TOP FICTION TITLE
Derrick D. Barnes. The Incredibly Human Henson Blayze. September 2025. Published by Viking Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers Group, a division of Penguin Random House. Hardback $17.99. 272 pages. 9781984836755. Ages 10-12.
Summary: Set in the fictional town of Great Mountain, Mississippi, this novel follows Henson Blayze, a gifted 13-year-old Black football player, whose decision to speak out after a traumatic incident forces him to confront community backlash and reimagine his future. Barnes explores race, belonging, and the long history of Black bodies being valued for labor or entertainment, while centering Henson’s humanity, voice, and emotional growth.
Trigger Warnings: racism, public shaming, community backlash, emotional distress
Sensitivity Note: Harm occurs through social punishment and withdrawal of support rather than graphic violence…IOW, know your place…
TOP 10
Elias Axel. Promising Young Man: A Novel. February 2025. Published by My Delight Press. Paperback $17.99. 238 pages. 9788992065602. Ages 14-17.
Summary: Eighteen-year-old Oscar Danielsson would rather hide in his bedroom than face adulthood. Struggling with ADHD, self-medication, and crushing shame, he barely gets through each day. When a hazy run-in with the law sends him on a road trip across America with his eccentric grandmother, Oscar is forced to leave behind the few things keeping him afloat—including the strange, captivating girl he just met. What starts as an escape becomes a reckoning with who he is, what he’s avoiding, and what it might take to move forward.
Trigger Warnings: Mental health struggles, self-medication/substance use, depression, shame, and references to legal trouble.
Sensitivity Note: Depicts ADHD, mental health challenges, and maladaptive coping behaviors with emotional realism and nuance.
Derrick D. Barnes. The Incredibly Human Henson Blayze. September 2025. Published by Viking Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers Group, a division of Penguin Random House. Hardback $17.99. 272 pages. 9781984836755. Ages 10-12.
Summary: Set in the fictional town of Great Mountain, Mississippi, this novel follows Henson Blayze, a gifted 13-year-old Black football player, whose decision to speak out after a traumatic incident forces him to confront community backlash and reimagine his future. Barnes explores race, belonging, and the long history of Black bodies being valued for labor or entertainment, while centering Henson’s humanity, voice, and emotional growth.
Trigger Warnings: racism, public shaming, community backlash, emotional distress
Sensitivity Note: Harm occurs through social punishment and withdrawal of support rather than graphic violence…IOW, know your place…
TOP 10
Angeline Boulley. Sisters in the Wind. Setember 2025. Published by Henry Holt and Company Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group, a division of Macmillan. Hardback $19.99. 384 pages. 9781250328533. Ages 14 & Up.
Summary: This story follows 18-year-old Lucy Smith, who has lived in the Michigan foster care system since her father died five years prior. Having survived several abusive placements, Lucy is cautious, smart, and perpetually on the run. Set within an Ojibwe (Anishinaabe) community, this novel centers sisterhood, cultural continuity, and care amid ongoing settler-colonial harm. Boulley foregrounds Indigenous strength, kinship, and survival alongside grief.
Trigger Warnings: racism, violence, death, cultural trauma, foster care system
Sensitivity Note: Indigenous sovereignty and specificity are essential.
TOP 10
Channelle Desamours. Needy LittleThings. February 2025. Wednesday Books, an imprint of The St. Martin’s Publishing Group, a division of Macmillan Publishers. Hardback $20.00. 320 pages. 9781250334817. Ages 10-12.
Summary: Sariyah Lee Bryant can hear what people need—small, tangible things—an ability known only to her family and best friend. When she fulfills a need for her friend Deja, who soon goes missing, Sariyah begins to fear her gift may be a curse. With police and media failing to act, she and her friends search for answers, determined not to let Deja become another forgotten Black girl. As her family faces financial strain and her brother’s sickle cell complications, Sariyah risks everything by using her ability for money—putting her closer to the truth and in grave danger herself.
Trigger Warnings: emotional manipulation, coercive dynamics, low self-esteem
Sensitivity Note: Psychological harm unfolds subtly.
Deborah Ellis. The Outsmarters. August 2024. Published by Groundwood Books. Hardback $19.99. 248 pages. 97817730668572. Ages 9 -12.
Summary: Twelve-year-old Kate, a resilient but angry girl living with her strict grandmother in a small Canadian town, struggles with behavioral issues after being abandoned by her mother. Hoping to save money for her mother’s return, she starts a “Philosophic Help” booth, offering $2 advice using quotes from famous thinkers. Through the booth, Kate forms unexpected connections with neighbors and gains insight into the complexities of adult life. Her world shifts when she discovers Gran has been lying about her mother, leading to a fierce confrontation that exposes deep family tensions.
