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Raised in isolation, Tarisai yearns for the closeness she could have as one of the Crown Prince’s Council of 11, but her mother, The Lady, has magically compelled Tarisai to kill the Crown Prince.

Thirteen-year-old Indian American Reha feels torn between her American life and her family’s traditions and holidays. Reha feels disconnected from her parents, who have strict expectations, but when her mother is diagnosed with leukemia, Reha’s world changes again.

When Tyler’s father is injured in a tractor accident, the family decides to hire a family of Mexican migrant workers. For Tyler, the workers’ presence on the farm — as well as that of the three young daughters — is shrouded in mystery. As he develops a friendship with Mari, the eldest, he begins to wonder about the family’s immigration status and what it means to be patriotic. In the meantime, Mari struggles with her own complicated feelings and worries about her mother, who is missing. This unforgettable, award-winning novel, told from both the perspectives of Tyler and Mari, opens the door for discussing important questions about immigration, friendship, and family with students of all backgrounds.

Eighth-grader Malian is befriended and protected by a rez dog she calls Malsum when her short visit with her grandparents on the Penacook reservation is indefinitely extended by the pandemic.

Do you know the story of the slave who sailed himself to freedom? For the third book in the bestselling Tales of the Talented Tenth series, Joel Christian Gill brings Robert Smalls to life by telling the true story of the enslaved African who pulled off one of the most daring and largest heists of the Civil War. Come along for the adventure as Robert earns a job working for the C.S.S. Planter, escapes to freedom, goes on to become a first-generation Black politician, and makes history by writing and leading the passage of legislation that led to the United States’ first free and compulsory public school system. Tales of the Talented Tenth is a historical comic series that focuses on the adventures of amazing African Americans in action. 

Kiara has Asperger’s syndrome, and it’s hard for her to make friends. She wishes she could be like her hero Rogue — a misunderstood X-Men mutant who used to hurt anyone she touched until she learned how to control her special power. When Chad moves in across the street, Kiara hopes that, for once, she’ll be able to make friendship stick. When she learns his secret, she’s so determined to keep Chad as a friend that she agrees not to tell. But being a true friend is complicated and it might be just the thing that leads Kiara to find her own special power. The story celebrates everyone’s ability to discover and use whatever it is that makes them different.

Following her grandmother’s death, Jez and her twin brother Jay turn eleven and get the opportunity to learn the root work that has been a part of their family’s Gullah Geechee culture for generations.

Twelve-year-old Catherine just wants a normal life. Which is near impossible when you have a brother with autism and a family that revolves around his disability. But the summer Catherine meets Jason, a surprising, new sort-of friend, and Kristi, the next-door friend she’s always wished for, it’s her own shocking behavior that turns everything upside down and forces her to ask: What is normal?

Sparks will fly in this hip-hop-hot teen novel that mixes social protest and star-crossed romance, from Newbery Medal winner Kwame Alexander (The Crossing). Two high school seniors are thrown together when they unexpectedly end up leading the biggest social protest this side of the Mississippi — with a lot of help from social media.

The “Hollywood” where Sammy Santos and Juliana Ríos live is not the West Coast one, the one with all the glitz and glitter. This Hollywood is a tough barrio at the edge of a small town in southern New Mexico. Sammy and this friends—members of the 1969 high school graduating class—face a world of racism, dress codes, war in Vietnam and barrio violence. In the summer before his senior year begins, Sammy falls in love with Juliana, a girl whose tough veneer disguises a world of hurt.

It’s 2032, and in this near-future America, all citizens are chipped and everyone is tracked—from buses to grocery stores. It’s almost impossible to survive as an undocumented immigrant, but that’s exactly what sixteen-year-old Vali is doing. She and her family have carved out a stable, happy life in small-town Vermont, but when Vali’s mother’s counterfeit chip starts malfunctioning and the Deportation Forces raid their town, they are forced to flee. Now on the run, Vali and her family are desperately trying to make it to her tía Luna’s in California, a sanctuary state that is currently being walled off from the rest of the country. But when Vali’s mother is detained before their journey even really begins, Vali must carry on with her younger brother across the country to make it to safety before it’s too late. 

