Ghost Boys by
Seventh-grader Jerome is mistakenly shot by a white police officer, and as a ghost, observes the turmoil in his community as a result of his death. He then meets the ghost of Emmett Till who helps Jerome understand how systemic racism led to his death, but also understand how far the effects of his death really go by introducing him to the grieving daughter of the police officer who struggles with her father's actions.
After the Shot Drops by
When Bunny takes a scholarship to a prestigious prep school with a championship basketball team, his relationship with his best friend Nasir is ruined. When Nasir learns that his cousin, Wallace, and his grandmother are being evicted, he tries to get over Bunny's betrayal. But as Wallace's situation becomes desperate, both Bunny and Nasir will have to face bigger and bigger consequences and decide just how much they're willing to risk.
Day of Tears by
Presents an historical fiction written in first-person format that follows Emma, the slave of Pierce Butler, through a series of events in her life as her master hosts the largest slave auction in American history in Savannah, Georgia in 1859 in order to pay off his mounting gambling debts.
A Good Kind of Trouble by
All twelve-year-old Shayla wants to do is follow the rules, but when she starts seventh grade, the rules have changed. Her two best friends seem to be going their own ways and some people at school are saying that she's not black enough. After a ruling in a controversial court case involving the shooting of a black man by a white police officer, Shayla decides to join the Black Lives Matter movement and begins passing out black armbands at school. As the unrest in both Los Angeles and her school spreads, Shayla must figure out if some things are worth breaking the rules.
This Side of Home by
Twins Nikki and Maya Younger always agreed on most things, but as they head into their senior year they react differently to the gentrification of their Portland, Oregon, neighborhood and the new--white--family that moves in after their best friend and her mother are evicted.
It's Trevor Noah: Born A Crime by
This fascinating 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.It's Trevor Noah: Born a Crime not only provides a fascinating and honest perspective on South Africa's racial history, but it will also astound and inspire young readers looking to improve their own lives.
Anger Is a Gift by
Sixteen-year-old gay African-American student Moss Jeffries feels stuck in his run-down West Oakland High School. Still mourning the death of his father, shot by police years earlier, a violent incident at his school prompts Moss to channel his simmering anger into community activism against a corrupt authority system.
Fire from the Rock by
Life is normal in Little Rock, Arkansas, but things are about to change. It's 1957, and rumors of integrating Little Rock Central High School have caused turmoil in the town. Eighth grader Sylvia thinks being the first black student at the school is an honor, but she soon realizes that the blacks who plan to attend Central will be in grave danger. When violence strikes Sylvia's family, she is torn between her parents' nonviolent stance and her brother's suggestion of revenge.
Punching the Air by
Even though Amal Shahid is an artist and poet, he's still viewed as disruptive and unmotivated at his diverse art school. One fateful night at a local park, a fight breaks out between Amal and his friends and a group of white boys from a nearby gentrified neighborhood, leaving one of the white boys in a coma. Amal is convicted of the attack and sent to prison, even though he's not the one who put the boy in a coma. His despair and rage at having his bright future destroyed threaten to overcome him until he discovers the refuge and hope that his words and art give him.
The Hero Two Doors Down by
Eight-year-old Steve Satlow is thrilled when Jackie Robinson moves into his Jewish neighborhood in Brooklyn in 1948, although many of his neighbors are not, and when Steve actually meets his hero he is even more excited--and worried that a misunderstanding over a Christmas tree could damage his new friendship.
Caleb's Wars by
Fifteen-year-old Caleb's courageous commitment to justice grows as he faces a power struggle with his father, fights to keep both his temper and self-respect in dealing with whites, and puzzles over the German prisoners of war brought to his rural Georgia community during World War II.
The Hate U Give by
Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed. Soon afterward, his death is a national headline. Some are calling him a thug, maybe even a drug dealer and a gangbanger. Protesters are taking to the streets in Khalil's name. Some cops and the local drug lord try to intimidate Starr and her family. What everyone wants to know is: what really went down that night? And the only person alive who can answer that is Starr. But what Starr does-or does not-say could upend her community. It could also endanger her life.
