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In a series of personal essays, prominent journalist and LGBTQIA+ activist George M. Johnson explores his childhood, adolescence, and college years in New Jersey and Virginia. From the memories of getting his teeth kicked out by bullies at age five, to flea marketing with his loving grandmother, to his first sexual relationships, this young-adult memoir weaves together the trials and triumphs faced by Black queer boys. Both a primer for teens eager to be allies as well as a reassuring testimony for young queer men of color, All Boys Aren’t Blue covers topics such as gender identity, toxic masculinity, brotherhood, family, structural marginalization, consent, and Black joy. Johnson’s emotionally frank style of writing will appeal directly to young adults. A New York Library Best Book of 2020.

Jazz Jennings is one of the youngest and most prominent voices in the national discussion about gender identity. At the age of five, Jazz transitioned to life as a girl, with the support of her parents, eventually becoming one of the most recognizable activists for transgender teens, children, and adults. In her remarkable memoir, Jazz reflects on these very public experiences and how they have helped shape the mainstream attitude toward the transgender community, as well as the challenges, bullying, discrimination, and rejection she has faced. Through it all, her family has been beside her on this journey, standing together against those who don’t understand the true meaning of tolerance and unconditional love. Now Jazz must learn to navigate the physical, social, and emotional upheavals of adolescence—particularly high school—complicated by the unique challenges of being a transgender teen. 

Apple has always felt a little different from her classmates. She and her mother moved to Louisiana from the Philippines when she was little, and her mother still cooks Filipino foods and chastises Apple for becoming “too American.” When Apple’s friends turn on her and everything about her life starts to seem weird and embarrassing, Apple turns to music. If she can just save enough to buy a guitar and learn to play, maybe she can change herself. It might be the music that saves her … or it might be her two new friends, who show her how special she really is.

It’s a routine case, or at least as routine as a cases get when you’re a twelve-year-old private detective who’s been sleuthing for just a few months: Steve Brixton must don a neon wetsuit and work undercover to retrieve a stolen surfboard. But when the assignment goes all wrong, Steve finds himself caught inside mysteries involving wild surfers, pirate smugglers, thick-necked goons, and a sixth-grader who can’t find his gym shorts.

Teen TV star Lindsay Scott has a nervous breakdown and disappears from the public eye. Is her Dad holding her captive, or is something ever weirder going on?

Seventh grader “Crash” Coogan is a jock who, as he begins narrating this humorous, touching novel, is a downright bully. He takes aim most often at a neighbor and classmate named Penn. Penn not only wears hand-me-downs but joins the cheerleading squad. This is an unusual glimpse at “jockdom.”

Twelve-year-old Korean American Junie Kim, who’s kept quiet about the bullying and racism she encounters at school, is diagnosed with depression but is later inspired to speak out after learning about her grandparents’ experiences during the Korean War.

Times have changed in the Kingdom of Tortall. Keladry of Mindelan, who dreams of a knight’s shield of her own, is the first girl without a disguise to train for knighthood. Without disguise does not mean without difficulty however and the series follows Kel as she’s tested by bullies, skeptics, and her own fears.

They say opposites attract. That is very true in the case of Max and Kevin. Max, a self-described “butthead goon,” is an extra large eighth grader labeled learning disabled. Kevin, known as Freak, is highly intelligent and suffers from a rare dwarfism syndrome. Literally put the two together — Freak rides on Max’s shoulders — and you’ve got Freak the Mighty, brawn and brains out for adventure, fighting the good fight for good causes.

With the help of her chorus teacher, Black thirteen-year-old Genesis learns to love herself and finds her voice to overcome internalized racism and a verbally abusive family.

Four lives are intertwined and changed when a bully’s prank lands shy Virgil at the bottom of a well and Valencia, Kaori, and Gen band together in an epic quest to find and rescue him. 

Every time Martin opens his mouth, he gets in trouble. He’s just been dumped at the last place that will take him; a school filled with freaks and psychotic bullies. His roommate starts fires, his new friends are cheats, and his teachers hate him. Then things really get weird.

Eighteen-year-old Amir Azadi always knew coming out to his Muslim family would be messy—he just didn’t think it would end in an airport interrogation room. But when faced with a failed relationship, bullies, and blackmail, running away to Rome is his only option. Right? Soon, late nights with new friends and dates in the Sistine Chapel start to feel like second nature… until his old life comes knocking on his door. Now, Amir has to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth to a US Customs officer, or risk losing his hard-won freedom. At turns uplifting and devastating, How It All Blew Up is Arvin Ahmadi’s most powerful novel yet, a celebration of how life’s most painful moments can live alongside the riotous, life-changing joys of discovering who you are. 

