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 June 19, 2024
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Wellington City LibrariesYouth team at Wellington City Libraries
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The stranger
Camus, Albert
Paper Book
In his classic existentialist novel Camus explores the predicament of the individual who is prepared to face the benign indifference of the universe courageously and alone. Meursault leads an apparently unremarkable bachelor life in Algiers until he commits an act of violence. His response to the...

Algeria | Algerian-French author

General theory of oblivion
Agualusa, Jose? Eduardo
Paper Book
WINNER OF THE INTERNATIONAL DUBLIN LITERARY AWARD 2017 A finalist for the Man Booker International Prize 2016 The brilliant new novel from the winner of the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize. On the eve of Angolan independence, Ludo...

Angola | Angolan author

My friends : a novel
Matar, Hisham
Paper Book
LONGLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE 2024 FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD 2024 WINNER OF THE ORWELL PRIZE FOR POLITICAL FICTION FROM THE PULITZER-PRIZE WINNING AUTHOR OF THE RETURN 'A brilliant novel about innocence and experience, about...

Libya | Libyan-British author

Petit pays : roman
Faye, Gae?l
Paper Book
'A luminous debut novel. This is a book that demanded to be written... With a light touch, Faye dramatises the terrible nostalgia of having lost not only a childhood but also a whole world to war' Guardian Burundi, 1992. For ten-year-old Gabriel, life in his...
Burundi | Burundian author
The impatient : a novel
Amadou Amal, Djai?li
Paper Book
A powerful, heartrending, and insightful novel of a trio of women in Cameroon who dare to rebel against oppressive, long-held cultural traditions--including polygamy and domestic abuse--that define and limit their lives. Three women, three stories, three linked destinies . . . In...
Cameroon | Cameroonian author
Behold the dreamers : a novel
Mbue, Imbolo
Paper Book
WINNER OF THE 2017 PEN/FAULKNER AWARD A NEW YORK TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR AN OBSERVER BOOK OF THE YEAR 'A formidable storyteller' Jonathan Franzen 'Savage and compassionate in all the right places' New York Times Book...

Cameroon | Cameroonian-American author

Alpha : Abidjan to Gare du Nord
Bessora
Paper Book
A timely and important graphic novel account of one man's desperate journey from North Africa to Europe. Alpha brings together prize-winning artist Barroux and novelist Bessora, and comes to the UK market with a foreword by Michael Morpurgo and endorsed by Amnesty International. Alpha...

Cote d'Ivoire | Gabonese-Belgian author writing about an Ivorian man migrating to find his family in France

The republic of false truths
Aswa?ni?, ?Ala??
Paper Book
'Al Aswany is a voice worth hearing from a country of which we know far too little.' - Sunday Times
Egypt | Egyptian author
What strange paradise
El Akkad, Omar
Paper Book
'Deserves to be an instant classic. I haven't loved a book this much in a long time . . . What Strange Paradise . . . reads as a parable for our times . . . Such beautiful writing . . . This is an extraordinary book.' - New York Times From the widely acclaimed author of American War, Omar El Akkad,...

Egypt | Egyptian-Canadian author

The crossing
Mann, Manjeet
Paper Book
Powerful, compassionate and ultimately hopeful. Observer WINNER OF THE COSTA CHILDREN'S BOOK AWARD 2021 - a trailblazing novel about two teenagers from opposite worlds; The Crossing is a profound story of hope, grief, and the very real tragedies of the refugee...

Eritrea | British author writing about an Eritrean teen fleeing the country after the murder of his father. The story is partially based on the author's experience working with young Eritrean refugees - read more on the Penguin UK website.

The shadow king
Mengiste, Maaza
Paper Book
Shortlisted for the Booker Prize 2020, this is an utterly captivating novel about female strength. Set during Mussolini's 1935 invasion of Ethiopia, The Shadow King casts a light on the women soldiers written out of African history.
Ethiopia | Ethiopian-American author
All our names
Mengestu, Dinaw
Paper Book
In Uganda, two young men get caught up in a revolt against the post-colonial regime in the early 1970s. As the line between idealism and violence becomes increasingly blurred, the friends are driven apart - one of them into the deepest peril. In a quiet town in the American Midwest, an...

