Women's History Month: Young Adult Picks

Updated February 26, 2025
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#NotYourPrincess voices of Native American women
Leatherdale, Mary Beth
Paper Book
Whether looking back to a troubled past or welcoming a hopeful future, the powerful voices of Indigenous women across North America resound in this book. In the same style as the best-selling Dreaming in Indian, #NotYourPrincess presents an eclectic collection of poems, essays, interviews, and art...
Alebrijes
Higuera, Donna Barba
Paper Book
PURA BELPRÉ HONOR WINNER BEST OF THE YEAR New York Times · Kirkus · Booklist · Chicago Public Library The follow-up to Newbery and Pura Belpré Award-winning The Last Cuentista ...
All-American Muslim girl
Courtney, Nadine Jolie
Paper Book
A Kirkus Best Book of 2019 A 2021 YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults Book Nadine Jolie Courtney's All-American Muslim Girl is a relevant, relatable story of being caught between two worlds, and the struggles and hard-won joys of finding your...
Because I was a girl true stories for girls of all ages
De la Cruz, Melissa, 1971-
Paper Book
Because I Was a Girl is an inspiring collection of true stories by women and girls about the obstacles, challenges, and opportunities they've faced...because of their gender. Edited by #1 New York Times-bestselling author Melissa de la Cruz, the book is the perfect gift for girls of...
Black girl you are Atlas
Watson, Ren?
Paper Book
A Coretta Scott King Honor Book Winner of the Walter Dean Myers Award A thoughtful celebration of Black girlhood by award-winning author and poet Renee Watson. In this semi-autobiographical collection of poems, Renee Watson writes about her experience...
Blood water paint
McCullough, Joy
Paper Book
"Haunting ... teems with raw emotion, and McCullough deftly captures the experience of learning to behave in a male-driven society and then breaking outside of it."--The New Yorker  "I will be haunted and empowered by Artemisia Gentileschi's story for the rest of...
Braiding sweetgrass for young adults : indigenous wisdom, scientific knowledge, and the teachings of plants
Kimmerer, Robin Wall
Paper Book
Drawing from her experiences as an Indigenous scientist, botanist Robin Wall Kimmerer demonstrated how all living things--from strawberries and witch hazel to water lilies and lichen--provide us with gifts and lessons every day in her best-selling book Braiding Sweetgrass. Adapted for young...
Brazen rebel ladies who rocked the world
Bagieu, Pénélope
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...
Code name Verity
Wein, Elizabeth
Paper Book
The beloved #1 New York Times bestseller, a "fiendishly plotted" (New York Times) "heart-in-your mouth adventure" (Washington Post) that "will take wing and soar into your heart" (Laurie Halse Anderson). October 11th, 1943--A...
Dear younger me : what 35 trailblazing women wish they'd known as girls
Boxer, Elisa
Paper Book
An inspiring book for young adult readers that Kirkus Reviews says offers "many inspiring, resilient role models along with encouraging advice to take away." A fascinating group of women from all walks of life share their inspirations, advice, and what they...
Does my body offend you?
Cuevas, Mayra
Paper Book
A timely story of two teenagers who discover the power of friendship, feminism, and standing up for what you believe in, no matter where you come from. A collaboration between two gifted authors writing from alternating perspectives, this compelling novel shines with authenticity, courage, and...
Everything I learned about racism I learned in school
Jewell, Tiffany
Paper Book
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of This Book Is Anti-Racist and The Antiracist Kid, Tiffany Jewell, this YA nonfiction book, highlighting inequities Black and Brown students face from preschool through college, is the most important, empowering read this year. ...
Far from the tree
Benway, Robin
Paper Book
National Book Award Winner, PEN America Award Winner, and New York Times Bestseller! Perfect for fans of This Is Us, Robin Benway's beautiful interweaving story of three very different teenagers connected by blood explores the meaning of family in all its forms--how to find it, how to keep...
Firekeeper's daughter
Boulley, Angeline
Paper Book
An Instant #1 New York Times Bestseller! A Reese Witherspoon x Hello Sunshine Book Club Pick! A Printz Medal AND Morris Award Winner! Soon to be adapted at Netflix for TV with President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama's production company, Higher Ground.
Flygirl
Smith, Sherri L.
