Our Stories

Books About Teens of Color Living in the United States

These books tell stories about African American, Caribbean American, Native American, Asian American, Middle Eastern, Pacific Islander and Latino teens growing up in the United States.

• 19 Varieties of Gazelle. Nye, Naomi Shihab.
  Nye, an Arab American poet, writes about the conflict I the Middle East.
  
  
• Getting Away With Murder: The True Story of the Emmett Till Case. Crowe, Chris.
  When the public confession did not ensure punishment of the white murders of 14-year-old African American Emmett Till, the civil rights struggle in 1955 heightened.
  
  
• Finding Fish: A Memoir. Fisher, Antwone Quenton.
  An African American boy born in prison and raised in abusive foster care homes, succeeds in overcoming these disadvantages to love and raise a family of his own.
  
  
• Savion!: My Life in Tap. Glover, Savion and Bruce Weber.
  How is dancing like living? The young African American tap sensation shares lessons from the elders and describes how he became a star so young.
  
  
• Growing Up Filipino: Stories for Young Adults. Edited by Cecilia Manguerra Brainard.
  Twenty-nine stores of Filipino teens growing up on the islands and in the U. S. explore themes of family, angst, friendship, love and home.
  
  
• Bruce Lee: The Celebrated Life of the Golden Dragon. Lee, Bruce.
  The words and philosophies of the Hong Kong born martial artist trace his life from childhood to death.
  
  
• The Greatest: Muhammad Ali. Myers, Walter Dean.
  By standing up for his political and religious convictions in the 50s and 60s, the African American boxer and Nation of Islam member risked his professional boxing career.
  
  
• Night is Gone, Day is Still Coming: Stories and Poems by American Indian Teens and Young Adults. Edited by Annette Piña Ochoa, et. al.
  Native American youth write poems and prose revealing the struggles of life on the reservations and in the cities while they celebrate their strengths and their role models.
  
  
• Almost a Woman. Santiago, Esmeralda.
  A teen and her mother have very different ideas of what it means to grow up Puerto Rican in New York City. Also available in Spanish.
  
  
• Little X: Growing Up in the Nation of Islam. Tate, Sonsyrea.
  An African American author critiques her experience being raised in a Black Muslim family.
  
  
• YELL-Oh Girls! Emerging Voices Explore Culture, Identity, and Growing Up Asian American. Edited by Vickie Nam.
  Short stories, essays and poems by and about young Asian American girls growing up in the U. S. and Canada.
  
  

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FICTION

Age and interest level of fiction titles are indicated by (MS) for Middle School and (HS) for High School.

• Bone Dance. Brooks, Martha.
  Alexandra and Lonny, two Native American teens, struggle to find peace with their haunted pasts. (HS)
  
  
• Who Will Tell My Brother?. Carvell, Marlene.
  Senior Evan Hill, part Mohawk, fights to abolish his high school’s Indian mascot, and ends up the target of hate crimes. (HS)
  
  
• Whale Talk. Crutcher, Chris.
  T. J. Jones, a multiracial, adopted teen in a mostly white town, battles ignorance and prejudice as he organizes a swim team made up of his school’s misfits. (HS)
  
  
• Behind the Mountains. Danticat, Edwidge.
  When Celiane must leave her warm Haitian home in the mountains, she is faced with a new life in cold Brooklyn, New York. (MS)
  
  
• Born Confused. Desai Hadier, Tanuja.
  At 17, Dimple Lala―what a cousin calls “an ABCD, American Born Confused Desi”― discovers her family’s Indian traditions as she struggles with questions of identity, friendship and romance. (HS)
  
  
• The Skin I’m In. Flake, Sharon G.
  Seventh grader Maleeka, teased in school because of her dark skin, may learn to love herself with the help of Miss Saunders. (MS, HS)
  
  
• Life Is Funny. Frank, E. R.
  Eleven teens of different races tell their stories of love, loyalty and abuse. (HS)
  
  
• Bronx Masquerade. Grimes, Nikki.
  Poetry slams bring African American, white and Latino students in a high school English class closer together. (HS)
  
  
• Typical American. Jen, Gish.
  Ralph Chang, his sister Theresa and future wife Helen, immigrants from China, find they have become much of what they had criticized about Americans. (HS)
  
