If you know of a book that should be added to the library, use the name submission form to suggest it.

The Book of Sarahs by  Catherine E. McKinley - From Publishers Weekly “McKinley grew up a biracial adopted child in a politically progressive family, living in a mostly white community in a working-class Massachusetts town. After discovering that her birth mother is a white Jewish woman and her father African-American and part Native American, McKinley finds that she may even have a sister, possibly a twin, by these same parents. But McKinley's first burst of happiness at finding her birth parents is continually punctured: her mother relates to her mostly through the young daughter of her current relationship and has serious emotional problems. (The title refers to the fact that Sarah was the name her birth mother gave McKinley, as well as McKinley's older sister and her half-sister. So there are three Sarahs: all related, all from the same mother.) McKinley frets that her newfound family will disapprove of her lesbianism. By the end of her journey, she is left with feeling "post-family": "I had been born into a loss. People were lost to me." McKinley wants a clear-cut racial, biological and family identity, but comes to the difficult conclusion that such a thing does not exist for her or anyone else if they begin looking hard enough.”

Mixed: My Life in Black and White by Angela Nissel - “Adult/High School–As a light-skinned child born to a black mother and a white father, Nissel has constantly grappled with the question of racial identity. Growing up in West Philadelphia during the 1970s and '80s, she came of age trying to figure out who she was and where she fit. She encountered bullies and interesting friends and teachers, and experienced the turmoil of race-conscious dating. She had a bout of depression while in college, and took on a variety of odd jobs, including one night as an exotic dancer. Through all of this she struggled to maintain her own sense of self in spite of societal views. Nissel is insightful, funny, and a person with whom many readers will identify.” –Shannon Seglin, Chantilly Regional Library, Fairfax County, VA

Mixed: An Anthology of Short Fiction on the Multiracial Experience edited by Chandra Prasad - “Going way beyond the mythology of the tragic mulatto, this anthology of short stories by and about people of mixed racial heritage explores the complexities of multiracialism and multiculturalism.” Vanessa Bush Copyright © American Library Association

Does Anybody Else Look Like Me?: A Parent's Guide To Raising Multiracial Children by Donna Jackson Nakazawa - “Based on personal experience and interviews conducted with 60 other multiracial families, Nakazawa has skillfully combined anecdotal research with a strong knowledge of childhood and educational development philosophy to provide this useful guide for raising multiracial children in a color- and race-conscious world.” Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Secret Daughter: A Mixed-Race Daughter and the Mother Who Gave Her Away by June Cross - “Using her 1997 Emmy Award– winning documentary, Secret Daughter, as inspiration for her memoir of the same name, Cross, a TV producer and journalism professor at Columbia University, narrates her life as the daughter of a white woman and a well-known black vaudevillian (Jimmy Cross) who was handed over to a black couple for rearing.” Copyright © Reed Business Information

Ely: An Autobiography - Ely Green was born in Sewanee, Tennessee, in 1893. His father was a member of the white gentry, the son of a former Confederate officer. His mother was a housemaid, the daughter of a former slave. In this small episcopal community--home to the University of the South--Ely lived his early childhood oblivious to the implications of his illegitimacy and his parentage. He was nearly nine years old before he realized that being different from his white playmates was of any real significance.

The Last War: Racism, Spirituality, and the Future of Civilization By Mark L. Perry. Written by an author of multiracial background, The Last War examines the deepest causes of racism in America. Originally published in Oxford, England, and with little exposure in the United States until now, this book will appeal to all readers who envision America as an emerging multicultural, multiracial society.

Tripping on the Color Line : Black-White Multiracial Families in a Racially Divided World by Heather M. Dalmage.  Interviews with black-white multiracial families, examine the challenges they face and the need for rethinking race in America. The lived reality of race in the ways multiracial families construct their identities and sense of community and politics and the lack of language to describe multiracial experiences, along with the methods of negotiating racial ambiguity in a racially divided society are central themes. By connecting her interviewee's stories to specific issues, such as census categories, transracial adoption, and intermarriage, Dalmage raises the debate to a broad discussion of the idea of race and its impact on social justice.

