TEEN & YOUNG ADULT / GRADES 6-12

Pusch Commey (A) and Innocent Dembetembe (ILT)

List Price:  $19.99 (Paperback – African Kings and Queens – 2014)

Volume one of 100 GREAT AFRICAN KINGS AND QUEENS chronicle the amazing exploits of 10 extraordinary monarchs of the African continent. Spanning over…

Sparks fly when Orion and Ray meet for…

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…

Herb Boyd (A) and Lance Tooks (ILT)

List Price: $15.95 (Paperback – African American History / Black Panthers / Civil Rights Era 2015)

A crowd of onlookers gawked from the sidewalk as four young black men dressed in black leather jackets and berets leaped from a Volkswagen, each of them wielding shotguns with…

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…

When Nala Robertson reluctantly agrees to attend an open mic night for her cousin-sister-friend Imani’s birthday, she finds herself falling in instant love with Tye Brown, the MC. He’s perfect, except . . .

Tye is an activist and is spending the summer putting on events for the community when Nala would rather…

Marlon McKinney (A and ILT)

List Price: $9.99 (Paperback – Comic Book/ Graphic Novel  A Fantasy Story – Queen of Sheba – 2021)

A beautiful Ethiopian princess must use courage, strength, and leadership to conquer a dangerous enemy set on destroying the wealthy Kingdom of Sheba.

Princess Makeda was born into a loving royal family…

Charles Johnson (A)

List Price: $17.00 (Paperback – African American History / Middle Passage / Slave Trade – 1998)

A twenty-fifth anniversary edition of Charles Johnson’s National Book Award-winning masterpiece of a novel in the tradition of Billy Budd and Moby-Dick heroic in proportion to fiction that hooks the mind” (The New York…

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…

Meg Blackburn Losey, PHD (A)

A philosophy teacher who experienced devastating situations and lost everything

List Price: $16.95 (Paperback – Self-help Book For Teens – 2012)

In The Art of Living Out Loud, Losey describes how she learned to live an authentic life, from this traumatic experience. She…

Gene Luen Yang (A) and (ILT)

List Price: $14.99 (Paperback – Youth – Culture / Race, Identity, Self Acceptance / Three Asian Students – 2021)

A tour-de-force by rising indy comics star Gene Yang, American Born Chinese tells the story of three apparently unrelated characters: Jin Wang, who moves to a new neighborhood…

Justin Simien (A) and Ian O’ Phelan (ILT)

List Price: $18.99  (Hardcover – Race Relations / Life On A White College Campus – 2014)

“A Guide to Inter-Racial Harmony in Post-Racial America”

In the satirical tradition of the New York Times bestseller Stuff White People Like comes this witty companion book to the…

Tony Adeyemi (A)

List Price: $22.99 (Hardcover – Fantasy / West African / Female Protagonist / Must Save The Village -2018)

With five starred reviews, Tomi Adeyemi’s West African-inspired fantasy debut, and instant #1 New York TimesBestseller, conjures a world of magic and danger, perfect for fans of Leigh Bardugo and Sabaa Tahir.

…

Wes Moore (A)

List Price: $12.99 (Paperback – Biography / Parallels Two Lives / Same Name – 2013)

For fans of The Wire and Unbroken comes a story of two fatherless boys from Baltimore, both named Wes Moore. One is in prison, serving a life sentence for murder. The other is a Rhodes…

Nikki Grimes (A)

List Price: $7.99 (Paperback – Poetry / Students – 2001)

When Wesley writes a poem for his high school English class, some of his classmates clamor to read their poems aloud too. Soon their having weekly poetry sessions and, one by one, the eighteen students are…

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…

In homage to the radical power of art, Living While Black celebrates the small acts of resistance that comprise the daily lives of Black folks by presenting them in a series of vivid illustrations.

Laughing. Grieving. Being a kid. Even the purest expression of pleasure, the…

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…

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…

Barack Obama (A)

List Price: $45.00 (Hardcover – Biography -President Barack Obama -2020)

A riveting, deeply personal account of history in the making—from the president who inspired us to believe in the power of democracy
 
In the stirring, highly anticipated first volume of his presidential memoirs, Barack Obama tells the story of his improbable…

From the award-winning and critically acclaimed author of This Is My America comes another thriller about a wrongly accused teen desperate to recclaim both his innocence and his first love.

Life can change in an instant.
When you’re wrongfully accused of a crime.
When a virus shuts everything down.
When…

Gregory Walker (A) 

List Price: $19.99 (Paperback – Ancient Egyptian History / Queen Mother Nefertari –  2014)

In world history there has never been a national hero celebrated for as long nor revered as much as Ancient Egypt’s Queen Mother Ahmesh Nefertari. She was a real African heroine who changed the course of…

William Loren Katz (A)

List Price: $14.99 (Paperback – Native American /African American History – 1997)The compelling teen nonfiction account of how two heritages united in their struggle to gain freedom and equality in America.

The first paths to freedom taken…

Angela Johnson (A)

List Price: $10.99 (Paperback – Teen Pregnancy – 2010)

Description:This little thing with the perfect face and hands doing nothing but counting on me. And me wanting nothing else but to run crying into my own mom’s room and have her do the whole thing. It’s not going to happen….

