Young Adult Books By Black Authors With Main Characters Who Speak American Sign Language (ASL)

In both of these stories, the main characters are bilingual, speaking American Sign Language (ASL) and spoken English. The characters speak ASL for different reasons. The two main characters in A Song Below Water speak ASL as a way of communicating underwater (in the case of one character) and when they are not able to physically speak (in the case of the other main character). In Feathers, the main character uses ASL to communicate with her brother who is deaf. In both books, ASL is celebrated as beautiful, essential, and important. It is vital to have representations of people speaking ASL within books because deaf culture and deaf communities deserves to see themselves and their language shared in the stories that they read.

A Song Below Water

Author: Bethany C. Morrow

Description: A Song Below Water is a grounded fantasy novel set in the Pacific Northwest city of Portland. The book follows two Black teenage girls, one who is a siren and the other who is an unknown magical being. Forced to keep her siren identity secret due to the stigma placed on Black women sirens, one protagonist uses American Sign Language (ASL) to communicate when her voice feels like too much. The other main character, who is discovering her magical connection, uses ASL to communicate when performing as an underwater mermaid in the local renaissance fairs. This book also deals with the ivtersectionalities of race and womanhood.

Includes: #africanamerican #black #femaleprotagonist #sayhername #sirens #americansignlanguage #ASL #fantasy #magic #alternativeworlds #youngadultliterature

Citation: Morrow, B.C. (2020). A Song Below Water. Tor Teen.

Image retrieved from: Goodreads.

Feathers

Author: Jacqueline Woodson

Description: Feathers is a coming of age story set in the 1970’s about a Black girl whose brother is deaf and whose mother is dealing with depression. The story picks up when a new boy arrives at the protagonists school. Like her, he speaks both spoken English and American Sign Language (ASL). Unlike her, he is white. The two build a connection as she learns to re-frame her viewpoint on her brother’s deafness, her mom’s fear, and her own school community. This book also deals with the ivtersectionalities of race and disability.

Includes: #femaleprotagonist #africanamerican #black #historical #youngadultliterature

Citation: Woodson, J. (2007). Feathers. G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers.

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Young Adult & Middle Grade Books by Black Authors About Transracial Adoption

Middle Grade books by Black Authors about transracial adoption:

For Black Girls Like Me

Author: Mariama J. Lockington

Description: For Black Girls Like Me is a contemporary Middle Grade novel told through the point of view of a Black 11-year-old girl who is a transracial adoptee. When she and her family move to New Mexico, she leaves behind her only friend who understands what it is like to be a Black transracial adoptee. Told through lyrical prose and verse, this middle grade book deals with microaggressions, family dynamics, connectedness, and hope.

Includes: #africanamerican #black #femaleprotagonist #verse #adoption #transracialadpotee #contemporary #middlegradeliterature

Citation: Lockington, M.J. (2019). For Black Girls Like Me. Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR).

Image retrieved from: Goodreads.

Young Adult books by Black Authors about transracial adoption:

See No Color

Author: Shannon Gibney

Description: See No Color is a contemporary young adult novel told through the point of view of a 16-year-old biracial Black teen girl who is a transracial adoptee and a baseball player. When she finds the letters from her biological father that her parents kept from her, she begins to question who she really is and what it really means to be Black.

Includes: #africanamerican #black #femaleprotagonist #adoption #transracialadpotee #contemporary #biracial #baseball #sports #youngadultliterature

Citation: Gibney, S. (2015). See no color. Carolrhoda Lab.

Image retrieved from: Goodreads.

How To Be Remy Cameron

Author: Julian Winters

Description: How To Be Remy Cameron is a contemporary young adult novel told through the point of view of a Black high school junior boy who is a transracial adoptee. After being assigned an essay in his AP Literature class asking him to define himself, he dives into questions of self discovery. He is Black, gay, adopted, popular, a good son, a loving brother, and still discovering what else he is.

