A downloadable PDF version of this list is also available.
Title links below point to the catalog entry for the standard-print version of the book. Audio, eBook, and large-type versions may also be available.
Realistic Fiction
Black Girl Unlimited, by Echo Brown (Grades 9-12)
A largely autobiographical story infused with magical realism follows the coming-of-age of a teen from the East Side who transitions from the world of her home to that of a privileged West Side school.
Felix Ever After, by Kacen Callender (Grades 9-12)
Felix Love, a transgender seventeen-year-old, attempts to get revenge by catfishing his anonymous bully, but lands in a quasi-love triangle with his former enemy and his best friend.
The Only Black Girls in Town, by Brandy Colbert (Grades 3-6)
In a predominately white California beach town, the only two black seventh-graders, Alberta and Edie, find hidden journals that uncover family secrets and speak to race relations in the past.
The Revolution of Birdie Randolph, by Brandy Colbert (Grades 8-12)
Sixteen-year-old Dove “Birdie” Randolph’s close bond with her parents is threatened by a family secret, and by hiding her relationship with Booker, who has been in juvenile detention.
Let Me Hear a Rhyme, by Tiffany Jackson (Grades 9-12)
After their friend Steph is murdered, Quadir, Jarrell, and Steph’s sister Jasmine promote his music under anew rap name, the Architect, but when his demo catches a music label rep’s attention, the trio must prove his talent from beyond the grave.
You Should See Me in a Crown, by Leah Johnson (Grades 9-12)
Liz Lighty has always tried to avoid the spotlight in her small, wealthy, and prom-obsessed midwestern high school, instead concentrating on her grades and her musical ability in the hopes that it will win her a scholarship to elite Pennington College. But when that scholarship falls through she is forced to turn to her school’s scholarship for Prom King and Queen.
I’m Not Dying with You Tonight, by Kimberly Jones & Gilly Segal (Grades 9-12)
Told from two viewpoints, Atlanta high school seniors Lena and Campbell, one black, one white, must rely on each other to survive after a football rivalry escalates into a riot.
Dear Haiti, Love Alaine, by Maika Moulite (Grades 7-12)
After her presentation at school goes very wrong and she is suspended, Haitian American teen Alaine is sent to work in a Haitian nonprofit, where she learns about the local culture and her family’s heritage.
The Field Guide to the North American Teenager, by Ben Philippe (Grades 7-12)
When Norris, a Black French Canadian, starts his junior year at an Austin, Texas, high school, he views his fellow students as clichés from “a bad 90s teen movie.
Ghost, by Jason Reynolds (Grades 5-8)
Ghost, a naturally talented runner and troublemaker, is recruited for an elite middle school track team. He must stay on track, literally and figuratively, to reach his full potential.
The Hate U Give, by Angie Thomas (Grades 9-12)
After witnessing her friend’s death at the hands of a police officer, Starr Carter’s life is complicated when the police and a local drug lord try to intimidate her in an effort to learn what happened the night Kahlil died.
Genesis Begins Again, by Alicia Williams (Grades 5-8)
Thirteen-year-old Genesis tries again and again to lighten her black skin, thinking it is the root of her family’s troubles, before discovering reasons to love herself as is.
Fantasy
Children of Blood and Bone, by Tomi Adeyemi (Grades 9-12)
When Norris, a Black French Canadian, starts his junior year at an Austin, Texas, high school, he views his fellow students as clichés from “a bad 90s teen movie.”
Kingdom of Souls, by Rena Barron (Grades 9-12)
Disappointing her family of powerful witch doctors because of her lack of abilities, Arrah makes the difficult choice to sacrifice years of her life for scraps of magic to uncover why children are going missing throughout the city.
Song of Wraiths and Ruin, by Roseanne A. Brown (Grades 9-12)
A first entry in a planned duology inspired by West African folklore finds a grieving crown princess and a desperate refugee on a collision course to destroy each other despite their growing attraction.
The Good Luck Girls, by Charlotte Nicole Davis (Grades 10-12)
Sold as children and branded with cursed markings, five girls trapped in a brutal existence risk a dangerous escape and a harrowing journey to find freedom, justice and revenge in a country of human and inhuman forces that would deny them basic freedoms.
Legendborn, by Tracy Deonn (Grades 8-12)
Wanting to escape her previous life after the accidental death of her mother, Bree enrolls in a program for high school students at the local university before her witness to a magical attack reveals her undiscovered powers, as well as sinister truths about her mother’s death.
