Black joy & identity books

Young adult

Walter Dean Myers

Robin Perry, from Harlem, is sent to Iraq in 2003 as a member of the Civilian Affairs Battalion, and his time there profoundly changes him.

Young adult

Kristina Forest

Filled with roadside hijinks, heart-stirring romance, and a few broken rules, Kristina Forest's I Wanna Be Where You Are is a YA debut perfect for fans of Jenny Han and Sandhya Menon.

Young adult

Dana L. Davis

For sixteen-year-old Tiffany Sly, life hasn’t been safe or normal for a while. Losing her mom to cancer has her a little bit traumatized, and now she has to leave her hometown of Chicago to live with the biological dad she’s never known. Anthony Stone is a rich man with four other daughters — and rules for every second of the day. Tiffany tries to make the best of things, but she doesn’t fit into her new luxurious, super-strict home or get along with her standoffish sister London. The only thing that makes her new life bearable is the strange boy across the street. But Tiffany has a secret: another man claims he’s her real dad, and she has only seven days before he shows up to demand a paternity test and the truth comes out.

Young adult

Kim Johnson

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 unthinkable happens. The police arrive in the night, and Tracy’s older brother, Jamal, goes from being a bright, promising track star to a “thug” on the run, accused of killing a white girl. Determined to save her brother, Tracy investigates what really happened between Jamal and Angela down at the Pike. But will Tracy and her family survive the uncovering of the skeletons of their Texas town’s racist history that still haunt the present?

Young adult

Walter Dean Myers

Monster is a multi-award-winning, provocative coming-of-age story about Steve Harmon, a teenager awaiting trial for a murder and robbery. As Steve acclimates to juvenile detention and goes to trial, he envisions the ordeal as a movie.

Young adult

N. H. Kleinbaum

Cop and a half by N. H. Kleinbaum — an inclusive young adult title for older kids and teens.

Young adult

Tony Medina

Alfonso Jones can't wait to play the role of Hamlet in his school's hip-hop rendition of the classic Shakespearean play. He also wants to let his best friend, Danetta, know how he really feels about her. But as he is buying his first suit, an off-duty police officer mistakes a clothes hanger for a gun, and he shoots Alfonso.

Young adult

Dia Reeves

Slice of Cherry by Dia Reeves — an inclusive young adult title for older kids and teens.

Young adult

Miller, Keith F., Jr.

2024 Lambda Literary Awards Finalist 2025 Rainbow Book List Concrete Rose meets Things We Couldn't Say in Pritty, a debut novel by Keith F. Miller Jr.--the inspiration behind the forthcoming animated short film of Kickstarter fame--that ...

Young adult

Nikki Carter

. . "This series is poised to ‘blow up'. . ." --Kirkus Praise for Nikki Carter ". . .plenty of reality show-type drama." --Romantic Times on Doing My Own Thing "Nikki Carter is a fresh, new voice.

Young adult

Walter Dean Myers

Jimmy and Kevin could really use a guide to life. Their activities almost land them in juvenile detention until Duke employs them in his Harlem barbershop. Duke has rules for everything. But is he offering good advice or just more aggravation? In the groundbreaking tradition of the award–winning Monster and Bad Boy: A Memoir, Walter Dean Myers fashions a complex, layered novel about the rules for success. Handbook for Boys is the book that he wishes he could have read while growing up. It is also the book young people need to read today.

Young adult

Amber McBride

FINALIST FOR THE 2021 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR YOUNG PEOPLE'S LITERATURE A debut YA novel-in-verse by Amber McBride, Me (Moth) is about a teen girl who is grieving the deaths of her family, and a teen boy who crosses her path.

Young adult

Calvin Slater

But he's not hearing anything good about her new man, Sean. And showing Samantha the truth could be the one game Xavier can't win... With graduation and college coming up fast, Samantha has been thinking hard about her future.