Color Me In by
Growing up in an affluent suburb of New York City, sixteen-year-old Nevaeh Levitz never thought much about her biracial roots. When her Black mom and Jewish dad split up, she relocates to her mom's family home in Harlem and is forced to confront her identity for the first time. Nevaeh wants to get to know her extended family, but because she inadvertently passes as white, her cousin thinks she's too privileged, pampered, and selfish to relate to the injustices African Americans face on a daily basis. In the meantime, Nevaeh's dad decides that she should have a belated bat mitzvah instead of a sweet sixteen, which guarantees social humiliation at her posh private school. But rather than take a stand, Nevaeh does what she's always done when life gets complicated: she stays silent.Only when Nevaeh stumbles upon a secret from her mom's past, finds herself falling in love, and sees firsthand the prejudice her family faces that she begins to realize she has her own voice. And choices. Will she continue to let circumstances dictate her path? Or will she decide once for all who and where she is meant to be?
Piecing Me Together by
Tired of being singled out at her mostly-white private school as someone who needs support, high school junior Jade would rather participate in the school's amazing Study Abroad program than join Women to Women, a mentorship program for at-risk girls.
Black Brother, Black Brother by
Twelve-year-old Donte is the darker-skinned brother of Trey, which in his racist, mostly-white school has earned him the nickname Black Brother. When the captain of the school fencing team successfully frames him for something he didn't do, Donte is arrested and suspended from school. Joining a local youth center, Donte meets former Olympic fencer Arden Jones and begins training to defeat his school bully and find courage to confront the racist system that got him arrested.
One Crazy Summer by
In the summer of 1968, after travelling from Brooklyn to Oakland, California, to spend a month with the mother they barely know, eleven-year-old Delphine and her two younger sisters arrive to a cold welcome as they discover that their mother, a dedicatedpoet and printer, is resentful of the intrusion of their visit and wants them to attend a nearby Black Panther summer camp.
Blended by
Isabella is only eleven, but she is already so used to hearing about how "exotic" and unusual she is due to her black father and white mother that she is sick of her biracial identity. Now that her parents are divorced and fighting over her worse than ever, Isabella needs a way to define her identity so she can feel not like two halves, but a whole.
Pride by
Zuri Benitez has pride. Brooklyn pride, family pride, and pride in her Afro-Latino roots. But pride might not be enough to save her rapidly gentrifying neighborhood from becoming unrecognizable.
When the wealthy Darcy family moves in across the street, Zuri wants nothing to do with their two teenage sons, even as her older sister, Janae, starts to fall for the charming Ainsley. She especially can't stand the judgmental and arrogant Darius. Yet as Zuri and Darius are forced to find common ground, their initial dislike shifts into an unexpected understanding.
Dreamland Burning by
In the present, seventeen-year-old Rowan Chase discovers a skeleton on her family's property that dates back to the 1921 Tulsa race riots. In the past, a single violent encounter propels seventeen-year-old Will Tillman into a firestorm of violence against blacks chaffing under the Jim Crow laws. What Will does next affects Rowan's present.
The Only Black Girls in Town by
Surfer Alberta has been the only black girl in her small California beach town for years. When she finds out that the new owners of the bed-and-breakfast across the street are black and that they have a daughter her age, Alberta is convinced that she and Edie will be best friends. But Edie misses her life in Brooklyn and is finding it hard to adapt to California life. When the girls find a box of old journals in Edie's attic, they team up to find out why they were left behind, uncovering painful secrets from the past.
The Skin I'm in by
Thirteen-year-old Maleeka Madison, insecure about her very dark skin, rejects the support of a new teacher, Miss Saunders, whose skin looks blotched because of a rare medical condition--but soon Maleeka begins to see that Miss Saunders could be a role model, and that she must learn to love herself and accept love from others.