Elliott engages poets from the past two centuries to create a chorus of voices celebrating the creativity, resilience, and courage of Black women and girls and pays tribute to victims of police brutality as well as the activists insisting that Black Lives Matter.

Being a transracial adoptee doesn’t bother sixteen-year-old Alex Kirtridge — at least, not in a way she can explain to her white family. It doesn’t matter that she’s biracial when she’s the star of the baseball team. But when Alex is off the field, she’s teased for acting too white and judged for looking black. Things only get more complicated when she finds hidden letters from her birth father. Alex can’t stop asking questions. Meanwhile, her body is changing, and Alex isn’t sure she can keep up with her teammates. If she’s going to find answers, Alex must come to terms with her adoption, her race, and the dreams she thought would always guide her. Author Shannon Gibney draws from her own experiences as a transracial adoptee to deliver this honest coming-of-age novel about a girl who doesn’t know where she wants to fit in. Paperback edition includes a reading guide at the back. Winner of the Minnesota Book Award.

After her friend JC’s kidney transplant, Serena, a young Black girl, works on perfecting her vlogs, hoping to earn a shot at becoming a classroom reporter.

In the comics boom of the 1940s, a legend was born: the Green Turtle. He solved crimes and fought injustice just like the other comics characters. But this mysterious masked crusader was hiding something more than your run-of-the-mill secret identity… 

This comic had a short run before lapsing into obscurity, but Gene Luen Yang and Sonny Liew have revived this character in Shadow Hero, a new graphic novel that creates an origin story for the Green Turtle. This gorgeous, funny comics adventure for teens is a new spin on the long, rich tradition of American comics lore. 

When Nott City is taken over by a harsh governor and her parents disappear, twelve-year-old Robyn Loxley flees for her life and joins a group of children trying to take back what is rightfully theirs.

When the murals painted on the walls of her Brooklyn neighborhood start to change and fade in front of her, Sierra Santiago realizes that something strange is going on—then she discovers her Puerto Rican family are shadowshapers and finds herself in a battle with an evil anthropologist for the lives of her family and friends.

“This alphabetically organized collection highlights a variety of prominent, international women leaders who have made major political and social contributions to their countries…The text does not focus solely on the positive aspects of these women’s careers; it also features moments where the women and their policies have been criticized. This balanced approach offers a fuller, more realistic view of these individuals…Back matter contains source notes organized by the profiled individual.” — School Library Journal 

Eleven-year-old Simon Barnes dreams of becoming a world-famous rapper that everyone calls Notorious D.O.G. But for now, he’s just a Chicago fifth grader who’s small for his age and afraid to use his voice. But when his new teacher assigns the class an oral presentation on something that affects their community, Simon must face his fears. With some help from an unexpected ally and his neighborhood crew, will Simon gain the confidence to rap his way to an A and prove that one kid can make a difference in his ‘hood?

Lily and Wendy have been best friends since they became stepsisters. But with their feuding parents planning to spend the summer apart, what will become of their family — and their friendship? Little do they know that a mysterious boy has been watching them from the oak tree outside their window. A boy who intends to take them away from home for good, to an island of wild animals, Merfolk, Fairies, and kidnapped children, to a sea of merfolk, pirates, and a giant crocodile: a boy who calls himself Peter Pan.

In 1860 Louisiana, as eighty-year-old Madame Sylvie, mistress of a failing plantation, sits for a portrait, horrific stories are revealed: that of Thisbe, an enslaved woman who must stand silent by her mistress but observes everything, and of Byron, heir to the plantation, whose desires cannot fit with his family duty.

Six dangerous outcasts. One impossible heist. Follow Kaz and his crew into a world of magic and mayhem as they attempt to pull off ― and survive ―  the job of a lifetime.

Your authenticity is your superpower. That’s the motto that professional skateboarder Leo Baker lives by and champions. But like any hero’s journey, learning about their power didn’t come easy. In this installment of the Pocket Change Collective, Baker takes the reader on a complicated, powerful journey through the world of skate and competitive sport as a non-binary athlete.

Hiding her identity as the developer of an elite online role-playing game, seventeen-year-old Black honors student Kiera,  one of the only Black students in her school, is targeted with violent racism when an in-game dispute escalates into a player’s murder.