Discover Books

Each book below includes a main character (or pivotal secondary character) who is in foster care or living with family members who are not their parents---or the book features a theme that resonates with the foster care experience.
The list includes four categories for readers: Infant to Preschool (for babies to children age 4), Early Elementary (ages 5 to 7), Middle Grade (ages 8 to 12), and Young Adult (ages 13 - 17).
We hope you discover something you love!
Note: If you'd like to donate books via our Amazon Wishlist, please visit our Donate webpage instead.
Infant to Preschool (ages baby - 4)

Who's In My Family?: All About Our Families
by Robie H. Harris (Author), Nadine Bernard Westcott (Illustrator)
Accessible, humorous, and full of charming illustrations depicting families of many configurations...making it clear to every child that whoever makes up your family, it is perfectly normal — and totally wonderful.

Love Makes a Family
by Sophie Beer
Whether a child has two moms, two dads, one parent, or one of each, this simple preschool read-aloud demonstrates that what's most important in each family's life is the love the family members share.

Families of a Feather
by Fern Wexler (Author), Kelsey Buzzell (Illustrator)
Discover the diverse family lives of a variety of bird species and the many different ways they work together to care for their young in this gorgeous book that celebrates diversity and inclusion.

The Feelings Book
by Todd Parr
Todd illustrates a wide range of moods to introduce readers to the powerful, ever-changing, and sometimes nonsensical emotions that we all feel.

I Wish for You
by David Max, illustrated by Brett Blumenthal
From courageous lions and wise owls to playful dolphins and wolves finding their voices, this timeless and lushly illustrated book explores the values we can draw from the wondrous and inspiring natural world around us.

Will You Be My Friend?
by Sam McBratney, illustrated by Anita Jeram
Little Nutbrown Hare is out exploring on his own. Off he hops, along the path and through the grass, until he reaches Cloudy Mountain, where something extraordinary happens: he discovers a new friend.

The Giraffe Who Found Its Spots
by Adison Books
The giraffe visits a variety of different animals, trying to fit in with each group, but eventually learns that being different is normal and accepting yourself for who you are is what makes the world a wonderful place.

All Kinds of Families
by Suzanne Lang and illustrated by Max Lang
Lots of nontraditional family structures are celebrated in this fun board book, including families with two moms or one grandpa or just a cousin named Doug.

Forts
by Katie Venit, illustrated by Kenard Pak
Everyone needs a room of their own. A place to hide and play, ponder and dream. Whether it’s a tree house in the backyard or a blanket fort inside, a fort is a magical place filled with imagination and wonder.

What I Like About Me!
by Allia Zobel Nolan, illustrated by Miki Yamamoto
This fun-loving book shows kids that, in a world where fitting in is the norm, being different makes us special.

Families, Families, Families!
by Suzanne Lang
Moms, dads, sisters, brothers — and even Great Aunt Sue — appear in dozens of combinations, demonstrating all kinds of nontraditional families!
Early Elementary (ages 5 - 7)

The Foster Dragon: A Story about Foster Care
by Steve Herman
Join Drew and his dragon Diggory Doo on this uplifting story to understand what it means to be a foster child and the many issues, questions, and feelings they have that are directly or indirectly affected by Foster Care

Foster Care: One Dog's Story of Change
by Julia Cook, illustrations by Marcela Calderón
Foster meets new friends and a kind foster mom who help him navigate the fears and feelings associated with going into foster care.

No Matter What: A Foster Care Tale
by Josh Shipp and David Tieche, illustrated by Yuliya Pankratova
A mostly autobiographical tale about finding home--with hilarious illustrations and a heartwarming message.

No Matter Where I Go
by Jessica Mathisen, illustrated by Katie Rewse
Follow Elena’s journey as she wonders how she can know that God loves and cares for her when her life is so hard.

The Friend I Need: Being Kind & Caring to Myself
by Gabi Garcia, illustrated by Miranda Rivadeneira
Kids can learn to respond with kindness and compassion toward themselves when they face obstacles and setbacks.

