Investigating Characterization

This collection, edited by We Need Diverse Books founder Ellen Oh, features short stories by popular writers of middle grade and young adult fiction.

This collection of diverse short stories, edited by Lamar Giles, brings together new work by established and up-and-coming young adult authors.

Kwame Alexander scores again with this story about the soccer-playing son of a linguistics professor. This list of words can assist your goal of improving your vocabulary.

Twin brothers Josh and Jordan Bell clash both on and off the basketball court. How high can you score on this list of words from Alexander's award-winning novel in verse?

After the death of his father, Chuck Bell spends the summer with grandparents and finds solace in basketball. Learn these words from the prequel to The Crossover.

After learning a devastating truth about his unstable, rock-star father, 17-year-old Blade travels to Ghana in order to come to terms with his family history and forge his own identity.

Best friends Noah and Walt bond over their shared love of baseball and appreciation for jazz. With the help of some vintage love letters (and some intervention from Walt), Noah tries to express his true feelings for his long-time crush, Sam. But as Walt and Noah attempt to "find cool," division and prejudice within their community cause their lives to take an unexpected turn.

ZJ's father, a beloved football star, begins suffering from memory loss and mood swings.

In this novel by award-winning author Jacqueline Woodson, six fifth and sixth graders meet once a week to discuss their problems and fears.

Lafayette and his brothers struggle to make it on their own in New York City.

In this verse novel, eleven-year-old Lonnie reflects on his life in foster care.

Frannie navigates changing relationships with friends and family in this novel set in the early 1970s.

Castle Cranshaw, also known as Ghost, could be the star sprinter on his middle school track team — if he can stay out of trouble.

In the last installment of Jason Reynolds's Track series, Lu attempts to master the hurdles while adjusting to the news that he is going to be a big brother.

The second book in the Track series focuses on Patty, a runner who struggles to fit in at her new school after she moves in with her aunt and uncle.

Although he would prefer to dance, Sunny runs track in order to please his emotionally distant father. Just when Sunny wants to quit, his coach introduces him to an intriguing new event, the discus.

In this novel-in-verse, Will spends a sixty-second elevator ride weighing whether or not he should avenge his brother's death. Learn these words from Jason Reynolds's innovative and powerful exploration of gun violence.

This novel weaves together characters and incidents from the same neighborhood, block by block.

When brothers Genie and Ernie leave the city to spend the summer in Virginia with their grandparents, they learn about what it means to be truly brave.

This novel by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely tells the story of Rashad and Quinn, two teenagers whose lives are changed after an incident of police brutality divides their community.

In his debut novel, award-winning writer Jason Reynolds tells the story of Ali, a teenager who tries to stay out of trouble in his gritty Brooklyn neighborhood. But when one of his friends is attacked, Ali is drawn into a real fight — with real consequences.

After the death of his mother, Matt takes a job at a funeral home, where he learns to deal with his own grief and loneliness. Learn these words from the award-winning novel by Jason Reynolds.

Diagnosed with a rare immune disorder, Madeline is unable to experience the world outside her protective bubble. But when Olly moves in next door, she must decide whether to risk everything for love.

In this popular novel, two teens meet and fall in love over the course of a single day in New York City.

After finishing high school, aspiring writer Richard Perry does not have the money for college, so he decides to enlist in the army and ends up fighting for his life in Vietnam.

Told in the form of journal entries and a screenplay, this novel tells the story of a teenager on trial for murder. 1999 HarperCollins edition.

Seventeen-year-old Greg Harris of New York's South Bronx must learn to work with others both on and off the basketball court to improve his game and his math grades.

When her Brooklyn neighborhood is threatened, Sierra must master and protect an ancestral form of magic called shadowshaping.

In this historical fantasy novel set during the Civil War, orphan Magdalys Roca attempts to rescue her friends from a slave trader — with the help of some domesticated dinosaurs.

In a series of journal entries, Miguel recounts his time in an a group home and his attempt to escape to Mexico.

Struggling with his sense of identity, a biracial teen decides to spend the summer with his family in Mexico.

For Merci Suárez, sixth grade is a year of change. A scholarship student at the posh Seaward Pines Academy, Merci must juggle extra community service and family responsibilities, all while coping with a nasty classmate and her beloved grandfather's declining health.

In this hilarious novel, 13-year-old Nate sneaks off to New York City to audition for a role in a Broadway play. Learn this list in which the vocabulary from the novel takes center stage. Break a leg!

A new teacher helps Maleeka stand up to the classmates who bully her and feel comfortable in her own skin.

Through three interlinked stories, this award-winning graphic novel explores assimilation, racism, and stereotypes.

In this nonfiction narrative, told in graphic form, Gene Luen Yang follows the Bishop O'Dowd High School basketball team during one eventful season and reflects on his own work as a storyteller.