Young Adult Books About Black Girls who are passionate About Ballet

Dance is an essential form of artistic expression and strength. These books focus on young Black girls who are passionate, dedicated, and invested in ballet & dance.

Tiny Pretty Things

Authors: Dhonielle Clayton & Sona Charaipotra

Description: Tiny Pretty Things is a contemporary young adult novel set in a prestigious ballet school in New York City. It follows three ballet dancers who are competitive and ruthless in their goals of becoming the best prima ballerina. One dancer is the only Black ballet dancer at their school, another is white, and the final is biracial Korean American.

Includes: #Black #eastasian #korean #biracial #multipleperspectives #femaleprotagonist #ballet

Citation: Clayton, D. & Charaipotra, S. (2015). Tiny Pretty Things. HarperCollins.

Image retrieved from: Goodreads.

Shiny Broken Pieces

Authors: Dhonielle Clayton & Sona Charaipotra

Description: Shiny Broken Pieces is a contemporary young adult novel set in a prestigious ballet school. It is the sequel to Tiny Pretty Things. It follows three ballet dancers as they compete for a spot within the American Ballet Company. One dancer is the only Black ballet dancer, another is white, and the final is biracial Korean American.

Includes: #Black #eastasian #korean #biracial #multipleperspectives #femaleprotagonist #ballet

Citation: Clayton, D. & Charaipotra, S. (2016). Shiny broken pieces. HarperCollins.

Image retrieved from: Goodreads.

Pointe

Author: Brandy Colbert

Description: Pointe is a contemporary young adult mystery novel. It follows a Black female ballet dancer who is recovering from disordered eating and her friend who returns from being kidnapped. When her best friend returns safely from being kidnapped for 4 years, he starts having post traumatic stress (PTSD) related to his abductor. This book deals with kidnapping, eating disorders, rape, drugs, ballet, and friendships.

Includes: #Black #africanamerican #femaleprotagonist #ballet #mentalhealth #PTSD

Citation: Colbert, B. (2014). Pointe. Penguin.

Image retrieved from: Goodreads.

I Wanna Be Where You Are

Author: Kristina Forest

Description: I Wanna Be Where You Are is a contemporary love story. It follows a female protagonist who is set on attending the dance conservatory of her dreams. Her mom, on the other hand, forbids her from applying. She devises a plan to road trip two hundred miles to the nearest audition. Her annoying neighbor and his dog tag along.

Includes: #africanamerican #black #contemporary #ballet #femaleprotagonist

Citation: Forest, K. (2019). I wanna be where you are. Roaring Book Press.

Image retrieved from: Goodreads.

Dancer

Author: Lorri Hewett

Description: Dancer is a contemporary love story (written in the late 1990s). It follows a Black female protagonist who is deeply dedicated to her study fo ballet. Her parents are both working class and her father is the custodian at her elite private school where she attends on scholarship. She is the only Black student in her ballet school until a boy joins her classes and begins to dance with her despite his real loves being hip hop dance and break dancing. His aunt was a Black ballet dancer in the 1950s and offers to help teach her how to improve her dancing so that she will be competitive during her auditions into some of the larger dance conservatories in NYC, Seattle, and San Francisco.

Includes: #africanamerican #black #contemporary #ballet #femaleprotagonist

Citation: Hewett, L. (1999). Dancer. Puffin Books.

Image retrieved from: Goodreads.

Another Way To Dance

Author: Martha Southgate

Description: Another Way To Dance is a contemporary love story (written in the late 1990s). It follows a 14 year old Black female protagonist who joins a summer program with the NYC School of American Ballet. Though she thinks that she is ready to dance her heart out and learn and grow in the summer program, she is not prepared to be one of only two Black dancers within her cohort, nor is she prepared to deal with the racism she encounters at the school.

Includes: #africanamerican #black #contemporary #ballet #femaleprotagonist

Citation: Southgate, M. (1998). Another Way To Dance. Laurel Leaf.

Image retrieved from: Goodreads.

