
| Kings of B’More | Thomas, R. Eric | High School | Black | |
| Game of Freedom | Tonatiuh, Duncan | Elementary | Latino | |
| Dear Daughter | Tran, Christina | High School | Asian | |
| Inclusion on Purpose | Tulshyan, Ruchika | High School | Asian | 1 |
| Everything is Ok | Tung, Debbie | Middle School | Asian | 1 |
| Unordinary | uru-chan | Middle School | Asian | |
| Prince and the Dressmaker | Wang, Jen | Elementary | Asian | 1 |
| Not He or She, I’m Me | Wild | Elementary | ||
| Kapaemahu | Wong-Kalu, Hinaleimoana, Dean Hamer, and Joe Wilson | Elementary | Native Hawaiian | |
| The Words We Share | Wong, Jack | Elementary | Asian | |
| Mooncakes | Xu, Wendy | Elementary | Asian | 1 |
| A Nest in Springtime – Bilingual Book of Numbers | Yang, Belle | Elementary | Asian | |
| Lunar New Year Love Story | Yang, Gene Luen | Middle School | Asian | |
| American Born Chinese | Yang, Gene Luen | Elementary | Asian | |
| Superman Smashes the Klan | Yang, Gene Luen | Elementary | Asian | |
| Lunar New Year Love Story | Yang, Gene Luen and Leuyen Pham | High School | Asian | |
| Jar of Fat | Yim, Seayoung | High School | Asian | |
| The Sun is Also a Star | Yoon, Nicola | High School | Mixed | |
| Rainbow Shopping | Zhuang, Qing | Elementary | Asian | |
| Being Seen | High School | 1 | ||
| This Place 150 Years Retold | High School | Native/Indigenous | ||
| Breathe and Count Back from Ten | High School | 1 | ||
| Mighty Mara | Elementary | Asian | 1 | |
| A Spot of Worry | Elementary | 1 |
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