The best part about reading young adult literature is encountering coming-of-age tales that echo our own formative years. With more authors of color out on the market than ever before, the YA stories available on shelves now represent more cultural backgrounds and diverse perspectives for readers. In celebration of this publishing shift, we’ve gathered an assortment of young adult novels by Black authors that explore the many nuances of the Black experience.
Trigger Warning: The books in this list contain themes of racism, colorism, and homophobia. Please read all trigger and content warnings before purchasing.
FIRE READ
This Thing of Ours by Frederick Joseph
SYNOPSIS:
Ossie Brown had his future as an all-star basketball player all planned out. That is, until a torn ACL takes him out of the team and sends him tailspinning through an identity crisis. Set adrift in the tense politics of being one of the only Black teens at his predominantly White and affluent school, Ossie is desperate for some purpose. Then, a Black teacher invites him to join her writing program, and Ossie makes new friends and immerses himself in literature by marginalized authors. Once everything seems to be falling back into place for him, a viral “anti-woke” video made by some students puts the writing program, the teacher’s job, and Ossie’s friends’ safety at risk.
WHY:
Award-winning author Frederick Joseph is a champion of chronicling the Black experience. From nonfiction works like The Black Friend: On Being a Better White Person to poetry collections like We Alive, Beloved, Joseph exposes and celebrates the nuances of Blackness again and again. His debut YA novel, This Thing of Ours, brings Joseph’s literary legacy into the teenage sphere.
TEA TIME READ
Needy Little Things by Channelle Desamours
SYNOPSIS:
Sariyah has always had the secret ability to hear what items people need. While it sometimes proves useful, this intrusive gift hounds her incessantly. Matters only complicate further when her friend, Deja, goes missing, and Sariyah worries that she will be forgotten like many other missing Black girls before her. Recruiting her friends to help her investigate, Sariyah wields her gift in a way she never has before. Yet this choice may only lead her closer and closer to the same dangerous fate as Deja.
WHY:
Needy Little Things is educator Channelle Desamour’s debut novel and presents a promising start to her literary career. Sariyah’s story explores mental health issues and societal pressure among Black girls, while also highlighting biases against Black victims in the criminal justice system.
HEAR ME OUT
(S)Kin by Ibi Zobo
SYNOPSIS:
Marisol is the daughter of a soucouyant, a Caribbean vampiric shape-shifter that sheds their skin every new moon to transform into a fiery witch. After leaving the Caribbean isles for Brooklyn, Marisol hoped that these traditions would be left behind for good, but the hold her mother has on her proves difficult to sever. Meanwhile, another teen named Gen struggles with her worsening skin condition and the constant crying of her new baby half-siblings. Consumed by a mysterious hunger, Gen is desperate for answers. When a newly revealed family secret connects Gen to Marisol, the two girls soon discover the explosive power beneath their skin.
WHY:
(S)Kin is the latest YA offering by Ibi Zoboi that draws from her experiences as a Haitian immigrant, with her award-winning debut novel, American Street, navigating similar territory. Aside from the touches of Caribbean folklore, Zoboi’s new novel in verse also expertly touches on themes of colorism and racism, all the while emphasizing the diverse beauty among Black girls of all skin colors and hair textures.
Thanks for tuning in to this week’s edition of Three to Read Teen! Be sure to check back later this month for more themed YA recommendations.
For more YA books that celebrate POC, click here.
Find these titles and more on our Three to Read bookshelf on Bookshop.
