50 Black YA authors you should read, from Angie Thomas to Walter Dean Myers Mary Cadden, USA TODAY
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As a genre, young adult literature is still fairly young. Its modern iteration has only been around since the 1960s. And though YA readership has grown exponentially over the last decades, the diversity of the authors behind the books is in its infancy. But that is changing.
As the number of Black YA authors grows, so have their stories. These authors not only show Black teens dealing with the same coming of age issues that any teen would deal with – falling in love, finding your place in the world, coming to terms with their sexuality, but also navigating issues like systemic racism and microaggressions, says LaKeshia N. Darden, librarian and adjunct professor at Campbell University and Coretta Scott King Book Awards Jury, Chair 2019-2021.
Angie Thomas to Walter Dean Myers: Black YA novelists you should know azcentral.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from azcentral.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Alex Brown (by Henrik Meng)
2020 has been a hellish year for so many reasons, but one of the few bright spots has been the mass of absolutely incredible fiction that managed to get published. Usually I’m able to read a good chunk of new books, particularly young-adult speculative fiction, but what with –
waves hands dramatically – everything, my reading this year took a sharp left into romance fiction. It’s become my main reading genre at this point, which hasn’t left much room for anything else. However, a few books of the science fiction, fantasy, and horror persuasion have squeezed through the crush of bodices and meet-cutes. Fortunately for me, most have been so good that I inhaled them each in a few sittings. What follows is a long, rambling list of some of my favorite young-adult speculative fiction books from 2020.
Top books, video, and audiobooks for children and young adults revealed at ALA Midwinter Virtual January 25, 2021
On January 25, the American Library Association (ALA) announced the top books, digital media, video, and audiobooks for children and young adults including the Caldecott, Coretta Scott King, Newbery, and Printz awards at its Midwinter Meeting & Exhibits taking place virtually from Chicago.
A list of all the 2021 award winners follows:
John Newbery Medal for the most outstanding contribution to children’s literature:
When You Trap a Tiger, written by Tae Keller, is the 2021 Newbery Medal winner. The book is published by Random House Children’s Books, a division of Penguin Random House.