The book suggestion lists were created by teen staff members at Martin Library. If there is a genre you think we should create a list for, send an e-mail to teens@yorklibraries.org.
Urban Fiction
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Autobiography of My Dead Brother -- Walter Dean Myers Jesse fills his sketchbook with drawings and portraits of his blood brother, Rise, and his comic strip, Spodi Roti and Wise, as he makes sense of the complexities of friendship, loyalty, and loss in a neighborhood where drive-bys, vicious gangs, and abusive cops are everyday realities. |
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Baby Girl - Lenora Adams Sheree has always been a tough girl, able to take care of herself. Then she finds herself in a situation where she can't. She needs help. She needs answers. But she can't get either from the people she she turns to |
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Bang -- Sharon Flake A teenage boy must face the harsh realities of inner city life, a disintegrating family, and destructive temptations as he struggles to find his identity as a young man. |
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The Beast -- Walter Dean Myers 17-yr-old Anthony "Spoon" Witherspoon is returning to Harlem after seven months at an exclusive prep school. It's with mixed feelings that he's left New York City in the first place to finish high school in the hallowed halls of the mostly white, very preppy New England school -- but now that Spoon is back home, he realizes how much he's come to like his prep-school life and new friends. He's missed his girlfriend, though, and is shocked to discover upon his return that the bright young poet she was when he left has become a drug addict. |
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Behind You -- Jacqueline Woodson Even though Miah was black and Ellie is white, they made sense together. Then Miah was killed. It was the end of their relationship, but it was the beginning of grief for the many people who loved him. Now Miah's mother has stopped trying, his friends are lost, and Ellie does not know how to move on. And then there is Miah, watching; unable to let go. This beautiful novel explores the experiences of those left behind after a tragedy. |
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Big City Cool: Short Stories About Urban Youth Fourteen short stories about what it's like to grow up in the city—the glamour, the mean streets, and the neighborhood. In these fourteen authentic short stories, young people growing up in Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington, DC, New York, and elsewhere contend with city realities. Among the authors are Judith Ortiz Cofer, Eugenia Collier, Ann Hood, Cherylene Lee, Paul Many, Walter Dean Myers, Michael Rosovsky, Neal Shusterman, Amy Tan, Elennora Tate, and Kurt Vonnegut. |
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Black and White -- Paul Volponi Marcus and Eddie are best friends who found the strength to break through the racial barrier. Marcus is black; Eddie is white. Stars of their school basketball team, they are true leaders who look past the stereotypes and come out on top. But one night--and one wrong decision--will change their lives forever. Will their mistake cost them their friendship . . . and their future? |
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Broken China - Lori Aurella Williams China Cup Cameron, a fourteen-year-old single mother with only her paralyzed Uncle Simon for support, takes on tremendous personal debt in hopes of a beautiful funeral after her daughter dies. |
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Chill Wind - Janet McDonald Afraid that she will have no where to go when her welfare checks are stopped, nineteen-year-old high school dropout Aisha tries to figure out how she can support herself and her two young children in New York City. |
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A different Kind of Heat - Antonio Pagliarulo Luz Cordero is on fire. She’s burning up with rage. She was there the night her brother got killed. She saw the cop pull the trigger. She tried to do something positive about it by going to protests, but all her anger got her into trouble. |
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Dymond in the Rough - KaShamba Williams Fourteen-year-old Dymond is at a pivotal point in her life...high school. Not only is she faced with the challenges of being a freshman, but also from members in her crew – Kera and Porsha. Both of them have boyfriends, however Dymond has yet to find one. Well, that is until she meets Kyle Banks. |
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The First Part Last -- Angela Johnson Bobby is a typical urban New York City teenager--impulsive, eager, restless. For his sixteenth birthday he cuts school with his two best buddies, grabs a couple of slices at his favorite pizza joint, catches a flick at a nearby multiplex, and gets some news from his girlfriend, Nia, that changes his life forever: He's going to be a father. Then tragedy strikes Nia, and Bobby finds himself in the role of single, teenage father. Because his child--their child--is all that remains of his lost love. |
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The Fight - L. Divine jayd Jackson is no stranger to drive-by shootings or run-ins with the friendly neighborhood crackhead. Street-smart, book-smart, and life-smart, she's nobody's fool-least of all KJ's, the most popular and cutest basketball jock at South Bay High, aka Drama High. Yes, it's a fact, Jayd fell hard for his player ways for a time, but now that KJ's shown his true colors-dumping Jayd because she refused to give up the cookies-she's through with him and his game playing for good. |