Black Jewish Teens in Young Adult Literature by Black Authors

Little & Lion

Author: Brandy Colbert

Description: Little & Lion is about a bisexual Black girl coming to terms with her identity and her white step brother who is dealing with his recently diagnosed bipolar disorder. Both are both are falling for the same girl. This book also has lesbian characters, a prominent biracial Korean/Black character who wears a hearing aid, interracial relationships, references to abortion, and discussions around what it means to be loyal and what it means to care.

Includes: #bisexual #LGBTQIA #africanamerican #black #femaleprotagonist #contemporary #mentalhealth #bipolar #judaism

Citation: Colbert, B. (2017). Little & Lion. Little, Brown.

Image retrieved from: Goodreads.

Color Me In

Author: Natasha Diaz

Description: Color Me In is a contemporary novel about a biracial Black and white Jewish teen who is white passing. When her Black mom and Jewish dad split up, she moves to Harlem where she has a hard time fitting in with her family and her new community. She is stuck between two cultures, that of her new Black community and that of her posh private school. When her dad decides to throw her a belated bat mitzvah instead of a Sweet 16, she doesn’t know where she belongs.

Includes: #africanamerican #black #biracial #femaleprotagonist #contemporary #judaism

Citation: Diaz, N. (2019). Color me in. Delacorte.

Image retrieved from: Goodreads.

Young Adult & Middle Grade Black Verse Novels

There are loads of verse novels out there and these are just a few by Black authors. Most of these authors have written multiple verse novels, but only one or two of their verse novels are listed here. If you would like to learn about more verse novels, look up these authors or reach out to us so that we can point you in the right direction.

The Poet X

Author: Elizabeth Acevedo

Description: The Poet X is a verse novel about an Afro-Latina girl growing up in Brooklyn as she questions her faith, struggles with her family, and learns how to share her voice as a poet.

Includes: #latinx #afrolatinx #dominican #black #versenovel #contemporary #femaleprotagonist #youngadultliterature #youngadult

Citation: Acevedo, E. (2018). The Poet X. New York: Harperteen.

Image retrieved from: Goodreads.

Crossover

Author: Kwame Alexander

Description: The Crossover is a verse novel about family, basketball, growing up, and the consequences of following the rules. This book centers around a male protagonist.

Includes: #africanamerican #black #maleprotagonist #versenovel #sports #contemporary #middlegradeliterature

Citation: Alexander, K. (2014). The Crossover. Houghton Mifflin.

Image retrieved from: Goodreads.

The Black Flamingo

Author: Dean Atta

Description: The Black Falmingo is a verse novel about a biracial Black Jamaican and Greek gay teen growing up in the United Kingdom. He struggles to feel like fits in to either side of his identity until he starts University and finds a way to express himself through drag, under the drag name The Black Flamingo.

Includes: #jamaican #british #greek #black #versenovel #contemporary #LGBTQIA #drag #biracial #maleprotagonist #youngadultliterature #youngadult

Citation: Atta, D. (2020). The black flamingo. Balzer + Bray.

Image retrieved from: Goodreads.

Dark Sons

Author: Nikki Grimes

Description: Dark Sons is a verse novel told through alternating perspectives of Ishmael from the Bible and a contemporary Black teen boy. Both grapple with the abandonment of their fathers and their love of their half-brothers despite the fact that their father’s seem to love their half-brothers more.

Includes: #africanamerican #black #maleprotagonist #christianity #family #versenovel #contemporary #biblical #youngadultliterature

Citation: Grimes, N. (2007). Dark Sons. Jump At The Sun.

Image retrieved from: Goodreads.

Street Love

Author: Walter Dean Myers

Description: Street Love is a verse novel retelling of Romeo and Juliet set in an urban context.

Includes: #africanamerican #black #maleprotagonist #femaleprotagonist #versenovel #contemporary #youngadultliterature

Citation: Myers W. D. (2006). Street love. Amistad Press.

Image retrieved from: Goodreads.

Long Way Down

Author: Jason Reynolds

Description: Long Way Down is a contemporary verse novel told during the span of one elevator ride in which the protagonist has to decide what he is going to do about the death of his brother. The book features an African American male main character.

