Catalog Search Results
1) Dear Martin
Author
Language
English
Appears on these lists
High School Project Lit Titles
Project Lit - Full List
Short YA Fiction
YA Contemporary Fiction Classics
Project Lit - Full List
Short YA Fiction
YA Contemporary Fiction Classics
Description
"Justyce McAllister is a good kid, an honor student, and always there to help a friend--but none of that matters to the police officer who just put him in handcuffs. Despite leaving his rough neighborhood behind, he can't escape the scorn of his former peers or the ridicule of his new classmates. Justyce looks to the teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. for answers. But do they hold up anymore? He starts a journal to Dr. King to find out. Then...
Author
Language
English
Appears on these lists
High School Project Lit Titles
Nashville Reads 2024 | The Works of Jason Reynolds
Project Lit - Full List
More Lists...
Nashville Reads 2024 | The Works of Jason Reynolds
Project Lit - Full List
More Lists...
Description
When sixteen-year-old Rashad is mistakenly accused of stealing, classmate Quinn witnesses his brutal beating at the hands of a police officer who happens to be the older brother of his best friend. Told through Rashad and Quinn's alternating viewpoints.
Author
Language
English
Description
"A woman and her husband admitted to a hospital to have a baby requests that their nurse be reassigned -- they are white supremacists and don't want Ruth, who is Black, to touch their baby. The hospital complies, but the baby later goes into cardiac distress when Ruth is on duty. She hesitates before rushing in to perform CPR. When her indecision ends in tragedy, Ruth finds herself on trial, represented by a white public defender who warns against...
4) Ghost boys
Author
Language
English
Appears on these lists
Description
Twelve-year-old Jerome is shot by a police officer who mistakes his toy gun for a real threat. As a ghost, he observes the devastation that's been unleashed on his family and community in the wake of what they see as an unjust and brutal killing.
Author
Language
English
Description
The beloved classic that turned Carson McCullers into an overnight literary sensation and one of the Modern Library's top 20 novels of the 20th century.
"A remarkable book...From the opening page, brilliant in its establishment of mood, character, and suspense, the book takes hold of the reader."
In a Georgia Mill town during the 1930s, an enigmatic John Singer, draws out the haunted confessions of
...Author
Language
English
Description
"Frank Li has two names. There's Frank Li, his American name. Then there's Sung-Min Li, his Korean name. No one uses his Korean name, not even his parents. Frank barely speaks any Korean. He was born and raised in Southern California. Even so, his parents still expect him to end up with a nice Korean girl--which is a problem, since Frank is finally dating the girl of his dreams: Brit Means. Brit, who is funny and nerdy just like him. Brit, who makes...
Author
Language
English
Appears on these lists
Description
Middle school student Junie Kim turns inward and becomes depressed after enduring the taunts of a school bus bully and a racist incident happens at school. While working on a school assignment to interview a family elder, Junie learns of her Korean grandparents' sufferings and courage during the Korean War and learns to unpack her own courage to face the racism surrounding her.
11) Betty before X
Author
Language
English
Appears on list
Description
Raised by her aunt until she is six, Betty, who will later marry Malcolm X, joins her mother and stepfamily in 1940s Detroit, where she learns about the civil rights movement.
12) Ophie's ghosts
Author
Language
English
Appears on these lists
Description
After a white mob murders her father, twelve-year-old Ophelia Harrison is awakened by his ghost, who tells her to wake her mother and retreat to the woods. They comply, and escape before their home is burned to the ground by the same men. The pair move to Pittsburgh to live with relatives and take jobs at Daffodil Manor, the home of a wealthy white woman. There, Ophelia continues to see ghosts and learns she has a gift with helping them move on.
Author
Language
English
Appears on list
Description
"Get Out meets The Devil Wears Prada in this electric debut about the tension that unfurls when two young Black women meet against the starkly white backdrop of New York City book publishing. Twenty-six-year-old editorial assistant Nella Rogers is tired of being the only Black employee at Wagner Books. Fed up with the isolation and microaggressions, she's thrilled when Harlem-born and bred Hazel starts working in the cubicle beside hers. They've only...
14) A mercy
Author
Language
English
Description
In exchange for a bad debt, an Anglo-Dutch trader takes on Florens, a young slave girl, who feels abandoned by her slave mother and who searches for love--first from an older servant woman at her master's new home, and then from a handsome free blacksmith.
15) The hate u give
Author
Language
English
Appears on these lists
Awesome YA Books by Black Authors
High School Project Lit Titles
Nashville Reads 2023: Celebrating Our Freedom to Read!
More Lists...
High School Project Lit Titles
Nashville Reads 2023: Celebrating Our Freedom to Read!
More Lists...
Description
Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed. Soon afterward, his death is a national headline. Some are calling him a thug, maybe even a drug dealer and a gangbanger. Protesters...
16) Prairie lotus
Author
Language
English
Appears on these lists
6th Grade Reading
Celebrating Asian American and Pacific Islander Authors for Kids
Historical Fiction for Kids
More Lists...
Celebrating Asian American and Pacific Islander Authors for Kids
Historical Fiction for Kids
More Lists...
Description
In Dakota Territory in the 1880s, half-Chinese Hanna and her white father face racism and resistance to change as they try to make a home for themselves. Includes author's note.
17) The getaway
Author
Language
English
Appears on these lists
Description
Jay discovers that mountain resort where he lives and works with his friends and family is also a doomsday oasis for the rich and powerful who expect top-notch customer service even as the world outside the resort's walls disintegrates.
Author
Language
English
Description
Javari, a Black boy from Bushwick, Brooklyn, finds life at STEM camp in a little Appalachian town in West Virginia shockingly different--except for run-ins with the police, which are still racist. Learning about all sorts science, tech, engineering, and math things at camp also comes with learning about racism, hidden agendas, and what rich people will do to get ahead--but when he meets and befriends Cricket, a local boy and budding activist, as well...
Author
Language
English
Appears on these lists
9th-10th Grade Reading
Built-In Besties or Baddies: Siblings in YA Books
High School Project Lit Titles
Project Lit - Full List
Built-In Besties or Baddies: Siblings in YA Books
High School Project Lit Titles
Project Lit - Full List
Description
Sixteen-year-old Alex Rufus's curse of seeing the future distracts him from being and doing his best, but when he sees his little brother Isaiah's imminent death, he races against time, death, and circumstances to save him.
20) Kneel
Author
Language
English
Appears on list
Description
For guys like Russell Boudreaux, football is the only way out of their small Louisiana town. As the team's varsity tight end, Rus has a singular goal: to get a scholarship and play on the national stage. When his best friend is unfairly arrested and kicked off the team, Rus faces an impossible choice: speak up or live in fear. Desperate for change, Rus kneels during the national anthem. In one instant, he falls from local stardom and becomes a target...