2019 Black-Authored MG/YA Books

30 Dec 2019 news 4 Comments

It’s that time of year again! And this will be my last year posting Black-authored titles for young readers on my blog. It’s an important but time-consuming process and I couldn’t do it at all without Edith Campbell‘s expertly curated BIPOC list. As always, please leave a comment if you notice a title that we’ve missed; we do not include indie authors on this list since we’re tracking what the US children’s publishing industry is producing. I include self-published authors on my AfAm spec fic list, so please go there if your speculative novel is Black-authored and MG (middle grade) or YA (young adult).

Fiction

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  1. Inventing Victoria by Tonya Bolden. Bloomsbury, ages 12-18. As a young black woman in 1880s Savannah, Essie’s dreams are very much at odds with her reality. Ashamed of her beginnings, but unwilling to accept the path currently available to her, Essie is trapped between the life she has and the life she wants. Until she meets a lady named Dorcas Vashon, the richest and most cultured black woman she’s ever encountered. When Dorcas makes Essie an offer she can’t refuse, she becomes Victoria. Transformed by a fine wardrobe, a classic education, and the rules of etiquette, Victoria is soon welcomed in the upper echelons of black society in Washington, D. C. But when the life she desires is finally within her grasp, Victoria must decide how much of herself she is truly willing to surrender.
  2. The Unsung Hero of Birdsong, USA by Brenda Woods. Nancy Paulsen Books. ages 10-12. On Gabriel’s twelfth birthday, he gets a new bike–and is so excited that he accidentally rides it right into the path of a car. Fortunately, a Black man named Meriwether pushes him out of the way just in time, and fixes his damaged bike. As a thank you, Gabriel gets him a job at his dad’s auto shop. Gabriel’s dad hires him with some hesitation, however, anticipating trouble with the other mechanic, who makes no secret of his racist opinions. Gabriel and Meriwether become friends, and Gabriel learns that Meriwether drove a tank in the Army’s all-Black 761st Tank Battalion in WWII. Meriwether is proud of his service, but has to keep it a secret because talking about it could be dangerous. Sadly, danger finds Meriwether, anyway, when his family receives a frightening threat. The South being the way it is, there’s no guarantee that the police will help–and Gabriel doesn’t know what will happen if Meriwether feels forced to take the law into his own hands.
  3. The Field Guide to the North American Teenager by Ben Philippe.  Balzer + Bray. ages 12-18 DEBUT. Norris Kaplan is clever, cynical, and quite possibly too smart for his own good. A Black French Canadian, he knows from watching American sitcoms that those three things don’t bode well when you are moving to Austin, Texas. Plunked into a new high school and sweating a ridiculous amount from the oppressive Texas heat, Norris finds himself cataloging everyone he meets: the Cheerleaders, the Jocks, the Loners, and even the Manic Pixie Dream Girl. Making a ton of friends has never been a priority for him, and this way he can at least amuse himself until it’s time to go back to Canada, where he belongs. Yet against all odds, those labels soon become actual people to Norris…like loner Liam, who makes it his mission to befriend Norris, or Madison the beta cheerleader, who is so nice that it has to be a trap. Not to mention Aarti the Manic Pixie Dream Girl, who might, in fact, be a real love interest in the making.
  4. Black Enough: Stories of Being Young & Black in America edited by Ibi Zoboi and Tracey Baptiste. Balzer + Bray. Edited by National Book Award finalist Ibi Zoboi and featuring some of the most acclaimed bestselling Black authors writing for teens today—Black Enough is an essential collection of captivating stories about what it’s like to be young and Black in America.
  5. Genesis Begins Again by Alicia Williams. Simon & Schuster.  Ages 9–13 DEBUT. This deeply sensitive and powerful debut novel tells the story of a thirteen-year-old who must overcome internalized racism and a verbally abusive family to finally learn to love herself.
  6. Love Me or Miss Me: Hot Girl, Bad Boy by Dream Jordan. Wednesday Books. ages 12-18. What’s a Brooklyn Girl to do when her best friend is away for the whole summer? Don’t ask Kate, because she has no idea. Aimless, and unhappy with her new foster mother, Kate falls into the hands of a stylish, “It Chick” who whips her into fashionable shape. Armed with new confidence, and a game plan to get her man, Kate quickly falls under her new bestie’s bad influence. And she becomes reckless in her pursuits. Can Kate get her life back on the right track–or is it already too late?
  7. Arcade and the Triple T Token (The Coin Slot Chronicles) by Rashad Jennings. Zonderkidz. ages 8 and up. The Coin Slot Chronicles series, by former NFL running back and Dancing with the Stars champion Rashad Jennings, is a humorous and imaginative series that explores the power of friendship and imagination, the challenges in finding your place, and the reality of missing home.
  8. Spin by Lamar Giles. Scholastic. ages 12 and up. When rising star Paris Secord (aka DJ ParSec) is found dead on her turntables, it sends the local music scene reeling. No one is feeling that grief more than her shunned pre-fame best friend, Kya, and ParSec’s chief groupie, Fuse — two sworn enemies who happened to be the ones who discovered her body. The police have few leads, and when the trail quickly turns cold, the authorities don’t seem to be pushing too hard to investigate further. But nobody counted on Paris’s deeply loyal fans, ParSec Nation, or the outrage that would drive Fuse and Kya to work together. As ParSec Nation takes to social media and the streets in their crusade for justice, Fuse and Kya start digging into Paris’s past, stumbling across a deadly secret. With new info comes new motives. New suspects. And a fandom that will stop at nothing in their obsessive quest for answers, not even murder.
  9. On the Come Up by Angie Thomas. Balzer + Bray. Sixteen-year-old Bri wants to be one of the greatest rappers of all time. Or at least win her first battle. As the daughter of an underground hip hop legend who died right before he hit big, Bri’s got massive shoes to fill.  But it’s hard to get your come up when you’re labeled a hoodlum at school, and your fridge at home is empty after your mom loses her job. So Bri pours her anger and frustration into her first song, which goes viral…for all the wrong reasons. Bri soon finds herself at the center of a controversy, portrayed by the media as more menace than MC. But with an eviction notice staring her family down, Bri doesn’t just want to make it—she has to. Even if it means becoming the very thing the public has made her out to be.