Includes: #africanamerican #black #maleprotagonist #adoption #transracialadpotee #contemporary #hope #joy #LGBTQIA+ #youngadultliterature

Citation: Winters, J. (2019). How To Be Remy Cameron. Duet.

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When The Black Girl Sings

Author: Bil Wright

Description: When The Black Girl Sings is a contemporary young adult novel told through the point of view of a Black teen girl who is a transracial adoptee. When her parents begin to discuss divorce, she sides with her mother and the two begin attending a local church with an amazing gospel choir. Simultaneously, her teacher nominates her for a talent show and she decides to join the church choir to improve her singing. There she finds more than song, she finds community.

Includes: #africanamerican #black #femaleprotagonist #adoption #transracialadpotee #contemporary #divorce #choir #singing #youngadultliterature

Citation: Wright, B. (2008). When The Black Girl Sings. Simon Schuster Books for Young Readers.

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Black Trans Young Adult Literature

Unfortunately there is still a long way to go in the fight for more books by and about trans and non-binary Black people. Here are two that came out this year by trans and/or non-binary Black authors.

Felix Ever After

Author: Kacen Callender

Description: Felix Ever After is a contemporary coming of age novel with a Black trans boy main character. The novel’s protagonist is Black, queer, and trans and grapples with how those identities affect how others perceive him in the world and his fears that these intersecting identities might mean that he will never find his happily ever after. This story has blackmailing, love triangles, revenge, and learning to love who you are. This book is written by a trans Black author.

Includes: #africanamerican #black #transprotagonist #bodypolitics #LGBTQIA #youngadultliterature #contemporary

Citation: Callender, K. (2020). Felix ever after. Balzer + Bray.

Image retrieved from: Goodreads.

Pet

Author: Akwaeke Emezi

Description: Pet is an Afrofuturistic novel with a Black trans girl main character. The novel’s protagonist is Black, queer, and trans and lives in a futuristic utopian society that has rid itself of many forms of systemic inequity. Despite this semi-utopia, the protagonists grapples with the hidden monsters within her society and what it means to be a teen who sees the truth when all the adults around them are in denial. This book is written by a trans Black author.

Includes: #africanamerican #black #transprotagonist #bodypolitics #LGBTQIA #youngadultliterature #contemporary

Citation: Emezi, A. (2019). Pet. Make Me a World.

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Middle Schooler Review: Dear Martin by Nic Stone

Young Adult & Middle Grade Books that address Police Brutality:

Here are some amazing books by Black authors and authors of color who have written about police brutality and raising up against anti-Black racism.

Middle Grade Books that address Police Brutality and rising up against anti-Black racism:

A Good Kind of Trouble

Author: Lisa Moore Ramée

Description: A Good Kind of Trouble is a contemporary Middle Grade novel told through the point of view of a Black 7th grade girl who is regularly one of the only Black children in her classes. The community in the book is dealing with the trial against an officer who killed a Black man in their community. The book deals with issues of police brutality, what it means to have friends across difference, what it means to have friends who have the same background as you, navigating the politics of middle school, finding your voice, and standing up for what you believe in.

Includes: #africanamerican #black #femaleprotagonist #middlegrade #policebrutality #grief #trauma #contemporary #hope

Citation: Moore Ramée, L. (2019). A Good Kind of Trouble. Blazer + Bray.

How It Went Down

Author: Kekla Magoon

Description: How It Went Down tells the story of the death of a Black boy at the hands of a white officer and the community’s response to that act of police brutality and murder. Told through multiple perspectives this book has conflicting stories and new information as the community tries to find the full truth of what happened and make sense of the tragedy.

Includes: #africanamerican #black #femaleprotagonist #maleprotagonist #policebrutality #grief #trauma #gentrification #contemporary

Citation: Magoon, K. (2014). How It Went Down. New York, Henry Holt and Co. (BYR).

