Empowering Education Through Diverse and Inclusive Books: The Benefits of Choosing Paperbacks & Frybread Co. for Your Grant-Funded Programs

In an era of book bans, censored history courses, and suppressed diversity, finding reliable, inclusive educational resources is becoming increasingly difficult. Schools, libraries, homeschoolers, and educational organizations struggle to access authentic, diverse books that celebrate all cultures and communities.

I'm Dominique Burleson, wife, mom of 6, a proud member of the Lumbee tribe, and owner of Paperbacks & Frybread Co. My mission is to combat this trend by providing high-quality, diverse literature that represents true voices and real stories. Our small, family-owned Indigenous bookstore can be your go-to source for books that uphold the values of diversity and authenticity, especially when grant money is at stake. Let's stand together to ensure every child has access to the stories they deserve.

Why Choose Paperbacks & Frybread Co. for Your Educational Book Needs?

With over a decade in the book industry, I’ve worn many hats—from book blogger and social media consultant for authors to contract writer for National Geographic Learning. Along the way, I’ve learned a thing or two about the incredible impact that the right book can have. Since opening P&F, I’ve had the privilege of working closely with tribal school districts and nonprofits, understanding the unique needs of our communities.

At Paperbacks & Frybread Co., we’re all about “own voices” books—those authentic stories told by authors who genuinely know and belong to the communities they’re writing about. This means that every book we recommend is not just engaging but also deeply respectful and real.

We’re a small, online and pop-up bookstore with a big heart. Choosing us means you’re getting personalized service, attention to detail, 1-on-1 consulting with an expert on diverse books, and a whole lot of love for what we do. 

Unmatched Expertise in Diverse and Inclusive Literature

A love of books must be coded into my DNA—it's all I've ever known. Like many Indigenous millennials, I grew up with books about Natives that were either Thanksgiving-centric or whitewashed histories. When I began homeschooling my children, I noticed a troubling trend: none of the books about our people were written by our people. This pattern was evident across other communities as well.

Even in big box stores, finding any Indigenous books or diverse faces in mainstream picture books was a challenge. This frustration led me to create Paperbacks & Frybread Co.

Owning a bookstore has always been my dream, and by 2021, I was ready to make it happen. Since 2014, I’ve been a book blogger, working with publishers and PR companies to promote mainstream Christian books and support indie authors with launch teams and social media management. My focus shifted to branding and social media, leading me to become a consultant and educator. I taught classes and facilitated sessions at my town’s small business center and community college, spoke at conferences statewide, and even worked with high-profile clients.

During this time, I collaborated with large homeschool curriculum companies, reviewing materials, hosting podcasts, and creating content for their social media. In 2020, I stepped away from it all due to my pregnancy during the pandemic and a shift in my personal values.

I took my knowledge from the book industry and the business world and poured it into Paperbacks & Frybread Co. I spent hours researching books to add, not just from my distributor but also from recommendations by my diverse social media community, focusing on books recommended by people of color, disabled, and queer friends.

Since then, I’ve connected with authors and publishers who share my mission. In 2023, an Alaska Native tribal school superintendent contacted me for books about Alaska Natives by Natives. This 12-hour research project opened my eyes to how underrepresented Indigenous people are, with many mainstream and highly celebrated books about Natives not written by us. This is beyond unsettling and it's become a driving force for my work.

This spring, I contributed to a National Geographic Learning literature anthology, ensuring my stories had Indigenous representation. I'm now working on a poetry book and a rom-com to provide more Native stories to the world.

In June, I facilitated a banned book presentation with Red, Wine, and Blue. In September, I'll be traveling to Ontario to speak on oral storytelling as a means of survival while also starting my degree in American Indian Studies at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke. My life is dedicated to bringing these stories to the masses in any way my platform allows.

Ensuring Authentic Representation with "Own Voices" Books

The importance of of “own voices” books causes a lot of controversy on the interwebs. 

The diverse book centric non-profit, We Need Diverse Books tells us the definition of “own voices” as,

“#OwnVoices was created as a hashtag by author Corinne Duyvis in September 2015. It was originally intended as a shorthand book recommendation tool in a Twitter thread, for readers to recommend books by authors who openly shared the diverse identity of their main characters.”