Forbidden Love : The Secret History of Mixed Race America  by Gary B. Nash  Should there be a mixed-race option on census forms?  Readers will find that this history of racially mixed people in the U.S., from colonial times to the present, provides connections and context. In many ways, this is also a history of American racism, a disturbing narrative of resistance to "mestizo America." What will hold teens are the many personal stories that are woven into the political struggle: stirring accounts of "interracial renegades" who defied convention and stood up for love. Some were famous, but most, as Nash points out, have been left out of the history books.

Black, White, Just Right! by Marguerite W. Davol and Irene Trivas (Illustrator).  Ages 2-5. A mixed-race child celebrates the rich inclusiveness of her life in a joyful picture book. Mama's face is chestnut brown, Papa's face turns pink in the sun, the child's a little dark, a little light, "Just right!" Each double-page spread shows how members of the family are individuals with likes and dislikes, hobbies and habits that move beyond stereotype. 

Of Many Colors : Portraits of Multiracial Families by Gigi Kaeser (Photographer).  Based on an award-winning photo exhibit, this book documents the feelings and experiences of Americans who live in multiracial families. Contradicting stereotypes, members of 39 families have much to say about the most intimate form of integration, familial love, and this love is made visible in the superb photographs by Gigi Kaeser.

The Interracial Experience : Growing Up Black/White Racially Mixed in the United States by Ursula M. Brown.  The number of black-white mixed marriages increased by 504% in the last 25 years. By gathering hard data as well as a series of intensely personal and revealing vignettes, Dr. Brown offers a rare glimpse into the lives, struggles, frustration and joys of mixed race people. She investigates psychosocial issues unique to mixed race children. Also, experiences that influenced their adjustment in a country that has subjected them to racist abuses from the white as well as black side of the racial divide and has shoehorned them into a racial category that denies half of their physiological and psychological existence are explored.

Destined to Witness : Growing Up Black in Nazi Germany by Hans J. Massaquoi.   Massaquoi, a man of mixed racial heritage, survived 12 years of Nazi terror in Germany during World War II. The son of a German mother and a Liberian father, he grew up in a country that became progressively obsessed with racial purity, where Massaquoi was unable to escape racist taunts and hostilities. He recalls his early, naive acceptance and even admiration of Hitler, even in the face of creeping racial animosities, primarily aimed at Jews but slowly encompassing other non-Aryan people as well. By adolescence, embittered by his perpetual outsider status, Massaquoi had come to grips with the reality of his situation and that of his mother. Through sports figures Joe Louis and Jesse Owens, Massaquoi attached his racial identity to that of black Americans and became obsessed with coming to the U.S. After the war, he settled temporarily in Liberia with his father's family before journeying to the U.S. and eventually becoming a reporter with Ebony magazine. Massaquoi's background and experiences provide incredible context to this personal story of overcoming racism

Divided to the Vein : A Journey into Race and Family by Scott Minerbrook.  The author's father was a pampered black child, his mother an idealistic girl from a large poor white farming family: he himself grew up in the 1950s and 60s. His mixed family background and his later search for ethnic identity as an adult are the subject of an autobiography which reflects on the powers of racial heritage and identity

Harnessing Anger : The Inner Discipline of Athletic Excellence by Peter Westbrook, Tej Hazarika.  The son of a black American father and Japanese Mother, he grew up "poorer than poor" in the projects of Newark. Encouraged by his mother, he fenced his way out of the ghetto, attending New York University on a full athletic scholarship. His extraordinary history and his work today coaching young fencers in New York City.  Written in a simple, honest and direct voice, this inspiring memoir [examines] being poor and bi-racial; learning confidence and self-control; understanding the cultural differences within our country; and mastering the psychology and politics of competition and winning

What Are You? by Pearl Fuyo Gaskins. What Are You? is the result of Pearl Gaskins's years of in-depth interviews with eighty mixed-race young people. In their own words -- which are at times defiant, humorous, and insightful -- they address issues such as dating, family life, prejudice, and racial identity. At the same time, they celebrate the unique hope and possibilities that come from living life in multicolors and multicultures. Combining interviews with poems, essays, and insights from experts, What Are You? reveals what it means to be living proof that America's ideas about race make no sense. The book includes an extensive bibliography, resource guide, and photographs of young people who contributed.

