Young Adult
The Marrow Thieves
Cherie Dimaline
YOUNG ADULT FICTION Dimaline Cherie
Young Adult, Dystopian
"In a future world ravaged by global warming, people have lost the ability to dream, and the dreamlessness has led to widespread madness. The only people still able to dream are North America's indigenous population - and it is their marrow that holds the cure for the rest of the world. But getting the marrow - and dreams - means death for the unwilling donors. Driven to flight, a 15-year-old and his companions struggle for survival, attempt to reunite with loved ones, and take refuge from the "recruiters" who seek them out to bring them to the marrow-stealing 'factories.'"--
Grown : a novel
Tiffany D. Jackson
YOUNG ADULT FICTION Jackson Tiffany
Black Lives Matter, Young Adult
"When legendary R&B artist Korey Fields spots Enchanted Jones at an audition, her dreams of being a famous singer take flight. Until Enchanted wakes up with blood on her hands and zero memory of the previous night. Who killed Korey Fields? Before there was a dead body, Enchanted's dreams had turned into a nightmare. Because behind Korey's charm and star power was a controlling dark side. Now he's dead, the police are at the door, and all signs point to Enchanted"--
Based very loosely on R.Kelly's allegations and conviction, this is a page-turning story of something author Tiffany D. Jackson experienced. Warning: this book describes sexual assault and kidnapping. Ages 14+ -Victoria
One of Us is Next
Karen M. McManus
YOUNG ADULT FICTION McManus, Karen
Mystery, Suspense, Young Adult
A year after the Bayview four were cleared of Simon Kelleher's death a ton of copycat gossip apps have popped up, but no one's been able to fill the gossip void quite like he could. Now a game with dangerous consequences is targeting students at Bayview-- and if the creator isn't found soon, dangerous could prove deadly. If you choose not to play, it's a truth. And Phoebe is the first target. Maeve is next. By the time Knox is tagged, the dares have become deadly. -- adapted from jacket
If you enjoyed One of us is Lying, you won't be disappointed with the sequel. 14+ -Victoria
Punching the Air
Ibi Aanu Zoboi
YOUNG ADULT FICTION Zoboi Ibi
Black Lives Matter, Young Adult
From award-winning, bestselling author Ibi Zoboi and prison reform activist Yusef Salaam of the Exonerated Five comes a powerful YA novel in verse about a boy who is wrongfully incarcerated. The story that I thought was my life didn't start on the day I was born. Amal Shahid has always been an artist and a poet. But even in a diverse art school, he's seen as disruptive and unmotivated by a biased system. Then one fateful night, an altercation in a gentrifying neighborhood escalates into tragedy. "Boys just being boys" turns out to be true only when those boys are white. The story that I think will be my life starts today. Suddenly, at just sixteen years old, Amal's bright future is upended: he is convicted of a crime he didn't commit and sent to prison. Despair and rage almost sink him until he turns to the refuge of his words, his art. This never should have been his story. But can he change it' With spellbinding lyricism, award-winning author Ibi Zoboi and prison reform activist Yusef Salaam tell a moving and deeply profound story about how one boy is able to maintain his humanity and fight for the truth, in a system designed to strip him of both. Ages 12+
This book, written in verse is a masterpiece very loosely based on the exonerated 5 member Yusef Salaam, who co-authors the book. This book touched me to my core and brought the inhumanity of the school-to-prison pipeline blatantly into view. -Victoria
With the Fire on High
Elizabeth Acevedo
YOUNG ADULT FICTION Acevedo Elizabet
Young Adult, Fiction
"Teen mother Emoni Santiago struggles with the challenges of finishing high school and her dream of working as a chef." --
Elizabeth Acevedo's writing transcends the YA mold she has been put into and rather her writing cracks that mold wide open creating a whole new world of authentic stories, characters and lessons that identify life's priorities; highlighting the fact that we can make mistakes but we are not the sum of them and that while we might not fit prescribed notions of what is expected of us from family or society, we can find ourselves and still thrive. Check out Poet X and Clap When you Land, also by Acevedo. Ages 14+ -Victoria
#NotYourPrincess : voices of Native American women
970.1 /Not
Young Adult, Nonfiction
"Whether looking back to a troubled past or welcoming a hopeful future, the powerful voices of Indigenous women across North America resound in this book. In the same style as the best-selling Dreaming in Indian, #Not Your Princess presents an eclectic collection of poems, essays, interviews, and art that combine to express the experience of being a Native woman. Stories of abuse, humiliation, and stereotyping are countered by the voices of passionate women making themselves heard and demanding change. Sometimes angry, often reflective, but always strong, the women in this book will give teen readers insight into the lives of women who, for so long, have been virtually invisible."--
Added by Anne W
A girl called Echo
Katherena Vermette
GRAPHIC NOVEL Vermette Girl
Young Adult, Graphic Novels, Diverse Characters
Added by Anne W
Tales of the mighty code talkers
COMIC Tales
Young Adult, Graphic Novels, Diverse Characters
"There has been a great deal of writing the past several decades about Native American Code Talkers of World War Two. The published works have been about Navajos and the tremendous contribution they made in the Pacific campaigns of the war. What is often overlooked is the role played in both World Wars by men of other tribes. There were Cherokee, Choctaw, Comanche, Creek and other tribal representatives with their languages involved as well. Tales of the Mighty Code Talkers, a graphic anthology of historically based stories, begins to fill that void. Seven stories -- two by the book's editor, Arigon Starr, dealing with Choctaw and Comanche code talkers, one by Roy Boney, Jr. on Cherokees, one by Johnnie Diacon on Creeks, and one by Jonathan Nelson on Navajos, plus stories from Lee Francis IV and Michael Sheyahshe -- provide an excellent rendering of the subject."
Added by Anne W
Fire song
Adam Garnet Jones
YOUNG ADULT FICTION Jones Adam
Young Adult, Diverse Characters
"How can Shane reconcile his feelings for David with his desire for a better life? Shane is still reeling from the suicide of his kid sister, Destiny. How could he have missed the fact that she was so sad? He tries to share his grief with his girlfriend, Tara, but she's too concerned with her own needs to offer him much comfort. What he really wants is to be able to turn to the one person on the rez whom he loves--his friend, David. Things go from bad to worse as Shane's dream of going to university is shattered and his grieving mother withdraws from the world. Worst of all, he and David have to hide their relationship from everyone. Shane feels that his only chance of a better life is moving to Toronto, but David refuses to join him. When yet another tragedy strikes, the two boys have to make difficult choices about their future together. With deep insight into the life of Indigenous people on the reserve, this book masterfully portrays how a community looks to the past for guidance and comfort while fearing a future of poverty and shame"--
Added by Anne W
Give me some truth : a novel with paintings
Eric L. Gansworth
YOUNG ADULT FICTION Ganswort Eric
Young Adult, Diverse Characters
In 1980 life is hard on the Tuscarora Reservation in upstate New York, and most of the teenagers feel like they are going nowhere: Carson Mastick dreams of forming a rock band, and Maggi Bokoni longs to create her own conceptual artwork instead of the traditional beadwork that her family sells to tourists--but tensions are rising between the reservation and the surrounding communities, and somehow in the confusion of politics and growing up Carson and Maggi have to make a place for themselves.
Added by Anne W
Gripping dystopian climate change fiction where the mass populous is unable to dream making them mad. The only ones capable of dreaming is a group of Indigenous Americans and the only method? Harvesting their marrow. A slow read in parts but so worthwhile. Ages 14+ -Victoria