Jason Reynolds is National Ambassador

Young Adult author Jason Reynolds' list of awards and achievements is long and this January the list became even more illustrious when he was named our next (and 7th) National Ambassador for Young People's Literature by the Library of Congress,and it's two partners the Children’s Book Council, and Every Child a Reader. Previous Ambassadors were: Jacqueline Woodson, Gene Luen Yang, Kate DiCamillo, Walter Dean Myers, Katherine Paterson, and Jon Scieszka.

The National Ambassador program was established in 2008. During their two year term each ambassador travels to towns across America to talk with young people. Reynolds believes that everybody has a story, and so he is calling his platform as ambassador: “GRAB THE MIC: Tell Your Story.” The focus will be on empowering students to embrace and share their own personal stories. 

There are a lot of interviews with Jason Reynolds online. I encourage you to check them out, particularly the recording of the National Ambassador for Young People's Literature Inauguration. It is long, so if you just want to get to know about Jason and his platform start the video at 35:10. Many of the interviews focus on Jason's journey from reluctant reader to award-winning author. I think the following short clip from a 2018 interview gets at the heart of his message on reading and writing:

Here is a description and recommendation of Reynolds' work from Ebsco's NoveList database: "Authentic characterization drives the work of award-winning author Jason Reynolds. Focusing mainly on African-American teens and kids in realistic urban settings, he crafts characters whose words, actions, and emotions ring true. Reynolds doesn't shy away from portraying painful and deeply moving situations, but presents them in an honest, accessible style that will appeal to all kinds of young readers. Start with Long Way Down (Teens); Ghost (Older Kids)."

Or you could start with Jason's own favorites: Boy in the Black Suit, 2015 (Teens), or As Brave As You, 2016 (Older Kids).

Jason Reynolds' website.

Jason Reynolds' books in our catalog.

Choice Book

The Hate U Give, by Angie Thomas has been hovering at or near the top of The New York Times' Young Adult Hardcover bestseller list for 25 weeks now. It's in my top 5 favorite books for 2017, and is the book I chose to sponsor for HWRHS's summer reading choice list this year. Although, I originally considered picking from the fantasy or science fiction genre as I did last year (The Goblin Emperor, by Katherine Addison), after reading Thomas' book the decision was over. The book sang choose me! choose me!! The story is inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement, and could not be more relevant to our current time. The story and characters immediately draw you in and carry you through the course of a terrible event with insight, heart, and a sprinkle of humor. There was no other book I could choose over this one for the high school choice list. Tomorrow I'll be meeting with 15 of the 30 students who signed up to read the book over the summer. (53 books were sponsored this year.) A second group of 15 students will be meeting with Principal Eric Tracy as he too chose to sponsor Thomas's book. As part of my preparation for the book discussion I put together a read-a-like book list for The Hate U Give, which is shared below. Descriptions are whole or paraphrased from our library catalog. Titles are linked to the catalog.

If you liked THE HATE U GIVE, by Angie Thomas,

Summary: Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor black neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend, Khalil, at the hands of a police officer. Starr's life is complicated when the police and a local drug lord try to intimidate her. But what Starr does--or does not--say could destroy her community.

Genre: Realistic; Contemporary
Storyline: Character-driven; Issue-oriented

you might also like:
these Fiction read-a-likes about Racism, Race Relations

Bright Lights, Dark Nights, by Stephen Emond, 2015. Walter Wilcox's first love, Naomi, happens to be African American, so when Walter's policeman father is caught in a racial profiling scandal, the teens' bond and mutual love of the Foo Fighters may not be enough to keep them together through the pressures they face at school, at home, and online.

Allegedly, by Tiffany Jackson, 2017. When Mary, a teenager living in a group home, becomes pregnant, authorities take another look at the crime for which Mary was convicted when she was nine years old.

How It Went Down, by Kekla Magoon, 2014. When 16-year-old Tariq is shot to death, his community is thrown into an uproar because Tariq was black and the shooter is white, and in the aftermath everyone has something to say, but no two accounts of the events agree.

All American Boys, by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely, 2015. When 16-year-old Rashad is mistakenly accused of stealing, classmate Quinn witnesses his brutal beating at the hands of a police officer who happens to be the older brother of his best friend. Told through Rashad and Quinn's alternating viewpoints.