  10. New Kid by Jerry Craft. Harper Collins. ages 8-12. Seventh grader Jordan Banks loves nothing more than drawing cartoons about his life. But instead of sending him to the art school of his dreams, his parents enroll him in a prestigious private school known for its academics, where Jordan is one of the few kids of color in his entire grade. As he makes the daily trip from his Washington Heights apartment to the upscale Riverdale Academy Day School, Jordan soon finds himself torn between two worlds—and not really fitting into either one. Can Jordan learn to navigate his new school culture while keeping his neighborhood friends and staying true to himself?
  11. No One Here Is Lonely by Sarah Everett. Knopf. ages 12 and up. Eden has always had two loves: her best friend, Lacey, and her crush, Will. And then, almost simultaneously, she loses them both. Will to a car accident and Lacey to the inevitable growing up and growing apart. Devastated by the holes they have left in her life, Eden finds solace in an unlikely place. Before he died, Will set up an account with In Good Company, a service that uploads voices and emails and creates a digital companion that can be called anytime, day or night. It couldn’t come at a better time because, after losing Lacey–the hardest thing Eden has had to deal with–who else can she confide all her secrets to? Who is Eden without Lacey?
  12. Watch Us Rise by Renée Watson. Bloomsbury. ages 12-18. Jasmine and Chelsea are best friends on a mission–they’re sick of the way women are treated even at their progressive NYC high school, so they decide to start a Women’s Rights Club. They post their work online–poems, essays, videos of Chelsea performing her poetry, and Jasmine’s response to the racial microaggressions she experiences–and soon they go viral. But with such positive support, the club is also targeted by trolls. When things escalate in real life, the principal shuts the club down. Not willing to be silenced, Jasmine and Chelsea will risk everything for their voices–and those of other young women–to be heard.  These two dynamic, creative young women stand up and speak out in a novel that features their compelling art and poetry along with powerful personal journeys that will inspire readers and budding poets, feminists, and activists.
  13. Sorry Not Sorry by Jaime Reed. Scholastic. ages 12 and up. When 18-year-old Janell’s childhood-BFF-turned-rival, Alyssa, is hospitalized due to complications from diabetes, Janell sets their differences aside, defies the risks of racially mixed transplants, and volunteers as a donor. But the test results reveal that Janell is the only kidney donor match in the entire state – a fact that could save (or take) Alyssa’s life.
  14. The Everlasting Rose (The Belles) by Dhonielle Clayton. Freeform. ages 12 and up. In this sequel to the New York Times bestselling novel, The Belles, Camellia Beaureguard, the former favorite Belle, must race against time to find the ailing Princess Charlotte, who has disappeared without a trace.
  15. Opposite of Always by Justin A. Reynolds. Katherine Tegen Books. DEBUT AUTHORages 12-18. When Jack and Kate meet at a party, bonding until sunrise over their mutual love of Froot Loops and their favorite flicks, Jack knows he’s falling—hard. Soon she’s meeting his best friends, Jillian and Franny, and Kate wins them over as easily as she did Jack. But then Kate dies. And their story should end there. Yet Kate’s death sends Jack back to the beginning, the moment they first meet, and Kate’s there again. Healthy, happy, and charming as ever. Jack isn’t sure if he’s losing his mind. Still, if he has a chance to prevent Kate’s death, he’ll take it. Even if that means believing in time travel. However, Jack will learn that his actions are not without consequences. And when one choice turns deadly for someone else close to him, he has to figure out what he’s willing to do to save the people he loves.
  16. How High the Moon by Karyn Parsons. Little, Brown Books.  DEBUT AUTHOR ages 9-12. In the small town of Alcolu, South Carolina, in 1944, 12-year-old Ella spends her days fishing and running around with her best friend Henry and cousin Myrna. But life is not always so sunny for Ella, who gets bullied for her light skin tone, and whose mother is away pursuing a jazz singer dream in Boston. Ella is ecstatic when her mother invites her to visit for Christmas. Little does she expect the truths she will discover about her mother, the father she never knew and her family’s most unlikely history.
  17. A Good Kind of Trouble by Lisa Moore Ramée. Balzer + Bray. ages 8-12. DEBUT AUTHOR. Twelve-year-old Shayla is allergic to trouble. All she wants to do is to follow the rules. (Oh, and she’d also like to make it through seventh grade with her best friendships intact, learn to run track, and have a cute boy see past her giant forehead.) But in junior high, it’s like all the rules have changed. Now she’s suddenly questioning who her best friends are and some people at school are saying she’s not black enough. Wait, what? Shay’s sister, Hana, is involved in Black Lives Matter, but Shay doesn’t think that’s for her. After experiencing a powerful protest, though, Shay decides some rules are worth breaking. She starts wearing an armband to school in support of the Black Lives movement. Soon everyone is taking sides. And she is given an ultimatum. Shay is scared to do the wrong thing (and even more scared to do the right thing), but if she doesn’t face her fear, she’ll be forever tripping over the next hurdle. Now that’s trouble, for real.
  18. The Weight of the Stars by K. Ancrum. Imprint. ages 12-18. LGBTQIAP+. Ryann Bird dreams of traveling across the stars. But a career in space isn’t an option for a girl who lives in a trailer park on the “wrong” side of town. So Ryann becomes her circumstances and settles for acting out and skipping school to hang out with her delinquent friends. One day she meets Alexandria: a furious loner who spurns Ryann’s offer of friendship. After a horrific accident leaves Alexandria with a broken arm, the girls are brought together despite themselves―and Ryann learns her secret: Alexandria’s mother is an astronaut who volunteered for a one-way trip to the edge of the solar system. Every night without fail, Alexandria waits to catch radio signals from her mother. And now it’s up to Ryann to lift her onto the roof day after day until the silence between them grows into friendship, and eventually something more.
