YA Black History Month

Celebrate Black History Month by reading young adult books written by contemporary Black YA authors!


Compiled by:
Tyana H., Fern S.
Blood Debts

Terry J. Benton-Walker
(Young Adult Fiction - Y Bentonw)

Clement and Cristina feel lost after their father's death, but find a new sense of purpose as they work to quell the rising tensions between New Orleans's magic and non-magic communities and find out who cursed their mother.


Charming as a Verb

Ben Philippe
(Young Adult Fiction - Y Philipp)

Henri can charm just about anyone. There is only one person who seems immune to Henri's charms: his "intense" classmate and neighbor Corinne. Soon, what started as a mutual hustle turns into something more surprising than either of them ever bargained for.


Cool. Awkward. Black.

Karen Strong
- Editor
(Young Adult Fiction - Y Cool)

This multi-genre story collection—drawing from contemporary, historical, fantasy, science fiction, magical, and realistic—celebrates and redefines the many facets of Blackness and geekiness, both in the real world and those imagined.


The Davenports

Krystal Marquis
(Young Adult Fiction - Y Marquis)

The Davenports are one of the few Black families of immense wealth and status in 1910 Chicago, and the two daughters, Olivia and Helen, are finding their way and finding love—even where they are not supposed to.


Early Departures

Justin A. Reynolds
(Young Adult Fiction - Y Reynold)

What if you could bring your best friend back to life, but only for a short time? Jamal's best friend, Q, doesn't know that he died, and that he's about to die again. He doesn't know that Jamal tried to save him. And that the reason they haven't been friends for two years is because Jamal blames Q for the accident that killed his parents. But, what if Jamal could have a second chance?


Fast Pitch

Nic Stone
(Juvenile Fiction - J Stone)

Shenice dreams of leading the Fulton Firebirds to the U12 softball regional championship. But her focus gets shaken when her great-uncle Jack reveals that a career-ending—and family-name-ruining—crime may have been a setup. It's up to Shenice to discover the truth about her family's past.


The Gilded Ones

Namina Forna
(Young Adult Fiction - Y Forna)

Inspired by the culture of West Africa, a feminist fantasy debut traces the experiences of an intuitive girl who is invited to leave her village to join the emperor's army of near-immortal women warriors.


Infinity Alchemist

Kacen Callender
(Young Adult Fiction - Y Callend)

Only an elite few are legally permitted to study the science of magic—so when Ash is rejected by Lancaster College of Alchemic Science, he takes a job as the school's groundskeeper instead. When he's discovered by the brilliant apprentice Ramsay Thorne, Ash is sure he's about to be arrested—but instead Ramsay surprises Ash by making him an offer: He will keep Ash's secret if he helps her find the legendary Book of Source, a sacred text that gives its reader extraordinary power.


Legendborn

Tracy Deonn
(Young Adult Fiction - Y Deonn)

To discover the truth behind her mother's mysterious death, a teen girl infiltrates a magical secret society claiming to be the descendants of King Arthur and his knights.


Nothing Burns as Bright as You

Ashley Woodfolk
(Young Adult Fiction - Y Woodfol)

Two girls. One wild and reckless day. Years of tumultuous history unspooling like a thin, fraying string in the hours after they set a fire. They were best friends. Until they became more. Their affections grew. Until the blurry lines became dangerous. And the girls will learn that hearts, like flames, aren't so easily tamed.


Only on the Weekends

Dean Atta
(Young Adult Fiction - Y Atta)

Mack is a hopeless romantic—likely a hazard of growing up on film sets thanks to his father's job. But when Mack's father takes on a new directing project in Scotland, Mack has to move away, and he soon discovers how painful long-distance relationships can be. Then, Mack meets actor Finlay on set, and the world turns upside down again. Fin seems fearless, and his confidence could just be infectious.


Pet
Pet

Akwaeke Emezi
(Young Adult Fiction - Y Emezi)

In a near-future society that claims to have gotten rid of all monstrous people, a creature emerges from a painting Jam's mother created.