Flygirl, by Sherri Smith, 2009.  During World War II, a light-skinned African American girl "passes" for white in order to join the Women Airforce Service Pilots.

Blackand White, by Paul Volponi, 2005. Two star high school basketball players, one black and one white, experience the justice system differently after committing a crime together and getting caught.

PiecingMe Together, by Renee Watson, 2017. Tired of being singled out at her mostly-white private high school as someone who needs support, Jade would rather participate in the school's amazing Study Abroad program than join Women to Women, a mentor-ship program for at-risk girls.

AmericanStreet, by Ibi Zoboi, 2017.  When Fabiola's mother is detained upon their arrival to the U.S., Fabiola must navigate her loud American cousins, the grittiness of Detroit's west side, a new school, and a surprising romance all on her own.

Fiction read-a-likes that are 
Culturally Diverse, Character Driven, and Issue Oriented

The Lines We Cross, by Randa Abdel-Fattah, 2017.  Basketball enthusiast Michael attends anti-immigration rallies with his parents until a friendship with Mina, a Muslim refugee from Afghanistan, compels him to question his family's politics. Their mutual attraction demands they come to terms with their family's concerns and decide where they stand in the anti-Muslim politics of the time.

 The Radius of Us, by Marie Marquardt, 2017.  After being mugged, 17-year-old Gretchen is still struggling to deal with her fears when she meets Phoenix, an 18-year-old immigrant from El Salvador. Told in alternating voices.

Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass, by Meg Medina, 2013.  Informed that a bully she does not know is determined to beat her up Latin American teen Piddy Sanchez struggles to learn more about the father she has never met, until the bully's gang forces her to confront more difficult challenges.

If you liked THE HATE U GIVE, by Angie Thomas,

you might also like these Nonfiction books:

TheyCalled Themselves the K.K.K.: The Birth of an American Terrorist Group, by Susan Bartoletti, 2010. Uses personal accounts unearthed from oral histories, congressional documents, and diaries, to unveil the creation of the Ku Klux Klan in Pulaski, Tennessee, and its spread across the American South. (Narrative Nonfiction)

RacialProfiling: Everyday Inequality, by Alison Behnke, 2017.  An in-depth analysis combining research with personal stories that explores the history, the many manifestations, and the consequences of this form of social injustice.

Between the World and Me, by Ta-Nehisi Coates, 2015. Told in a series of essays written as an open letter to his son, Coates confronts America's racial history and details what it has meant and what it means to be black in America. (Memoir)

In the Shadow of Liberty: The Hidden History of Slavery, Four Presidents, and Five Black Lives, by Kenneth Davis, 2016. An examination of American slavery through the true stories of five enslaved people who were considered the property of some of our best-known presidents.

March, Books 1, 2, & 3, by John Lewis, co-written by Andrew Aydin, illustrated by Nate Powell, 2013-2016. Congressman John Lewis's first-hand account of his lifelong struggle for civil and human rights. (An Autobiography in Graphic Novel format)

Invisible Man, Got the Whole World Watching: A Young Black Man's Education, by Mychal Smith, 2016. A prominent journalist and contributing writer to The Nation magazine describes his education and the experiences of black masculinity against a backdrop of the Obama administration, the death of Trayvon Martin, the career of LeBron James and other pivotal influences that have shaped race relations in today's America. (Memoir)

The Rap Year Book: The Most Important Rap Song From Every Year Since 1979, Discussed,Debated, and Deconstructed, by Shea Serrano, 2015. Serrano examines the history and culture of rap music--from artists' backgrounds to issues of race, the rise of hip-hop, and the struggles among its major players--both personal and professional. Covering East Coast and West Coast, famous rapper feuds, chart toppers, and show stoppers.

The Rose That Grew From Concrete

Did u hear about the rose that grew from a crack
in the concrete?
Proving nature's law wrong it learned 2 walk
without having feet
Funny it seems but by keeping its dreams
it learned 2 breathe fresh air

Long live the rose that grew from concrete
when no one else ever cared!