Trigger Warnings: poverty, institutional injustice, perilSensitivity Note: Survival conditions should be contextualized to avoid romanticizing hardship.
Huda Fahmy. Huda F Wants to Know?: A Graphic Novel. April 2025. Published by Dial Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers Group, a division of Penguin Random House. Hardback $17.99. 224 pages. 9780593855621. Ages 12-17.
Summary: This graphic novel follows Huda, a Muslim teen girl navigating academic pressure, social anxiety, and her parents’ divorce, all filtered through Fahmy’s signature humor. The story balances realism with warmth, showing how humor, faith, and friendship help hold heavy emotions.
Trigger Warnings: suicidal ideation (contemplated, not carried out), anxiety, depression, academic stress, parental divorce, bullying, Islamophobia
Sensitivity Note: Suicide is contemplated and must be named; humor functions as care, not minimization.
Courtney Gould. What the Woods Took. December 2024. Published by Wednesday Books, an imprint of St. Martin’s Publishing Group, a division of Macmillan Publishers. Hardback $21.00. 336 pages. 9780593118801. Ages 15-17.
Summary: Five teens enrolled in wilderness therapy find themselves in danger when their camp counselors disappear mysteriously. Blending suspense with emotional realism, this novel explores grief, friendship, and confronting loss. Gould uses genre elements to examine how absence and memory shape young lives.
Trigger Warnings: death, grief, psychological horror
Sensitivity Note: Horror elements are emotionally grounded.
Candy Gourlay. Wild Song. October 2025. Published by CarolRhoda Lab, an imprint of Lerner Publishing, Inc. Hardback $19.99. 280 pages. 9780593118801. Ages 13-17.
Summary: Set in the Philippines during the 1904 U.S. colonial occupation, Wild Song follows Luki, a sixteen-year-old Filipino youth from the Bontok people who lives in the mountains. Pressured to marry her childhood friend Samkad and surrender her role as the village’s most skilled hunter, Luki is impulsively tricked into joining a group traveling to the United States, where they are put on display at the St. Louis World’s Fair. As she struggles to survive cultural displacement, protect her family bonds, and resist erasure, Gourlay weaves historical truth with resilience, honoring Indigenous Filipino identity.
Trigger Warnings: colonial violence, racism, death, cultural erasure
Sensitivity Note: U.S. colonial violence must be explicitly named.
Ellen Hopkins. SYNC. August 2024. Published by Nancy Paulsen Books, imprint of Penguin Young Readers Group, a division of Penguin Random House. Hardback $20.99. 448 pages. 9780593463246. Ages 12-17.
Summary: Told in verse, SYNC follows twins Storm and Lake, whose deep intuitive bond—what they call their “sync”—was forged through childhood abuse and years in the foster system. As their lives diverge, Storm briefly finds stability before responding to his girlfriend’s sexual assault and returning to juvenile detention, while Lake, rejected by ultra-conservative foster parents for loving another girl, runs away and becomes unhoused. Through dual, unsent letters, Hopkins confronts homophobia, sexual violence, and systemic failure while centering resilience, survival, and the enduring connection between the twins.
Trigger Warnings: sexual assault, self-harm, suicidal ideation, homophobia, substance abuse, juvenile incarceration, homelessness, foster care trauma
Sensitivity Note: Sexual violence, self-harm, and systemic injustice are explicit; while the novel emphasizes care and connection, it is best engaged with clear content warnings and supportive discussion.
TOP 10
Kim Johnson. The Color of a Lie. June 2024. Published by Random House Books for Young Readersan imprint of Randon House Childrens Books, a division of Penguin Random House. Hardback $19.99. 336 pages. 9780593118801. Ages 12-17.
Summary: After the murder of his sister by a white mob, Calvin Greene and his parents flee their Chicago home and resettle in an all-white suburban town called Levittown, Pennsylvania. They are light-skinned and “pass” as white for their safety. Blending mystery with social commentary, this novel follows uncovering buried truths shaped by racism and institutional protection. Johnson emphasizes courage, truth-telling, and the consequences of historical silence.
Trigger Warnings: racism, police misconduct, violence, death
Sensitivity Note: Law-enforcement harm is explicit.
TOP 10
Frederick Joseph. This Thing of Ours. May 2025. Published by Candlewick Press. Hardback $18.99. 384 pages. 9781536233463. Ages 12-17.