  19. Jake the Fake Goes for Laughs by Craig Robinson, Adam Mansbach and Keith Knight. Crown. ages 8-12. Jake cracks up the crowd as a budding comedian at the Music and Art Academy talent show, but his new ego is no laughing matter. And when he starts blowing off his friends to pursue his “art,” Jake’s big head becomes a huge bummer.Plus, being the funny man is way tougher than it looks. Luckily, Jake has his mentor Maury Kovalski, a retired comedy showstopper, to teach him the ropes about humor–and humility–before Jake loses all his biggest fans and best friends!
  20. Around Harvard Square by C.J. Farley. Black Sheep. Tosh Livingston, superstar student-athlete from small-town USA, thinks he’s made it big as a rising freshman at Harvard University. Not so fast! Once on campus, he’s ensnared in a frenzied competition to win a spot on Harvard’s legendary humor magazine, the Harpoon. Tosh soon finds that joining the Harpoon is a weird and surprisingly dangerous pursuit. He faces off against a secret society of super-rich kids, gets schooled by a philosophy professor who loves flunking everyone, and teams up with a genius student-cartoonist with an agenda of her own. Along the way, Tosh and his band of misfit freshman friends unearth long-buried mysteries about the Ivy League that will rock the Ivory Tower and change their lives forever…if they can survive the semester.
  21. The Last Last-Day-of Summer by Lamar Giles. Versify. ages 8-11. Otto and Sheed are the local sleuths in their zany Virginia town, masters of unraveling mischief using their unmatched powers of deduction. And as the summer winds down and the first day of school looms, the boys are craving just a little bit more time for fun, even as they bicker over what kind of fun they want to have. That is, until a mysterious man appears with a camera that literally freezes time. Now, with the help of some very strange people and even stranger creatures, Otto and Sheed will have to put aside their differences to save their town—and each other—before time stops for good.
  22. Mera: Tidebreaker  by Danielle Paige and Stephen Byrne. DC Ink. GN ages 12-14. When the Xebellian military plots to overthrow Atlantis and break free of its oppressive regime, Mera seizes the opportunity to take control over her own destiny by assassinating Arthur Curry–the long-lost prince and heir to the kingdom of Atlantis. But her mission gets sidetracked when Mera and Arthur unexpectedly fall in love. Will Arthur Curry be the king at Mera’s side, or will he die under her blade as she attempts to free her people from persecution?
  23. Trace by Pat Cummings. HarperCollins. YA DEBUT ages 12-18. Trace Carter doesn’t know how to feel at ease in his new life in New York. Even though his artsy Auntie Lea is cool, her brownstone still isn’t his home. Haunted by flashbacks of the accident that killed his parents, the best he can do is try to distract himself from memories of the past. But the past isn’t done with him. When Trace takes a wrong turn in the New York Public Library, he finds someone else lost in the stacks with him: a crying little boy, wearing old, tattered clothes. And though at first he can’t quite believe he’s seen a ghost, Trace soon discovers that the boy he saw has ties to Trace’s own history—and that he himself may be the key to setting the dead to rest.
  24. Nocturna by Maya Motayne. Balzer + Bray. ages 12-18 SFF. As a talented faceshifter, it’s been years since Finn has seen her own face, and that’s exactly how she likes it. But when Finn gets caught by a powerful mobster, she’s forced into an impossible mission: steal a legendary treasure from Castallan’s royal palace or be stripped of her magic forever.
  25. Just South of Home by Karen Strong. Simon and Schuster. ages 8-12 Debut Author. Twelve-year-old Sarah is finally in charge. At last, she can spend her summer months reading her favorite science books and bossing around her younger brother, Ellis, instead of being worked to the bone by their overly strict grandmother, Mrs. Greene. But when their cousin, Janie arrives for a visit, Sarah’s plans are completely squashed. Janie has a knack for getting into trouble and asks Sarah to take her to Creek Church: a landmark of their small town that she heard was haunted. It’s also off-limits. Janie’s sticky fingers lead Sarah, Ellis and his best friend, Jasper, to uncover a deep-seated part of the town’s past. With a bit of luck, this foursome will heal the place they call home and the people within it they call family.
  26. With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo. HarperCollins. ages 12-18. Ever since she got pregnant freshman year, Emoni Santiago’s life has been about making the tough decisions—doing what has to be done for her daughter and her abuela. The one place she can let all that go is in the kitchen, where she adds a little something magical to everything she cooks, turning her food into straight-up goodness. Even though she dreams of working as a chef after she graduates, Emoni knows that it’s not worth her time to pursue the impossible. Yet despite the rules she thinks she has to play by, once Emoni starts cooking, her only choice is to let her talent break free.
  27. Jada Sly, Artist and Spy by Sherri WInston. Little, Brown. ages 8-12. Ten-year-old Jada Sly is an artist and a spy-in-training. When she isn’t studying the art from her idols like Jackie Ormes, the first-known African American cartoonist, she’s chronicling her spy training and other observations in her art journal.
  28. The Usual Suspects by Maurice Broaddus. Harper Collins.  MG DEBUT ages 8-12. Thelonius Mitchell is tired of being labeled. He’s in special ed, separated from the “normal” kids at school who don’t have any “issues.” That’s enough to make all the teachers and students look at him and his friends with a constant side-eye. When a gun is found at a neighborhood hangout, Thelonius and his pals become instant suspects. Thelonius may be guilty of pulling crazy stunts at school, but a criminal? T isn’t about to let that label stick.
