Billingsley, ReShonda Tate – Blessings In Disguise
Family problems tempt Alexis and Jasmine to do something drastic to get the attention they crave, but their friends in Good Girlz, an afterschool church youth group, have some hard-won advice for them.
Coe, Booth – Tyrell
The protagonist of this astonishing debut is a young, African-American teen who can't get a break. Tyrell is living (for now) with his spaced-out mother and little brother in a homeless shelter. He feels he needs to score some money to make things better. Will he end up following in his fathers footsteps?
Davis, Joyce E. – Can’t Stop the Shine
When a nationwide talent competition comes to Atlanta, sisters Kalia and Mariama Jefferson stop arguing long enough to agree on one thing: Kalia has to try out. When she makes the top 20, the competition really begins--on stage and at home.
Ellis, Deborah – The Heaven Shop
Binti and her siblings are orphaned when their father dies of AIDS. Split up and sent to relatives all over Malawi, they suffer increasing hardship until they are reunitied through the influence of their formidable grandmother.
Grant, Stephanie – Map of Ireland: A Novel
In 1974, the first year of busing in Boston, Massachusetts, seventeen-year-old Ann Ahern's lesbianism, which has isolated her from other white students, draws her to her African French teacher and leads her to insights into Blacks' struggles in the post-Civil Rights era.
Hayden – A Matter of Attitude
Fashionista with the fiercest style sense and head-turning clothes? That's Angela Jenkins. But Angela's got designer-clad competition: the very popular Karen Frasier, who has it all. So when Shayla Mercer, the girl with the toughest street rep, offers to make sure Angela wins—for a fee—Angela says yes. And she learns that the price of popularity can be too high.
Jones, Traci L. – Standing Against the Wind
As she tries to escape her poor Chicago neighborhood by winning a scholarship to a prestigious boarding school, shy and studious eighth-grader Patrice discovers that she has more options in life than she previously realized.
Williams, Tia – It Chicks
Welcome to Louis B. Armstrong, New York Citys most prestigious performing arts school, where the gifted, wannabe starlets and It chicks are all on the rise. This fast-paced, drama-filled tale is YA glam lit at its best.
Woodson, Jacqueline – After Tupac and D Foster
In the New York City borough of Queens in 1996, three girls bond over their shared love of Tupac Shakur's music, as together they try to make sense of the unpredictable world in which they live.