Urban High School Library

[Elizabeth]

Hi,
I'm working in a high school in Cambridge, Mass. and I love it! But, I've been trying to come up with some book recommendation lists, and I realized that most books I read at their age were about white middle class girls, because that's what I was. Or I read historical fiction about white girls.
Does anybody have any recommendations that would appeal to boys and girls of all cultural and ethnic backgrounds? I've been expanding my own reading tastes as I went through college, but I haven't gotten back into YA books until now. I'd also like to read them, so I can give students my opinions and/or understand what they're looking for better.
I've noticed that students at my school are really interested in books by Sharon Draper and Coe Booth.
Thanks!!
Elizabeth

[LaTonya]

Hi Elizabeth,

We have multiple lists at Color Online. We focus on women writers of color for YA and children. Not all of students will want to read realistic fiction so I highly recommend you look at other genres and hopefully you'll find poc writers to fit these genres. Draper and Booth are well known and with good reason but there are so many talented, lesser known poc writers.

To start you off here is Susan's Unofficial List of Great YA by and about women of color

Check out recommendations for our Color Me Brown Challenge as well.

[Jennifer Pugal]

Books by Walter Dean Myers are really good. I'll keep this in mind and if I come across any other books or authors, I'll be sure to post again.

Jennifer

[LaTonya]

Elizabeth,

You might want to join the Multi-Cultural group here.

Here's a short list of recommendations:

Absolute True Diary of A Part-time Indian by Sherman Alexi. (realistic). Junior was born with multiple health issues. He's lives on a reservation. He's poor and faces some pretty somber circumstances. He's also brilliant and wickedly funny.

Whale Talk by Chris Crutcher.(realistic) Tao is biracial with two loving white adoptive parents. Boy meets girls. Boy goes to therapy, plays sports. Dealt some life issues.
The Color Of Earth by Dong Hwa Kim (graphic novel). Incredible art work. This form is called man wha(sp?), the Korean form of manga. Think Tree Grows in Brooklyn. Incredible illustrations.

The Boondocks by Aaron McGruedder. Smart, urban comics.

A Wish After Midnight by Zetta Elliott (speculative/historical). 15-year-old Genna is transported to 1863 Brooklyn just before the New York Draft Riots. She returns to her time 9/11/2001.

The Rock and The River by Kekla Magoon (historical fiction). This story is about two brothers, sons of a prominent civil rights lawyer. One son becomes interested in the Black Panthers

Down To The Bone by Mayra Lazara Dole. (realistic/lgbt) Laura falls in love for the first time with her best friend, a girl. In the Cuban community, homosexuality is frowned upon. Laura is thrown out of school and her home.

Ash by Malinda Lo. (fantasy/fairy tale) Retelling of Cinderella. In this tale, Ash falls in love with the King's Huntress.

Shadow Speaker by Nnedi Okorafor-mbachu (sci-fi/fantasy) Okorafor-Mbachu’s second novel opens in Saharan Africa in the year 2070, then takes its 14-year-old heroine on a quest to the world first introduced in Zahrah the Windseeker

When The Black Girl Sings by Bil Wright.(realistic fiction) Lahni is 14. She has two loving white adoptive parents. She attends a private school. When the marriage begins to fail, Lahni discovers her gift.

The Arrival by Shaun Tan (graphic novel).Wordless graphic novel about feeling alien and lost in a culture.

If you want more realistic fiction titles let me know.

[Elizabeth]

Thanks! The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is on my list of to-reads. I'll have to check out the others!
I'm loving the variety of YA books out there now. I remember when I was this age I started reading adult books because the only options for me were Gossip Girl-esque books.

[LaTonya]

I recommend Myers as well. I didn't list him because like Draper, he's established. If a library has AA writers, they are going to carry Myers. Dopesick and Autobiography of My Dead Brother are on my TBR. I read and enjoyed 145th
Street but this will likely be dated for most of your kids and many if they have read the author will have read Monster.

McGrueder will likely resonate and I highly recommend looking for graphic novels. Check our GN writer/columnist Rich Watson at POPCULTURESHOCK blog.

If you're interested in sport themed books, Crutcher works even if his characters are not poc. I highly recommend you check out reviews by Doret at HappyNappy Bookseller. She's a bigtime sports fans and fanatic about finding books for teen boys.

Troy Cle writes poc science fiction
The Marvelous Effect
Louis Proof, an inner-city, African American teen, and his friend Brandon receive an invitation to go to a mysterious amusement park. Their trip leads to strange experiences, which become stranger after Louis slips into a coma and, upon his recovery, discovers that he has special powers. Soon, Louis finds himself battling creatures from another dimension, led by the often-funny Galonious Imperial Evil. In the course of the extremely complicated plot, Louis and his friends fight many high-octane battles. Little is resolved at the end, but readers will discover more when they read this title's sequel.

[Kimberly Bower]

Hi Elizabeth,

I work in a public library in an agricultural community. Some of our hottest YA fiction titles are urban lit. If you're interested, I've got several book lists for urban teens on my blog. I've included the ISBNs and summaries from WorldCat to each title on the lists. I've always got more lists to put together but there are currently four YA urban lists. I can't keep them on the shelves!

http://gladeslibrarian.blogspot.com/

Let me know if I can help in any way.
Kimberly
gladeslibrarian

[Kimberly Bower]

Hi Elizabeth,

I just posted a review of Secret Saturdays by Torrey Maldonado, a new YA urban fiction writer. I think you'll like his book.

http://gladeslibrarian.blogspot.com/2009/10/book-review-secret-satu...

Let me know if I can help in any way.
Kimberly
gladeslibrarian

[Shannon Cook]

I know I talk about this author all the time but Neil Gaiman was written some good young adult books. I would recommend Stardust, it has a lot of elements to it that will appeal to both boys and girls, I personally think that it will appeal to people of all cultural and ethnic backgrounds but I would suggest reading it first yourself before handing it out to any of your students. As an added bonus there is a great movie adaptation of the book that you could show your class to get a good visual of some of the scenes. I should warn you as well that there are a couple parts that may not be appropriate for the lower classmen, so I would say keep it for the 11-12th graders. But again read it yourself and use your own judgment.