Pet, by Akwaeke Emezi (Grades 7-10)
In a near-future society that claims to have gotten rid of all monstrous people, a creature emerges from a painting seventeen-year-old Jam’s mother created, a hunter from another world seeking a real-life monster.
The Gilded Ones, by Namina Forna (Grades 7-10)
A supernatural teen is ostracized by her superstitious community because of her differences when a mysterious woman invites her to fight for the emperor in an all-woman army.
Raybearer, by Jordan Ifueko (Grades 7-12)
Raised in isolation, Tarisai yearns for the closeness she could have as one of the Crown Prince’s Council of11, but her mother, The Lady, has magically compelled Tarisai to kill the Crown Prince.
Dread Nation, by Justina Ireland (Grades 9-12)
When families go missing in Baltimore County, Jane McKeene, who is studying to become an Attendant, finds herself in the middle of a conspiracy that has her fighting for her life.
Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky, by Kwame Mbalia (Grades 5-8)
Haunted by the bus accident that ended his best friend’s life, Tristan Strong dreads a visit to his grandparents’ Alabama farm before a bizarre living doll snatches away his friend’s notebook and draws him into a world of burning seas, iron monsters and exhausted black folk heroes.
Science Fiction
War Girls, by Tochi Onyebuchi (Grades 9-12)
In 2172, when much of the world is unlivable, sisters Onyii and Ify dream of escaping war-torn Nigeria and finding a better future together but are, instead, torn apart.
Historical Fiction
The Awakening of Malcolm X, by Ilyasah Shabazz & Tiffany Jackson (Grades 7-12)
While in Charlestown Prison in the 1940s, young Malcolm Little reads all the books in the library, joins the debate team and the Nation of Islam, and emerges as Malcolm X.
Short Stories
Black Enough: Stories of Being Black & Young in America, by various authors (Grades 9-12)
Edited by National Book Award finalist Ibi Zoboi, and featuring some of the most acclaimed bestselling Black authors writing for teens today – Black Enough is an essential collection of captivating stories about what it’s like to be young and Black in America.
Romance
Happily Ever Afters, by Elise Bryant (Grades 9-12)
Tessa Johnson loves writing swoony love stories that she shares only with Caroline, her best friend. But when Tessa is accepted into a prestigious creative writing program and goes to her first workshop, the words are just . . . gone. Fortunately, Caroline has a solution: Tessa just needs to find some inspiration in a real-life love story of her own.
Excuse Me While I Ugly Cry, by Joya Goffney (Grades 8-12)
Quinn keeps lists of everything – from the “Things That I Would Never Admit Out Loud,” to all the boys she’d like to kiss. But one day her journal goes missing and an anonymous account posts one of her lists on Instagram and blackmails her into facing her greatest fears, or else her entire journal will go public. Desperate, Quinn teams up with Carter Bennett – the last known person to have her journal and who Quinn loathes – in a race against time to track down the blackmailer.
The Stars and Blackness Between Them, by Junauda Petrus (Grades 8-12)
Told in two voices, sixteen-year-old Audre and Mabel, both young women of color from different backgrounds, fall in love and figure out how to care for each other as one of them faces a fatal illness.
Opposite of Always, by Justin A. Reynolds (Grades 8-12)
When Jack and Kate meet at a party, Jack knows he’s falling hard. But then Kate dies. And their story should end there. Yet Kate’s death sends Jack back to the moment they first met, and Kate’s there again. If Jack has a chance to prevent Kate’s death, he’ll take it. Even if that means believing in time travel. However, Jack will learn that his actions are not without consequences.
Jackpot, by Nic Stone (Grades 8-12)
When Rico sells a jackpot-winning lotto ticket, she thinks maybe her luck will finally change, but only if she and her popular and wildly rich classmate, Zan can find the ticket holder who hasn’t claimed the prize.
Love is a Revolution, by Renee Watson (Grades 7-12)
Falling for an activist during an open-mic party, plus-sized Nala tells increasingly complicated lies about how much she shares her crush’s interests, before learning unanticipated lessons in radical love and self-love.
Pride, by Ibi Zoboi (Grades 8-12)
In an update of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, author Ibi Zoboi skillfully balances cultural identity, class, and gentrification against the heady magic of first love in her vibrant reimagining of this beloved classic.
Verse Novels
The Crossover, by Kwame Alexander (Grades 5-8)
Fourteen-year-old twin basketball stars Josh and Jordan wrestle with highs and lows on and off the court as their father ignores his declining health.
Every Body Looking, by Candice Iloh (Grades 7-12)
With complex relationship dynamics and heavy issues like rape, overbearing and neglectful parents, and addiction, this book is about a young woman’s heartbreaking but hopeful story about coming into her own.
