This app helps young people of color find books that represent them

A Dartmouth student created an app to help readers of color find books that represent them.

Kaya Thomas created the free app, We Read Too, before her sophomore year at Dartmouth after experiencing many long, frustrating years of being underrepresented in her beloved books.

"As a teen, I was feeling erased by the books I was reading at my libraries and at school," Thomas told Mashable. "The characters were never anything like myself."

We Read Too serves as a database for more than 600 books written by people of color, featuring characters of color.

Thomas originally launched the app in 2014, and the app has been downloaded more than 15,000 times.

Now, she’s crowdfunding with hopes to expand the app and feature more than 1,000 books. She has already raised nearly $13,000, thousands above her original fundraising goal.

#Media Kaya Thomas a Black female Dartmouth student created @WeReadTooApp which connects young ppl of color to books w/Characters of color🙏🏽 pic.twitter.com/HqriXSRX3K

— Shelby Ivey Christie (@bronze_bombSHEL) April 11, 2017

"It's the message I am trying to display to the world," Thomas says, referring to the app's name. "We love to read, too, and want to see ourselves in the stories we read just like anyone else would."

We are grateful for you, Kaya!