Paper Book
Ida Mae Jones dreams of flight. Her daddy was a pilot and being black didn't stop him from fulfilling his dreams. But her daddy's gone now, and being a woman, and being black, are two strikes against her. When America enters the war with Germany and Japan, the Army creates the WASP, the...
Furia
M©?ndez, Yamile Saied
Paper Book
A REESE WITHERSPOON x HELLO SUNSHINE BOOK CLUB YA PICK Recipient of the 2021 Pura Belpré Young Adult Author Medal One of BuzzFeed's Must-Read YA Books of 2020 A Best Book of the Year: Cosmopolitan * Kirkus...
Gamer girls : 25 women who built the video game industry
Kenney, Mary
Paper Book
Discover the women behind the video games we love--the iconic games they created, the genres they invented, the studios and companies they built--and how they changed the industry forever.    Women have always made video games, from the...
A greater goal : the epic battle for equal pay in women's soccer-and beyond
Rusch, Elizabeth
Paper Book
More than 250 women have played on the U.S. Women's National Soccer Team, and most contributed to the battle for equal pay. This narrative nonfiction book by the award-winning author and journalist Elizabeth Rusch traces the evolution of that fight, bringing this important rights...
Inheritance : a visual poem
Acevedo, Elizabeth
Paper Book
They tell me to "fix" my hair. And by fix, they mean straighten, they mean whiten; but how do you fix this shipwrecked history of hair? In her most famous spoken-word poem, author of the Pura Belpré-winning novel-in-verse The Poet X Elizabeth Acevedo embraces all the...
Last night at the Telegraph Club
Lo, Malinda
Paper Book
Winner of the National Book Award A New York Times Bestseller A Kirkus Reviews Best Young Adult Book of the Century "The queer romance we've been waiting for."--Ms. Magazine Seventeen-year-old Lily Hu can't remember exactly when the...
Lumberjanes. Gotham Academy
Clugston-Flores, Chynna
Paper Book
When a teacher at Gotham Academy goes missing, it's up to Olive, Maps, Colton, Pom, and Kyle to figure out what is happening and how to get her back. With only an outdated birthday invitation as the clue, they find themselves in the middle of the woods with no idea of where to start. With the sudden...
Moxie
Mathieu, Jennifer
Paper Book
Now a Netflix Original Film directed by Amy Poehler! "Moxie is sweet, funny, and fierce. Read this and then join the fight."--Amy Poehler An unlikely teenager starts a feminist revolution at a small-town Texas high school in this novel from...
Ms. Marvel / Mecca
Wilson, G. Willow
Paper Book
An enemy from Ms. Marvel's past resurfaces and begins targeting those closest to Kamala. As the world around her is spinning out of control, it becomes clear that this time there's something more sinister at work...Kamala's no stranger to fighting for what's right, but in facing down this challenge,...
Ms. Marvel: The New Mutant Vol. 2
Vellani, Iman
Paper Book
Ms. Marvel continues her adventures as an X-Man, fighting to protect a neighborhood that hates and fears her - written by none other than her MCU actress Iman Vellani! Ms. Marvel has officially come out to the world as a mutant and a member of the X-Men... and she's about to learn just how hard...
The night diary
Hiranandani, Veera
Paper Book
A 2019 NEWBERY HONOR BOOK A Kirkus Reviews Best Middle Grade Book of the Century "A gripping, nuanced story of the human cost of conflict appropriate for both children and adults." -Kirkus, starred review In the vein of Inside Out and...
The Nowhere Girls
Reed, Amy Lynn
Paper Book
"A call-to-action to everyone out there who wants to fight back." --Bustle "Subversive anti-sexism--just try to put it down." --Kirkus Reviews (starred review) "Cuts straight to the core of rape culture--masterfully fierce, stirring, and deeply empowering."...
Off the record
Garrett, Camryn
Paper Book
The behind-the-scenes access of Almost Famous meets the searing revelations of metoo in this story of a teen journalist who uncovers the scandal of the decade. Ever since seventeen-year-old Josie Wright can remember, writing has been her identity, the thing that grounds...
On the bright side
Sortino, Anna
Paper Book
A hopeful novel about love, disability, and the inevitability of change by the author of Give Me a Sign. "Poignant, romantic, and deeply heartfelt." -Amber Smith, New York Times bestselling author of The Way I Used to Be Ellie's Deaf boarding...
