Cultural Diversity Week 2026 - YA Books

A curated reading guide celebrating cultural diversity in young adult literature.

Updated February 26, 2026
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Cultural Diversity Week 2026 - YA Books

A curated reading guide celebrating cultural diversity in young adult literature.

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Immortal dark
Girma, Tigest
Paper Book
The Cruel Prince meets Ninth House in this dangerously romantic dark academia fantasy, where a lost heiress must infiltrate an arcane society and live with the vampire she suspects killed her family and kidnapped her sister.  It began long...
Ace of spades
Àbíké-Íyímídé, Faridah
Paper Book
Go back to school with this instant New York Times-bestselling thriller by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé about two students, Devon & Chiamaka, and their struggles against an anonymous bully. "Readers will love this thriller-mystery... A revelatory, buzzworthy debut." --...
Four Eids and a funeral
Àbíké-Íyímídé, Faridah
Paper Book
"Enemies-to-lovers romance...bursting with joy, humour and so much love" Bea Fitgerald, author of Girl, Goddess, QueenThe brand-new feel-good, hilarious and gorgeously swoony enemies-to-lovers romance from two bestselling, award-winning stars of YA: Faridah Abike-Iyimide and Adiba Jaigirdar, as seen...
Hani and Ishu's guide to fake dating
Jaigirdar, Adiba
Paper Book
Everyone likes Humaira "Hani" Khan--she's easy going and one of the most popular girls at school. But when she comes out to her friends as bisexual, they invalidate her identity, saying she can't be bi if she's only dated guys. Panicked, Hani blurts out that she's in a relationship...with a girl...
The sun is also a star
Yoon, Nicola
Paper Book
*Now a major film starring Yara Shahidi and Charles Melton* The New York Times bestselling love story from Nicola Yoon, author of Everything, Everything. Natasha- I'm a girl who believes in science and facts. Not fate. Not...
How we fall apart
Zhao, Katie
Paper Book
In a YA thriller that is Crazy Rich Asians meets One of Us is Lying, students at an elite prep school are forced to confront their secrets when their ex-best friend turns up dead. Nancy Luo is shocked when her former best friend, Jamie Ruan, top-ranked junior at...
Feminist AF : a guide to crushing girlhood
Cooper, Brittney C.
Paper Book
A Kirkus Reviews Best Children's Book of 2021 Hip-hop and feminism combine in this empowering guide with attitude, from best-selling author Brittney Cooper and founding members of the Crunk Feminist Collective. Loud and rowdy girls, quiet and...
Laurinda
Pung, Alice
Paper Book
When my dad dropped us off at the front gate, the first things I saw were the rose garden spreading out on either side of the main driveway and the enormous sign in iron cursive letters spelling out LAURINDA. No 'Ladies College' after it, of course; the name was meant to speak for itself.
Hood feminism : notes from the women that a movement forgot
Kendall, Mikki
Paper Book
A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER "The fights against hunger, homelessness, poverty, health disparities, poor schools, homophobia, transphobia, and domestic violence are feminist fights. Kendall offers a feminism rooted in the livelihood of everyday women." --Ibram X. Kendi,...
When Dimple met Rishi
Menon, Sandhya
Paper Book
The inspiration for the Netflix original series Mismatched! A New York Times bestseller A Time Best YA Book of All Time (2021) An NPR Best Book of 2017 A BuzzFeed Best YA Book of 2017 A Kirkus Reviews<...
Counting down with you
Bhuiyan, Tashie
Paper Book
"A witty, romantic, deeply insightful debut." --Emma Lord, author of Tweet Cute In this sparkling and romantic YA debut, a reserved Bangladeshi-American teenager has twenty-eight days to make the biggest decision of her life after agreeing to fake date her school's...
The henna wars
Jaigirdar, Adiba
Paper Book
"Impossible to put down." - Kirkus, starred review Nishat doesn't want to lose her family, but she also doesn't want to hide who she is, and it only gets harder once a childhood friend walks back into her life. Flávia is beautiful and charismatic, and Nishat falls for...
This woven kingdom
Mafi, Tahereh
Paper Book
AN INSTANT #1 INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER Instant New York Times bestseller Instant #1 Sunday Times bestseller Instant Indie bestseller Instant USA Today bestseller Clashing empires, forbidden enemies-to-lovers romance, and a long-forgotten queen destined to save...
Brazen rebel ladies who rocked the world
Bagieu, Penelope
Paper Book
2019 Eisner Award Winner for Best U.S. Edition of International Material Throughout history and across the globe, one characteristic connects the daring women of Brazen: their indomitable spirit. With her characteristic wit and dazzling drawings, celebrated...
Snowglobe
Park, Soyoung, (Young adult author)
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * The groundbreaking Korean phenomenon that Entertainment Weekly called "The Hunger Games meets Squid Game"--now in English for the first time! A COSMOPOLITAN BEST YOUNG ADULT BOOK OF THE YEAR * A KIRKUS REVIEWS BEST...
A cruel thirst
Montoya, Angela
Paper Book
"Vampires, ancient evil, and forbidden romance? Montoya brings it all!"--Tracy Wolff, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Crave series A fledgling vampire and a headstrong vampire huntress must work together--against their better judgment--to rid the world of monsters...
Layers : a memoir
Bagieu, Pénélope
Paper Book
Following the Eisner-award winning Brazen, Pénélope Bagieu pens her first autobiographical work in this hilarious and bitter sweet graphic memoir. Pénélope Bagieu never thought she'd publish a graphic memoir. But when she dusted off her old diaries (no, really--this...
Iron widow
Zhao, Xiran Jay
Paper Book
Instant New York Times No.1 Bestseller. A YA Pacific Rim meets the Handmaid's Tale retelling of the rise of Wu Zetian, the only female emperor in Chinese history. I have no faith in love. Love cannot save me. I choose vengeance. The boys of Huaxia dream of...
Becoming Kirrali Lewis
Harrison, Jane
Paper Book
Set within the explosive cultural shifts of the 1960s and 1980s, Becoming Kirrali Lewis chronicles the journeyof a young First Nations Australian teenager as she leaves her home town in rural Victoria to take on a law degree in the city of Melbourne in 1985. Adopted at birth by a white family,...
We hunt the flame
Faizal, Hafsah.
Paper Book
The bestselling TikTok sensation! Set in a richly detailed world inspired by ancient Arabia, Hafsah Faizal's We Hunt the Flame is a breathtaking debut about magic, conquering fear and taking identity into your own hands. Perfect for fans of Leigh Bardugo's...
Mad, bad & dangerous to know
Ahmed, Samira (Fiction writer)
Paper Book
It is August in Paris and budding art historian Khayyam should be having the time of her life - but even in the City of Lights she can't stop worrying about the mess she left back home in Chicago. Only when she meets a cute young Parisian - who happens to be a distant relative of the novelist...
Felix ever after
Callender, Kacen
Paper Book
A Stonewall Honor Book * A Time Magazine Best YA Book of All Time From Stonewall and Lambda Award-winning author Kacen Callender comes a revelatory YA novel about a transgender teen grappling with identity and self-discovery while falling in love for the first time. Felix Love has...
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