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Forged by Fire -- Sharon M. Draper When Gerald was a child he was fascinated by fire. But fire is dangerous and powerful, and tragedy strikes. His substance-addicted mother is taken from him and a brutal stepfather with a flaming temper and an evil secret makes his life miserable. The one bright light in Gerald's life is his little half sister, Angel, whom he struggles to protect from her father, Jordan Sparks, who abuses her, and from their mother, whose irresponsible behavior forces Gerald to work hard to keep the family together. In the end he must stand up to his stepfather alone in a blazing confrontation. |
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The Hoopster - Allan Lawrence Sitomer This book talks a lot about the still promenade issue of racism in our community and world and the way that people react to the situation. This was a great book and I enjoyed reading it. |
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Imani All Mine - Connie Porter Tasha is a remarkable character, a child mothering a child--spunky, sassy, brimming with the hopefulness and frank wisdom of youth despite her circumstances. The name she gives her daughter, Imani, is a sign of her determination and fundamental trust. |
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Miracle's Boys -- Jacqueline Woodson Twelve-year-old Lafayette's close relationship with his older brother Charlie changes after Charlie is released from a detention home and blames Lafayette for the death of their mother. |
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Nothing But Drama - ReShonda Tate Billingsley Camille can't believe her bad luck when she's ordered to join a church youth group after hiding her boyfriend from the police. She'll bide her time if that's what it takes to get everyone off her back, but it's the last place she ever expected to make a new friend. |
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Played - Dana Davidson When one of Ian's boys dares him to get plain-faced Kylie Winship to sleep with him in just three weeks, he thinks it'll be a breeze. Tall and fine, with honey-colored skin and eyes, Ian is used to getting what he wants from girls. |
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Rooftop - Paul Volponi Cousins Clay and Addison were like brothers, growing up together in the projects, until they were ripped apart by a family argument. when they are reunited in a drug-treatment program, they try to work out their issues like a family. |
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The Sista Hood : On the mic - E-Fierce When Mariposa (aka MC Patria) meets Ezekiel Matthews (aka MC EZ1) they quickly become best friends; together they have the best summer tossing lyrics and rhymes. |
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Snitch -- Allison van Diepen Lines are clearly marked at South Bay High School. It's mixed territory for the Crips and the Bloods, which means the drama never stops. Julia DiVino wants none of it. No colors, no C-Walks -- it's just not her thing. But when Eric Valienté jumps into her life, everything changes. Lines are redrawn. And then they're crossed. |
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Street Pharm -- Allison van Diepen Ty Johnson knows survival. Since inheriting his pop's business at sixteen, Ty's developed smarts, skills, and mad discipline. The supply game's in his blood. And life is pretty sweet when you're on top. But one slip -- or one serious competitor -- and life turns ugly fast. Suddenly, Ty's got to rethink his whole strategy. And for the #1 dealer on the streets, strategy is not just about staying ahead. It's about survival. |
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True Believer -- Virgina Euwer What's new in LaVaughn's life is Jody—a boy she knew as a child who's come back to the housing project where she lives. Jody is like a miracle: He smells like chlorine, he calls her "little buddy," he goes with her to the dance. It's just as if he's in love with her. Except not quite. |
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Tyrell - Coe Booth Tyrell is a young, African American teen who can't get a break. He's living (for now) with his spaced-out mother and little brother in a homeless shelter. |
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U Can't Break Me - Jarold Imes When Reggie Stevens enters high school, life as he knows it is about to change. First, he must deal with a bully that is out to seek revenge against a member of his family. |
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Upstate - Kalisha Buckhanon So begins Upstate, a powerful story told through letters between seventeen-year-old Antonio and his sixteen-year-old girlfriend, Natasha, set in the 1990's in New York. |
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Worth fighting for - Jarold Imes At the age of eleven and a half, Martin Little wanted to be just like his parents. His father was a door-to-door salesman for a prominent African American hair care firm; his mother owns one of the hottest beauty salons in the Denver Metropolitan Area. |
All book descriptions are from the book jackets as listed on BarnesandNoble.com
Last updated on Thursday, September 4, 2008
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