Summary: This Thing of Ours by Frederick Joseph follows Ossie Brown, a Black high school basketball star whose life is upended by a career-ending injury. Struggling to find his identity, he discovers a passion for writing in a program led by a Black teacher, exploring stories by marginalized authors. But when an “anti-woke” video targets the program, Ossie and his friends must navigate racism, censorship, and the challenges of standing up for what they believe in.
Trigger Warnings: violence, peer coercion, systemic injustice
Sensitivity Note: Moral compromise is contextual, not sensationalized.
Cynthia Kadohata. Under the Fading Sky. April 2025. Published by Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing, a division of Simon & Schuster Publishers. Hardback $19.99. 352 pages. 978153448239. Ages 14 & Up.
Summary: n this gripping YA novel by Cynthia Kadohata, sixteen-year-old Elijah thinks his occasional vaping habit is harmless—until it spirals into a full-blown addiction. As he and his friends become entangled in Southern California’s drug culture, they face escalating risks, blackmail, and moral dilemmas they aren’t prepared for. The story explores the harsh realities of teen addiction, peer pressure, and the desperate choices that come with trying to survive in a dangerous, fast-moving world.
Trigger Warnings: Substance use and addiction, exploitation and sexual content (selling pictures for money), Violence and criminal behavior, mental health struggles and desperation
Sensitivity Note: This novel depicts the dangers of teen addiction and the pressures of peer influence, exploring difficult topics with realism. It may be upsetting for readers sensitive to substance abuse, exploitation, or teen trauma.
Jasminne Mendez. The Story of My Anger. September 2025. Published by Dial Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers Group, a division of Penguin Random House. Hardback $19.99. 336 pages. 9780593531877. Ages 12 -17.
Summary: Yulieta “Yuli” Lopez is a Dominican American teen who lives in Texas. , a talented aspiring actor, faces repeated discrimination from her racist drama teacher while witnessing her favorite teacher, Mr. Gonzalez, threatened for teaching “controversial” literature. Though she initially stays quiet to protect her ailing mother, Yuli’s anger grows, and with encouragement from her activist brother, she embraces the idea that “Art IS activism.” Together with friends, she forms a guerrilla theater club, A.C.T. NOW (Activism, Collaboration, Transformation, Now!), performing scenes from banned books and challenging systemic racism in their school.
Trigger Warnings: violence, peer coercion, systemic injustice
Sensitivity Note: Moral compromise is contextual, not sensationalized.
Marieke Nijkamp. After We Burned. July 2025. Published by Sourcebooks Fire, an imprint of Sourcebooks. Hardback $18.99. 352 pages. 9781728291208. Ages 14-18.
Summary: Told through multiple perspectives, Nijikamp’s plot centers on the aftermath of a devastating high school fire, in a small fictional Colorado town. Examining how truth, blame, and healing unfold within a fractured community, the author emphasizes collective responsibility and recovery.
Trigger Warnings: fire, mass trauma, survivor’s guilt
Sensitivity Note: Disaster-related trauma may be difficult for some readers.
Rex Ogle. When We Ride: A Novel. March 2025. Published by Norton Young Readers, an imprint of W. W. Norton & Company Publishers. Hardback $18.99. 336 pages. 9798855182781. Ages 14-18.
Summary: In this gripping novel-in-verse by Rex Ogle, Diego Benevides is determined to rise above his circumstances. Raised by his hardworking single mother, he focuses on school and dreams of college as a way out of their struggling neighborhood. When his best friend, Lawson, begins dealing drugs and asks Diego for rides, Diego convinces himself he isn’t doing anything wrong—he’s just the driver. But as Lawson’s operation escalates from marijuana to harder drugs, the risks grow more dangerous. Loyalty, survival, and ambition collide as Diego is pulled deeper into a world of violence and escalating consequences. Ultimately, he must confront the cost of friendship and decide what he’s willing to sacrifice for his future.
Trigger Warnings: depictions of drug use and drug dealing, gun violence and threats of violence, physical violence, criminal activity, poverty and economic hardship, peer pressure and moral coercion, and emotional distress
Sensitivity Note: This novel explores themes of loyalty, poverty, and the pressures facing teens in high-risk environments. It includes depictions of drug culture and violence that may be distressing to some readers. While the story examines difficult choices and their consequences, it also highlights personal accountability and the struggle to break cycles of harm. Readers are encouraged to engage with the material thoughtfully and at their own pace.
TOP 10
Normandy D. Piccolo. Bug. January 2025. Published by Normandy’s Bright Ideas.Paperback $19.99. 242 pages. 9780997934991. Ages 16-18.
