TEEN & YOUNG ADULT / GRADES 6-12

John Lewis (A), Andrew Aydin (A) and Nate Powell (ILT)

List Price: $14.95 (Paperback – Graphic Novel / Biography /African American History – Civil Rights Era – 2015)

Declaration: Congressman John Lewis (GA-5) is an American icon, one of the key figures of the civil rights movement. His commitment to justice and nonviolence…

Deepak Chopra (A) 

List Price: $15.99 (Paperback /Spiritual Self Help – 2006)

A fifteen-year-old boy is walking through a swirling fog on his way to school when a voice calls out, “Come here. We need to talk.” Out of the mist emerges an old man with a white beard. He is a fantastic figure, as…

Chinua Achebe (A)

List Price: $13.00 (Paperback – African History / Post Colonization – 1994)

Things Fall Apart tells two intertwining stories, both centering on Okonkwo, a äóìstrong manäó? of an Ibo village in Nigeria. The first, a powerful fable of the immemorial conflict between the individual and…

Walter Dean Myers (A) and Guy A Sims (A) and Dawaud Anyabwile (ILT) 

List Price: $15.99 (Paperback – Juvenile Justice / Narrative – 1999)

A stunning graphic novel adaptation of Walter Dean Myers’s New York Times bestseller Monster.

Monster is a multi-award-winning, provocative coming-of-age story about Steve Harmon, a teenager awaiting trial for a murder and robbery.…

Zetta Elliott (A) and. Love is Wise (ILT) 

A gorgeous full-color graphic historical novel, sure to become an instant classic, that explores the friendship and feud between Ida B. Wells and Frederick Douglass, offering new insights into slavery and incarceration in the United States.

Told from the perspectives of statesman and orator Frederick Douglass, and journalist and activist Ida B. Wells, Before…

John Lewis (A) and Andrew Aydin (A) and Nate Powell (ILT)

List Price: $19.99 (Paperback – Civil Rights Era / Leader / Congressman – 2016)

One of the Best Books of 2016” – Publishers Weekly

Welcome to the stunning conclusion of the award-winning and best-selling

MARCH trilogy. Congressman John Lewis, an American icon…

Joel Christian (A and ILT) Henry Louis Gates (FRWD)

List Price: $23.95 (Paperback – Graphic Novel –  True Stories – 2014)

Strange Fruit Volume I is a collection of stories from early African American history that represent the oddity of success in the face of great adversity. Each of the nine illustrated chapters chronicles…

S. E. Anderson (A) and Vanessa Holley (ILT)

List Price: $16.99 (Paperback – The Black Holocaust – 2007)

Virtually anyone, anywhere knows that six million Jewish human beings were killed in the Jewish Holocaust. But how many African human beings were killed in the Black Holocaust – from the start of the European…

Walter Dean Myers (A)

List Price: $16.95  (Hardcover – Fiction / Racial and Social Divides / Relationships / Drug Addiction – 2003)

Anthony Spoon Witherspoon, 17, leaves Harlem, and his girl, Gabi, to spend his senior year at Wallingford Academy in Connecticut, with the hope that he will get into an Ivy League…

Hill Harper (A)

List Price: $16.00 (Paperback – Mentoring / Boys / Guidance and Life Skills – 2007)

Offering inspirational advice in a down-to-earth style, this unique compilation of letters provides wisdom, guidance, and heartfelt insight to help the reader chart their own path to success.

Based on the author…

Jason Alexander (A) and Ibrahm X. Kendi (A) 

A timely, crucial, and empowering exploration of racism–and antiracism–in America

This is NOT a history book.
This…

Attucks! is true story of the all-black high school basketball team that broke the color barrier in segregated 1950s Indiana, masterfully told by National Book Award winner Phil Hoose.

By winning the state high school basketball championship in 1955, ten teens from an Indianapolis school meant to be the centerpiece of racially…

Powerful narrative and graphics tell the story of Malcolm X’s life, his journey of self-discovery, his far-reaching ideas, his martyrdom, and his impact on an era.

Embraced as a righteous prophet of Black power and pride, damned as the voice of violence, Malcolm X emerges as a complex, brave, and brilliant figure with much…

 Amanda Gorman (A and Poet)

List Price: $24.99 (Hardcover – Poetry / Inaugeral Messenger – 2021)

The breakout poetry collection by #1 New York Times bestselling author and presidential inaugural poet Amanda Gorman

Formerly titled The Hill We Climb and Other Poems, the luminous poetry collection by #1 New York Times bestselling author…

Sharon G. Flake (A)

List Price: $10.99 (Paperback – Teen Fiction / Survival – 2006)

Sharon Flake’s authentic and original young adult novels have garnered many honors and awards, and have won her a loyal fan base of teens across the country. In this sequel to…

Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu (A)

List Price: $12.99 (Paperback- Fantasy / Futuristic Africa / Albino Heroine – 2011)

Twelve-year-old Sunny lives in Nigeria, but she was born American. Her features are African, but she’s albino. She’s a terrific athlete, but can’t go out into the sun to play soccer. There seems to be…

Scarlet Paoicchi (A)

