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African-American Teen Fiction

Buckhanon, Kalisha. Upstate. Natasha, 16, and Antonio, 17, are deeply in love and have plans for a bright future together but their relationship is put to the test when Antonio is sent to prison for killing his father. YA BUCKHANON

Curtis, Christopher Paul. Bucking the Sarge. According to Luther T. Farrell, his boss, the Sarge, is a vicious, money-hungry merciless, slumlord known around Flint, Michigan, as a ruthless loan shark. She's also his mother. J CURTIS

Flake, Sharon. BANG! After the shooting death of his little brother, 13-year-old Mann tries to escape his feelings. Mann's father draws from African tradition and leaves Mann and his friend Kee Lee in the woods, to find their own way home YA FLAKE

Flake, Janet. Who am I without him? Short stories about teenage love and angst. Taking readers through the minds of girls trying to define themselves while struggling to remain relevant to the boys in their lives. YA FLAKE

Grimes, Nikki. Dark sons. In alternating sections of poems, teenagers Ishmael and Sam, one from Biblical times and the other from the 21st century, describe their parallel, rocky relationships with their friends. J GRIMES

Hewett, Lori. Dancer. Sixteen-year-old Stephanie struggles to perfect her ballet dancing as her classes are complicated by the introduction of a new male dancer. YA HEWETT

Holtwijk, Ineke. Asphalt angels. Abandoned on the streets of Rio de Janeiro, thirteen-year-old Alex joins a group of children like him and finds himself adapting to his new life. YA HOLTWIJK

Johnson, Angela. The first part last. Bobby knew it'd be tough finishing high school and helping his girlfriend raise their baby — but he never dreamed he'd be raising Feather on his own — or how hard it would be. YA JOHNSON

Jones, Traci L. Standing against the wind. As she tries to escape her poor Chicago neighborhood by winning a scholarship, shy and studious eighth-grader Patrice discovers that she has more options in life than she realized. J JONES

McDonald, Janet. Harlem hustle. Eric "Hustle" Samson, a smart and street-wise 17-year-old dropout from Harlem, thinks his dream of becoming a rap star is about to come true. YA MCDONALD

Mosely, Walter. 47. In this combination of historical and speculative fiction, a teenage slave known only as 47 meets High John, a mysterious man "from beyond Africa," who teaches him about the nature of freedom. MOSLEY [On Mezzanine]

Myers, Walter Dean. 145th St. Ten stories portray life on a block in Harlem. YA MYERS

Myers, Walter Dean. Harlem summer. In 1920s Harlem, sixteen-year-old Mark Purvis, an jazz saxophonist, gets a summer job for the publishers of the groundbreaking African American magazine, "The Crisis," but soon finds himself on the enemy list of mobster Dutch Shultz. YA MYERS

Myers, Walter Dean. Monster. While on trial as an accomplice to a murder, Steve Harmon records his experiences in prison and in court as a script and journal entries. YA MYERS

Paulsen, Gary. NightJohn. 12-year-old Sarny is punished when she is caught writing words, a skill taught to her by another slave, NightJohn. YA PAULSEN

Porter, Connie Rose. Imani all mine. Tasha, a resourceful and hopeful teenager mother of a baby girl named Imani, struggles to recover from being raped and keeping afloat in the projects. PORTER [On Mezzanine]

Smith, Hope Anita. Keeping the night watch. The father of a 13-year-old African American returns home and the family must deal with their feelings of anger, hope, abandonment, and fear. J SMITH

Williams, Lori Aurelia. Broken China. Misplaced guilt compels China, 14, to purchase an elaborate, expensive funeral for her daughter, Amina, who died suddenly at the age of two. To pay off the debt, she takes a job at a strip club as a coat taker. YA WILLIAMS

Williams-Garcia, Rita. Like sisters on the homefront. Troubled 14-yr. old Gail is sent down South to live with her uncle & aunt, where her life begins to change as she experiences the healing power of family. YA WILLIAMS-GARCIA

Last updated November 22nd, 2011