They go on to clarify,

“The hashtag was never intended to be used in a broader capacity, but it has since expanded in its use to become a “catch all” marketing term by the publishing industry. Using #OwnVoices in this capacity raises issues due to the vagueness of the term, which has then been used to place diverse creators in uncomfortable and potentially unsafe situations. It is important to use the language that authors want to celebrate about themselves and their characters.”

(In other words, we are using the term “own voices” here to only refer to books that are written by people within the community the book centers around.)

Many don’t understand why it’s a big deal if a book is about a Black character but the author is not, in fact, part of the Black community. But let’s look at children outside of the Black community.

According to the National Library of Medicine, “...children’s books create optimal conditions for supporting children’s cognitive empathy if there is a skilful use of narrative techniques to enhance readers’ identification with the story protagonist(s) who are unlike them…”

When they are exposed to books that provide a perspective on life from a Black person, it allows for children that read it to develop empathy and understanding of an experience not their own. When it’s a Black child, reading a story about a Black person, by a Black author: this cultivates a sense of pride in themselves and their community. It helps establish a positive foundation for their self-identity.

Marianne Grasso writes for the Schools Catalog Information Services that multicultural literature, or own voices literature, helps children in those communities with their identity formation and helps build confidence.

“Identity formation is important in the social development of all children, as it gives them a sense of belonging and acceptance in society. Inclusion of multicultural literature in library collections confirms that the beliefs and experiences of minority students are valued.”

Children seeing themselves in books builds their confidence and when they read books about others it helps build empathy with those around them. Both of these scenarios also combat stereotypes; the ones we see in others, but equally as important, the ones against ourselves.

Customized Book Recommendations for Schools and Homeschooling

When a teacher, superintendent, or even a homeschool parent reaches out to do a personalized educational book recommendations for themselves or their grant-funded programs, I start off with asking a few questions:

1. What is the age range?
2. What topics are you looking for?
3. Are you looking for specific community representation? (If not, I will make my recommendations as diverse as possible.)
4. Do you have a specific budget or are you looking for a specific number of books?

This helps me understand what their needs are and how I am able to help. As a bookseller, I have access to many tools and resources to make my book recommendations as personalized as possible.

Nothing about this process is generic. There’s no AI. There’s no standard book list that I pull from. From start to finish this process is conducted for the individual or their organization.

Benefits of Using a Small, Family-Owned Indigenous Bookstore

There are various options for schools and non-profits to buy books from, but working with me offers unique benefits:

• No order is too big or too small and they are all handled by me personally. Yes. Me. Dominique.
• I donate books to all schools, Indigenous organizations, or nonprofits that focus on marginalized children that do orders through me. If a school does 5 orders through my shop, I will donate books all 5 times.
• I handle any issues with the order, like damaged books, personally.
• Purchasing through P&F supports a diverse, small business ecosystem. 
• My shop supports a variety of marginalized authors, including indie and self published.
• Many of our books are also represented by indie publishers who also focus on underrepresented authors, like Row House Publishing.
• All of our vendors are small businesses, with a majority owned by marginalized women.
• And lastly, supporting P&F allows me to continue doing many free educational events online and in person, on the topics of storytelling, Indigenous history, and diverse representation in the media.
• If I am given a budget, I try to get as many books as I can within that budget.
• I can easily have a 48 hr turnaround time for a quote. I process orders within 1 business day after payment.
• I am not trying to go to the moon.

So, do we sound like a good match?

How to Partner with Paperbacks & Frybread Co. for Your Educational Needs

This part is simple. If you’d like to reach out to me for an order, quote, pop-up event, or speaking opportunity you can reach me through two methods: 

• hello@paperbacksandfrybread.com
• My chat box on the bottom right hand corner of Paperbacks & Frybread’s website

Simply reach out and we can move forward!

Empower Your Educational Programs with Diverse and Inclusive Books

Being part of helping kids see themselves in books brings me so much joy. Helping adults find books to help them connect or reconnect with their culture brings me joy. Finding books to help adults and children learn about people different from them brings me joy. Helping folks be more educated about the people around them brings me joy.

This is why I’m here. This is the kind of work that if we didn’t need money to survive, I’d do it for free, I love it that much. 

So if you’re needing both professional and passionate assistance with your educational programs, here I am.