Black Voices & Culture: Books for Teens

Updated January 16, 2026
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All you have to do
Allen, Autumn
Paper Book
Powerful, thought-provoking, and heartfelt, this debut YA novel by author Autumn Allen is a gripping look at what it takes (and takes and takes) for two Black students to succeed in prestigious academic institutions in America. In ALL YOU HAVE TO DO, two Black young men attend...
Make me a monster
Bayron, Kalynn
Paper Book
School Library Journal Best Book of the Year Featuring colored endpapers and a designed case! New York Times bestselling author Kalynn Bayron is back with a Frankenstein-tinged horror romance. Meka is used to death....
Songs of Irie
Bromfield, Asha
Paper Book
"A devastating and nuanced look at two teens' battle for freedom, hope, independence, and love." - Publishers Weekly (starred review) Perfect for fans of The Black Kids, Songs of Irie is a sweeping coming-of-age novel from Asha Bromfield about a budding...
Promise boys
Brooks, Nick
CD
Up in smoke
Brooks, Nick
Paper Book
"A dynamic and heart-pounding thriller . . . Up In Smoke has the highest of stakes and a tender love story at its core. Nick Brooks is a force." --Jessica Goodman, NYT-bestselling author of The Meadowbrook Murders and The Legacies A girl determined to...
Black girl unlimited : the remarkable story of a teenage wizard
Brown, Echo
Paper Book
A William C. Morris Award Finalist "Brown has written a guidebook of survival and wonder."--The New York Times "Just brilliant."--Kirkus Reviews Heavily autobiographical and infused with magical realism, Black Girl Unlimited...
A bird in the air means we can still breathe
Browne, Mahogany L.
Paper Book
LONGLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD * A powerful, genre-bending mosaic of fiction and poetry that celebrates the humanity, grace, and resilience of teenage New Yorkers riding out the pandemic--from the award-winning author of Chlorine Sky "A gorgeous, tender...
The Blackwoods
Colbert, Brandy
Paper Book
From Boston Globe/Horn Book Award-winning author Brandy Colbert comes the story of four generations of a Hollywood family--an unforgettable tale of ambition, fame, struggle, loss, and love in America. The Blackwoods. Everyone knows their name. Blossom Blackwood burst onto the silver...
All the noise at once
Davis, DeAndra
Paper Book
Winner of the William C. Morris Debut YA Book Award Three starred reviews! A Black, autistic teen tries to figure out what happened the night his older brother was unjustly arrested in this "propulsive" (Jas Hammonds, award-winning author of We Deserve...
Legendborn
Deonn, Tracy
Paper Book
An Instant New York Times Bestseller! Winner of the Coretta Scott King - John Steptoe for New Talent Author Award Filled with mystery and an intriguingly rich magic system, Tracy Deonn's YA contemporary fantasy Legendborn offers the dark allure of...
The getaway
Giles, Lamar
Stand-alone player
Barracoon
Hurston, Zora Neale
Paper Book
An Instant New York Times and Indie Bestseller! In the first middle grade offering from Zora Neale Hurston and Ibram X. Kendi, young readers are introduced to the remarkable and true-life story of Cudjo Lewis, one of the last survivors of the Atlantic human trade, in an...
Raybearer
Ifueko, Jordan
Paper Book
Fans of Sabaa Tahir and Tomi Adeyemi won't want to miss Raybearer, an instant New York Times bestselling fantasy from breakout YA sensation Jordan Ifueko! Named one of the best books of the year by People magazine, Buzzfeed, New York Public...
Every body looking
Iloh, Candice
Paper Book
A Finalist for the National Book Award When Ada leaves home for her freshmanyear at a Historically Black College, it's the first time she's ever been so far from her family-and the first time that she's been able to make her own choices and to seek her place in this new world. As...
The scammer
Jackson, Tiffany D.
Paper Book
New York Times bestselling author Tiffany D. Jackson delivers another stunning, ripped-from-the-headlines thriller, following a freshman girl whose college life is turned upside down when her roommate's ex-convict brother moves into their dorm and starts controlling their every...
All boys aren't blue : a memoir-manifesto
Johnson, George M.
Paper Book
A New York Times Bestseller and the #1 Most Challenged Book in America according to the American Library Association In a series of personal essays, award-winning author and LGBTQIA+ activist George M. Johnson's All Boys Aren't Blue explores their childhood,...
The color of a lie
Johnson, Kim
Paper Book
In 1955, a Black family passes for white and moves to a "Whites Only" town in the suburbs. Caught between two worlds, a teen boy puts his family at risk as he uncovers racist secrets about his suburb. A new social justice thriller from the acclaimed author of This Is My America!