The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother by James McBride.  James McBride grew up one of twelve siblings in the all-black housing projects of Red Hook, Brooklyn, the son of a black minister and a woman who would not admit she was white. The object of McBride's constant embarrassment and continuous fear for her safety, his mother was an inspiring figure, who saw her dozen children through college, and many through graduate school. McBride was an adult before he discovered the truth about his mother: The daughter of a failed itinerant Orthodox rabbi in rural Virginia, she had run away to Harlem, married a black man, and founded an all-black Baptist church in her living room. In her son's remarkable memoir, she tells in her own words the story of her past.   HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!

Black, White, Other: Biracial Americans Talk about Race and Identity by Lise Funderburg.  As we prepare to enter a new millenium, for the United States race remains the issue, woven into the fabric of almost every American life. Yet few Americans confront the ambiguities of race as regularly as those of biracial descent. In Black, White, Other journalist Lise Funderburg questions 46 biracial Americans about family and love, work and religion, and the mythology surrounding the "tragic mulatto." Her book reveals a great deal about life on both sides of the color line--and exposes just how artificial, how socially constructed, our concept of race is to begin with.

Black, White, and Jewish : Autobiography of a Shifting Self by Rebecca Walker.  When Mel Leventhal married Alice Walker during the civil rights movement in the 1960s, his mother declared him dead and sat shiva for him. By the time her parents divorced, when Rebecca was eight, the excitement of the milieu that had brought her parents together and produced a "Movement baby" had died down and the foundation that gave her life meaning dropped out from under her. After their divorce, Rebecca alternated homes every two years, living in Mississippi, Brooklyn, San Francisco, the Bronx, and suburban New York. With each new place came a new identity and desperate attempts to fit in: as white or black, as Puerto Rican or Jewish, as a party girl, a fighter, or a lover. Confused, and mostly alone, Rebecca Walker turned to sex, drugs, books, and complicated alliances. Black, White, and Jewish, her much-anticipated memoir, is the story of a child's unique struggle for identity and home when nothing in her world tells her who she is or where she belongs.

Half and Half: Writers on Growing up Biracial and Bicultural is a collection of essays on the theme of being biracial and bicultural in contemporary American society. The Editor has assembled a passionate medley of writings by 18 authors who share a bicultural or biracial identity.  From the Publisher:  "How do you measure someone's race or culture? Half this, quarter that, born here, raised there. What name do you give that? These eighteen essays, joined by a shared sense of duality, address both the difficulties of not fitting into and the benefits of being part of two worlds."

Neither Black Nor White Yet Both : Thematic Explorations of Interracial Literature by Werner Sollors.  A study on the history of miscegenation and interracial literature examines the taboos and restrictions surrounding interracial relationships as they are found in prominent literary works.

Caucasia by Danzy Senna. Growing up in a biracial family in 1970s Boston, Birdie has seen her family disintegrate due to the increasing racial tensions. Her father and older sister move to Brazil, where they hope to find true racial equality, while Birdie and her mother drift through the country, eventually adopting new identities (Sheila and Jesse Goldman) and settling in a small New Hampshire town." Might be more for the Mixed females out there than the males.

Skin Deep by Kathleen Cross. Nina Moore never thought of herself as a white woman. Sure she was pale with eyes bluer than a windswept sky. But until her move from metropolitan Los Angeles to small-town Glendale, Arizona, it didn't bother her when people perceived her as anything other than what she was: a proud black woman. Now she is forced to face several painful truths: her color struck fianci is suffering from jungle fever; Ahmad, the handsome, intriguing, and recently released ex-convict and struggling single father.

Racially Mixed People in America by Maria P. P. Root (Editor).

The Multiracial Experience : Racial Borders As the New Frontier
by Maria P.P. Root (Editor). For the first time in US history, according to the Census Bureau, the number of biracial babies is increasing at a faster rate than the number of single-race babies. In this collection educators, philosophers, sociologists, social workers, and others consider personal experience and theory as well as practical ideas for incorporating mutltiracial thinking into areas such as education, gender issues, and census forms. The 24 essays are divided into six sections: human rights; identity; blending and flexibility; gender and sexual identity; multicultural education; and the new millennium

The Mulatto in the United States by Edward Byron Reuter.  An historical study of the role of the mulatto in American society, with a discussion of the mixing of races in other parts of the world.

Creating Equal : My Fight Against Race Preferences by Ward Connerly. The champion of California's controversial Proposition 209 outlawing racial preferences in state government, offers a compelling memoir and polemic with Creating Equal. Connerly's insider account of Proposition 209 (plus similar efforts in Houston and Washington state) will appeal to political junkies of all stripes. Regardless of their views on the philosophical content of Connerly's crusade, readers will find Creating Equal to be a surprisingly good book.

