Young Adult Fiction

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian by Sherman Alexie

Junior leaves the Spokane Indian Reservation to attend an all-white high school, where the only other Native American is the school mascot. Is he choosing his own destiny or betraying his heritage?

ISBN-10: 0316013692, ISBN-13: 978-0316013697

Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson

Slaves Isabel and younger sister Ruthie are sold to harsh Loyalists at the beginning of the Revolutionary War. Isabel must decide to be loyal or spy for the American patriots.

ISBN-10: 1416905855, ISBN-13: 978-1416905851

Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson

This novel shows how Mattie Cook’s dreams for the future are reduced to a day-to-day struggle for survival as a yellow fever epidemic fills the streets of Philadelphia. Anderson gives voice to teenagers everywhere who are undergoing dramatic transformations.

ISBN-10: 0689848919, ISBN-13: 978-0689848919

The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume 1: The Pox Party by M.T. Anderson

He was raised as an experiment and considered a piece of property. Now that revolution has come to America, will Octavian find freedom? Sequel is in print too.

ISBN-10: 0763636797, ISBN-13: 978-0763636791

Kindred by Octavia E. Butler

A time travel novel about the notion of race in our country over time, this is the story of an African-American woman from the twentieth century who repeatedly goes back in time to experience life as a slave.

ISBN-10: 0807083690, ISBN-13: 978-0807083697

Mexican White Boy by Matt de la Pena

No matter where he lives, 16-year-old Danny Lopez is an outsider. At his private high school in wealthy northern San Diego County, "nobody paid him any attention…because he was Mexican." It didn't matter that he was half white. But when he visits the Mexican side of his family in National City, just a dozen miles from the border, Danny feels "Albino almost" and ashamed. He doesn't even speak Spanish. In this first-rate exploration of self-identity, Danny's growth as a baseball pitcher becomes a metaphor for the conflicts he must overcome due to his biracial heritage.

ISBN-10: 0385733100, ISBN-13: 978-0385733106

The London Eye Mystery by Siobhan Dowd

When their cousin Salim disappears into thin air during a ride on the London Eye, Ted and his sister Kat try to solve the mystery. The narrator is autistic.

ISBN-10: 0385751842, ISBN-13: 978-0385751841

The Breadwinner by Deborah Ellis

10-year-old Parvana must disguise herself as a boy in order to help her family survive war-torn Afghanistan.

ISBN-10: 0888994168, ISBN-13: 978-0888994165

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime: A Novel by Mark Haddon

Christopher has two mysteries to solve: who killed Wellington the dog and what happened to his mother. But Christopher, who has Asperger’s Syndrome, a form of autism, approaches these mysteries and the world itself in a unique and special way.

ISBN-10: 1400032717, ISBN-13: 978-1400032716

Habibi by Naomi Shihab Nye

Fourteen-year-old Palestinian American Liyana Abboud must learn to fit into a new world and understand the political conflicts when her family moves from St. Louis to Jerusalem. It isn’t until she meets Omer that her homesickness fades. But Omer is Jewish.

ISBN-10: 0689825234, ISBN-13: 978-0689825231

Brett McCarthy: Work in Progress by Maria Padian

Eighth grader Brett McCarthy - once a good student and best friend to Diane, now suspended and friendless - faces school and family troubles as she grapples with her redefined life. Brett has a funny and fresh voice and she lives for vocabulary words, soccer, and her larger-than-life grandmother, Nonna.

ISBN-10: 0440240557, ISBN-13: 978-0440240556

When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead

Shortly after sixth grader Miranda and her best friend Sal part ways, for some inexplicable reason her once familiar world turns upside down. This poignant novel, set in NYC in 1979, captures the interior monologues and observations of kids who are starting to recognize and negotiate the complexities of friendship, family, class, and identity.

ISBN-10: 0385737424, ISBN-13: 978-0385737425

The Arrival by Shaun Tan

Silent graphic novel of a stranger in a strange land - speaks to the immigrant experience and completely unique.

ISBN-10: 0439895294, ISBN-13: 978-0439895293

American Born Chinese by Eugene Lang Yang

Yang draws from American pop culture and ancient Chinese mythology in his groundbreaking work. Expertly told in words and pictures, Yang’s story in three parts follows a Chinese American teenager’s struggle to define himself against racial stereotypes.

ISBN-10: 0312384483, ISBN-13: 978-0312384487