Reggie and Delilah's Year of Falling

Elise Bryant
(Young Adult Fiction - Y Bryant)

Delilah always keeps her messy, gooey insides hidden behind a wall of shrugs and "whatevers." Reggie is a Dungeons & Dragons Dungeon Master and self-declared "Blerd." These two—who have practically nothing in common—meet for the first time on New Year's Eve. As their holiday meetings continue, the two begin to fall for each other. But, what happens once they realize they've each fallen for a version of the other that doesn't really exist?


Skin of the Sea

Natasha Bowen
(Young Adult Fiction - Y Bowen)

Transformed by the goddess Yemoja into a Mami Wati, an African mermaid charged with collecting the souls of those who die at sea, Simi goes against the gods to save a living boy, Kola, from drowning.


Sleep Like Death

Kalynn Bayron
(Young Adult Fiction - Y Bayron)

Princess Eve was raised with one purpose: to destroy the Knight. Far too many of subjects of Queen's Bridge have been devastated by this evil sorcerer's trickery. But her mother, Queen Regina, has been acting bizarrely, talking to a strange mirror alone every night. Then, a young man claiming to be the Knight's messenger appears and shares a shocking truth about Eve's past.


That Self-Same Metal

Brittany N. Williams
(Young Adult Fiction - Y William)

In 1605 London, Joan Sands' magical ability to control metal makes her a skilled craftswoman, but her family gift for observing the Fae, who recently broke the Pact and are now brutally attacking mortals, draws Joan into political intrigue in both human and Fae worlds.


Their Vicious Games

Joelle Wellington
(Young Adult Fiction - Y Welling)

Adina is a scholarship student at the prestigious Edgewater Academy. It's why she works so hard to be perfect, and even one slip can cost you everything. And it does. One fight leaves Adina blacklisted from her top choice college. Her only chance to regain her future is the Finish, a high-stakes contest in which 12 women are selected to compete. Adina knows the only way to survive their vicious games is for her to change the rules.


Wander in the Dark

Jumata Emill
(Young Adult Fiction - Y Emill)

Amir only goes to his half-brother Marcel’s birthday party because of Chloe Danvers. She asks him to take her home and stay—her parents are away and she doesn’t want to be alone. When Amir wakes up, Chloe is dead. And in no time, Amir becomes the only suspect. To find Chloe’s killer, Amir and Marcel need to dig into her secrets. And what they find is darker than either could have guessed.


The Weight of Blood

Tiffany D. Jackson
(Young Adult Fiction - Y Jackson)

Madison has always been a teasing target for bullies. She has been passing for white her entire life at the behest of her fanatical white father. After a viral bullying video pulls back the curtain on Springville High's racist roots, student leaders come up with a plan to change their image: host the school's first integrated prom as a show of unity. And what they don't know is that Maddy still has another secret one that will cost them all their lives.


Where Sleeping Girls Lie

Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé
(Young Adult Fiction - Y Abikely)

Sade Hussein is starting her third year of high school, this time at the prestigious Alfred Nobel Academy boarding school. After being home-schooled all her life and feeling like a magnet for misfortune, she’s not sure what will happen. What she doesn’t expect though is for her roommate Elizabeth to disappear after Sade’s first night. Or for people to think she had something to do with it.


Graphic Novels
Artie and the Wolf Moon

Olivia Stephens
(Graphic Novels - GN Stephen Artie And The Wolf Moon)

Thrilled to discover she comes from a line of werewolves, Artie asks her mom to share everything—including the story of Artie's late father. Her mom reluctantly agrees. And to help Artie figure out her wolflike abilities, she recruits some old family friends.


Brooms

Jasmine Walls
(Graphic Novels - GN Walls Brooms)

1930s Mississippi. Magic is simmering beneath the surface, kept in check by unjust laws and societal expectations. But for six extraordinary women, the roar of enchanted engines and the thrill of the forbidden broom race offer a chance to rewrite their destinies.


The Crossover

Kwame Alexander
(Graphic Novels - GN Alexand Crossover)

13-year-old twin basketball stars Josh and Jordan wrestle with highs and lows on and off the court as their father ignores his declining health.


