African American Fiction

From a #1 "Essence" bestselling author comes the first in an inspirational new series of teen novels featuring a group of young girls finding faith and friendship in an after-school church youth group.

Hands down, this is the best teen book I’ve read this year. It’s about a week in the life of Tyrell, a 15-year-old from the Bronx whose dad is in jail and whose mom is, sadly, not a lot of help. When the book starts, Ty, his mom, and his little brother Troy are living in a shelter. Ty dropped out of school about a month ago, and is spending his time trying to pull together a party by Saturday that will make him enough money for a down payment on an apartment for his family. On top of that, he’s got to take care of Troy, keep an eye on his mom, deal with his girlfriend Novisha, and try to resist a new girl named Jasmine that he meets at the shelter. If you want a realistic teen voice and a fast-paced story, this is it.

Ordinary, inner-city teenager Louis Proof is about to become anything but ordinary. With breathtaking imagination, an exciting debut author delivers the action-packed first novel in a new fantasy series starring a compelling African-American hero.

Luther T. Farrell has got to get out of Flint, Michigan.
As his best friend Sparky says, " Flint's nothing but the Titanic."
And his mother, a.k.a. the Sarge, says, " Take my advice and stay off the sucker path."
The Sarge milked the system to build an empire of slum housing and group homes. Luther's just one of the many people trapped in the Sarge's Evil Empire-- but he's about to bust out.
If Luther wins the science fair this year, he'll be on track for college and a future as America's best-known and best-loved philosopher. All he's got to do is beat his arch rival Shayla Patrick, the beautiful daughter of Flint's finest undertaker-- and the love of Luther's life.
Sparky's escape plans involve a pit bull named Poofy and the world's scariest rat. Oh, and Luther. Add to the mix Chester X., Luther's mysterious roommate

Now in paperback, this debut from an award-winning high school teacher is thestory of what happens when a star basketball player and a brainy girl pair upfor a class project.

When a nationwide talent competition comes to Atlanta, sisters Kalia and Mariama Jefferson stop arguing long enough to agree on one thing: Kalia has to try out. When she makes the top 20, the competition really begins--on stage and at home. Original.

Slave traders invade Armari's African village and she is dragged to a ship bound for the Carolinas. Bought by a plantation owner, Amari befriends a white indentured servant named Polly and struggles to hold on to her memories, in this Coretta Scott King Award-winning novel.

This winner of the 1999 Coretta Scott King John Steptoe Award tells the storyof a young African-American girl who is tormented by her peers because of herdarker skin.

When Wesley Boone writes a poem for his high school English class and reads it aloud, poetry-slam-style, he kicks off a revolution. Soon his classmates are clamoring to have weekly poetry sessions. One by one, eighteen students take on the risky challenge of self-revelation. Award-winning author Nikki Grimes captures the voices of eighteen teenagers through the poetry they share and the stories they tell, and exposes what lies beneath the skin, behind the eyes, beyond the masquerade.

Alternating between biblical times and contemporary Brooklyn, Grimes masterfully tells the stories of two boys separated by time, geography, and culture in this novel about love and forgiveness, and the comfort brought by faith during difficult times.

Transferring to a predominantly black school, Sonya Crane didn't plan on passing as biracial, but hiding her identity made it easier for her to fit in--until someone with secrets of her own learns about Sonya's. Original.

A young African-American boy discovers the world--and himself--when he integrates an all-white boarding school in the 1950s.

In this winner of the Printz Medal and Coretta Scott King Award--a companion to the Coretta Scott King Award-winning "Heaven"--Johnson probes right to the heart of the issues involved with teenage pregnancy and fatherhood with precision, grace, and keen insight.)

2007 Virginia Readers' Choice
Winner - 2006 Coretta Scott King Award
A BookPage Notable Title
Through flashbacks, foreshadowing, and shifting first-person points of view, readers will travel with Emma and others through time and space. They come to discover that every decision has its consequences, and final judgment is passed down not by man, but by his maker.

A young, single mother of two small children, Aisha Ingram's idea of the good life doesn't include going to school or worrying about the future. Then she receives a welfare termination notice. Without those benefits, things don't look good.

In his first book for young adults, the bestselling author weaves a powerful narrative about the nature of freedom. The life of a young slave named 47 seems doomed until he meets a mysterious runaway slave and finds himself swept up in a struggle for his own liberation. 240 p.

Young, black, 16-year-old Steve Harmon, an amateur filmmaker, is on trial for the murder of a Harlem drugstore owner. Steve copes by writing a movie script based on his trial. But despite his efforts, reality is blurred until he can no longer tell who he is or what the truth is. Illustrations.

A "New York Times" bestselling author delivers an evocative, edgy tale of star-crossed urban love, set to a Shakespearean Harlem beat.

Theresa Anderson is every kind of smart: too smart-mouthed for her own good, street smart enough to deal with a neighborhood that gets more dangerous every day, and more book smart than anyone knows. But with the example of her super-achieving older brother towering above her, Theresa hasn???t even been trying. How can a girl compete against the family favorite, especially when he??'s a certified local hero? With her parents and her teachers always on her case, and her best friend pregnant and dropped out of school, Theresa turns to hip-hop for comfort. Her favorite singers seem to understand her when no one else does. Everything changes when a new man comes into Theresa??'s life: Devon, whose tough-guy reputation conceals a blazing ambition for academic success. Devon helps Theresa face up to her own talent and ambition, and together the

Bestselling author Jacquelin Thomas offers an unforgettable novel about a spunky Hollywood teen who, after being sent to live with her religious relatives in Georgia, discovers the true meaning of family and the power of faith.

Since finding her battered and raped in the alley near his home, Thulani hasn't stopped thinking about Ysa. It's the first time since his mother's death he's thought of anything but the rock doves he tends to. Now that he has seen Ysa, Thulani finally has a reason to come down from the roof.

The acclaimed author of "When Kambia Elaine Flew in from Neptune" now delivers the story of one girl's excruciating struggle to beat the odds. Williams imbues this narrative with an unshakable sense of hope that transcends China's bleak reality.

With the same depth of characterization that marked her Coretta Scott King Honor Book "The Red Rose Box," Woods presents the gritty story of a girl from South Central L.A. who is destined to be a star until everything changes in one horrific instant.

A new love is special and rare, but the world around Ellie and Miah doesn't see it like that. All they see is race: Miah is black and Ellie is Jewish. Will their love survive? An ALA Best Book for Young Adults. A BCCB Blue Ribbon Book.