Radioactive! : how Irene Curie and Lise Meitner revolutionized science and changed the world
Conkling, Winifred
Paper Book
The fascinating, little-known story of how two brilliant female physicists' groundbreaking discoveries led to the creation of the atomic bomb. In 1934, Irène Curie, working with her husband and fellow scientist, Frederic Joliot, made a discovery that would...
The rebellious life of Mrs. Rosa Parks
Theoharis, Jeanne
Paper Book
"Jeanne's book not only inspired the documentary but has been a catalyst in changing our national understanding of Rosa Parks. Highly recommend!"-Soledad O'Brien, executive producer of the Peabody Award-winning documentary The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks "A must...
Roses and radicals : the epic story of how American women won the right to vote
Zimet, Susan
Paper Book
The United States of America is almost 250 years old, but American women won the right to vote less than a hundred years ago. And when the controversial nineteenth amendment to the U.S. Constitution-the one granting suffrage to women-was finally ratified in 1920, it passed by a...
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...
Six angry girls
Kisner, Adrienne
Paper Book
Adrienne Kisner's Six Angry Girls is a story of mock trial, feminism, and the inherent power found in a pair of knitting needles. Raina Petree is crushing her senior year, until her boyfriend dumps her, the drama club (basically) dumps her, the college of her dreams...
The suffragist playbook : your guide to changing the world
Robb, Lucinda
Paper Book
Do you have a cause you're passionate about? Take a few tips from the suffragists, who led one of the largest and longest movements in American history. The women's suffrage movement was decades in the making and came with many harsh setbacks. But it resulted in a permanent...
A Suffragist's Guide to the Antarctic
Lai, Yi Shun
Paper Book
Two starred reviews! A teen's fight for suffrage turns into one of survival when her crew's Antarctic expedition ship gets stuck in the ice in this historical "gripping--and sometimes gut-wrenching--adventure tale" (Shelf Awareness, starred review) told in journal...
Tomboy a graphic memoir
Prince, Liz
Paper Book
A memoir about friendship, gender, bullies, growth, punk rock, and the power of the perfect outfit . . . Growing up, Liz Prince wasn't a girly girl, but she wasn't exactly one of the guys either (as she learned when her little league baseball coach exiled her to the distant outfield). She...
A tyranny of petticoats : 15 stories of belles, bank robbers & other badass girls
Spotswood, Jessica
Paper Book
From an impressive sisterhood of YA writers comes an edge-of-your-seat anthology of historical fiction and fantasy featuring a diverse array of daring heroines. Crisscross America -- on dogsleds and ships, stagecoaches and trains -- from pirate ships off the coast of the...
Under a painted sky
Lee, Stacey
Paper Book
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Downstairs Girl, Stacey Lee's debut novel is a powerful story about love, friendship, and sacrifice, perfect for fans of Code Name Verity. "This moving novel will captivate you."--Buzzfeed.com  ...
The Underground abductor : an abolitionist tale
Hale, Nathan
Paper Book
In The Underground Abductor, #1 New York Times bestselling author and illustrator Nathan Hale tells an abolitionist tale about Harriet Tubman in the Hazardous Tales graphic novel series! "These books are, quite simply, brilliant. . . . Thrilling, bloody,...
Warrior Girl Unearthed
Boulley, Angeline
Paper Book
An Instant New York Times bestseller! A #1 Indies Bestseller! Six Starred Reviews! #1 New York Times bestselling author of Firekeeper's Daughter Angeline Boulley takes us back to Sugar Island in this high-stakes thriller about the power of discovering your stolen...
We should all be feminists
Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi, 1977-
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * The highly acclaimed, provocative essay on feminism and sexual politics--from the award-winning author of Americanah "A call to action, for all people in the world, to undo the gender hierarchy." --Medium<...
Where you see yourself
Forrest, Claire (Young adult author)
Paper Book
A Schneider Family Book Award Honor Book What does it take to follow your dreams? Where You See Yourself is a relatable, romantic, and necessary story about a girl who has to figure out what--and who--will bring her the happiness she deserves. By the time Effie...
Woman rebel : the Margaret Sanger story
Bagge, Peter
Paper Book
The alternative-comics master offers an indelible and idiosyncratic take on the protofeminist "[Woman Rebel] is fine work from an excellent cartoonist and I urge you to jump right in."-Tom Spurgeon of The Comics Reporter, from his introduction Peter...

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