Ghost Roast

Shawnelle Gibbs, Shawnee Gibbs
(Graphic Novels - GN Gibbs Ghost Roast)

Things are looking up for Chelsea, until a night on the town backfires spectacularly, landing her in hot water at home. Her punishment? Working for her dad at Paranormal Removal Services. Chelsea's new job reveals an unexpected secret: she can actually see ghosts. And when she meets Oliver, a friendly spirit, at the mansion her dad is exorcizing, she realizes she has to save his afterlife, even if it risks everything her father's worked for.


Iyanu: Child of Wonder, Vol. 1

Roye Okupe
(Graphic Novels - GN Iyanu v. 1)

Iyanu, a teenage orphan with no recollection of her past, suddenly discovers that she has abilities that rival the ancient deities told in the folklore of her people. It is these abilities that are the key to bringing back an "age of wonders," as Iyanu begins her journey to save a world on the brink of destruction!


Malcolm Kid and the Perfect Song

Austin Paramore
(Graphic Novels - GN Paramor Malcolm Kid And The Perfect Song)

What does the perfect song sound like? Normally, Malcolm Kid wouldn't give this type of question the time of day. But that all changes when he stumbles across the LK-2000—a strange keyboard cursed with the soul of an old jazz musician. Malcolm soon learns that the only way to free this musician's soul is by performing the perfect song.


Maybe an Artist

Liz Montague
(Graphic Novels - GN 741.5092 Montague Mon)

A heartfelt and funny graphic novel memoir by one of the first Black female cartoonists to be published in the New Yorker, at the age of 22.


Miles Morales: Shock Waves

Justin A. Reynolds
(Juvenile Graphic Novels - J-GN Spider Man Miles Morales Shock Waves)

Miles Morales, Brooklyn's Spider-Man, learns that the disappearance of a new student's father is linked to the giant corporation sponsoring Miles' fundraiser for the victims of the Puerto Rico earthquake and sets out to discover the truth.


Nubia: Real One

L. L. McKinney
(Graphic Novels - GN Nubia)

Nubia has always stood out because of her Amazonian strength, but even though she uses her ability for good, she is seen as a threat, so when her best friend Quisha is threatened by a boy who thinks he owns the town, Nubia risks everything to become the hero society tells her she is not.


Swim Team

Johnnie Christmas
(Juvenile Graphic Novels - J-GN Christm Swim Team)

Bree can't wait for her first day at her new middle school—until she's stuck with the only elective that fits her schedule, the dreaded Swim 101. The thought of swimming makes Bree more than a little queasy, yet she's forced to dive headfirst into one of her greatest fears.  Can Bree defy the odds and guide her team to a state championship, or have the Manatees swum their last lap—for good?


Wash Day Diaries

Jamila Rowser
(Graphic Novels - GN Rowser Wash Day Diaries)

From self-care to spilling the tea at an hours-long salon appointment to healing family rifts, the stories are brought to life through beautifully drawn characters and different color palettes reflecting the mood in each story.


Weirdo

Tony Weaver Jr.
(Graphic Novels - GN 741.5092 Weaver Wea)

Tony Weaver, Jr. loves comic books, anime, and video games, and idolizes the heroic, larger-than-life characters he finds there. But his new classmates all think he's a weirdo. After a traumatic event shakes him to his core, he embarks on a journey of self-love that will require him to become the hero of his own story.


Nonfiction
Flamboyants: The Queer Harlem Renaissance I Wish I'd Known

George M. Johnson
(Adult Nonfiction - 920 Joh)

The author celebrates writers, performers, and activists from 1920s Black America whose sexualities have been obscured throughout history. Through 14 essays, they reveal how American culture has been shaped by icons who are both Black and queer—and whose stories deserve to be celebrated in their entirety.


Illustrated Black History: Honoring the Iconic and the Unseen

George McCalman
(Nonfiction - 920 Mcc)

Illustrated Black History is a breathtaking collection of original portraits depicting Black heroes—both famous and unsung—who made their mark on activism, science, politics, business, technology, food, arts, and more.


Standing Up Against Hate: How Black Women in the Army Helped Change the Course of WWII

Mary Cronk Farrell
(Teen Nonfiction - 940.5412 Far)

The book centers around Charity Adams, who commanded the only black WAAC battalion sent overseas and became the highest ranking African American woman in the military by the end of the war. Along with Adams's story are those of other black women who played a crucial role in integrating the armed forces.