The Probability of Everything by Sarah Everett

Wow...this was a book like no other. The premise is attention-grabbing--an asteroid is heading toward earth and there are only 4 days before impact. The main character is a girl who loves probability and in her 4 days she decides to make a time capsule to remember all of the things that were loved by her friends and family. Kids would love this book if that's all it was but... SPOILER ALERT... it's not really what this book is about. I'm not going to say what's really going on, but I will say that it has to do with racism and gun violence and grief and family and friendship and love...and math. There is a LOT to talk about here and I think the ending is going to be controversial for the kids who read this book expecting something else. All this to say, this book is going to have people talking and kids reading, and that's a great thing. 
 

Slay by Brittney Morris

 

Kiera is an honor student by day and a game developer by night. No one knows that she developed the multiplayer card-based online gaming world called Slay--not even her sister or her parents or her boyfriend Malcolm. Slay is a safe space for Black gamers from around the world, and is based on Black culture, cameraderie, and excellence. Kiera is proud of the world she has developed along with a virtual partner in Paris, and is devastated to hear that a Black teen is murdered over a dispute relating to the game. Now Slay is in the news and it's only a matter of time untli the game's developers are publically outed and potentially even sued. All the while, Kiera deals with a white best friend who doesn't always understand her difficulties, a Black boyfriend who becomes controlling and insular, and a sister who she has never been close with. Slay spoke to me on multiple levels--the story is riveting and enjoyable on its own. But what makes it really special is the honest discussion of race and privilege, and the many ways that Black young people express their culture. This book will build empathy among non-Black readers, and will also be enjoyed as a good story. Recommended to 8th graders-up due to some mature content. 

The Only Black Girls in Town by Brandy Colbert

 

Alberta lives with her two dads in a California beachside community. She's a seventh grader and a surfer and doesn't mind much being the only Black girl in her school. However, she is excited to hear that a new girl is moving in on her block. Edie comes from Brooklyn, wears all black, and the two girls hit it off. Finally someone who understands what it's like to be different. Edie and Alberta become fast friends, and bond over the boxes of old journals they find in Edie's older house. But Alberta's BFF, Laramie, is drifting away and hanging out with a mean girl. Can Alberta hang onto her best friend? And can she and Edie find the mysterious journal writer from 60 years ago? This is a solid realistic fiction story that will appeal to lots of middle school students. 

Downstairs Girl by Stacey Lee

The year is 1890 and the setting is Atlanta. Jo Kuan and her guardian, Old Gin, live in an underground railroad era secret chamber under the house of a prominent newspaper publishing family. They are Chinese-American immigrants and must work as servants to make a living. Teenage Jo works full-time as a maid, and begins writing a newspaper column under the name "Dear Sweetie," which helps increase newspaper circulation and gives her a platform to speak about women's rights as well as racial equality. No one would read the column if they knew it was written by a Chinese American girl, so she keeps her identity secret, even from the handsome young newspaper publisher. Jo gets involved with a criminal, enters a horse race, discovers some family secrets, and finds romance in this eye-opening historical fiction novel.

You Bring the Distant Near by Mitali Perkins

In the 1960s, a family from India moves to New York City to make a better life for their children. The two daughters, Sonia and Tara, are very different and they make their own choices about pursuing their dreams and falling in love. They each have a daughter, and the book picks up with the stories of the two cousins, one who lives in the United States and the other who lives in India. In the end we have learned about three generations of Indian-American women and how they have dealt with love, marriage, cultural differences, and caring for their daughters. If you like to read about families and cultures and how things connect together, or if you are interested in India, you will want to read this book.

Watch Us Rise by Renée Watson and Ellen Hagen

Powerful, well-written, and inspiring, this story about New York teens at a social justice high school deserves a wide audience. A couple of high school girls start a Women's Rights Club and find that it's too much for even their progressive high school to handle. This book is brimming with poetry and activism, and also deals with racial microaggressions and interracial friendships. This book includes a poem about body image, with every word taken straight from a teen fashion magazine, that I will never forget. Highly recommended for grades 8-up.

The 57 Bus by Dashka Slater

This nonfiction book looks at a crime that some called a hate crime from multiple viewpoints. Sasha, a white private school student, wore a gauzy skirt on an Oakland city bus. Richard, an African American student, pulled out a lighter and set Sasha on fire, badly burning Sasha. Slater looks at both of their lives--Sasha, privileged in some ways, but living with Aspberger's syndrome and choosing not to be defined by male or female pronouns, and Richard, trying to make something of himself in spite of his socioeconomic status and with friends in and out of the justice system. This story is resonating with 8th grade readers who are seeing things from multiple perspectives. Recommended for readers who are tackling books such as The Hate U Give and Speak (the graphic novel). #readwoke #projectLIT

Jefferson's Sons by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

I love historical fiction and I am interested in the lives of enslaved people, so I was excited to finally read this story about Thomas Jefferson's lesser-known children. After Jefferson's wife died at a young age, he never remarried, but he did have a lifelong relationship with Sally Hemings, a slave who was also his wife's half-sister and who was as young as his own daughters. Some facts are known about Sally and her four children, but the author had to imagine many of the details of their story because no one knows how they really felt and acted and where they ended up in their lives. The story was told from the point of view of three different slaves and it tells of their confusion and concerns. While the weren't subjected to whippings and backbreaking labor, they did live in fear of their loved ones being sold away from them. They also faced the heartbreaking reality that some of them would be freed and go off to live as white people, while others would not have that freedom. I was engrossed in the stories of Beverly, Maddy, and Peter. This book would be a great read for students studying the founding of the United States and absolutely fascinating for anyone who is planning to visit Jefferson's home at Montecello.

The Best Bad Luck I Ever Had by Kristin Levine

Dit lives in Alabama in the early 1900s with his 9 siblings. He has high hopes for a new boy moving in nearby, but when the new postmaster arrives Dit is surprised to find that the family is African American, and instead of a son they have a smart, proper, opinionated daughter named Emma. As you might expect, Dit and Emma forge an unlikely friendship and Dit learns a great deal about the racism of the society he lives in. When a black barber shoots a cruel white man in self-defense, he is sentenced to death. Dit and Emma make a plan to save the innocent black man's life. Emma and Dit's friendship is authentic and, of course, troubling to those around them. Readers will get a taste of race relations in the last century, albeit with an improbable dose of optimism. It's a good story and will probably appeal to kids who might not normally be interested in historical fiction.