  29. Let Me Hear A Rhyme by Tiffany D. Jackson. Katherine Tegen Books. ages 12-18. Brooklyn, 1998. Biggie Smalls was right: Things done changed. But that doesn’t mean that Quadir and Jarrell are cool letting their best friend Steph’s music lie forgotten under his bed after he’s murdered—not when his rhymes could turn any Bed Stuy corner into a party. With the help of Steph’s younger sister Jasmine, they come up with a plan to promote Steph’s music under a new rap name: the Architect. Soon, everyone wants a piece of him. When his demo catches the attention of a hotheaded music label rep, the trio must prove Steph’s talent from beyond the grave. As the pressure of keeping their secret grows, Quadir, Jarrell, and Jasmine are forced to confront the truth about what happened to Steph. Only, each has something to hide. And with everything riding on Steph’s fame, they need to decide what they stand for or lose all that they’ve worked so hard to hold on to—including each other.
  30. The Voice in My Head by Dana L. Davis. Inkyard. For Indigo Phillips, life has always been about basking in the shadow of her identical twin, Violet—the perfectly dressed, gentle, popular sister. The only problem the girls had in their lives was the occasional chaos that came with being part of the Phillips family brood. But when Violet becomes terminally ill and plans to die on her own terms via medically assisted death, Indigo spirals into desperation in her efforts to cope. That’s when she begins to hear a mysterious voice—a voice claiming to be God. The Voice insists that if she takes Violet to a remote rock formation in the Arizona desert, her sister will liveIncredibly, Violet agrees to go—if their dysfunctional family tags along for the ride. With all nine members stuffed into a wonky old paratransit bus, including their controlling older sister and distant mother, Indigo must find a way to face insecurities she’s spent a lifetime masking and step up to lead the trip. As she deals with outrageous mishaps, strange lodgings and even stranger folks along the way, Indigo will figure out how to come to terms with her sister, her family…and the voice in her head.
  31. If It Makes You Happy by Claire Kann. Swoon Books. High school finally behind her, Winnie is all set to attend college in the fall. But first she’s spending her summer days working at her granny’s diner and begins spending her midnights with Dallas—the boy she loves to hate and hates that she likes. Winnie lives in Misty Haven, a small town where secrets are impossible to keep—like when Winnie allegedly snaps on Dr. Skinner, which results in everyone feeling compelled to give her weight loss advice for her own good. Because they care that’s she’s “too fat.” Winnie dreams of someday inheriting the diner—but it’ll go away if they can’t make money, and fast. Winnie has a solution—win a televised cooking competition and make bank. But Granny doesn’t want her to enter—so Winnie has to find a way around her formidable grandmother. Can she come out on top?
  32. The Misadventures of Max Crumbly 3 : Masters of Mischief by Rachel Renée Russell. Aladdin. ages 8-12. When we last left our courageous hero, Max Crumbly, and his trusty sidekick Erin, they had just finished foiling the plans of some bumbling thieves. But Max and Erin were trapped in a smelly, dangerous dumpster of doom and about to be discovered by the last people they wanted to find them. Now in this latest installment of Max’s journals, Max and Erin face foes both new and old as their misadventures continue. Can the two friends avoid detection-and detention!-while keeping South Ridge Middle School safe from bullies and criminals.
  33. I Wanna Be Where You Are by Kristina Forest. Roaring Brook Press. ages 12-18. When Chloe Pierce’s mom forbids her to apply for a spot at the dance conservatory of her dreams, she devises a secret plan to drive two hundred miles to the nearest audition. But Chloe hits her first speed bump when her annoying neighbor Eli insists upon hitching a ride, threatening to tell Chloe’s mom if she leaves him and his smelly dog, Geezer, behind. So now Chloe’s chasing her ballet dreams down the east coast―two unwanted (but kinda cute) passengers in her car, butterflies in her stomach, and a really dope playlist on repeat.
  34. Love, Secret Santa by SA Domingo. Hodder Children’s Books. All I want for Christmas is . . . you! A festive clean teen romance that could melt even Scrooge’s heart! Angel loves everything about Christmas – especially Secret Santa! And this year, her school Secret Santa is A-MA-ZING! The thoughtful gifts from her Secret Santa ALMOST make up for the fact that Angel has to organise the school’s charity fund-raising campaign with arty, unreliable Caspar Johnson. But as they work together to plan some fun festive events, Angel realises that Caspar has hidden depths – and a secret that he’s hiding behind his easy-going facade. A mysterious hand-made advent calendar encourages Angel to take risks and open her heart – but is she brave enough to tell Caspar how she really feels?
  35. Bending Time: Adventures of Emery Jones, Boy Science Wonder (series) by Charles Johnson and Elisheba Johnson. Chatwin Books. ages 7–12. When ten-year-old genius Emery Jones accidentally sends Chippy 190 million years back in time, he’s not sure he can reverse the process—or if he even wants to. Chippy, his crew of bullies, their teacher, and even Emery’s dad don’t seem to understand Emery’s genius. Will Emery Jones risk traveling to the Triassic Period to rescue a bully like Chippy? You never know what can happen when you have the brains and the technology for bending time…
  36. Truly Madly Royally by Debbie Rigaud. Point. New Jersey girl Zora Emerson is attending her pre-college prep at Halstead University, where the incredibly wealthy and stuck-up students go, and after only a week she is feeling academically confident but socially out of place; then an awkward mix-up of cell phones brings her into closer contact with Owen Whittelsey (prince of a small European country) and his security guards–but it is when Owen asks her to be his date at his brother’s royal wedding that life becomes really complicated
  37. The Hero Next Door by Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkivich. Random/Crown. ages 8-12. Linda Sue Park, Ronald L. Smith, and more contribute to this roundup of stories about bravery from We Need Diverse Books.
  38. For Black Girls Like Me by Mariama J. Lockington.  Farrar, Straus and Giroux. DEBUT AUTHOR ages 9-11. In this lyrical coming-of-age story about family, sisterhood, music, race, and identity, Mariama J. Lockington draws on some of the emotional truths from her own experiences growing up with an adoptive white family. For Black Girls Like Me is for anyone who has ever asked themselves: How do you figure out where you are going if you don’t know where you came from?
