Books From Around the World (YA): Africa

It’s often interesting to get a different perspective on the world. Here are some books set in some far-flung places – and some places close to home – grouped by continent/large body of water with islands in it. The books on this list are (mostly) written by authors from the countries they are about, and in many cases have been translated into English from their mother tongues (the book we’ve chosen for Madagascar, Return to the enchanted island by Johary Ravaloson, is only the second book to have ever been translated from Malagasy into English!).

Not all of the books are in the Young Adult collection, but we’ve tried to make sure that they all at least feature kids or teens in prominent places in the story. Our eventual goal is to have at least one book for every country in the world! Help us out by sending in recommendations if you’ve found one we’ve missed!

This list contains books written by authors from Africa. Check out our lists for authors from Asia, Europe, North and Central America, Oceania, and South America for even more recommendations!

Updated April 25, 2024
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Wellington City Libraries
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Harraga
Sansal, Boualem
____________________'This is a remarkable novel ... and a remarkably brave one. It is compelling and gripping. The horrors of man's inhumanity to man are presented unblinkingly' - Scotsman'Demotic clichés, literary illusions and lyrical descriptions, translated from the...

Algeria | Algerian author

Behold the dreamers :a novel
Mbue, Imbolo
A NEW YORK TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR AN OBSERVER BOOK OF THE YEAR A powerful and timely story of marriage, class, race and the pursuit of the American Dream. Behold the Dreamers is a dazzling debut novel about life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness - and of what we're prepared...

Cameroon | Cameroonian-American author

When the ground is hard
Nunn, Malla
This CBCA short-listed book also won the LA Times Book Prize for Young Adult Literature and is a stunning and heartrending mystery set in a Swaziland boarding school about two girls of different castes who bond over a shared copy of Jane Eyre.

Eswatini | Swazi-Australian author

The shadow king
Mengiste, Maaza
A beautifully written and utterly captivating novel about female strength and the power of belief, set during Mussolini's 1935 invasion of Ethiopia, The Shadow King casts a light on the women soldiers who were written out of history.
Ethiopia | Ethiopian-American author
Guant©Łnamo diary
Slahi, Mohamedou Ould
An unprecedented international publishing event: the first and only diary written by a still-imprisoned Guantanamo detainee.

Mauritania | Mauritanian author writing about his experiences in Guantanamo, Cuba.

An orchestra of minorities
Obioma, Chigozie

Nigeria | Nigerian author (Igbo)

Black Moses
Mabanckou, Alain
The new novel from the outstanding figure of French and African literature, Man Booker International shortlisted novelist Alain Mabanckou.

Republic of the Congo | Congolese author

Radiance of tomorrow
Beah, Ishmael
A haunting, beautiful first novel by the bestselling author of A Long Way Gone. Named one of the Christian Science Monitor's best fiction books of 2014 With the gentle lyricism of a dream and the moral clarity of a fable, Radiance of...

Sierra Leone | Sierra Leonean author

Black mamba boy
Mohamed, Nadifa
WINNER OF THE BETTY TRASK AWARD LONGLISTED FOR THE ORANGE PRIZE GRANTA BEST OF YOUNG BRITISH NOVELISTS 2013 For fans of Half of a Yellow Sun, a stunning novel set in 1930s Somalia spanning a decade of war and upheaval, all seen through the eyes of a small boy alone in the...

Somalia | Somali-British author

Songs of a war boy
Adut, Deng Thiak
Deng Adut's family were farmers in South Sudan when a brutal civil war altered his life forever. At six years old, his mother was told she had to give him up to fight. At the age most Australian children are starting school , Deng was conscripted into the Sudan People's Liberation Army. He began...

South Sudan | South Sudanese author

Gravel heart
Gurnah, Abdulrazak
Moving from revolutionary Zanzibar in the 1960s to restless London in the 1990s, Gravel Heart is a powerful story of exile, migration and betrayal, from the Booker Prize-shortlisted author of ParadiseSalim has always believed that his father does not want him. Living with his parents...

Tanzania | Tanzanian author

Hope is our only wing
Tavengerwei, Rutendo
A teen novel set in Zimbabwe about hope - and its power to heal a family, a friendship or even a nation.

Zimbabwe | Zimbabwean author


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