Teen Book Lists

For fourteen-year-old budding artist Minoru Ito, her two brothers, her friends, and the other members of the Japanese-American community in southern California, the three months since Pearl Harbor was attacked have become a waking nightmare: attacked, spat on, and abused with no way to retaliate--and now things are about to get worse, their lives forever changed by the mass incarcerations in the relocation camps. (description from catalog)

"With the recent death of her mother and the possibility of her family losing their farm, Samantha Sakamoto does not have space in her life for dreams, but when faced with prejudice and violence in her Washington State community after Pearl Harbor, she isdetermined to use her photography to document the bigotry around her." (description from catalog)

When seventeen-year-old Eliza Lin's entirely fictional essay about meeting her perfect boyfriend goes viral at her international school in Beijing, she has to make a deal with the handsome and charming Caz Song to play the part--but when the relationship starts to feel real all her career plans are suddenly threatened.

The United States, in the near future. The president has declared that Muslims are a threat to America. Layla Amin and her parents are forced into an internment camp for Muslim American citizens. Her friends-- including her Jewish boyfriend are on the outside. With the help of new friends and an unexpected alliance, Layla begins a revolution against the internment camp's Director and his guards, against complicit silence, against hate and ignorance. Rebellions are built on hope. (description adapted from jacket)

"Inspired by a mysterious message, seventeen-year-old Ginny Park sets off to find herself as she reflects on her experiences of growing up Zainichi, an ethnic Korean born in Japan, and the incident that forced her to leave years prior." (description from catalog)

"Back to the Future meets The Joy Luck Club in this YA contemporary romance about a Korean American girl sent back to the '90s to (reluctantly) help her teenage mom win Homecoming Queen. Being a first-generation Asian American immigrant is hard. You knowwhat's harder? Being the daughter of one. Samantha Kang has never gotten along with her mother, Priscilla-and has never understood her bougie-nightmare, John Hughes high school expectations. After a huge fight between them, Sam is desperate to move forward-but instead, finds herself thrown back. Way back. To her shock, Sam finds herself back in high school . . . in the '90s . . . with a 17-year-old Priscilla. Now this Gen Z girl must try to fit into an analog world. She's got the fashion down, but everything else is baffling. What is "microfiche"? What's with the casual racism and misogyny? And why does it feel like Priscilla is someone she could actually be . . . friends with? Sam's blast to the past has her finding the right romance in the wrong time while questioning everything she thought she knew about her mom . . . and herself. Will Sam figure out what she needs to do to fix things for her mom so that she can go back to a time she understands? Brimming with heart and humor, Maurene Goo's time-travelromance asks big questions about what exactly one inherits and loses in the immigrant experience"-- Provided by publisher.

"June just wants to be “good enough” for her mother—who is never short on Chinese proverbs and constantly compares June to her valedictorian older sister. But third-place wins at violin competitions won’t get her into a top-ranked school. Even worse, her lab-partner/maybe-boyfriend, Rhys, refuses to kiss her in public. June’s quest for autonomy forces her to reevaluate her relationships with her family and confront the fear that she may never be enough." (description adapted from catalog)

"Lara Jean writes love letters to all the boys she has loved and then hides them in a hatbox until one day those letters are accidentally sent"-- Provided by publisher.

As three warring fractures try to gain control of the kingdom, orphaned Zephyr, a strategist serving Xin Ren, infiltrates an enemy camp where she encounters the enigmatic Crow, an opposing strategist who might just be her match.

"In the year following their son's death, May Chen's parents face racist accusations of putting too much pressure on their son and causing his death by suicide, and May attempts to challenge the racism and ugly stereotypes through her writing, only to realize that she still has a lot to learn and that her actions have consequences for her family as well as herself." (description from catalog)

"Ever since her family moved to Texas from Pakistan when she was a baby, seventeen-year-old Zara Hossain has only ever called Corpus Christi home. Being the only Muslim girl at her conservative Catholic school, blending in isn't really an option, especially with people like Tyler Benson always tormenting her. But one day Tyler takes thing too far by defacing Zara's locker with a racist message, which gets him suspended. As an act of revenge, Tyler and his friends vandalize the Hossains' house with Islamophobic graffiti, which leads to a violent crime that puts Zara and her family's entire future at risk" (description from publisher)

A year after 9/11, Muslim teenager Shirin has completely withdrawn from social life, until she meets Ocean James in her biology class and is tempted to actually let her guard down. (description from Novelist)

"The Flanagan sisters are as different as they come...When their house is vandalized with a shocking racial slur, Margaret rushes home from her summer internship in New York City. She expects outrage. Instead, her sister and mother would rather move on...For Annalie, this was meant to be a summer of new possibilities, and she resents her sister's sudden presence...For Margaret, the summer couldn't possibly get worse, until she crosses paths with someone she swore she'd never see again: her first love, Rajiv Agarwal" (description from publisher)

"During her freshman year at college, Anna Xu investigates the unsolved on-campus murder of her former babysitter, as she and an old rival have to team up to look into the hate crimes happening around campus" (description from publisher)

"In a world where the rain never stops, impoverished Jin Haldar is offered the score of a lifetime--a massive stash of gold hidden in the sunken ruins of Las Vegas and must do what she promised herself she'd never do again: dive"-- Provided by publisher.

"A rom com about a gamer girl with a secret identity and the online bestie she's never met IRL--until she unwittingly transfers to his school"-- Provided by publisher.

Nhika, a young woman hiding in the fringes of society, must use her forbidden healing ability to cure the only witness to a murder. Published from Catalog.