African American Fiction for Young Adults & Teens

Updated May 22, 2025
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Georgia Public Library Clayton County Library System
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African American Fiction for Young Adults & Teens

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There goes the neighborhood
Adia, Jade
Paper Book
Winner of the 2024 Coretta Scott King John Steptoe New Talent Award A raised fist against the destructive forces of gentrification and a love letter to communities of color everywhere, Jade Adia's unforgettable debut tells the darkly hilarious story of three best friends willing to...
My Fairy God Somebody
Allen, Charlene
Paper Book
"A richly drawn story that explores the precarious construction of identity and the pain of complex family dynamics." --Kirkus Reviews (starred review) Author Charlene Allen blends mystery, romance, and friendship in this contemporary YA novel about a teen girl who spends...
Something kindred
Burch, Ciera
Paper Book
Magical realism meets Southern Gothic in this commanding young adult debut from Ciera Burch about true love, the meaning of home, and the choices that haunt us. Welcome to Coldwater. Come for the ghosts, stay for the drama. Jericka Walker had planned to...
Oathbound
Deonn, Tracy
Paper Book
Tracy Deonn's #1 New York Times bestselling Legendborn Cycle continues in the sensational third book about a dazzling contemporary fantasy world that blends Southern Black Girl Magic with secret societies and the legend of King Arthur! Severed from the Legendborn....
Needy little things
Desamours, Channelle
Paper Book
In this debut speculative YA mystery, a Black teen with premonition-like powers must solve her friend's disappearance before she finds herself in the same danger, perfect for fans of Ace of Spades. Sariyah Lee Bryant can hear what people need--tangible things, like a...
Bright red fruit
Elhillo, Safia
Paper Book
An unflinching, honest novel in verse about a teenager's journey into the slam poetry scene and the dangerous new relationship that could threaten all her dreams. From the award-winning poet and author of HOME IS NOT A COUNTRY. A MICHAEL L. PRINTZ HONOR BOOK * A CALIBA...
Not about a boy
Hollis, Myah
Paper Book
"This debut is a gritty teen drama full of mature themes that unfurl in compassionate ways and will resonate with many readers...Heartbreaking and powerful." --Kirkus Reviews (starred review) "Lucid and luminous." --ALA Booklist "Hollis's powerful and compassionate...
Salt the water
Iloh, Candice
Paper Book
A Michael L. Printz Award Honor Book Cerulean Gene is free everywhere except school, where they're known for repeatedly challenging authority. Raised in a free-spirited home by two loving parents who encourage Cerulean to be their full self, they've got big dreams of moving cross...
Blackout
Jackson, Tiffany D.
Paper Book
Six critically acclaimed, bestselling, and award-winning authors bring the glowing warmth and electricity of Black teens in love to this charming, hilarious, and heartwarming novel that shines a bright light through the dark. A summer heatwave blankets New York City in darkness. But as the...
If we were a movie
Jamal, Zakiya N.
Paper Book
Booksmart meets Phantom of the Megaplex in Zakiya N. Jamal's debut enthralling enemies-to-lovers queer romance, set against the backdrop of a historic Black-owned movie theater, the quirky employees who work there, and the suburbs of Long Island. Perfect for ...
On again, awkward again: a novel
Kelly, Erin Entrada
Paper Book
The laugh-out-loud YA romance by two award-winning and bestselling authors, Erin Entrada Kelly and Kwame Mbalia, that's perfect for fans of To All the Boys I've Loved Before or When Dimple Met Rishi When Pacy Mercado and Cecil Holloway spot each other...
Pritty
Miller, Keith F., Jr.
Paper Book
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 follows two boys...
Togetha
Miller, Keith F., Jr.
Paper Book
Perfect for fans of Angie Thomas and Jason Reynolds, this highly anticipated sequel to Lambda Literary Award finalist Pritty finds Jay and Leroy togetha again as they fight to save not only their home but themselves from the powerful Bainbridge family's treacherous endgame to retake Savannah for...
The melancholy of summer
Onome, Louisa
Paper Book
After her parents go on the run, a teenage girl placed in the care of a cousin she barely knows learns to trust and open up in The Melancholy of Summer, a lyrical YA contemporary coming-of-age story by Louisa Onomé Doesn't she see? I can do this on my own. ...
Tender beasts
Sambury, Liselle
Paper Book
After her private school is rocked by a gruesome murder, a teen tries to find the real killer and clear her brother's name in this "creepily potent story of a family legacy that gives terrifying shape to monsters real and imagined" (Kirkus Reviews) perfect for fans of The Taking of Jake...
Honeysuckle and Bone
Tobias, Trisha
Paper Book
"Eerie, propulsive, and sumptuous, Honeysuckle and Bone is a trip to Jamaica you won't soon forget." --Ayesha Curry A Goodreads Editors' Pick · A Kirkus Best of January for Young Readers · An Indie Next Pick On the run from her own dark secrets,...
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
Remember us
Woodson, Jacqueline
Paper Book
National Book Award winner Jacqueline Woodson brings readers a powerful story that delves deeply into life's burning questions about time and memory and what we take with us into the future. It seems like Sage's whole world is on fire the summer before she starts seventh grade....
(S)Kin
Zoboi, Ibi
Paper Book
A FINALIST FOR THE 2025 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD SIX STARRED REVIEWS A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection From award-winning, New York Times bestselling author Ibi Zoboi comes her groundbreaking contemporary fantasy debut--a novel in verse based on Caribbean...
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...
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