This edition of Day’s YA highlights YA and YA-OK books by Black authors
Note: This list is not exhaustive, but is meant to be a jumping off point. Please support these (and all) Black authors in any way you can, now and always.
YA:
ALL BOYS AREN’T BLUE by George M Johnson
BLACK GIRL UNLIMITED by Echo Brown
A BLADE SO BLACK by L.L. McKinney
BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY by Candice Montgomery
CHARM & STRANGE by Stephanie Kuehn
CHILDREN OF BLOOD AND BONE and CHILDREN OF VIRTUE AND VENGEANCE by Tomi Adeyemi
CINDERELLA IS DEAD by Kalynn Bayron
GIRLS LIKE US by Randi Pink
GIVEN by Nandi Taylor
THE GOOD LUCK GIRLS by Charlotte Nicole Davis
HOME AND AWAY by Candice Montgomery
HURRICANE SUMMER by Asha Bromfield
IF IT MAKES YOU HAPPY by Claire Kann
THE INVINCIBLE SUMMER OF JUNIPER JONES by Daven McQueen
LIGHT IT UP by Kekla Magoon
LOOKING FOR GRACE by Pamela Varnado
ONE PERSON, NO VOTE (YA Edition): How Not All Voters Are Treated Equally by Carol Anderson
SAVING SAVANNAH by Tonya Bolden
A SONG BELOW WATER by Bethany C Morrow
WHEN THEY CALL YOU A TERRORIST (YA Edition): A Story of Black Lives Matter and the Power to Change the World by Patrisse Khan-Cullors and asha bandele
WITHIN THESE WICKED WALLS by Lauren Blackwood
YA-OK:
BINTI by Nnedi Okorafor
THE BLACK GOD’S DRUMS by P. Djèlí Clark
BLACK KLANSMAN: Race, Hate, and the Undercover Investigation of a Lifetime by Ron Stallworth
BROTHER by David Chariandy
CAREFREE BLACK GIRLS: A Celebration of Black Women in Popular Culture by Zeba Blay
CITIZEN: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine
CROSSING THE LINE by Kareem Rosser
DRESSED IN DREAMS: A Black Girl’s Love Letter to the Power of Fashion by Tanisha C. Ford
ELOQUENT RAGE: A Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower by Brittney Cooper
FAILING UP: How to Take Risks, Aim Higher, and Never Stop Learning by Leslie Odom Jr.
HOT COMB by Ebony Flowers
HOUSEGIRL by Michael Donkor
JAY-Z: Made in America by Michael Eric Dyson
A LONG WAY GONE: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah
A MOST BEAUTIFUL THING: The True Story of America’s First All-Black High School Rowing Team by Arshay Cooper
PROMISE THAT YOU WILL SING ABOUT ME: The Power and Poetry of Kendrick Lamar by Miles Marshall Lewis
QUEEN BEY: A Celebration of the Power and Creativity of Beyoncé Knowles-Carter by Veronica Chambers
REAL AMERICAN: A Memoir by Julie Lythcott-Haims
REMOTE CONTROL by Nnedi Okorafor
RIOT BABY by Tochi Onyebuchi
SALVAGE THE BONES by Jesmyn Ward
SHE WOULD BE KING by Wayetu Moore
SOMEBODY’S DAUGHTER by Ashley C. Ford
THE SUN DOES SHINE: How I Found Life, Freedom, and Justice by Anthony Ray Hinton
TEARS WE CANNOT STOP: A Sermon to White America by Michael Eric Dyson
UPSTATE by Khalisha Buckhanon
View Macmillan’s Anti-Racist Reading List here.