                 --Tupac Amaru Shakur 1971-1996

The Rose That Grew From Concrete, by Tupac Shakur, 1999. A collection of verse by the late hip-hop star Tupac Shakur includes more than 100 poems confronting such wide-ranging topics as poverty, motherhood, Van Gogh, and Mandela. Included are facsimiles of the poems in Shakur's handwriting, with scratch outs and corrections, distinctive spelling, and ideographs (a drawing of an eye for I, etc.).

African American Fiction and Nonfiction

Over the past couple of years there have been some excellent nonfiction books published about Black History in the United States, which inspired me to create this young adult book list. In addition to the nonfiction books listed below, I have included a fiction list by genre where the main characters in the story are African American. Book descriptions are from our catalog. Clicking on the book title will take you to the Library's online catalog where you may place a hold.

Each year during the month of February, events are held nationwide honoring the history and contributions of African Americans. Black History Month began in 1926 as an initiative of historian, writer, and educator, Dr. Carter G. Woodson.

The Black History Month graphic design included here was created by local artist, Eva Der, 2015.

                         Fantasy    

Liar, by Justine Larbalestier, 2009. Compulsive liar Micah promises to tell the truth after revealing that her boyfriend has been murdered. Paranormal fiction, suspense.



Akata Witch, by Nnedi Okorafor, 2009. Twelve-year-old Sunny Nwazue, an American-born albino child of Nigerian parents, moves with her family back to Nigeria, where she learns that she has latent magical powers which she and three similarly gifted friends use to catch a serial killer.

      Graphic Format     

I See the Promised Land: A Life of Martin Luther King, Jr., [text by] Arthur Flowers, 2013. Presents in graphic novel format the life of the Baptist minister and Noble Peace Prize winner who became the leader and orator of the African American civil rights movement before his assassination in 1968.

March. Book One, by John Lewis, 2013. A first-hand account of the author's lifelong struggle for civil and human rights spans his youth in rural Alabama, his life-changing meeting with Martin Luther King, Jr., and the birth of the Nashville Student Movement. March. Book Two, by John Lewis, 2015.

The Silence of Our Friends, by Mark Long, 2012. "This semi-autobiographical tale is set in 1967 Texas, against the backdrop of the fight for civil rights. A white family from a notoriously racist neighborhood in the suburbs and a black family from its poorest ward cross Houston's color line to win the freedom of five black college students unjustly charged with the murder of a policeman"--provided by publisher.

Yummy: The Last days of a Southside Shorty, by Greg Neri, 2008. "A graphic novel based on the true story of Robert "Yummy" Sandifer, an 11-year old African American gang member from Chicago who shot a young girl and was then shot by his own gang members"--provided by publisher.

       Historical Fiction      

Chains, by Laurie Halse Anderson, 2008. After being sold to a cruel couple in New York City, a slave named Isabel spies for the rebels during the Revolutionary War. First book in Seeds of America trilogy.

Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation: the Pox Party, by M. T. Anderson, 2006. Various diaries, letters, and other manuscripts chronicle the experiences of Octavian, a young African American, from birth to age sixteen, as he is brought up as part of a science experiment in the years leading up to and during the Revolutionary War.

Copper Sun, by Sharon Draper, 2006. Two 15-year-old girls--one a slave and the other an indentured servant--escape their Carolina plantation and try to make their way to Fort Moses, Florida, a Spanish colony that gives sanctuary to slaves.

Which Way Freedom?, by Joyce Hansen, 1986. Obi escapes from slavery during the Civil War, joins a black Union regiment, and soon becomes involved in the bloody fighting at Fort Pillow, Tennessee.

Day of Tears: a Novel in Dialogue, by Julius Lester, 2005. When gambling debts and greed enter into the Butler household, Pierce Butler decides to host the biggest slave auction in American history and breaks a promise by selling Emma, his most-valued slave and caretaker of his children--a decision that brings about unthinkable consequences.

The Rock and the River, by Kekla Magoon, 2009. In 1968 Chicago, 14-year-old Sam Childs is caught in a conflict between his father's nonviolent approach to seeking civil rights for African Americans and his older brother, who has joined the Black Panther Party.

Invasion!, by Walter Dean Myers, 2013. Josiah and Marcus were friends in Virginia, but now that they are both involved in the Normandy invasion, the differences in their positions is uncomfortable, for Josiah is a white infantryman and Marcus is a black transport driver, the only role the segregated army will allow him. World War I story.