  39. I’m Not Dying with You Tonight by Gilly Segal and Kimberly Jones. Sourcebooks Fire. Told from two viewpoints, Atlanta high school seniors Lena and Campbell, one black, one white, must rely on each other to survive after a football rivalry escalates into a riot.
  40. Golden Like Summer by Gene Gant. DreamSpinner Press. LGBTQIA+. When he escapes the abusive man he calls Pa, Joey thinks his nightmare is over. Instead, a new one begins. The police don’t buy Joey’s story about the six-year-old boy he saved from Pa during his escape . Suddenly he’s being accused of a crime, threatened, and shown firsthand how the criminal justice system treats a black teen with no resources. After making another escape, Joey gives himself a new name, Alan, and starts a new life living in an abandoned house. Then he meets Desi, another homeless boy. Though their mutual attraction grows into deeper feelings, Alan’s ordeal has left him afraid of physical love. Still, he’s determined to save Desi from the older teen who’s pimping him out. But in confronting the pimp, Alan and Desi may find themselves in trouble with the law again, a situation that could forever tear them apart.
  41. The Revolution of Birdie Randolph by Brandy Colbert. Little, Brown. Sixteen-year-old Dove “Birdie” Randolph’s close bond with her parents is threatened by a family secret, and by hiding her relationship with Booker, who has been in juvenile detention.
  42. My Life as an Ice Cream Sandwich by Ibi Zoboi and Frank Morrison. Dutton Books. In the summer of 1984, twelve-year-old Ebony-Grace of Huntsville, Alabama, visits her father in Harlem, where her fascination with outer space and science fiction interfere with her finding acceptance.
  43. Dough Boys by Paula Chase. Greenwillow. ages 8-12. Told in two voices, thirteen-year-old best friends Simp and Rollie play on a basketball team in their housing project, but Rollie dreams of being a drummer and Simp, to impress the gang leader, Coach Tez.
  44. Kingdom of Souls by Rena Barron. Harper Collins. Born into a family of powerful witchdoctors, Arrah yearns for magic of her own. But each year she fails to call forth her ancestral powers, while her ambitious mother watches with growing disapproval. There’s only one thing Arrah hasn’t tried, a deadly last resort: trading years of her own life for scraps of magic. Until the Kingdom’s children begin to disappear, and Arrah is desperate to find the culprit. She uncovers something worse. The long-imprisoned Demon King is stirring. And if he rises, his hunger for souls will bring the world to its knees… unless Arrah pays the price for the magic to stop him.
  45. The Jumbie God’s Revenge by Tracey Baptiste. Algonquin. After two out-of-season hurricanes nearly destroy her island home, Corinne discovers that the god Huracan is angry and she, aided by friends and enemies alike, races to calm him.
  46. The Owls Have Come to Take Us Away by Ronald L. Smith. Clarion Books, Ages 10-12. Twelve-year-old Simon is obsessed with aliens. The ones who take people and do experiments. When he’s too worried about them to sleep, he listens to the owls hoot outside. Owls that have the same eyes as aliens—dark and foreboding. Then something strange happens on a camping trip, and Simon begins to suspect he’s been abducted. But is it real, or just the overactive imagination of a kid who loves fantasy and role-playing games and is the target of bullies and his father’s scorn? Even readers who don’t believe in UFOs will relate to the universal kid feeling of not being taken seriously by adults that deepens this deliciously scary tale.
  47. Dear Haiti, Love Alaine by Maika Moulite and Maritza Moulite. Harlequin Teen. After an incident at school, seventeen year-old Alaine is spending spring break in a “volunteer immersion project”, toiling away under the ever-watchful eyes of Tati Estelle and her eagle-eyed mother at a new nonprofit in Haiti. Although it is meant as punishment, Alaine is still able to flirt with Tati’s distractingly cute intern, get some actual face time with her mom and experience her family’s history in Haiti for the first time.
  48. Some Places More Than Others by Renée Watson. Bloomsbury. Amara visits her father’s family in Harlem for her twelfth birthday, hoping to better understand her family and herself, but New York City is not what she expected.
  49. Home Girl by Alex Wheatle. Akasshic/Black Sheep.(UK Author)With a tough exterior and brash attitude, Naomi is an authentic character in an unfortunate yet accurate picture of modern-day foster care in the UK…The ending is neither predictable nor sugarcoated, leaving readers rooting for this determined heroine
  50. Mirror Bound (Witching Academy #2) by Monica Sanz. Entangled Teens. When ghosts start dragging Sera into possessions so deep she can barely escape, and then the souls of lost witches and wizards appear trapped in mirrors, these two opposites will have to work together to uncover a much deeper secret that could destroy the Witchling world…
  51. Pet by Akwaeke Emezi. Make Me A World/Random House. There are no more monsters anymore, or so the children in the city of Lucille are taught. With doting parents and a best friend named Redemption, Jam has grown up with this lesson all her life. But when she meets Pet, a creature made of horns and colours and claws, who emerges from one of her mother’s paintings and a drop of Jam’s blood, she must reconsider what she’s been told. Pet has come to hunt a monster, and the shadow of something grim lurks in Redemption’s house. Jam must fight not only to protect her best friend, but also to uncover the truth, and the answer to the question-How do you save the world from monsters if no one will admit they exist?
  52. How to Be Remy Cameron by Julian Winters. Interlude. Everyone on campus knows Remy Cameron. He’s the out-and-proud, super-likable guy who friends, faculty, and fellow students alike admire for his cheerful confidence. The only person who isn’t entirely sure about Remy Cameron is Remy himself. Under pressure to write an A+ essay defining who he is and who he wants to be, Remy embarks on an emotional journey toward reconciling the outward labels people attach to him with the real Remy Cameron within.
  53. Hope is Our Only Wing by Rutendo Tavengerwei. Soho Teen. After her journalist-father’s mysterious death in 2008, fifteen-year-old Shamiso must leave England for boarding school in Zimbabwe, where she and Tanyaradzwa, who is fighting cancer, form an unexpected friendship.
