 |  |  |
|
| African-American
Books for Young Adults: a booklist |
| | | |
|
| African-American
Books for Young Adults: a booklist |
|
You'll find these books in the young adult (YA) section of the library.
Zack by William Bell. The son of a Jewish father and black mother, high school senior Zack has never been allowed to meet his mother's family, but after doing a research project on a former slave, he travels from his home in Canada to Natchez, Mississippi to find his grandfather. YA FIC BELL, W The Moves Make the Man by Bruce Brooks. An African American boy and an emotionally troubled white boy in North Carolina form a precarious friendship. JRHI BROOKS, B Kindred by Octavia Butler. A modern African American woman is pulled back in time against her will to the slave holding south of the 19th Century. YA SF BUTLER, O Born in Sin by Evelyn Coleman. Despite serious obstacles and setbacks, fourteen-year-old Keisha pursues her dream of becoming an Olympic swimmer and medical doctor. YA FIC COLEMAN, E Jason & Kyra by Dana Davidson. The brainy Kyra is thrown together with basketball star Jason for a class project. They find out that each other is not the person they assumed previously, and then their relationship takes a serious turn. YA FIC DAVIDSON, D Double Dutch by Sharon Draper. Three friends, preparing for the International Double Dutch Championship jump rope competition in their home town of Cincinnati, Ohio, cope with Randy's missing father, Delia's inability to read, and Yo Yo's encounter with the class bullies. YA FIC DRAPER, S Gabriel’s Story by David Anthony. Durham Gabriel and James run away from their homes to join a group of most white cowboys herding cattle to Texas. Too late, they realize their new cowboy comrades are their own worst enemies, and before they know it, events spin out of control in a deadly way. YA FIC DURHAM, D Dancer by Lori Hewett. Sixteen-year-old Stephanie struggles to perfect her ballet dancing as her classes are complicated by the introduction of a new male dancer. JRHI HEWETT, L Brown Glass Windows by Devorah Major. The Everman family struggles with drug abuse and poverty as their San Francisco neighborhood changes around them. YA FIC MAJOR, D Twists and Turns by Janet McDonald. With the help of a couple of successful friends, eighteen- and nineteen-year-old Teesha and Keeba try to capitalize on their talents by opening a hair salon in the run-down Brooklyn housing project where they live. YA FIC MCDONALD, J Jubilee Journey by Carolyn Meyer. Emily Rose has always felt comfortable growing up in Connecticut with her African American mother and her "French American" father, but when they spend some time with her great-grandmother in Texas, Emily Rose learns about her black heritage and uncovers some new and exciting parts of her own identity. JRHI FIC MEYER, C Slam by Walter Dean Myers. 17-year-old Slam Harris is counting on his noteworthy basketball talents to get him out of the inner city and give him a chance to succeed in life, but his coach sees things differently. YA FIC MYERS, W Drinking Coffee Elsewhere by Z.Z. Packer. When Z.Z. Packer was only 19 years old, Seventeen published her first story. In her first collection of short stories, she tells about the lives of predominately black youth who face challenges to their preconcieved ideas. YA FIC PACKER, Z Trouble Don’t Last by Shelley Pearsall. Samuel, an eleven-year-old Kentucky slave, and Harrison, the elderly slave who helped raise him, attempt to escape to Canada via the Underground Railroad. JRHI PEARSALL, S More Like Wrestling by Danyel Smith. Two sisters from Oakland grow from girls into women, facing the hardships of life, death and love along the way. YA FIC SMITH, D The Fall of Rome by Martha Southgate. Latin instructor Jerome Washington, the only African-American teacher at an all-boys boarding school in Connecticut, finds his ideals about race challenged by a promising young African-American student who responds to Jerome in an unexpected way. YA FIC SOUTHGATE, M The Land by Mildred Taylor. After the Civil War Paul, the son of a white father and a black mother, finds himself caught between the two worlds of colored folks and white folks as he pursues his dream of owning land of his own. YA FIC TAYLOR, M Emako Blue by Brenda Williams. Monterey, Savannah, Jamal, and Eddie have never had much to do with each other until Emako Blue shows up at chorus practice, but just as the lives of the five Los Angeles high school students become intertwined, tragedy tears them apart. JRHI WILLIAMS, B Shayla’s Double Brown Baby Blues by Lori Aurelia Williams. Thirteen-year-old Shayla is upset when her estranged father's new baby is born on her birthday, but she learns that her problems are nothing compared to those faced by her friends Kambia and Lemm. YA FIC WILLIAMS, L Like Sisters On the Homefront by Rita Williams-Garcia. Troubled Gayle is sent down South to live with her uncle and aunt, where her life begins to change as she experiences the healing power of family. YA FIC WILIAMS-GARCIA, R
An American Insurrection: James Meredith and the Battle of Oxford, Mississippi, 1962 by William Doyle. James Meredith battled Governor Ross Barnett in his efforts to become the first African American student at the University of Mississippi, triggering government combat troops and an armed rebellion. YA 378.76283 DOY Memories of Sun: Stories of Africa and America by Jane Kurtz. A collection of short stories and poems by authors from both continents about life in various African countries and some of the experiences and impressions of Americans in Africa and of Africans in America. YA 808.80326 MEM Harlem Stomp: A Cultural History of the Harlem Renaissance by Laban Carrick Hill. The Harlem Renaissance was one of the most exciting and important periods in American cultural history. It was a time of intellectual, artistic, literary and political blossoming. Readers will get caught up in this exciting portrayal of an exciting time in American History. YA 810.9 HIL Hacker Cracker: A Journey from the Mean Streets of Brooklyn to the Frontiers of Cyberspace by Ejovi Nuwere. The startling, personal story of a young ghetto kid from Brooklyn who became one of the world's foremost computer hackers and then, a security specialist for one of the world's top financial firms. YA 92 NUWERE, E Growing Up X by Ilyasah Shabazz. The daughter of Malcolm X relates life as the child of famous parents, including the hard times following the assassination of her father, and how she carries on his legacy. YA 92 SHABAZZ, I Black, White & Jewish by Rebecca Walker. Walker, born to a black mother and Jewish father, describes her struggle with drugs, her complicated friendships, and her ultimate search to find her own identity. YA 92 WALKER, R Jefferson’s Children: The Story of One American Family by Shannon Lanier. Shannon Lanier tracks down and talks to members of his extended family, both white and black, who are all descendents of Thomas Jefferson and his slave, Sally Hemings. YA 973.46 LAN Project Girl by Janet McDonald. A black woman traces her journey from a childhood in a Brooklyn public housing project to law school to life in Paris, a record of achievement that did not insulate her from the effects of her upbringing. YA 92 MCDONALD, J Everybody Say Freedom: Everything You Need to Know About African American History by Richard Newman. This historical reference provides an eye-opening overview of African-American history--- from the Middle Passage to the present day--and the contributions of African Americans to the United States. YA 973.0496 NEW Passages to Freedom by David W. Blight. Presents a comprehensive study of the Underground Railroad and explores the hiding places and way stations, the various escape routes, and those who assisted in helping the slaves including Native American Indians and Quakers. YA 973.7115 PAS
Anita Bunkley
|
