Diverse Books Quotes

“The Barbies with their stick legs and rocket breasts were another problem Megan had to endure. She was supposed to spend hours dressing up or playing house with them, including the darker ones she was supposed to find more relatable. In a fit she'd once tried to commit Barbicide, defaced them with colored marker pens, chopped off hair, extracted eyes with scissors and de-limbed a few... The Barbie invasion proliferated on birthdays and at Christmas, relatives talked about incredible collection, as if she'd actually chosen to have them in her life.”
― Bernardine Evaristo, Girl, Woman, Other

“Love does not work in convenience. Or any kind of sense.”
― Maggie Tokuda-Hall, The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea

“There’re folks with plenty of learning that ain’t got sense enough to pull up their cowl in the rain. Some things can’t be taught…they just are.”
― Aaron-Michael Hall, Kurintor Nyusi

“To be unaware of something doesn’t render it void or nonexistent. Not all occurrences written are true, just as not all we see is reality."
-Aaron-Michael Hall, Kurintor Nyusi”
― Aaron-Michael Hall, Kurintor Nyusi

“Cold November nights. It feels as if summer never happened. The beauty of setting sun, moon, and stars. Sailing to nowhere, but finding happiness in our togetherness. Never forget what we are. Stranded hearts." Fidelis O. Mkparu (2016), author of 'Love's Affliction' (and soon to be published 'Tears before Exaltation')”
― Fidelis O Mkparu

“It was just a simple meeting of the eyes. There was nothing to it. She had done so with countless people. And she had stared at his eyes before, back at the cinema. But there was something different at that exact time, in that exact situation, with exactly the same person.
It was like being struck by lightning. Sudden, electric, paralyzing.
And she knew he felt it too. For some inexplicable reason, they both found themselves unable to look away, powerless to deny the pull. Hypnotized by each other’s brown irises, without knowing nor caring who wielded the magic wand of trance which put them into some kind of conscious stupor. While the world and everything in it faded in the background and the noises outside were hushed, Alex was achingly aware of herself. Of how drawn she was to the deep, swirling pools of dark honey staring into her soul, magnetic and mystic at the same time. Of how every nerve and every cell of her body were ablaze, tongues of flame flittering over them, singeing her with a torturous warmth. Of the blaring sound of her pulse pounding heavily beneath the onslaught of his sensual thumb. It was a scintillating torment she didn’t want to end.”
― Mayumi Cruz, It's Not Just Semantics

“Time is like most things, ‘Risha, it’s more a matter of perception than anything else. It exists ‘cause we needed it to exist, a way to measure when."
-Aaron-Michael Hall, Kurintor Nyusi”
― Aaron-Michael Hall, Kurintor Nyusi

“You must first defeat your enemy in your mind. If you rely solely on your physical weapons, you’ve already lost."
-Aaron-Michael Hall, Kurintor Nyusi”
― Aaron-Michael Hall, Kurintor Nyusi

“Time is more a perception than a tether to the now.”
― Aaron-Michael Hall, Kurintor Nyusi

“Time is but a notion contrived by those who don’t truly understand the workings of the gods. It’s merely a measurement of when, yet our focus is the now. Not what has already passed.”
― Aaron-Michael Hall, Kurintor Nyusi

“Alyelu didn’t want to injure him, but he wouldn’t release him, either. That feeling was one he couldn’t admit, but the truth sat there before him. Mocking him.”
― Aaron-Michael Hall, Kurintor Nyusi

“Rich people love books.”
― Maggie Tokuda-Hall, The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea

“.....parents her as best as I can
before she becomes one. & I remember I have none.”
― Elizabeth Acevedo, Clap When You Land

“The kindness
of a stranger, simply because she sees in us
something worthy of this small gift.”
― Elizabeth Acevedo, Clap When You Land

“If difficult times teach us the most important lessons, we should then learn to read difficult books.”
― Joyce Rachelle

“Her lips, which taste still lingered on his mouth. By his normal standards, it was again a fleeting, chaste kiss. But it had struck him with the power of a thousand lightnings.
He’d tasted many a woman’s lips. And for longer periods of time. But they all paled in comparison with her lips. It was like he’d been feasting on sand for the longest time. Suddenly now, he had a taste of a sprinkling of sugar and realized it was what he had been missing, starving, craving for so long.
Now, all he could think of was sand and sugar.”
― Mayumi Cruz, It's Not Just Semantics

“Weakness confounds the mind and diminishes the soul.”
― Aaron-Michael Hall, Kurintor Nyusi

“Been told that dreams ain’t merely dreams. At times, they show us things we ought to know and sometimes what we’ve forgotten.”
― Aaron-Michael Hall, Kurintor Nyusi

“Do you believe in book fairies?”
― Emelia Govender, The Magical Adventures of Cyan: I Believe In Book Fairies, Do You?

“Why share LGBTQAI+ literature with all children? Because, we argue, it's an issue of basic human rights - rights that all of us deserve. We no longer hesitate to share books about other forms of diversity: race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, age, language, women's issues, and more. Why are we still hesitant to share books about sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, and nontraditional family structures with all children?”
― Christina Dorr, LGBTQAI+ Books for Children and Teens: Providing a Window for All

“Contrary to what some educators, librarians, and caregivers may erroneously believe, children's and young adult books with LGBTQAI+ characters and families are often no more about sex than are books with heterosexual characters and families.”
― Jamie Campbell Naidoo, LGBTQAI+ Books for Children and Teens: Providing a Window for All

“Returning the phone, she said, “You’re an artist.”
The whole train seemed to shimmer. The stars shone brighter out the window.
Ray knew Grampa and his art teacher believed in him, but nobody had ever said, “You’re an artist.” Just like that. Let alone someone his own age. Maybe Mel wasn’t easy to get to know, but she sure did have a kind heart.”
― Cynthia Leitich Smith, Ancestor Approved: Intertribal Stories for Kids