Summary: Bug follows Tobi “Bug” Jackson, a young girl navigating life after abuse, housing instability, and emotional neglect, as she cautiously searches for safety and belonging. Told with care and restraint, the novel centers Tobi’s interior life—her hyper-vigilance, guarded hope, and small acts of trust—while recurring images of fireflies offer moments of beauty, resilience, and the possibility of healing that is gradual and non-linear rather than assured.
Trigger Warnings: child abuse, homelessness, emotional neglect, trauma responses, persistent grief
Sensitivity Note: Trauma is central and experienced through Tobi’s perspective; while handled with sensitivity, the material may be difficult for readers with lived experience of abuse or housing insecurity and is best engaged with thoughtful discussion and support.
Jason Reynolds. Coach. October 2025. Published by Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing, a division of Simon & Schuster. Hardback $17.99. 256 pages. 979834710237. Ages 10-12.
Summary: Set in the late 1980s, this novel explores the experiences that shaped Coach Brody into the firm yet compassionate mentor seen in Ghost, Patina, Sunny, and Lu. Against the backdrop of youth sports, the story examines mentorship, emotional inheritance, and how adult guidance influences young people’s sense of self. Reynolds tenderly centers Black boyhood, showing how care, expectation, and absence shape identity long before any final outcome is determined.
Trigger Warnings: emotional neglect, grief, verbal conflict, pressure to perform
Sensitivity Note: The story depicts relational harm rather than physical violence; adult failings and unmet expectations may resonate strongly with some readers.
T. L. Simpson. Cope Field. Published in April 2025 by Flux, an imprint of North Star Editions, Inc. Paperback $14.99. 272 pages. 9781635831054. Ages 10-13.
Summary: The Perfect Game follows high school baseball star Crawford “Craw” Cope, whose seemingly perfect life—wealth, talent, and a famous MLB-pitcher father—hides a darker reality. After hitting his father with a baseball bat, Craw is sentenced to community service, ironically repairing a baseball field the town plans to rename for his father. While working on the field, he befriends the outspoken Hannah Flores and begins confronting the cycle of abuse at home and the mystery of his mother’s disappearance. Craw must navigate the tension between maintaining his father’s demanded “perfect” facade and speaking the truth, even at great personal risk.
Trigger Warnings: Domestic abuse, Violence toward a parent, Emotional/psychological trauma, Family secrets and disappearance
Sensitivity Note: This novel explores complex family dynamics, cycles of abuse, and the challenges of breaking free from harmful patterns, offering a thoughtful look at trauma, resilience, and personal truth.
Rivers Solomon. Model Home: A Novel. October 2024. Published by MCD Picador, an imprint of Macmillan Publishers. Hardback $28.00. 304 pages. Ages Adult for YA.
Summary: Model Home by Rivers Solomon is a queer, gothic horror novel following the Maxwell siblings—Ezri, Eve, and Emanuelle—who return to their childhood home in a Dallas suburb after their parents’ mysterious deaths. As the only Black family in a gated community, they confront both supernatural events and the lingering effects of racial and familial trauma. Told across multiple timelines, the story explores how the house—and the traumas it holds—continues to haunt them, blurring the line between psychological wounds and otherworldly horror. At its core, the novel examines generational trauma, complex sibling relationships, and the societal forces that shape their fears.
Trigger Warnings: racism, psychological trauma, gender identity body-horror elements, family abuse
Sensitivity Note: Horror imagery is purposeful and symbolic rather than gratuitous.
Nic Stone. Dear Manny. March 2025. Published by Crown Books for Young Readers an imprint of Randon House Childrens Books, a division of Penguin Random House. Hardback $19.99. 224 pages. 9780593308011. Ages 14-17.
Summary: Written as letters to a lost friend, Dear Manny is the concluding novel in Nic Stone’s Dear Martin series, told from the perspective of Jared P. Christensen as he navigates college life, politics, and privilege. Through letters to his late friend Manny, Jared reflects on his experiences and struggles to understand his place in the world. The story centers on his campaign for Junior Class President at Yale, where he must confront his own biases and the complexities of allyship while running against both a conservative candidate and a progressive Black woman. As the campaign unfolds, Jared is pushed to critically examine his intentions, actions, and privilege. The novel is a character-driven exploration of race, power, and personal growth, offering a fresh perspective within the series.
Trigger Warnings: Racism, systemic inequality, police violence, grief, and political conflict.
Sensitivity Notes: Explores privilege, bias, and allyship through challenging conversations about race and power.
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