Ghost Boys

Author: Jewell Parker Rhodes

Description: Ghost Boys is a contemporary Middle Grade novel told through the point of view of the ghost of a 12-year-old Black boy who was shot and killed by the police. He observes his community in mourning as they process the grief at the loss of his life. The protagonist meets a fellow ghost, Emmett Till, who was also killed through an act of anti-Black racism. The ghost of Emmett Till is based on the real life story of Emmett Till who was a real life Black boy who was lynched and killed in Mississippi in 1955. Emmett helps the protagonist process and deal with his own death and reckon with the legacy of anti-Black violence and police brutality within the history of the United States.

Includes: #africanamerican #black #maleprotagonist #history #lynching #policebrutality #grief #trauma #contemporary

Citation: Parker Rhodes, J. (2018). Ghost Boys. Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.

Young Adult Books that address Police Brutality and rising up against anti-Black racism:

All American Boys

By: Jason Reynolds & Brendan Kiely

Description: All American Boys tells the story of a Black boy and a white boy before, during, and after an act of police brutality. The story is told through alternating perspectives and deals with the Black boy dealing with all of his feelings around being attacked by a police officer and the white boy who witnessed the act of police brutality as he begins to notice the ways that privilege shows up in his community and the ways that his community is racist. The book is follows both of their emotional journeys and how they decide to move forward and rise up against anti-Black racism.

Includes: #africanamerican #black #maleprotagonist #privilege #protest #policebrutality #grief #trauma #contemporary

Citation: Reynolds, J. & Kiely, B. (2015). All American Boys. New York, Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books.

The Hate U Give

Author: Angie Thomas

Description: The Hate U Give tells the story of a young girl’s experience of what happens in the aftermath of police brutality. This book also deals with the experience of being split between two worlds, that of her neighborhood and Black community, and that of her mostly white private school.

Includes: #africanamerican #black #femaleprotagonist #interraciallove #policebrutality #grief #trauma #gentrification #contemporary

Citation: Thomas, A. (2017). The Hate U Give. New York, NY: Balzer + Bray.

Dear Martin

Author: Nic Stone

Description: Dear Martin is a contemporary young adult novel told through conversations and letters written by the main character to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The book deals with issues of police brutality, the conflict between the different parts of one’s identity, and interracial love. The book features a Black male main character.

Includes: #africanamerican #black #maleprotagonist #interraciallove #policebrutality #grief #trauma #contemporary

Citation: Stone, N. (2017). Dear Martin. New York: Crown.

Tyler Johnson Was Here

Author: Jay Coles

Description: Tyler Johnson Was Here is a contemporary novel about a gay African American teen whose twin brother is shot and killed by the police.

Includes: #gay #LGBTQIA #maleprotagonist #africanamerican #black #policebrutality #mentalhealth #trauma

Citation: Coles, J. (2018). Tyler Johnson Was Here. Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.

Light It Up

Author: Kekla Magoon

Description: Light It Up tells the story of a community during the aftermath of an act of police violence against a 13-year-old Black girl who was shot and killed by the police. Told through multiple perspectives, this book discusses the repeated nature of police brutality and the community reckoning with the idea that police violence against Black people by the police keeps happening and nothing is changing.

Includes: #africanamerican #black #femaleprotagonist #maleprotagonist #policebrutality #grief #trauma #gentrification #contemporary

Citation: Magoon, K. (2019). Light It Up. New York, Henry Holt and Co. (BYR).

Anger Is A Gift

Author: Mark Oshiro

Description: Anger Is A Gift is a contemporary novel about a gay African American teen growing up in Oakland, California and dealing with anxiety and panic attacks because of the trauma of his father’s death at the hands of Oakland police.

Includes: #gay #LGBTQIA #maleprotagonist #africanamerican #black #latinx #mentalhealth #trauma #policebrutality

Citation: Oshiro, M. (2018). Anger Is A Gift. Tor Teen.