…

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…

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. Pearl Sharp (A) and Beverly Hawkins Hall (ILT)

List Price: $15.95 (Paperback – History / Black Women – 2011)

Description: There are over 519 million Black Women on the planet Earth, give or take a dozen. There’s a Black Woman on each of the seven continents, in almost every country and in…

Walter Dean Myers (A)

List Price: $13.99 (Paperback – Auto Biography – 2002)

In a memoir that is gripping, funny, and ultimately unforgettable, New York Times bestselling author Walter Dean Myers travels back to his roots in the magical world of Harlem during the 1940s and 1950s. Here is the story of one…

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…

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…

Liara Tamani (A) 

List Price: $15.99 (Paperback – Family / Self Discovery – 2017)

“Calling My Name is a treasure.”—Nic Stone, New York Times–bestselling author of Dear Martin

Calling My Name is a striking, luminous, and literary exploration of family, spirituality, and self—ideal for readers of Jacqueline Woodson, Jandy Nelson, Naomi Shihab Nye, and Sandra Cisneros.

This…

Angela Johnson (A)

List Price: $10.99 (Paperback – Teen / Accident Grief and Loss – 2013)

From three-time Coretta Scott King Award winner Angela Johnson, a wrenching, honest book about surviving the unimaginable and finding a way to go on.

Scotty compares herself to tofu: no flavor unless you add something. And it’s…

This book isn’t just for one kind of entrepreneur—it’s for every kind. Whether you’re thriving with purpose or struggling to grow your business and battle self-doubt, No One is Self-Made offers solutions and encouragement you need to push forward with the right community.

From the visionary behind the groundbreaking Village Market,…

Carter G. Woodson (A)

List Price: $9.95 (Paperback – Denounces Eurocentric Education / Supports Black Studies – First Pub. 1933)

The Mis-Education of the Negro is one of the most important books on education ever written. Carter G. Woodson shows us the weakness of Euro-centric based curriculums that fail to include African American…

New York Times bestselling author Jerry Craft is back with the newest adventures of Jordan, Drew, Liam, and all the characters that fans first met in New Kid, winner of the Newbery Award and the Coretta Scott King Author Award!

In this…

Greg Zuckerman (A), Elijah Zuckerman (A) and Gabriel Zuckerman (A) 

List Price: $18.99 (Hardcover – Athletes Bios / Motivation – 2017)

Discover inspirational real-life stories of superstar athletes in this collection of sports biographies featuring LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Tim Howard, and more!
     
Team USA goalkeeper Tim Howard was diagnosed with Tourette…

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…

Kim Johnson (A)

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…

Ibram X. Kendi (A) 

List Price: $27.00  (Hardcover –  Self Help / How To Be An Antiracist – 2019) 

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the National Book Award–winning author of Stamped from the Beginning comes a “groundbreaking” (Time) approach to understanding and uprooting racism and inequality in our society—and in ourselves.

“The most courageous book to date on…

Renee Watson (A)

List Price: $18.99 (Hardcover – Teen/Choices / Opportunities – 2017)

Newbery Honor and Coretta Scott King Author Award Winner New York Times bestseller”Timely and timeless.” –Jacqueline Woodson”Important and deeply moving.” –John Green Acclaimed author Renee Watson offers a powerful story about a girl striving for success in a world that too often…

Shanon Gibney (A) 

List Price: $16.99 (Hardcover – History/Racism  – 2019)

“Gut wrenching and incredible.”— Sabaa Tahir #1 New York Times bestselling author of An Ember in the Ashes

“This novel is a remarkable achievement.”—Kelly Barnhill, New York Times bestselling author and Newbery medalist

“Beautifully epic.”—Ibi…

Jerry Craft (A) 

List Price: $15.99 (Paperback – 7th Grade / New School – 2019)

Winner of the Newbery Medal, Coretta Scott King Author Award, and Kirkus Prize for Young Readers’ Literature!

Perfect for fans of Raina Telgemeier and Gene Luen Yang, New Kid is a timely, honest graphic novel about starting over at a new school…

 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…

Ijeoma Oluo (A)

List Price: $18.99 (Paperback – Race Relations / Social Justice – 2019)

In this New York Times bestseller, Ijeoma Oluo offers a hard-hitting but user-friendly examination of race in America

Widespread reporting on aspects of white supremacy — from police brutality to the mass incarceration of Black Americans…

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,“…

THE ESSENTIAL MIDDLE SCHOOL SURVIVAL GUIDE

The Core Skills Every Middle Schooler Should Know to Become a Confident, Happy, and Successful Teenager.

Middle school is a pivotal time, full of new experiences and opportunities that help shape a child’s future. While these are exciting times, they can also be challenging. Middle schoolers face…

Davis Sampson (A) Rameck Hunt (A) and George Jenkins (A)

List Price: $16.00 (Paperback – Biography / Mentoring – 2005)

The dramatic, inspiring story of three inner-city youths – Samson Davis, George Jenkins, and Rameck Hunt – whose strong friendship gave them the strength to continue…