LibraryAware Urban Fiction for Teens

Glitter
by Babygirl Daniels

Asia Smith is still reeling from her rich father's death, but she looks forward to starting high school with her best friend, Tracey, until she loses Tracey in a fight over a boy who subsequently gets her pregnant and dumps her.

Darius & Twig
by Walter Dean Myers

Two best friends, a writer and a runner, deal with bullies, family issues, social pressures, and their quest for success coming out of Harlem.

When I was the greatest
by Jason Reynolds

Living in a Brooklyn neighborhood known for guns and drugs, Ali, his sister, and their neighbors stay out of trouble until they go to the wrong party, where one of them gets badly hurt and another leaves with a target on his back.

Dear Yvette
by Ni-Ni Simone

Longing to disappear from her violent life after a street fight over a boy resulted in a second-degree murder charge, 16-year-old Yvette starts over in a faraway group home where she bonds with a boy who encourages her to open up during a transformative summer.

Bad blood
by Anne E Schraff

When spoiled Carlotta comes to live with her cousin Naomi's family, the brat begins to change her ways when it becomes clear that is no way to conduct her life.

Begging for change [electronic resource]
by Sharon Flake

Teenaged Raspberry Hill tries to sort out her confused feelings of disgust, shame, and love for her homeless, drug addicted father and worries that she may have inherited his lying and stealing ways.

Kinda like brothers
by Coe Booth

When his mother takes in a twelve-year-old foster boy, Jarrett is forced to share his room and his friends with the new boy.

Unchained
by L. B. Tillit

TJ returns to live with his mother, who has stopped using drugs, after spending two years in a loving home, and although he does not use, TJ finds that he can escape neither the seedy environment of his hometown nor past debts still owed.

Camo girl
by Kekla Magoon

A poignant novel about a biracial girl living in the suburbs of Las Vegas examines the friendships that grow out of, and despite, her race.

Boyfriend season
by Kelli London

With the teen society party of the year quickly approaching, three African-American girls in Atlanta navigate relationships with family, community, and the boys and men in their lives.

Back to me
by Earl Sewell

Her reputation in tatters when her ex-boyfriend posts revealing photos of her online, Maya Rogers receives unwanted attention from the guys in her neighborhood, relies on support from her best friend and struggles with a long-standing rivalry with a troublemaking cousin.

Mayhem
by Artist C. Arthur

In the past few months, Jake has discovered his supernatural abilities and forged a tight bond with the other Mystyx, but when a darkness readies itself to fall upon their town, Jake and the Mystyx will learn how much is at stake.

Jaded
by Monica McKayhan

When her dad proposes to his new girlfriend, Jade refuses to get to know her future stepmom despite the fact that her boyfriend, who is keeping something from her, thinks that she should give her a chance.

Fake ID
by L. R. Giles

When his petty criminal father's activities land the family in the Witness Protection Program, Nick is forced to assume a new identity in a different community where he ruminates on the conspiracy his friend died trying to uncover.