Home for a While
by Lauren H. Kerstein, illustrated by Natalia Moore
Calvin is in foster care, and he wants to trust someone, anyone, but is afraid to open his heart. When he moves in with Maggie, she shows him respect, offers him kindness, and makes him see things in himself that he's never noticed before. Maybe this is a place Calvin can call home, for a while.

We All Belong: A Children's Book About Diversity, Race and Empathy
by Nathalie Goss and Alex Goss
We all live in the one world together. Let's see how we're different in some ways and the same in other ways.

Kids Need to Be Safe: A Book for Children in Foster Care
by Julie Nelson and illustrated by Mary Gallagher
In simple words and full-color illustrations, this book explains why some kids move to foster homes, what foster parents do, and ways kids might feel during foster care.

One Day at a Time: A Story About Big Feelings, Foster Care, and Finding Hope
by Maria Roy and Maxine Faurie
A young girl navigates the changing seasons and swirl of emotions while in foster care. With her loyal friend by her side, a yellow bird named Sparrow, she finds comfort, courage, and hope for each day.

I Am in Foster Care, But I Am Not Alone: An Introduction to Foster Care Helpers
by Kate Hlava
When children enter foster care, they often meet many new adults—social workers, foster parents, therapists, judges, and more. I Am in Foster Care: An Introduction to Foster Care Helpers gently explains who these helpers are and how each one supports a child’s safety, well-being, and future.
Middle Grade (ages 8 - 12)

Maybe Days: A Book for Children in Foster Care
by Jennifer Wilgocki and Marcia Kahn Wright
Will I live with my parents again? Will I stay with my foster parents forever? For children in foster care, the answer to many questions is often "maybe." Maybe Days addresses the questions, feelings, and concerns these children most often face.

And Then, Boom!
by Lisa Fipps
A novel in verse featuring a poverty-stricken boy----who has an outlet in his journals and drawings and bravely rides out all the storms life keeps throwing at him.

Three Pennies
by Melanie Crowder
A girl in foster care tries to find her birth mother before she loses her forever in this “tender tale” (School Library Journal, starred review) about last chances and new opportunities.

Planet Earth Is Blue
by Nicole Panteleakos
A novel about a nonverbal girl who moves into a new foster home and her passion for space exploration.

The Season of Styx Malone
by Kekla Magoon
Meet Caleb and Bobby Gene, two brothers embarking on a madcap, heartwarming, one-thing-leads-to-another adventure in which friendships are forged, loyalties are tested . . . and miracles just might happen.

Bernice Buttman, Model Citizen
by Niki Lenz
Life as a bully is lonely, and if there's one thing Bernice really wants (even more than becoming a Hollywood stuntwoman), it's a true friend.

A Home for Goddesses and Dogs
by Leslie Connor
It’s a life-altering New Year for thirteen-year-old Lydia when she uproots to a Connecticut farm to live with her aunt following her mother’s death. This novel features strong female characters, an adorable dog, and the girl who comes to love him.

A Duet for Home
by Karina Yan Glaser
A triumphant tale of friendship, healing, and the power of believing in ourselves, told from the perspectives of two biracial sixth graders living in a homeless shelter.

The Barren Grounds: The Misewa Saga, Book One
David A. Robertson
Two Indigenous foster children discover a portal to another reality, Aski, where they embark on a dangerous mission to help the starving community there.

Locomotion
Jacqueline Woodson
Through poetry, Lonnie shares his heartbreak over his lost family, his thoughtful perspective on the world around him, his love for his little sister, and his determination to put at least half of their family back together.

Loot: How to Steal a Fortune
by Jude Watson
After March's father, who is a jewel thief, tells him about the twin sister he never knew he had, they're picked up by the police and sent to the world's worst orphanage. Are March, his twin, and new friends just one good heist away from living the life of riches and freedom that most kids only dream about?

Forever, or a Long, Long Time
by Caela Carter
Flora and her brother, Julian, have lived in so many foster homes, they can’t remember where they came from. So along with their new mother, Flora and Julian begin a journey to go back and discover their past—for only then can they really begin to build their future.

Thanks a Lot, Universe
by Chad Lucas
When Brian and his brother run away, Ezra has no choice but to take the leap and reach out. Both boys have to decide if they’re willing to risk sharing parts of themselves they’d rather hide. But if they can be brave, they might just find the best in themselves—and each other.

