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50 Black young adult novelists you should read, from Angie Thomas to Walter Dean Myers


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. ....

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Tuskegee-born Angela Johnson named Harper Lee Award winner


Angela Johnson, the 2021 Harper Lee Award for Alabama s Distinguished Writer recipient, was born in Tuskegee, though her name may not be as immediately recognizable in her birth state as that of previous recipients, such as Rick Bragg, Fannie Flagg, Gay Talese, Winston Groom or Mark Childress.
That s a knowledge gap the prestigious award should help address, said Jeanie Thompson, executive director of the Alabama Writers Forum.
I am very happy for Angela Johnson to be returning to Alabama virtually, Thompson said, speaking of the 2021 Zoom version of the Monroeville Literary Festival, March 4-6, so that we can make her work more known to families and readers in Alabama. ....

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