YA Reads by Black Authors You Shouldn't Miss!Like this list

23 items

• When You Look Like Us

  Harris, Pamela N.,

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  When you look like us—brown skin, brown eyes, black braids or fades—everyone else thinks you’re trouble. No one even blinks twice over a missing Black girl from public housing because she must’ve brought whatever happened to her upon herself. I, Jay…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Daughters of Jubilation

  Corthron, Kara Lee

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  In the Jim Crow South, white supremacy reigns and tensions are high. But Evalene Deschamps has other things to worry about. She has two little sisters to look after, an overworked single mother, and a longtime crush who is finally making a move. On…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• American Street

  Zoboi, Ibi

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  On the corner of American Street and Joy Road, Fabiola Toussaint thought she would finally find une belle vie—a good life. But after they leave Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Fabiola’s mother is detained by U.S. immigration, leaving Fabiola to navigate her…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Black Kids

  Hammonds Reed, Christina

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  Los Angeles, 1992 Ashley Bennett and her friends are living the charmed life. It’s the end of senior year and they’re spending more time at the beach than in the classroom. They can already feel the sunny days and endless possibilities of summer.…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Long Way Down

  Reynolds, Jason,

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  There are three rules in the neighborhood: Don't cry ; Don't snitch ; Get revenge. Will takes his dead brother Shawn's gun, and gets in the elevator on the 7th floor. As the elevator stops on each floor, someone connected to Shawn gets on. Someone…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• This Is My America

  Johnson, Kim, 1979-

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  Every week, seventeen-year-old Tracy Beaumont writes letters to Innocence X, asking the organization to help her father, an innocent Black man on death row. After seven years, Tracy is running out of time--her dad has only 267 days left. Then the…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Legendborn

  Deonn, Tracy

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  After her mother dies in an accident, Bree Matthews wants nothing to do with her family memories or childhood home. A residential program for bright high schoolers at UNC-Chapel Hill seems like the perfect escape-- until Bree witnesses a magical…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Monster: A Graphic Novel

  Walter Dean Myers • Sims, Guy A.

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  Sixteen-year-old Steve Harmon is on trial for murder. A Harlem drugstore owner was shot and killed in his store, and the word is that Steve served as the lookout. Guilty or innocent, Steve becomes a pawn in the hands of "the system," cluttered with…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Cost of Knowing

  Morris, Brittney

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  Sixteen-year-old Alex Rufus's curse of seeing the future distracts him from being and doing his best, but when he sees his little brother Isaiah's imminent death, he races against time, death, and circumstances to save him.

• Grown

  a Novel

  Jackson, Tiffany D.

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  When legendary R&B artist Korey Fields spots Enchanted Jones at an audition, her dreams of being a famous singer take flight. Until Enchanted wakes up with blood on her hands and zero memory of the previous night. Who killed Korey Fields? Before…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Nubia: Real One

  McKinney, L. L.

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  Nubia has always been a little bit...different. As a baby she showcased Amazonian-like strength by pushing over a tree to rescue her neighbor's cat. But despite her having similar abilities, the world has no problem telling her that she's no Wonder…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Piecing Me Together

  Watson, Renee

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  Jade believes she must get out of her poor neighborhood if she's ever going to succeed. Her mother tells her to take advantage of every opportunity that comes her way. And Jade has: every day she rides the bus away from her friends and to the…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Concrete Rose

  Thomas, Angie

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  If there’s one thing seventeen-year-old Maverick Carter knows, it’s that a real man takes care of his family. As the son of a former gang legend, Mav does that the only way he knows how: dealing for the King Lords. With this money he can help his…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Tyler Johnson Was Here

  Coles, Jay

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  When Marvin Johnson's twin, Tyler, goes to a party, Marvin decides to tag along to keep an eye on his brother. But what starts as harmless fun turns into a shooting, followed by a police raid. The next day, Tyler has gone missing, and it's up to…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Kings of B'more

  Thomas, R. Eric

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  With junior year starting in the fall, Harrison feels like he’s on the precipice of, well, everything. Standardized testing, college, and the terrifying unknowns and looming pressures of adulthood after that—it’s like the future wants to eat him…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Zyla & Kai

  Forest, Kristina

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  While on a school trip to the Poconos Mountains (in the middle of a storm) high school seniors, Zyla Matthews and Kai Johnson, run away together leaving their friends and family confused. As far as everyone knows, Zyla and Kai have been broken up…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Lux

  the New Girl

  Woodfolk, Ashley

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  Lux Lawson is on a spree. Ever since her dad left, she's been kicked out of every school that would take her, and this is her last chance: Harlem's Augusta Savage School of the Arts. If this doesn't work, Lux is off to military school, no questions…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Anger Is a Gift

  Oshiro, Mark

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  Moss Jeffries is many things―considerate student, devoted son, loyal friend and affectionate boyfriend, enthusiastic nerd. But sometimes Moss still wishes he could be someone else―someone without panic attacks, someone whose father was still alive,…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Opposite of Always

  Reynolds, Justin A.

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  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…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Solo

  Alexander, Kwame,

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  Blade never asked for a life of the rich and famous. In fact, he’d give anything not to be the son of Rutherford Morrison, a washed-up rock star and drug addict with delusions of a comeback. Or to no longer be part of a family known most for lost…Read moreRead more of this annotation