  54. Becoming Beatriz by Tami Charles. Charlesbridge. In 1984 in the barrios of Newark, Beatriz Mendez is looking forward to dancing at her fifteenth birthday, because dancing is her true passion in life, but when her brother Juni, gang-leader of the Puerto Rican gang the Diablos, is killed by the rival Haitian Macoute gang she finds herself thrust into the role of gang-leader and drug dealer–until she meets Nassar, a dorky Haitian boy who shares and reignites her passion for dancing.
  55. The Stars and the Blackness Between Them by Junauda Petrus. Dutton.  DEBUT AUTHOR ages 12-18. LGBTQIAP+. Trinidad. Sixteen-year-old Audre is despondent, having just found out she’s going to be sent to live in America with her father because her strictly religious mother caught her with her secret girlfriend, the pastor’s daughter. Audre’s grandmother Queenie (a former dancer who drives a white convertible Cadillac and who has a few secrets of her own) tries to reassure her granddaughter that she won’t lose her roots, not even in some place called Minneapolis. “America have dey spirits too, believe me,” she tells Audre. Minneapolis. Sixteen-year-old Mabel is lying on her bed, staring at the ceiling and trying to figure out why she feels the way she feels–about her ex Terrell, about her girl Jada and that moment they had in the woods, and about the vague feeling of illness that’s plagued her all summer. Mabel’s reverie is cut short when her father announces that his best friend and his just-arrived-from-Trinidad daughter are coming for dinner.  Mabel quickly falls hard for Audre and is determined to take care of her as she tries to navigate an American high school. But their romance takes a turn when test results reveal exactly why Mabel has been feeling low-key sick all summer and suddenly it’s Audre who is caring for Mabel as she faces a deeply uncertain future.
  56. A Dream So Dark by L.L. McKinney. Imprint. Dreams have never been so dark in Wonderland, and if there is any hope of defeating this mystery poet’s magic, Alice must confront the worst in herself, in the people she loves, and in the very nature of fear itself.
  57. Who Put This Song On by Morgan Parker. Delacorte. YA DEBUT. Trapped in sunny, stifling, small-town suburbia, seventeen-year-old Morgan knows why she’s in therapy. She can’t count the number of times she’s been the only non-white person at the sleepover, been teased for her “weird” outfits, and been told she’s not “really” black. Also, she’s spent most of her summer crying in bed. So there’s that, too. Lately, it feels like the whole world is listening to the same terrible track on repeat–and it’s telling them how to feel, who to vote for, what to believe. Morgan wonders, when can she turn this song off and begin living for herself?
  58. Slay by Brittney Morris. Simon Pulse. An honors student at Jefferson Academy, seventeen-year-old Keira enjoys developing and playing Slay, a secret, multiplayer online role-playing game celebrating Black culture, until the two worlds collide
  59. Daughters of Nri (The Return of the Earth Mother) by Reni K. Amayo. Onwe Press. A gruesome war results in the old gods’ departure from earth. The only remnants of their existence lie in two girls. Twins, separated at birth. Goddesses who grow up believing that they are human. Daughters Of Nri explores their epic journey of self-discovery as they embark on a path back to one another. But can they defeat the man who brought the gods themselves to their knees?
  60. Take the Mic Fictional Stories of Everyday Resistance by Bethany Morrow. Arther A. Levine Books. This anthology features fictional stories–in poems, prose, and art–that reflect a slice of the varied and limitless ways that readers like you resist every day. Take the Mic‘s powerful collection of stories features work by literary luminaries and emerging talent alike, including Newbery-winner Jason Reynolds, New York Times bestseller Samira Ahmed, anthologist and contributor Bethany C. Morrow, Darcie Little Badger, Keah Brown, Laura Silverman, L.D. Lewis, Sofia Quintero, Ray Stoeve, Yamile Mendez, and Connie Sun, with cover and interior art by Richie Pope.
  61. The Good Luck Girls by Charlotte Nicole Davis. Tor Teens. The country of Arketta calls them Good Luck Girls–they know their luck is anything but. Sold to a “welcome house” as children and branded with cursed markings. Trapped in a life they would never have chosen. When Clementine accidentally kills a man, the girls risk a dangerous escape and harrowing journey to find freedom, justice, and revenge in a country that wants them to have none of those things. Pursued by Arketta’s most vicious and powerful forces, both human and inhuman, their only hope lies in a bedtime story passed from one Good Luck Girl to another, a story that only the youngest or most desperate would ever believe.
  62. Look Both Ways : A Tale Told in Ten Blocks by Jason Reynolds and Alexander Nabaum. Atheneum.A collection of ten short stories that all take place in the same day about kids walking home from school.
  63. By Any Means Necessary by Candice Montgomery. Page Street Kids. On the day Torrey moves and officially becomes a college freshman, he gets a call that might force him to drop out before he’s even made it through orientation: the bank is foreclosing on the bee farm his Uncle Miles left him. Torrey’s worked hard to become the first member of his family to go to college, but while the neighborhood held him back emotionally, Uncle Miles encouraged him to reach his full potential. For years, it was just the two of them tending the farm. So Torrey can’t let someone erase his uncle’s legacy without a fight. He tries balancing his old life in L.A. with his new classes, new friends, and (sort of) new boyfriend in San Francisco, but as the farm heads for auction, the pressure of juggling everything threatens to tear him apart. Can he make a choice between his family and his future without sacrificing a part of himself?
  64. War Girls by Tochi Onyebuchi. Razorbill. The year is 2172. Climate change and nuclear disasters have rendered much of earth unlivable. Only the lucky ones have escaped to space colonies in the sky. In a war-torn Nigeria, battles are fought using flying, deadly mechs and soldiers are outfitted with bionic limbs and artificial organs meant to protect them from the harsh, radiation-heavy climate. Across the nation, as the years-long civil war wages on, survival becomes the only way of life. Two sisters, Onyii and Ify, dream of more. Their lives have been marked by violence and political unrest. Still, they dream of peace, of hope, of a future together. And they’re willing to fight an entire war to get there.
