The books below are found as print books in our SHS Learning Commons, on MackinVIA, and in Libby, the digital platform of the Scott County Library.
The Black Flamingo by
Michael Angeli, a mixed-race gay teen living in London, tells his story in lyrical verse, describing his struggles with self-acceptance and identity as he grows up without a father. When he moves away from home to attend university, he discovers the drag community, where he finally finds acceptance and a new persona as the Black Flamingo.
Piecing Me Together by
Every day, Jade rides a bus out of her poor, black neighborhood and to a private school where she feels out of place. When she's assigned a mentor as a part of a school program, Jade doesn't think the adult she's paired with understands her at all, and she learns she has more to teach the other adults than she thought.
One of the Good Ones by
When Kezi Smith loses her life after an encounter with police at a Black Lives Matter protest, her sister Happi questions the media's portrayal of a sister she was never really close to. Pressed by her older sister and other friends, Happi joins a road trip along Route 66 to commemorate the memory of her sister, stopping at historical black safe houses noted in the "Negro Motorist Green Book."
The Voting Booth by
Marva Sheridan is excited to vote in her first election; Duke Crenshaw just wants to get voting over so that he can get to his band's first paying gig. When Marva sees Duke turned away from their polling place, she's determined to see his vote counted. They cut school, rush from precinct to precinct, and wait in endless lines just to get Duke registered to vote. Over the course of one day, the two strangers find they have more in common than just a passion for democracy.
Punching the Air by
Even though Amal Shahid is an artist and poet, he's still viewed as disruptive at his diverse art school. A fight breaks out between Amal and his friends and a group of white boys, 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.