Shouting at the Rain
by Lynda Mullaly Hunt
As Ronan and Delsie traipse around Cape Cod on their adventures, they both learn what it means to be angry versus sad, broken versus whole, and abandoned versus loved. And that, together, they can weather any storm.

Snow Foal
by Susanna Bailey
When eleven-year-old Addie goes to stay with a foster family on a remote Exmoor farm in the winter, she rescues a tiny wild foal from the moorland snow and discovers that perhaps she’s not so alone after all.

Summer of a Thousand Pies
by Margaret Dilloway
After Cadie is sent to live with her aunt, she finds out that Aunt Shell’s pie shop is failing. Saving the business and protecting the first place Cadie's ever really felt safe will take everything she's learned and the help of all her new friends.

Pavi Sharma's Guide to Going Home
by Bridget Farr
After being bounced around between foster families and shelter stays, Pavi is a foster care expert, and she runs a "business" teaching other foster kids all she has learned.

All the Impossible Things
by Lindsay Lackey
For so long, Red has longed to have her mom back in her life, and she's quickly swept up in the vortex of her mother's chaos. Now Red must discover the possible in the impossible if she wants to overcome her own tornadoes and find the family she needs.

One for the Murphys
by Lynda Mullaly Hunt
Carley uses humor and street smarts to keep her emotional walls high and thick. But when she goes into foster care and moves in with the Murphys, she's surprised by this loving, bustling family. Can she learn to open her heart to the family's love?

The Great Gilly Hopkins
by Katherine Paterson
Eleven-year-old Gilly is determined to no longer be a foster kid. Before long she's devised an elaborate scheme to get her real mother to come rescue her. Unfortunately, the plan doesn't work out quite as she hoped it would...

The Book Thief
by Markus Zusak
It's 1939, Nazi Germany. Liesel Meminger is a foster girl living outside of Munich, who scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can’t resist: books!

Bud, Not Buddy
by Christopher Paul Curtis
It’s 1936, in Flint Michigan. Ten-year-old Bud may be a motherless boy on the run. But he's about to hit the road in search of his father, and nothing can stop him—not hunger, not fear, not vampires, not even Herman E. Calloway himself.

The Time Travel Twins
by James Patterson and Tad Saffran
Twins Pew and Basket Church dream of escaping the miserable misfortune of their isolated orphanage. Or, even better, the return of their unknown parents. But even in their wildest dreams, they never imagined the truth: The twins can travel through time.

Shark Teeth
by Sherri Winston
As the threat of her family being separated again circles like a shark in the water, the pressure starts to get to Kita. But could it be that Kita's worst fear is actually the best thing that could happen to her family . . . and to her?
Young Adult (ages 13 - 17)

Far from the Tree
by Robin Benway
A story of three very different teenagers connected by blood explores the meaning of family in all its forms—how to find it, how to keep it, and how to love it.

Orbiting Jupiter
by Gary D. Schmidt
Two boys discover the true meaning of family and the sacrifices it requires.

Love, Jacaranda
by Alex Flinn
As a kid in foster care, Jacaranda doesn't talk about her mother and why she’s in jail. But when a video of Jacaranda singing goes viral, a mysterious benefactor offers her a life-changing opportunity that changes everything.

Olivia Twist
by Lorie Langdon
Why is a society girl helping a bunch of homeless orphan thieves? Even more intriguing, why does she remind him so much of someone he once knew?

In the Wild Light
by Jeff Zentner
Friendship between two best friends is tested when they get the opportunity to leave their impoverished small town for an elite prep school.

Sync
by Ellen Hopkins
A novel in verse about twins separated in the foster care system and the different paths their lives take.

Where the Heart Is
by Billie Letts
A down on her luck pregnant teen finds herself living in a shopping center in this Oprah's Book Club selection that inspired a film.

Lock and Key
by Sarah Dessen
Ruby is used to taking care of herself. But now she’s living with her sister, her future looks bright. Plus there’s the adorable boy next door. Can Ruby learn to open her heart and let him in?

More Than We Can Tell
by Brigid Kemmerer
Two teens struggling under the burden of secrets, and the love that sets them free.
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