  65. Jackpot by Nic Stone. Crown. Romance that examines class, privilege, and how a stroke of good luck can change an entire life.
  66. Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky by Kwame Mbalia. Disney Press.In this series debut, a boy finds himself on a quest amid African-American folk legends and West African gods.
  67. Dragon Thief by Zetta Elliott. Random House. Told in two voices, Jax and Kavita, Kavita’s brother Vik, and new friend Kenny try to return the baby dragon to the realm of magic before anything else goes wrong
  68. Light It Up by Kekla Magoon. Henry Holt & Co. Told from multiple viewpoints, this sequel to How It Went Down relays a story about injustice and strength.
  69. Full Disclosure by Camryn Garrett. Knopf Books. Keeping her viral load under control is easy, but keeping her diagnosis under wraps is not so simple. As Simone and Miles start going out for real–shy kisses escalating into much more–she feels an uneasiness that goes beyond butterflies. She knows she has to tell him that she’s positive, especially if sex is a possibility, but she’s terrified of how he’ll react! And then she finds an anonymous note in her locker: I know you have HIV. You have until Thanksgiving to stop hanging out with Miles. Or everyone else will know too. 
  70. The Black Mage by Daniel Barnes and D. J. Kirkland. Oni Press. When St. Ivory Academy, a historically white wizarding school, opens its doors to its first-ever black student, everyone believes that the wizarding community is finally taking its first crucial steps toward inclusivity. Or is it? When Tom Token, the beneficiary of the school’s “Magical Minority Initiative,” begins uncovering weird clues and receiving creepy texts on his phone, he and his friend, Lindsay, stumble into a conspiracy that dates all the way back to the American Civil War, and could cost Tom his very soul.
  71. A River of Royal Blood by Amanda Joy. Putnam. Seventeen-year-old Eva must harness the magick inside her to defeat her older sister, Isadore, as well as other forces, and win the crown in the Queendom of Myre–or die trying.
  72. Girls Like Us by Randi Pink.Feiwel and Friends. In the summer of 1972, three girls from very different backgrounds struggle to come to terms with being pregnant.
  73. When the Stars Lead to You by Ronni Davis. Little, Brown Books. Ashton and Devon try to find their way back together after their romance was torn apart by prejudice and mental illness.
  74. Children of Virtue and Vengeance (Legacy of Orisha) by Tomi Adeyemi. Henry Holt. ages 12-18With civil war looming on the horizon, Zélie finds herself at a breaking point: she must discover a way to bring the kingdom together or watch as Orïsha tears itself apart. Children of Virtue and Vengeance is the stunning sequel to Children of Blood and Bone.
  75. The Little Human by Marti Dumas. Plum Street Press. Amaya longs to swim in the sea and, on her tenth birthday, she finally gets her wish. Unfortunately, as these stories often go, getting her wish may be more than Amaya’s heart can handle.The Little Human is a modern story inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Mermaid. Fans of classic fairytales and strong female characters will enjoy this imaginative adventure that centers science, curiosity, and every person’s right to choose their own destiny.
  76. The Dragon Keep (Seeds of Magic Series) by Marti Dumas. Plum Street Press. Ten-year-old Jackie needs to learn to control her dragon familiar, but what she finds is a mountain full of secrets that will lead her to her destiny.Jackie and Jupiter continue their adventure in a world that is not as safe without Jackie’s mother and father around. Jackie must use all her wits and cunning to keep her brother safe while she unravels the mysteries that threaten to pull her family apart.
  77. The Forgotten Girl by India Hill Brown. Scholastic. The Forgotten Girl is both a spooky original ghost story and a timely and important storyline about reclaiming an abandoned segregated cemetery.

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Non-Fiction

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  1. Blacks in Paris (Freedom’s Promise) by Duchess Harris. Core Library. ages 8-11 After World War I, many African Americans found a welcoming home in Paris while the fight for civil rights continued in the United States. African American soldiers, writers, performers, and activists influenced French society. Blacks in Paris: African American Culture in Europe explores the legacy of African Americans in Paris.
  2. This Promise of Change: One Girl’s Story in the Fight for School Equality by Jo Ann Allen Boyce and Debbie Levy. Bloomsbury. ages 10-12. Told in verse, this book relays Boyce’s experience as one of 12 African-American students who integrated Clinton High School in Tennessee.
  3. Katherine Johnson by Ebony Joy Wilkins and Charlotte Ager. DK Life Stories. ages 8-12. It was an incredible accomplishment when the United States first put a person on the moon–but without the incredible behind-the-scenes work of NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson, such a feat could not have been possible. In this biography for kids ages 8-12, follow Katherine’s remarkable journey from growing up in West Virginia, to becoming a teacher, to breaking barriers at NASA and receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015.
  4. Dark Sky Rising : Reconstruction and the Dawn of Jim Crow by Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Tonya Bolden. Scholastic. ages 9-12. This is a story about America during and after Reconstruction, one of history’s most pivotal and misunderstood chapters. In a stirring account of emancipation, the struggle for citizenship and national reunion, and the advent of racial segregation, the renowned Harvard scholar delivers a book that is illuminating and timely. Real-life accounts drive the narrative, spanning the half century between the Civil War and Birth of a Nation. Here, you will come face-to-face with the people and events of Reconstruction’s noble democratic experiment, its tragic undermining, and the drawing of a new “color line” in the long Jim Crow era that followed. In introducing young readers to them, and to the resiliency of the African American people at times of progress and betrayal, Professor Gates shares a history that remains vitally relevant today.
  5. Biddy Mason Speaks Up (Fighting for Justice series) by Arisa White and Laura Atkins. Heyday. Presents the life of a California ex-slave, nurse, and midwife, who started many philanthropic projects.