You should see me in a crown
Johnson, Leah (Young adult author)
Paper Book
A TIME Magazine Best YA Book of All Time A Stonewall Honor Book A Reese's Book Club YA Pick Liz Lighty has always believed she's too black, too poor, too awkward to shine in her small, rich, prom-obsessed midwestern town. But it's okay -- Liz has a...
The leaving room
McBride, Amber
Paper Book
**NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST!** "Intimate and astonishing."--Jason Reynolds, New York Times Bestselling Author For fans of You've Reached Sam and If I Stay, a hauntingly beautiful, ultimately hopeful novel-in-verse about a girl in between...
A song below water
Morrow, Bethany C.
Paper Book
Bethany C. Morrow's A Song Below Water is the story for today's readers -- a captivating modern fantasy about Black sirens, friendship, and self-discovery set against the challenges of today's racism and sexism. In a society determined to keep her under lock and...
Long way down
Reynolds, Jason
Paper Book
A Newbery Honor Book A Coretta Scott King Honor Book A Printz Honor Book A Time Best YA Book of All Time (2021) A Los Angeles Times Book Prize Winner for Young Adult Literature Longlisted for the National...
Stamped : racism, antiracism, and you
Reynolds, Jason
Paper Book
Don't miss this "fresh and conversational" (TIME Magazine), "potent and provocative" (The San Francisco Chronicle), #1 New York Times bestselling exploration of racism--and antiracism--in America. ...
Twenty-four seconds from now : a love story
Reynolds, Jason
Paper Book
A Coretta Scott King Author Award Winner A New York Times Bestseller Seven starred reviews! "Jason Reynolds has done it again!...Fresh from start to finish...This is what it could be, should be, if only we were all as lucky as Aria. Girls (and...
Dear Martin
Stone, Nic
Paper Book
"Powerful, wrenching." -JOHN GREEN, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Turtles All the Way Down "Raw and gripping." -JASON REYNOLDS, New York Times bestselling coauthor of All American Boys "A must-read!...
Concrete rose
Thomas, Angie
Paper Book
International phenomenon Angie Thomas revisits Garden Heights seventeen years before the events of The Hate U Give in this searing and poignant exploration of Black boyhood and manhood. A Printz Honor Book! If there's one thing seventeen-year-old Maverick Carter knows, it's that a real man...
The hate u give
Thomas, Angie
Paper Book
A #1 New York Times BestsellerSixteen-year-old Starr Carter lives in two worlds: her poor neighborhood and her suburban prep school. When she witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend by a police officer, it becomes a national headline. Khalil was unarmed. Only one person knows what...
Their vicious games
Wellington, Joelle
Paper Book
"A brutally honest and haunting cautionary tale...exposing the lie that is meritocracy and the unrelenting toll that being a final girl takes. A bloody tale spun masterfully...a dark delight." --Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé, New York Times bestselling author of Ace of Spades
Caste : the origins of our discontents
Wilkerson, Isabel
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * NEW YORK TIMES READERS PICK: 100 BEST BOOKS OF THE 21st CENTURY * OPRAH'S BOOK CLUB PICK * ONE OF BARACK OBAMA'S FAVORITE BOOKS OF THE YEAR "An instant American classic and almost certainly the keynote nonfiction book of the American...
A sitting in St. James
Williams-Garcia, Rita
Paper Book
Winner of the Boston Globe/Horn Book Award! 7 starred reviews! "Monumental." --Booklist (starred review) * "A marathon masterpiece."--Kirkus (starred review) * "Necessary."--SLJ (starred review) * "Shocking and dramatic."--Shelf Awareness (starred review) * "Mesmerizing,...
Young, gifted and black
Wilson, Jamia
Paper Book
"...to be revisited again and again...The candy-colored pages and straightforward stories are hard to resist..." -The New York Times "...diverse collection of iconic figures...vibrantly illustrated...beautifully crafted volume..." -Kirkus Reviews, Starred...
(S)kin
Zoboi, Ibi Aanu
Paper Book
From award-winning, New York Times bestselling author Ibi Zoboi comes her groundbreaking contemporary fantasy debut--a novel in verse based on Caribbean folklore--about the power of inherited magic and the price we must pay to live the life we yearn for. "Our new...
Nigeria Jones
Zoboi, Ibi Aanu
Stand-alone player
Punching the air
Zoboi, Ibi Aanu
Paper Book
New York Times and USA Today bestseller * Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor * Walter Award Winner * Goodreads Finalist for Best Teen Book of the Year * Time Magazine Best Book of the Year * Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year * Shelf Awareness Best Book of...
Black enough : stories of being young & black in America
Zoboi, Ibi Aanu
Paper Book
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. A selection of the ...

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