List Price: $11.99 (Paperback –  Self Help / Gratitude Journal For Teens – 2023)

Gratitude Journal for Teens: Prompts to Cultivate a Habit of Awareness and Improve Well-being 

Kimberly Jones (A) and Gilly Segal (A)

List Price: $17.99 (Hardcover – Two Strangers / Chaos – 2019)

“An absolute page turner, I’m Not Dying with You Tonight is a compelling and powerful novel that is sure to make an impact. “—Angie Thomas, New York Times bestselling author of The Hate U Give

Over the course of one night, two…

David Barclay Moore (A)

List Price: $17.99 (Hardcover – Community / Navigating Thru Challenges -2017)

“The right story at the right time. . . . It’s not just a narrative; it’s an experience. It’s the novel we’ve been waiting for.” —The New York Times

A boy tries to steer a safe path through the…

Brandy Colbert (A)

List Price: $17.99 (Hardcover – Coming of Age / Self Awareness – 2019) 

From Stonewall Award winner Brandy Colbert comes a novel about first love, family, and hidden secrets that will stay with you long after turning the last page.

Dove “Birdie” Randolph works hard to be the perfect daughter and follow…

Uzodinma Iweala (A)

List Price: $15.99 (Paperback – Africa  / Guerilla Fighting Boys – 2006) 

The harrowing, utterly original debut novel by Uzodinma Iweala about the life of a child soldier in a war-torn African country—now a critically-acclaimed Netflix original film directed by Cary Fukunaga (True Detective) and starring Idris Elba (Mandela, The…

Jaqueline Woodson (A) 

List Price: $17.99 (Hardcover -Teen Relationship /Bi-Racial – 2018)

A lyrical story of star-crossed love perfect for readers of The Hate U Give, by National Ambassador for Children’s Literature Jacqueline Woodson–now celebrating its twentieth anniversary, and including a new preface by the author

Jeremiah feels good inside his own skin. That is, when…

Wade and Cheryl Hudson and Various Amazing Authors, Illustrators and Poets

List Price: $18.99 (Hardcover – Anthology of Poetic Advice to Children – 2018)

Fifty of the foremost diverse children’s authors and illustrators–including Jason Reynolds, Jacqueline Woodson, and Kwame Alexander–share answers to the question, “In this divisive world, what shall we tell our…

Leon is an ordinary kid who becomes extraordinary when he fights a supervillain to save his school!

In the city where Leon lives, superheroes — and supervillains — are commonplace. So how does an ordinary kid like Leon, who has no superpowers himself, become the superhero he wants to be? When all his…

Kofi A. Annan (A), Dudley J. Thompson (A) and Barrington A. Watson (ILT)

List Price: $15.00 (Paperback – Biographies / Pan Africanists – 2005)

This book celebrates the lives of seventeen Black leaders who have made outstanding contributions to the liberation, unity and solidarity of Africa and African peoples throughout…

Sandra Cisneros (A)

List Price: $13.00 (Paperback – Young Latina Girl – 1991)

Acclaimed by critics, beloved by readers of all ages, taught everywhere from inner-city grade schools to universities across the country, and translated all over the world, The House on Mango Street is the remarkable story of Esperanza Cordero.…

Clock Striker, now in graphic novel format, follows Shonen manga’s first Black female lead hero, Cast, in her quest to become a member of the SMITHS, the legendary warrior engineers.

*2024 YALSA Great Graphic Novel for Teens*
*2023 Texas Library Association Maverick Graphic Novel Reading List Winner – Starred…

Angela Johnson (A)

List Price: $9.99 (Paperback – Teen / Loss / Coming Of Age – 2011)

After Heaven and The First Part Last, three-time Correta Scott King Award-winning author Angela Johnson concludes her acclaimed trilogy with a poignant tale of finding where you belong and who you belong with.

Shoogy left…

Jonah Tarver, a troubled Oakland teenager grappling with his parents’ troubled marriage, his own mental disorder, and the weight of his best friend’s death, embarks on a desperate quest to find meaning in life.

On his eighteenth birthday, coinciding with his Senior prom, Jonah, along with his girlfriend Taniesha, his best friend Trevon, and…

Kwame Alexander (A)

List Price: $18.99 (Hardcover – Breaking Rules and Consequences -2014)

2015 Newbery Medal Winner
2015 Coretta Scott King Honor Award Winner
New York Times Bestseller 

“With a bolt of lightning on my kicks . . .The court is SIZZLING. My sweat is DRIZZLING. Stop all that quivering. Cuz tonight I’m delivering,“…

Na’im Akbar (A)

List Price: $14.00 (Paperback – Black Manhood – 1991)

Visions For BlackMen raises issues which are not only important to black men but to all of us. How do we restore African manhood to those whom the society has not viewed as the chosen people? Discover the startling prediction of…

ABOUT THE SUM OF US (ADAPTED FOR YOUNG READERS)

The New York Times bestseller, now adapted for a new generation of young readers, leaders, thinkers, and activists. A groundbreaking call to action that examines how racism affects and harms all of us and how we need to face it head-on, together.