  6. Step Into Your Power : 23 Lessons on How to Live Your Best Life by Jamia Wilson and Andrea Pippins. Wide Eye Publications. ages 8-12. Listen up little sister! Now is the time to learn how to harness your power and use it. You’ve heard about heroes and read about the greats, but how do you actually get there yourself? This book will show you how to make your big dreams a big reality.
  7. It’s Trevor Noah: Born a Crime : Stories for a South African Childhood (Adapted for Young Readers) by Trevor Noah. Random/Delacorte. ages 10-17. This compelling memoir blends drama, comedy, and tragedy to depict the day-to-day trials that turned a boy into a young man. In a country where racism barred blacks from social, educational, and economic opportunity, Trevor surmounted staggering obstacles and created a promising future for himself, thanks to his mom’s unwavering love and indomitable will.
  8. Colorblind : A Story of Racism by Johnathan Harris  (Author), Garry Leach (Illustrator), Anthony Zuiker PhD (Contributor) Simon and Schuster ages 12 and up. Johnathan, a fifteen-year-old African American from Long Beach, California, shares his story of being physically and verbally harassed because of his race, and of overcoming the discrimination to embrace all cultures, and then to be proud of his own. Colorblind: A Story of Racism is the third in a series of graphic novels written by young adults for their peers. Colorblind is Johnathan’s story of confronting his own racism and overcoming it. It is a story of hope and optimism that all, young and old, should heed.
  9. We Are the Change: Words of Inspiration from Civil Rights Leaders by Harry Belafonte. Chronicle. ages 8-12. Sixteen award-winning children’s book artists illustrate the civil rights quotations that inspire them in this stirring and beautiful book. Featuring an introduction by Harry Belafonte, words from Eleanor Roosevelt, Maya Angelou, and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. among others, this inspirational collection sets a powerful example for generations of young leaders to come.
  10. Run Book 1 by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin and Nate Powell. Abrams. Run tells the story of how John Lewis entered politics, working within the community, and organizing a campaign that has taken him to one of the most important seats in Congress.
  11. Child of the Dream : A Memoir of 1963 by Sharon Robinson. Scholastic. As the daughter of Jackie Robinson, Sharon had incredible access to some of the most important events of the era, including her family hosting several fundraisers for Martin Luther King Jr. at their home in Connecticut, other Civil Rights heroes of the day calling Jackie Robinson for advice and support, and even attending the March on Washington for Freedom and Jobs. But Sharon was also dealing with her own personal problems like going through puberty, being one of the only black children in her wealthy Connecticut neighborhood, and figuring out her own role in the fight for equality. This memoir follows Sharon as she goes through that incredible year of her life.
  12. One Person, No Vote: How Not All Voters are Treated Equally by Carol Anderson and Tonya Bolden. Bloomsbury. From the award-winning, New York Times bestselling author of White Rage, the startling and timely history of voter suppression in America, with a foreword by Senator Dick Durbin. In her New York Times bestseller White Rage, Carol Anderson laid bare an insidious history of policies that have systematically impeded black progress in America, from 1865 to our combustible present. With One Person, No Vote, she chronicles a related history: the rollbacks to African American participation in the vote since the 2013 Supreme Court decision that eviscerated the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Known as the Shelby ruling, this decision effectively allowed districts with a demonstrated history of racial discrimination to change voting requirements without approval from the Department of Justice. Focusing on the aftermath of Shelby, Anderson follows the astonishing story of government-dictated racial discrimination unfolding before our very eyes as more and more states adopt voter suppression laws. In gripping, enlightening detail she explains how voter suppression works, from photo ID requirements to gerrymandering to poll closures. And with vivid characters, she explores the resistance: the organizing, activism, and court battles to restore the basic right to vote to all Americans as the nation gears up for the 2018 midterm elections.
  13. Reach for the Skai : How to Inspire, Empower and Clapback by Skai Jackson. Crown Books. Actress and activist Skai Jackson shares her lessons on life and her rise to stardom in this vibrant memoir about self-acceptance, girl empowerment, and the classy clapback.
  14. Ona Judge Outwits the Washingtons: An Enslaved Woman Fights for Freedom by Gwendolyn Hooks, illus. by Simone Agoussoye. Capstone. Born into slavery at Mount Vernon, Ona seized the opportunity to escape when she was brought to live in the President’s Mansion in Philadelphia. Ona fled to New Hampshire and started a new life.
  15. Ordinary Hazards by Nikki Grimes. Wordsong. Growing up with a mother suffering from paranoid schizophrenia and a mostly absent father, Nikki Grimes found herself terrorized by babysitters, shunted from foster family to foster family, and preyed upon by those she trusted. At the age of six, she poured her pain onto a piece of paper late one night – and discovered the magic and impact of writing. For many years, Nikki’s notebooks were her most enduing companions. In this accessible and inspiring memoir that will resonate with young readers and adults alike, Nikki shows how the power of those words helped her conquer the hazards – ordinary and extraordinary – of her life.
  16. Limelight by Solli Raphael. Andrews McMeel Publishing. Limelight is a unique collection of slam poetry paired with inspirational writing techniques. With over 30 original poems in different forms, Raphael’s work tackles current social concerns for his generation, such as sustainability and social equality, all while amplifying his uplifting message of hope. Solli’s book also contains 5 chapters on how to write and read poetry, how to manage stage fright and writer’s block, and encouraging tips on how we can all make tomorrow better than today.
  17. What Were the Negro Leagues? by Varian Johnson and Stephen Marchesi.  Penguin Workshop. The baseball league that was made up of African American players and run by African American owners ushered in the biggest change in the history of baseball. In America during the early twentieth century, no part was safe from segregation, not even the country’s national pastime, baseball. Despite their exodus from the Major Leagues because of the color of their skin, African American men still found a way to participate in the sport they loved. Author Varian Johnson shines a spotlight on the players, coaches, owners, and teams. that dominated the Negro Leagues during the 1930s and 40s. Readers will learn about how phenomenal players like Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson, and of course, Jackie Robinson greatly changed the sport of baseball.

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