#StoryGirls Run This World: Complete March 2015 Booklist Celebrating Diverse Girlhoods

It's been an amazing month for celebrating #StoryGirls over on Twitter! Just in case you missed any of my daily Tweets from @Ebonyteach, here's the complete list:

1. Octabia May, UNSTOPPABLE OCTABIA MAY, Sharon Flake
2. Ha, INSIDE OUT AND BACK AGAIN, Thannha Lai
3. Delphine Gaither, ONE CRAZY SUMMER & PS BE ELEVEN, Rita Williams-Garcia
4. Dimple Lala, BORN CONFUSED & BOMBAY BLUES, Tanuja Desai Hidier
5. Omakayas, Louise Erdrich's THE BIRCHBARK HOUSE series
6. Katie in RETHINKING NORMAL, Katie Rain Hill
7. Keyana, I LOVE MY HAIR! by Natasha Anastasia Tarpley
8. Fen de la Guerre, ORLEANS, Sherri L. Smith
9. Cassie, TAR BEACH, Faith Ringgold
10. Cassidy Rain Berghoff, RAIN IS NOT MY INDIAN NAME, Cynthia Leitich Smith
11. (reblogged my Rue article)
12. Zahrah, ZAHRAH THE WINDSEEKER, Nnedi Okorafor
13. Odilia, SUMMER OF THE MARIPOSAS, Guadalupe Garcia McCall
14. Nyla, SHIP OF SOULS and THE DEEP, Zetta Elliott
15. Princess Adrienne, PRINCELESS, Jeremy Whitley, David Dwonch, M. Goodwin
16. Julia Song, Linda Sue Park, PROJECT MULBERRY
17. Liyana Abboud, HABIBI, Naomi Shihab Nye
18. Dini & Maddie, THE GRAND PLAN TO FIX EVERYTHING, Uma Krishnaswami
19. Young Ju, A STEP FROM HEAVEN, An Na
20. Gabi in GABI, A GIRL IN PIECES, Isabel Quintero
21. Lainey from Tanita S. Davis’ A LA CARTE
22. Young Zora Neale Hurston in Victoria Bond & T.R. Simon's ZORA AND ME
23. Kristin, I.W. Gregorio’s NONE OF THE ABOVE
24. Sam in Kekla Magoon’s THE ROCK AND THE RIVER
25. Yaqui in Meg Medina's YAQUI DELGADO WANTS TO KICK YOUR ASS
26. Baby Girl, Jabari Asim’s GIRL OF MINE
27. Lola, Crystal Swain-Bates’ BIG HAIR, DON’T CARE
28. Rue, Suzanne Collins’ THE HUNGER GAMES
29. Sephy, Malorie Blackman’s NOUGHTS AND CROSSES
30. Ginny, Philip Pullman’s THE BROKEN BRIDGE
31. Jada Pinkett Smith & Donyell Kennedy McCullough’s GIRLS HOLD UP THIS WORLD

(Note: I realize that the capitalized titles may be annoying, but since Twitter doesn't allow italics or underlining, most people indicate titles through caps or by enclosing it with asterisks - but asterisks eat up 2 of your allotted characters. #TwitterLogic)

These are just a few of the many #StoryGirls that contemporary children's literature and young adult fiction have to offer beyond the classics. Although the idea for this hashtag came from L.M. Montgomery's The Story Girl, I am so glad that today's kids have so many different visions (and versions!) of girlhood to choose from.

Thanks to the following amazing #StoryFolk for the lively discussion on Facebook that generated some of these picks and jogged my brain when it came to many others: K.T. Horning, Pooja Makhijani, Gwen Athene Tarbox, Tania Gamper, Ibi Zoboi, Tracee Mason, Ariel Zeitlin Cooke, Kifflie Scott, Kate Slater, Maia Cheli-Colando, Sara Klassen Day, Lelac Almagor, David Low, Kelly Sassi, Wendy Glenn, Chantel Reese, Cynthia Miller, Ariana Heath-Hemerline, Amanda Joy Lemons Roedeffer, Kerry Mockler, Beth Shaum, Stephanie Rowley, Christina Grange, Elaine Zold, Emilie Rothgery, Sarah Hamburg, Eleanora E. Tate, Susan Groenke, Theda Rudd, Heidi Tandy, Lisa McCann

Special thanks to the Los Angeles Times, who recently published my essay review about two more amazing story girls from new books you shouldn't miss this spring:

Two children's books about middle schoolers between cultures
http://www.latimes.com/books/jacketcopy/la-ca-jc-not-just-for-kids-20150322-story.html

I'll have a special post on April 1 featuring National Poetry Month with more noonday book recs with the hashtag #PoetryRocks! Stay tuned for more soon!