Colorless Soul by Mary Wilson. From the author: "The story begins with my maternal grandfather Alex., who was born in Georgia to a freed slave and an Irish man. After years of living as white, my grandfather was finally told of his ethnic backgroun… Meanwhile up north an Italian man is prospering very well in America. This Italian man was my paternal grandfather. These two men greatly impacted the lives of the offspring that followed. They produced a generation born into a new phase in history called racism, Jim Crow, "Civil Rights Movement." The story ends in the early 80's with my father's death where he no longer was black or white, just a Colorless Soul. The book is a 124 page booklet of memoirs spanning three decades of our lives in the supposedly liberated north."

Feast of All Saints by Anne Rice. In the days before the Civil War, there lived a Louisiana people unique in Southern histroy. Though descended from African slaves, they were also descended from the French and Spanish who enslaved them. Called the Free People of Color, this dazzling historical novel chronicles the lives of four of them--men and women caught perilously between the worlds of master and slave, privilege and oppression, passion and pain.

White Chocolate by Elizabeth Atkins Bowman. "My Sweet White Chocolate" That's what Taylor James' first love used to call her, referring to her creamy skin, blonde hair, and mixed heritage. But that was before he dumped her without any explanation. Now years later, Taylor is a hot TV journalist who made her mark by going undercover to expose a violent white supremacist group. And she's agreed to marry her boss, the powerful owner of the Wolf Television Network. But that's if she survives until the wedding. The white supremacists are out of jail now and they want revenge--Taylor's blood. Yes, coping with death threats is hard--but not as hard as the reappearance of her first love, who wants her back.

Dark Secret by Elizabeth Atkins Bowman. The saga of two wildly different sisters is a perfect read-to-relax novel, with just the right amount of political spice to balance the melodrama. Camille is determined to escape her dark secret of a biracial, poverty-stricken Detroit childhood. To that end, the former "ghost chile" has reinvented herself as a white New York orphan with money, a law career, and fiance, Jeff Stone, son of Republican U.S. senator Monty Stone, tobacco fortune heir and proverbial son of the segregationist South. Meanwhile, Camille's sister, Karen, is struggling with a family business back home only to learn that Mama's kidneys have failed as a result of diabetes, and--yes--only Camille, born Sharlene, can save her. Can Karen locate this lost sister, forcing her to reveal her secret past? So deliciously convoluted is Bowman's tale, filled as it is with schemers, liars, and villains who all but twirl their mustaches (and that's just the women!), readers will have a hard time tearing themselves away. Whitney Scott

Beyond Race: The Bhagavad-gita in Black and White by Charles Michael Byrd. "An indispensable aid for anyone seeking to transcend America’s oppressive race-consciousness. Each section of Beyond Race is fashioned after the eighteen chapters of the Bhagavad-gita, the essence of India’s Vedic wisdom and one of the great spiritual and philosophical classics of the world. Along with synopses of each Gita chapter, Beyond Race includes commentary culled from Mr. Byrd’s 1995-2001 Interracial Voice editorials. During or after each chapter’s “race” commentary, is included a specific Gita verse for the purpose of expanding on that commentary from the Vedic perspective."

Six Black Presidents : Black Blood : White Masks USA by Auset Bakhufu. The Author draws from ten years of study and four years of research. Many letters, books, TV documentaries and court and government records and literature have been analyzed and examined to complete this work. The result is a major sociological and psycological biographic piece (which includes the "passing for white" syndrome) of six of the United States' most influential presidents...They just happen to be of African ancestry.

No One is Innocent by Gayle Tiller. Thirty-something Jasmine Myers is a divorced San Jose African American private investigator who is battling her addiction to alcohol. Her biological clock is ticking and her ex-husband who is newly married wants her back. Community Leader Kristal Woods has hired Jasmine to investigate the death of her husband Ralph Woods, the President of the Black Firefighters. After two other firefighters die, Kristal is charged with all three murders. A twisted path leads to the dark side of San Jose politics and life. In the end, Jasmine learns that no one is innocent. In closing, I look forward to your response.

