Must-Read YA Books for Black History Month
By Jane Laurey
Black History Month is an annual celebration of African American culture and history. It is observed in February and has recognition from the US and Canada. Black History Month became official when US President Gerald Ford extended it from a week in February to the entire month of February.
Reading books with representation is important year-round to help us expand our view of the world and understand experiences different from our own. This Black History Month, prioritize reading books by Black authors and about Black stories with this list of must-read young adult books!
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
This 2017 young adult novel focuses on Starr Carter, a 16-year-old who struggles to balance the two parts of her life: her low-income neighborhood and her suburban prep school. Starr’s entire life is upended when her childhood best friend, Khalil, is fatally shot by a police officer, even though he was unarmed. The story of Khalil’s death is heard all around the country, even inciting nationwide protests. As the only person who truly knows what happened the night Khalil died, Starr finds herself at the center of unwanted attention from the cops, the local drug lord, and the media. Starr wrestles with what she can reveal about that night, while also keeping herself and her family safe and honoring Khalil.
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Dear Martin by Nic Stone
Justyce, a Black teen who attends a majority-white private school, struggles to embrace his racial identity, as most of his classmates don’t understand his Black experience, and some of his classmates even think he gets unfair advantages because he is Black. Moreover, his peers from the majority Black neighborhood his mother lives in think that he’s rejected his Blackness to try to be successful. One night when Justyce tries to help out his drunk ex-girlfriend, he gets unfairly arrested. This experience causes him to question his identity even more. After this, he started writing journal entries addressed to Martin Luther King Jr. to apply MLK’s teachings to his life. This novel focuses on identity, media, and police brutality, making it a great read for Black History Month.
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You Truly Assumed by Laila Sabreen
Sabriya, a Black and Muslim teen, can’t wait to begin her perfectly planned out summer when her plans are interrupted by a shocking terrorist attack near where she lives. In the aftermath of the attack, the terrorist is assumed to be Muslim. Islamophobia becomes widespread, and Sabriya decides to use her online journal, You Truly Assumed, as an outlet for her feelings about the growing Islamophobia where she lives. To Sabriya’s surprise, other Muslim teens around the country discover her blog, and it goes viral. After the blog's quick success, two other Muslim teens, Zakat and Farah, sign on to help run the blog. The blog’s popularity grows, but negative comments start to come in along with the positive ones. One of them gets threatened, so they attempt to find out where the threat originated. They grapple with the decision to shut down the blog or ignore the threats and fight to make their voices heard.
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