  
• Breaking Through. Jiménez, Francisco.
  A 14-year-old Mexican boy, living in California, faces universal teenage struggles in addition to racism and poverty. (MS, HS)
  
  
• The First Part Last. Johnson, Angela.
  How does a 16-year-old African American boy take care of his brand new baby daughter, keep up his studies and friends at school all on his own? (HS)
  
  
• F is for Fabuloso. Lee, Marie G.
  Asian American seventh grader, Jin Ha, worries when she receives an F grade and lies to her mother that “F” means fabuloso on American report cards. (MS)
  
  
• Drift. Martinez, Manuel Luis.
  Sixteen-year-old Mexican American, Robert, is forced to learn more than he wants about adult responsibilities after his father leaves and his mother has a nervous breakdown. (HS)
  
  
• Touching Spirit Bear. Mikaelsen, Ben.
  When a violent teen chooses the Native American judicial alternative instead of a prison sentence, he is sent to live along in the Alaskan wilderness to learn more about himself. (MS)
  
  

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• The Beast. Myers, Walter Dean.
  A 17-year-old African American returns to Harlem after attending a Connecticut prep school to find his girlfriend using heroin. (HS)
  
  
• Monster. Myers, Walter Dean.
  Steve walked into a store one night, and now this African American teen is in jail for murder.
  
  
• A Step from Heaven. Na, An.
  Young Ju’s Korean relatives speak of America as if it’s heaven, but when her family arrives in Southern California, she finds life is harder than expected. (MS, HS)
  
  
• An Ocean Apart, pursue a World Away. Namioka, Lensey.
  When Yanyan leaves China to pursue a medical degree at Cornell University, school isn’t her only challenge. (MS)
  
  
• Habibi. Nye, Naomi Shihab.
  Moved from St. Louis, Missouri to Jerusalem, an Arab American teen becomes immersed in conflict, cross-cultural romance and the struggles of being an American living abroad. (MS)
  
  
• Cuba 15. Osa, Nancy.
  As she plans her quinceañero, a half Polish, half Cuban American girl learns more about her crazy family, her heritage and what it means to get older. (MS, HS)
  
  
• Fresh Girl. Placide, Jaïra.
  Even after 14-year-old Mardi escapes from a coup in Haiti, she keeps her terrifying secret. (MS)
  
  
• Esperanza Rising. Ryan, Pam Muñoz.
  Forced to flee their lovely hacienda in Mexico, a young teen and her mother end up a migrant workers in Fresno. (MS) Also available in Spanish.
  
  
• Finding Our Way: Stories. Saldaña, René, Jr.
  Eleven short stories set in Latino neighborhoods let teens know they are not alone. (HS)
  
  
• Motorcycle Ride on the Sea of Tranquility. Santana, Patricia.
  Chuy returns bitter and violent from the Vietnam War, disrupting his close knit Mexican American Family. (HS)
  
  
• Grand Avenue. Sarris, Greg.
  Ten stories weave the history of five generations of Pomo Indians living near a fairground in Santa Rosa, California (HS)
  
  
• The Afterlife. Soto, Gary.
  A murdered 17-year-old Mexican American leads a tour of his Fresno community, falls in love and watches the revenge of his death, all as a ghost. (HS)
  
  
• Dangerous Skies. Staples, Suzanne Fisher.
  When an African American girl is accused of murder, her white best friend, Buck, must decide how (and if) to support her. (MS)
  
  
• The Land. Taylor, Mildred D.
  The son of a black slave and white master believes his loving father is different from other whites until the day his father beats him for being too proud. (MS)
  
  
• A Little Too Much is Enough. Tyau, Kathleen.
  Just after WWII, Suzanne Mahealani Wong comes of age among the traditions of her large and loving Hawaiian Chinese family. (MS)
  
  
• Every Time a Rainbow Dies. Williams-Garcia, Rita.
  After helping a Haitian rape victim, Jamaican born Thulani wonders if his own developing love for her will be returned. (HS)
  
  
• If You Come Softly. Woodson, Jacqueline.
  Can the love of two 15-year-olds, one white and one African American, survive the reactions of others? (MS, HS)
  
  
• Wild Meat and the Bully Burgers. Yamanaka, Lois-Ann.
  A Japanese American girl faces ethnic separation growing up in Hilo, Hawaii in the 1970s. (MS)
  
  

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