The future can be…

Farrah Gray with Fran Harris

List Price:$14.99 (Paperback / Self Help and Improvement / Teen Success Story – 2005)

A remarkable teenager who went from public assistance to a million dollar net worth shares his story and offers 9 key principles to success.

Farrah Gray is no ordinary teenager. He wears a suit…

Nnedi Okorafor (A) 

List Price: $18.99 (Hardcover – SciFi / African Mythology and Fantasy / Warrior Sista – 2017)

The newest novel by the author of Akata Witch and the forthcoming Marvel comic book series about Shuri, Black Panther’s sister!

“The most imaginative, gripping, enchanting fantasy novels I have ever read!” —Laurie Halse Anderson, New York Times bestselling author of Speak

…

Another powerful story in the Logan Family Saga and companion to Mildred D. Taylor’s Newbery Award-winning Roll of Thunder,Hear My Cry.

For David Logan, a time of distress means taking the higher road.

During a drought, the Logan family shares their well water with their neighbors, black and white alike. But David’s brother…

Two siblings investigate the murder of a friend only to unearth even more deadly mysteries in their small town in this page-turning young adult thriller from the acclaimed author of Their Vicious Games.

When Mikky Graves left his small, stifling hometown of Prophets Lake to live with his estranged mother, he thought nothing could ever…

Dashka Slater (A)

List Price: $19.99 (Hardcover  – Hate Crime / Gender Issues / Teen Trajedy / Healing – 2018) 

One teenager in a skirt.
One teenager with a lighter.
One moment that changes both of their lives forever.

If it weren’t for the 57 bus, Sasha and Richard never would have…

Zetta Elliott (A) and Shadra Strickland (ILT)

List Price: $13.95 (Paperback – Fiction / Grief and Loss / Mentoring / Art / Hope)

An urban African-American boy transcends the loss of loved ones with help from a caring elderly mentor and from the sustaining ability to create art. Bird looks back and remembers…

Kwame Alexander (A)

List Price: $19.99 (Hardcover – Soccer / Family / Love and Friendship – 2016) 

National Book Award Long List
New York Times Bestseller 

Like lightning/you strike/fast and free/legs zoom/down field/eyes fixed/on the checkered ball/on the goal/ten yards to go/can’t nobody stop you/
can’t nobody cop you…

In this follow-up to…

Sean Covey (A) 

List Price: $19.99 (Paperback – Success Strategies for Teens- 2017)

From the author of the wildly popular bestseller The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens comes the go-to guide that helps teens cope with major challenges they face in their lives—now updated for today’s social media age.

In this newly revised edition, Sean…

Samhita Arni (A) and Mona Chirakar (ILT) 

List Price: $24.95  (Hardcover –  India / Graphic Novel / War /  A  Woman’s Opinion -2011)

The Ramayana is an epic poem by the Hindu sage Valmiki, written in ancient Sanskrit sometime after 300 BC. It is an allegorical story that contains important Hindu teachings, and it…

Kwame Alexander (A) and  Mr. Thai Neave (Photos)

List Price: $16.99 (Hardcover –  Self Help / 52 Rules to Live By -2017)

New York Times bestseller ∙ Indie Next Pick

You gotta know the rules to play the game. Ball is life. Take it to the hoop. Soar. What can we imagine for our lives? What if…

Jason Reynolds (A) and Kadir Nelson (ILT) 

List Price: $10.99 (Paperback – Graphic Novel / Super Hero – 2018) 

“Everyone gets mad at hustlers, especially if you’re on the victim side of the hustle. And Miles knew hustling was in his veins.”

Miles Morales is just your average teenager. Dinner every Sunday…

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Jason Reynolds comes the “action-packed…banter-filled” (School Library Journal, starred review) sequel to his groundbreaking young adult novel Miles Morales: Spider-Man about the adventures of the unassuming, everyday kid who just so happens to be Spider-Man.

Miles Morales is just your average teenager.…

Glory Edim (A)

List Price: $20.00 (Hardcover – Anthology / Literary Essays – 2018)

NOMINATED FOR AN NAACP IMAGE AWARD • An inspiring collection of essays by black women writers, curated by the founder of the popular book club Well-Read Black Girl, on the importance of recognizing ourselves in literature.

“Yes, Well-Read Black Girl is as good…

Naim Akbar (A)

List Price $14.00 (Paperback – Knowledge / Self – 1998)

This exciting book lays out guidelines for establishing a genuine curriculum in self-knowledge and plainly identifies that the development of consciousness of oneself is a process that emerges from exposure to the fields of knowledge that help people to…

Tochi Onyebuchi (A) 

List Price: $17.99 (Hardcover – Science Fiction / Myth – Search for Home – 2018)

In the sequel to the acclaimed Beasts Made of Night, Taj has escaped Kos, but Queen Karima will go to any means necessary–including using the most deadly magic–to track him down.

Taj is…

Arnold Adoff (A) and Benny Andrews (ILT)

List Price: $7.99 (Paperback – Poetry by African Americans – 1997)

First published in 1968, this anthology was one of the first collections of African American poetry specifically created with the young reader in mind. Along with selections from Langston Hughes and Gwendolyn Brooks, this newly…