No Crystal Stair: A Documentary Novel of the Life and Work of Lewis Michaux, Harlem Bookseller, by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson, 2012. The story of a man with a passion for knowledge and of a bookstore whose influence has become legendary.Told by a banker that he should sell fried chicken rather than books, since "Negroes don't read", Lewis Michaux defied the odds to build Harlem's National Memorial African Bookstore, an intellectual center and gathering place from 1939 to 1975.

Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy, by Gary Schmidt, 2004. In 1911, Turner Buckminster hates his new home of Phippsburg, Maine, but things improve when he meets Lizzie Bright Griffin, a girl from a poor, nearby island community founded by former slaves that the town fathers--and Turner's--want to change into a tourist spot.

The Steep and Thorny Way, by Cat Winters, 2016.  A 16-year-old biracial girl in rural Oregon in the 1920s searches for the truth about her father's death while avoiding trouble from the Ku Klux Klan in this historical novel inspired by Shakespeare's Hamlet.



X, by Ilyasah Shabazz, 2015. Follows the childhood of Malcolm X, the civil rights leader, to his imprisonment at age twenty, where he found the faith that would lead him to his path towards activism and justice.

      Mystery    

Fake ID, by L. R. Giles, 2014. An African-American teen in the Witness Protection Program moves to a new town and finds himself trying to solve a murder mystery when his first friend is found dead.

     Realistic/Contemporary    

The Crossover, by Kwame Alexander, 2014. 14-year-old twin basketball stars Josh and Jordan wrestle with highs and lows on and off the court as their father ignores his declining health. Sports fiction, novel written in verse.

The Skin I'm In, by Sharon Flake, 1998. Thirteen-year-old Maleeka, uncomfortable because her skin is extremely dark, meets a new teacher and makes some discoveries about how to love who she is and what she looks like.

The First Part Last, by Angela Johnson, 2003. Bobby's carefree teenage life changes forever when he becomes a father and must care for his adored baby daughter.

How It Went Down, by Kekla Magoon, 2014. When 16-year-old Tariq Johnson is shot to death, his community is thrown into an uproar because Tariq was black and the shooter, Jack Franklin, is white, and in the aftermath everyone has something to say, but no two accounts of the events agree.

Sunrise Over Fallujah, by Walter Dean Myers, 2008. Robin Perry, from Harlem, is sent to Iraq in 2003 as a member of the Civilian Affairs Battalion, and his time there profoundly changes him. War story.

After Tupac and D Foster, Jacqueline Woodson, 2008. 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.

      Romance      

He Said, She Said, by Kwame Alexander, 2013. "When a popular football 'playa' and ladies man and the smartest girl in school lead a school protest, sparks fly as their social media-aided revolution grows"-- provided by publisher.

Jason & Kyra, by Dana Davidson, 2004. Handsome and popular Jason tries to come to terms with his irascible, often absent father and his growing attraction to the quiet, studious Kyra.

Romiette and Julio, by Sharon Draper, 1999. An African-American girl and a Latino boy fall in love after meeting on the Internet, but they are harrassed by a gang who objects to their interracial dating.

Like No Other, by Una LaMarche, 2014. Living on opposite sides of their Brooklyn neighborhood, strict Hasidic Devorah and fun-loving nerd Jaxon forge an unexpected connection when they become trapped in an elevator during a hurricane, after which they pursue a secret romance.

If You Come Softly, by Jacqueline Woodson, 1998. After meeting at their private school in New York, 15-year-old Jeremiah, who is black and whose parents are separated, and Ellie, who is white and whose mother has twice abandoned her, fall in love and then try to cope with people's reactions.

     Suspense    

Love is the Drug, by Alaya Dawn Johnson, 2014. Emily Bird is an African American high school senior in Washington D.C., member of a privileged medical family, on the verge of college and the edge of the drug culture, and not really sure which way she will go--then one day she wakes up in the hospital with no memory of what happened.

Ninth Ward, by Jewell Parker Rhodes, 2010. In New Orleans' Ninth Ward, 12-year-old Lanesha, who can see spirits, and her adopted grandmother have no choice but to stay and weather the storm as Hurricane Katrina bears down upon them.