Lucy Otswego is a big girl who towers over just about everyone and everything in her small Alaskan town-except for her father’s reputation as a mean drunk. At fifteen, Lucy runs away from the cruel classmates who see her only as the Giant, the neighboring adults who pity her, and the abusive father whose fleeting attention is worse than his indifference. When the crew of a crabbing boat assumes she’s much older than she is and invites her to sign on for the season, she jumps at the chance to escape her teenage life.

Marcus Vega is six feet tall, 180 pounds, and the owner of a premature mustache. When you look like this and you’re only in the eighth grade, you’re both a threat and a target. After a fight at school leaves Marcus facing suspension, Marcus’s mom decides it’s time for a change of environment. She takes Marcus and his younger brother to Puerto Rico to spend a week with relatives they don’t remember or have never met. But Marcus can’t focus knowing that his father — who walked out of their lives ten years ago — is somewhere on the island. So begins Marcus’s incredible journey, a series of misadventures that take him all over Puerto Rico in search of his elusive namesake. Marcus doesn’t know if he’ll ever find his father, but what he ultimately discovers changes his life. And he even learns a bit of Spanish along the way. ALA Notable Children’s Book for Middle Readers, 2019.

Bobby Byington has always had to navigate his father’s alcoholism and anger, but things are looking up. His father has stopped drinking, his mother is back home, and his basketball team is winning games. But two new problems surface when his -smart- girlfriend is bullied by a resentful schoolmate and a fellow team member is bullied by an abusive father.
This is the second novel in the No Name series.

Vivian Carter is tired…tired of disrespect, bump and grabs, and a principal who turns a blind eye to football players who treat girls inappropriately. When Vivvy finds an old shoebox full of evidence from her mom’s feminist exploits as a teen, she is inspired to start her own Moxie girl rebellion.

Seventeen-year-old Peter Houghton wakes up one day, loads his backpack with four guns, walks into the school cafeteria, and kills nine students and one teacher in the span of nineteen minutes. Why?

In a gripping and enthralling sequel to FLY, CHEROKEE, FLY, Darryl is the proud owner of two new baby racing pigeons - and still fancies older girl Susan rotten. But he also has a problem with bullying Warren Spigott, who threatens to harm the birds - and especially the one Darryl has named Pawnee Warrior, which is to begin its early training in Warren’s father’s pigeon-loft… With the help of his new friend Suzie, Darryl knows that, to protect his birds, he must now become a warrior himself.

In middle school, words aren’t just words. They can be weapons. They can be gifts. The right words can win you friends or make you enemies. They can come back to haunt you. Sometimes they can change things forever.

When cell phones are banned at Branton Middle School, Frost and his friends Deedee, Wolf, and Bench come up with a new way to communicate: leaving sticky notes for each other all around the school. It catches on, and soon all the kids in school are leaving notes—though for every kind and friendly one, there is a cutting and cruel one as well.

In the middle of this, a new girl named Rose arrives at school and sits at Frost’s lunch table. Rose is not like anyone else at Branton Middle School, and it’s clear that the close circle of friends Frost has made for himself won’t easily hold another. As the sticky-note war escalates, and the pressure to choose sides mounts, Frost soon realizes that after this year, nothing will ever be the same.

Welcome to high school. Brace yourself for too much homework, too much attention from dangerous seniors, and no idea what your Spanish teacher is talking about. Or your math teacher, for that matter.

On the outside, Yumi Chung suffers from #shygirlproblems, a perm-gone-wrong, and kids calling her Yu-MEAT because she smells like her family’s Korean barbecue restaurant. On the inside, Yumi is ready for her Netflix stand-up special. Her notebook is filled with mortifying memories that she’s reworked into comedy gold. All she needs is a stage and courage. Instead of spending the summer studying her favorite YouTube comedians, Yumi is enrolled in test-prep tutoring to qualify for a private school scholarship, which will help in a time of hardship at the restaurant. One day after class, Yumi stumbles on an opportunity that will change her life: a comedy camp for kids taught by one of her favorite YouTube stars. The only problem is that the instructor and all the students think she’s a girl named Kay Nakamura—and Yumi doesn’t correct them. As this case of mistaken identity unravels, Yumi must decide to stand up and reveal the truth or risk losing her dreams and disappointing everyone she cares about. 

Starting With Alice is the first book in the trilogy of prequels of the Alice series. Eight-year-old Alice McKinley is the new girl in third grade. Desperate to meet people, Alice learns that making friends is harder than it seems. As Alice navigates the ins and outs of third grade, there are plenty of bumps, giggles, and surprises along the way. Every girl should grow up with Alice, and with this irresistible new look, a whole new generation will want to.

When Junior gets a chance to leave the reservation school and attend a far-away white high school, he must deal with prejudice not only from his new schoolmates, but from those he left behind.