Crossing the Line by Laura Parker Castoro. A mainstream novel about a light-skinned black woman Thea Morgan who married a white man and has blond blue-eyed daughter. The book opens two years after her husband's sudden death and she is dealing with rearing a fifteen year old daughter Jesse who has begun to question her place in the world. Both Thea and Jesse have to face many difficult decisions when Thea finds herself once more interested in her first love, Xavier Thornton, a prominent African American minister. It is a story about family and friendship and how one must sometimes cross the line of others expectations to fulfill one's own destiny.

Cane River by Lalita Tademy. A riveting family saga chronicles four generations of women born into slavery along the Cane River in Louisiana. It is also a tale about the blurring of racial boundaries: great-grandmother Elisabeth notices an unmistakable "bleaching of the line" as first her daughter Suzette, then her granddaughter Philomene, and finally her great-granddaughter Emily choose (or are forcibly persuaded) to bear the illegitimate offspring of the area's white French planters. In many cases these children are loved by their fathers, and their paternity is widely acknowledged. However, neither state law nor local custom allows them to inherit wealth or property, a fact that gives Cane River much of its narrative drive.

Alex Haley's Queen is an account of Alex Haley's family history, published posthumously. Partly of Irish descent, Haley traces his father's family back to its arrival in America in 1797. Queen, Haley's grandmother, was born a slave and lived well into this century.

Light in August by William Faulkner was published in 1932, Light in August is the seventh in the series of William Faulkner's novels set in the fictional Yoknapatawpha County, Mississippi. The book tells the story of the orphan Joe Christmas, whose mixed black-white heritage condemns him to life as an outsider who is hated by some and pitied by others. Simon McEachern, the puritanical farmer who rears Joe, frequently whips the boy, and Joe leaves home after savagely beating Simon. Joe then wanders for 15 years, eventually settling in with a white woman devoted to aiding blacks, Joanna Burden. But her evangelism is a reminder to Joe of Simon's; still damaged from his upbringing, Joe murders Joanna. Joe flees but a companion reveals his whereabouts and he is killed and castrated.

The Village of Spence Hill: A Multi-Cultural Bedtime Story. This children's book is designed as a "read aloud" bedtime story for ages 3 and beyond. The stories involve four children in a community who interact with each other. It is written on three allegorical levels. The first level is teaching children the caveats of life, e.g. the first chapter, not to run off from your parents, you may get lost in an unfamiliar setting; second chapter, not to play with matches; third chapter, not to cross the streets alone or looking both ways to avoid an accident; and lastly enjoying your friends through a slumber party. The second level deals with multicultural issues. As an adult how do you teach your child about transracially adopted families or interracially blended families when these questions are posed to you? The third level is to mentally stimulate the adult reading this book to the child to look introspectively into his own life and examine what belief system he is instilling into his child.

Atul's Quest by Nader Habibi. It is well known that there is a strong admiration for light skin complexion in many developing countries. This tendency is most visible in South Asia where young people, (both men and women) express a preference for marriage partners with light skin color. Atul's Quest is a satirical story about what happens when this admiration for whiteness is taken to an extreme. Atul is a young student of Indian origin at Yale University. He is so obsessed with whiteness that believes all people of dark skin must engage in intermarriage with whites to pass a lighter skin complexion to their future generations. After being turned down by several professors he finally finds a professor of economics who agrees to help him study the historical precedence and the social consequences of such a recommendation in the context of an independent study course. Realizing the controversial nature of this topic, they report a false topic for Atul’s independent study to the department. Half way into this research project, Atul accidentally discovers a secret society of Indian Professors in East Coast Universities that has already put these beliefs into practice. The discovery leads to twists and turns that add a flavor of adventure and intrigue to the story. Another intriguing aspect of the story is that unknown to Atul, the professor that is supervising his independent study, is secretly pursuing his own research agenda on causal relations between physical beauty and economic development.

Cynthia Leitich Smith's Childrens Literature Resources offers Children's and Young Adult Books with Interracial Family Themes

Etienne Books The Online Source for Multicultural Children's Picture Book

Dirty Sally by Myrtice J. Edwards.  From the author:  “the untold stories of mixed race children who find a new identity, love, faith and forgiveness through God.  This book focuses on the misconceptions surrounding racial identity and the importance of choosing one’s racial identity. Dirty Sally is a must read not only for inter-racial families, but for all parents hoping to instill in their children a sense of understanding and compassion.”

If you know of a book that should be added to the library, use the name submission form to suggest it.