   Black History Nonfiction    

The Complete Encyclopedia of African American History, by Jessie Carney Smith and Linda T. Wynn, editors. 2014. 400 years of the African American civil rights experience, this encyclopedic work aims to increase the wealth of information that is currently published on African Americans and their struggle for civil rights. [This is a reference book. There is one copy in the consortium that may be checked out.]

Searching for Sarah Rector: the Richest Black Girl in America, by Tonya Bolden, 2014. Recounts the story of the 1914 disappearance of 11-year-old Sarah Rector, an African American who was part of the Creek Indian people and whose land had made her wealthy, and what it reveals about race, money, and American society. Biography.

The Spies of Mississippi: the True Story of the Spy Agency that Tried to Destroy the Civil Rights Movement, by Rick Bowers, 2010. In the 1950s and 1960s, the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission compiled secret files on more than 87,000 private citizens in the most extensive state spying program in U.S. history. Its mission: to save segregation. 

Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice, by Phillip M. Hoose, 2009. Presents the life of the Alabama teenager who played an integral but little-known role in the Montgomery bus strike of 1955-1956, once by refusing to give up a bus seat, and again, by becoming a plaintiff in the landmark civil rights case against the bus company. Biography.

Because They Marched: the People's Campaign for Voting Rights that Changed America, by Russell Freedman, 2014. To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1965 march for voting rights from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, Newbery Medalist Freedman presents an account of this pivotal event in the history of civil rights.

To the Mountaintop!: My Journey Through the Civil Rights Movement, by Charlayne Hunter-Gault, 2012. Starting with Barack Obama's inauguration in 2009 and working back to the early 1960s, Hunter-Gault covers many of the significant moments in the civil rights movement. Biography.

The Girl From the Tar Paper School: Barbara Rose Johns and the Advent of the Civil Rights Movement, by Teri Kanefield, 2014. Describes the protest organized by teenager Johns in order to secure a permanent building for her segregated high school in Virginia in 1951, and explains how her actions helped fuel the civil rights movement. Biography.

A Time to Break Silence: the Essential Works of Martin Luther King, Jr. for Students, by Martin Luther King, Jr. ; introduction by Walter Dean Myers, 2013. Presents nineteen of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s most important writings and speeches, carefully selected by educators across a variety of disciplines.

We've Got a Job: the 1963 Birmingham Children's March, by Cynthia Levinson, 2012. Discusses the events of the 4,000 African American students who marched to jail to secure their freedom in May 1963.

Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom: My Story of the Selma Voting Rights March, by Lynda Blackmon Lowery, 2015. Shares the story of the youngest person to complete the Selma to Montgomery March, describing her frequent imprisonments for her participation in nonviolent demonstrations and how she felt about her involvement in Civil Rights events. Biography.

A Volcano Beneath the Snow: John Brown's War Against Slavery, by Albert Marrin, 2014. Examines the life of abolitionist John Brown and the raid he led on the United States arsenal at Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, in 1859, exploring his religious fanaticism and belief in "righteous violence,"--and commitment to domestic terrorism. Biography.

The Freedom Summer Murders, by Don Mitchell, 2014. Coinciding with the fiftieth anniversary of the Freedom Summer murders, traces the events surrounding the KKK lynching of three young civil rights activists who were trying to register African Americans for the vote.

Discovering Wes Moore: Chances, Choices, Changes, by Wes Moore, 2012. A military paratrooper and White House fellow contrasts events from his life with those of a fatherless friend to explore the issues that separate the outcomes of success and failure. Biography.

Freedom Summer: the 1964 Struggle for Civil Rights in Mississippi, by Susan Goldman Rubin, 2014. An account of the civil rights crusade in Mississippi 50 years ago that brought on shocking violence and the beginning of a new political order.

The Port Chicago 50: Disaster, Mutiny, and the Fight for Civil Rights, by Steve Sheinkin, 2014. Presents an account of the 1944 civil rights protest involving hundreds of African-American Navy servicemen who were unjustly charged with mutiny for refusing to work in unsafe conditions after the deadly Port Chicago explosion.



Brown Girl Dreaming, by Jacqueline Woodson, 2014. In vivid poems that reflect the joy of finding her voice through writing stories, an award-winning author shares what it was like to grow up in the 1960s and 1970s in both the North and the South. Biography.