Ethiopia | Ethiopian-American author

Nightbloom : a novel
Medie, Peace Adzo
Paper Book
  'Remarkable' Chika Unigwe, author of On Black Sisters' Street  AKORFA AND SELASI WERE ONCE INSEPARABLE. NOW, THEY MUST REPAIR THEIR BROKEN RELATIONSHIP OR LOSE EACH OTHER FOREVER. Growing up in the same small Ghanaian town, Selasi and Akorfa were more than just...

Ghana | Ghanaian author

Guanta?namo diary
Slahi, Mohamedou Ould
Paper Book

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

An orchestra of minorities : a novel
Obioma, Chigozie
Paper Book
SHORTLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE 2019 From the author of the Booker-shortlisted novel, The Fishermen 'Obioma is truly the heir to Chinua Achebe' New York Times A young farmer...

Nigeria | Nigerian author (Igbo)

Things fall apart
Achebe, Chinua.
Paper Book
One of the BBC's '100 Novels That Shaped Our World' A worldwide bestseller and the first part of Achebe's African Trilogy, Things Fall Apart is the compelling story of one man's battle to protect his community against the forces of change Okonkwo is...

Nigeria | Nigerian author (Igbo)

Black Moses
Mabanckou, Alain
Paper Book
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

A long way gone : memoirs of a boy soldier
Beah, Ishmael
Paper Book
The first-person account of a 26-year-old who fought in the war in Sierra Leone as a 12-year-old boy. 'My new friends have begun to suspect that I haven't told them the full story of my life. "Why did you leave Sierra Leone?" "Because there is a war."

Sierra Leone | Sierra Leonean author

Black mamba boy
Mohamed, Nadifa
Paper Book
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

African tales : a Barefoot collection
Mhlophe, Gcina.
Paper Book
Retold by internationally acclaimed Xhosa storyteller Gcina Mhlophe, this collection of eight folktales from the African continent also features introductions to each country's customs and traditions. AGES: 8-10 SELLING POINTS: * Cultural diversity: Includes stories from Ethiopia, Ghana, Lesotho,...

South Africa | South African author (Xhosa, Zulu)

Born a crime : stories from a South African childhood
Noah, Trevor
Paper Book
WINNER OF THE THURBER PRIZE The compelling, inspiring, (often comic) coming-of-age story of Trevor Noah, set during the twilight of apartheid and the tumultuous days of freedom that followed. One of the comedy world's brightest new voices, Trevor Noah is a...

South Africa | South African author (Coloured, Xhosa)

Listen, Layla
Abdel-Magied, Yassmin
Paper Book
The hilarious follow-up title to You Must Be Layla by Yassmin Abdel-Magied. I am Layla Kareem Abdel-Hafiz Hussein, the greatest Sudanese Australian inventor the world has ever seen. And if they don't know my name yet, they soon will. Inshallah! ...

Sudan | Sudanese-Australian author

Gravel heart
Gurnah, Abdulrazak
Paper Book
By the winner of the 2021 Nobel Prize in Literature 'The elegance and control of Gurnah's writing, and his understanding of how quietly and slowly and repeatedly a heart can break, make this a deeply rewarding novel' Kamila Shamsie, Guardian _____...

Tanzania | Tanzanian author

Kintu
Makumbi, Jennifer Nansubuga
Paper Book
  'Ugandan literature can boast of an international superstar in Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi' Economist  An award-winning debut that vividly reimagines Uganda's troubled history through the cursed bloodline of the Kintu clan In this epic tale of fate, fortune...

Uganda | Ugandan author

The Old Drift : a novel
Serpell, Namwali
Paper Book
**Winner of the Arthur C. Clarke Award 2020** 'The great African novel of the twenty-first century' Tade Thompson, author of Rosewater On the banks of the Zambezi River, a few miles from the majestic Victoria Falls, there was once a colonial...

Zambia | Zambian-American author


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