Includes: #africanamerican #black #maleprotagonist #intergenerationalviolence #grief #trauma #versenovel #contemporary #youngadultliterature

Citation: Reynolds, J. (2017). Long Way Down. New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers.

Image retrieved from: Goodreads.

Brown Girl Dreaming

Author: Jacqueline Woodson

Description: Brown Girl Dreaming is an essential verse memoir of the author’s childhood. Woodson shares the experience of growing up as a young Black girl in the 1960 and 1970s in South Carolina and New York where the civil rights movement was growing. Despite having difficulty learning to read as a child, Woodson’s love of writing grows and grows.

Includes: #black #africanamerican #versenovel #memoir #femaleprotagonist #youngadultliterature #youngadult

Citation: Woodson, J. (2014). Locomotion. Speak.

Image retrieved from: Goodreads.

Locomotion

Author: Jacqueline Woodson

Description: Locomotion is a verse novel about an 11-year-old black boy in the foster care system. The book is told through 60 poems and traces the story of the protagonist as he learns how to share his voice as a poet.

Includes: #black #fosterhome #versenovel #contemporary #maleprotagonist #youngadultliterature #youngadult

Citation: Woodson, J. (2004). Locomotion. Speak.

Image retrieved from: Goodreads.

Black Bisexual Young Adult Literature

Here is a list of four books by Black authors which discuss the spectrum of bisexuality. They discuss bisexual asexuality, bisexual girls, bisexual boys, and the spectrum of sexuality that can exist within a person.

Let’s Talk About Love

Author: Claire Kann

Description: Let’s Talk About Love is a contemporary love story between an African American bi-romantic asexual girl and a Japanese American boy.

Includes: #bisexual #asexual #biromantic #LGBTQIA #africanamerican #black #asianamerican #japanese #femaleprotagonist #contemporary #interraciallove

Citation: Kann, C. (2018). Let’s Talk About Love. Swoon Reads.

Image retrieved from: Goodreads.

Little & Lion

Author: Brandy Colbert

Description: Little & Lion is about a bisexual Black girl coming to terms with her identity and her white step brother who is dealing with his recently diagnosed bipolar disorder. Both are both are falling for the same girl. This book also has lesbian characters, a prominent biracial Korean/Black character who wears a hearing aid, interracial relationships, references to abortion, and discussions around what it means to be loyal and what it means to care.

Includes: #bisexual #LGBTQIA #africanamerican #black #femaleprotagonist #contemporary #mentalhealth #bipolar #judaism #youngadultliterature

Citation: Colbert, B. (2017). Little & Lion. Little, Brown.

Image retrieved from: Goodreads.

Odd One Out

Author: Nic Stone

Description: Odd One Out is a contemporary novel about three friends and their complicated love triangle. The triangle includes bisexual love interests and three alternating perspectives.

Includes: #bisexual #lovetriangle #interraciallove #africanamerican #black #asianamerican #latinx #contemporary #femaleprotagonist #maleprotagonist

Citation: Stone, N. (2018). Odd One Out. Crown Books for Young Readers.

Image retrieved from: Goodreads.

Home and Away

Author: Candice Montgomery

Description: Home and Away is a contemporary coming of age novel about a Black teen girl from a wealthy family. She goes through a journey of thinking about her identity as Black and what that means to her. She also builds a friendship and relationship with an artsy bisexual boy.

Includes: #black #bisexual #africanamerican #black #asianamerican #contemporary #femaleprotagonist

Citation: Montgomery, C. (2018). Home and away. Page Street Kids.

Image retrieved from: Goodreads.

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.

Image retrieved from: Goodreads.

Middle Schooler Review: Dear Martin by Nic Stone

Links to Black Owned Independent Bookstores

Here you will find direct links to Black owned independent bookstores across the United States.

California

Connecticut

Delaware

Florida

Georgia

Illinois

Indiana

Kentucky

Maryland

Massachusetts

Michigan

Minnesota

Missouri

Nebraska

New Jersey

New York

Ohio

Oklahoma

Pennsylvania

South Carolina

Texas

Virginia

Washington DC

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.