Long Way Down, by Jason Reynolds (Grades 7-12)
Driven by the secrets and vengeance that mark his street culture, Will contemplates over the course of 60 psychologically suspenseful seconds whether or not he is going to murder the person who killed his brother.
Punching the Air, by Ibi Zoboi and Yusef Salaam (Grades 8-12)
Traces the story of a young artist and poet whose prospects at a diverse art school are threatened by a racially biased system and a tragic altercation in a gentrifying neighborhood.
The Black Flamingo, by Dean Atta (Grades 8-12)
A boy comes to terms with his identity as a mixed-race gay teen – then at university he finds his wings as a drag artist, The Black Flamingo. A bold story about the power of embracing your uniqueness. Sometimes, we need to take charge, to stand up wearing pink feathers – to show ourselves to the world in bold colour.
Graphic Novel
Nubia: Real One, by L.L. McKinney (Grades 8-12)
Nubia has always stood out because of her Amazonian strength, but even though she uses her ability for good she is seen as a threat, so when her best friend Quisha is threatened by a boy who thinks he owns the town, Nubia risks everything to become the hero society tells her she is not.
Non-Fiction
Stamped, by Jason Reynolds (Grades 7-12)
A history of racist and antiracist ideas in America, from their roots in Europe until today.
March, by John Lewis (Grades 7-12)
A graphic-novel account of John Lewis’ lifelong struggle for civil and human rights spans his youth in rural Alabama, his life-changing meeting with Martin Luther King, Jr., and the birth of the Nashville Student Movement.
The Black Panther Party: A Graphic Novel History, by David Walker (Grades 7-12)
This graphic novel captures the major events, people, and actions of the Black Panther Party, as well as their cultural and political influence and enduring legacy.
One Person, No Vote, by Carol Anderson (Grades 7-9)
Carol Anderson chronicles the rollbacks to African American participation in the vote since the 2013Supreme Court decision that eviscerated the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
When They Call You a Terrorist: A Story of Black Lives Matter and the Power to Change the World, by Patrisse Khan-Cullors & Asha Bandele (Grades 7-9)
This is the story of how the Black Lives Matter movement spread across the nation and then across the world and the journey that led one of its co-founders, Patrisse Khan-Cullors, to this moment.
Chasing King’s Killer, by James L. Swanson (Grades 7-12)
Offers an inside look into the lives of Martin Luther King, Jr. and his assassin, James Earl Ray, discussing the history of the time and examining the assassination and its aftermath.
Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Boy, by Emmanuel Acho (Grades 4-6)
An introduction to systemic racism and racist behavior offers safe, judgment-free answers to common questions about uncomfortable subjects, from white privilege to how to disrupt community racism.
Lifting as We Climb: Black Women’s Battle for the Ballot Box, by Evette Dionne (Grades5-7)
Describes a history of the role of African American women as a significant force in the suffrage movement and their efforts to be accepted as equal partners by their fellow activists.
Miles to Go for Freedom: Segregation & Civil Rights in the Jim Crow Years, by Linda Barrett Osbourne (Grades 6-10)
An overview of racial segregation and early civil rights efforts in Jim Crow America told through first-person accounts, Library of Congress records and other primary sources,
We Are Not Yet Equal, by Carol Anderson (Grades 9-12)
From the end of the Civil War to the tumultuous issues in America today, an acclaimed historian reframes the conversation about race, chronicling the powerful forces opposed to black progress in America.
Black Birds in the Sky: The Story and Legacy of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, by Brandy Colbert (Grades 7-12)
An award-winning author recounts one of the most deadly and destructive acts of racial violence in American history and explores the ways the Tulsa Race Massacre is the story of America.
Run, by John Lewis (Grades 7-12)
This graphic novel tells the true story of John Lewis and his colleagues in the movement following the historic success of the Selma campaign and the Voting Rights Act.
This Book is Anti-Racist: 20 Lessons on How to Wake up, Take Action, and Do the Work, by Tiffany Jewell (Grades 5-12)
Learn about social identities, the history of racism and resistance against it, and how you can use your anti-racist lens and voice to move the world toward equity and liberation.
Brown Girl Dreaming, by Jacqueline Woodson (Grades 4-7)
In vivid poems, an award-winning author shares what it was like to grow up in the 1960s and 1970s in both the North and the South.
Say Her Name, by Zetta Elliott (Grades 7-10)
A collection of poems stands as a tribute to Black Lives Matter activists and victims of police brutality.