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1) Dear Martin
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English
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High School Project Lit Titles
Project Lit - Full List
Short YA Fiction
YA Contemporary Fiction Classics
Project Lit - Full List
Short YA Fiction
YA Contemporary Fiction Classics
Description
"Justyce McAllister is a good kid, an honor student, and always there to help a friend--but none of that matters to the police officer who just put him in handcuffs. Despite leaving his rough neighborhood behind, he can't escape the scorn of his former peers or the ridicule of his new classmates. Justyce looks to the teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. for answers. But do they hold up anymore? He starts a journal to Dr. King to find out. Then...
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English
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High School Project Lit Titles
Nashville Reads 2024 | The Works of Jason Reynolds
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Nashville Reads 2024 | The Works of Jason Reynolds
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Description
When sixteen-year-old Rashad is mistakenly accused of stealing, classmate Quinn witnesses his brutal beating at the hands of a police officer who happens to be the older brother of his best friend. Told through Rashad and Quinn's alternating viewpoints.
Author
Language
English
Description
"Frank Li has two names. There's Frank Li, his American name. Then there's Sung-Min Li, his Korean name. No one uses his Korean name, not even his parents. Frank barely speaks any Korean. He was born and raised in Southern California. Even so, his parents still expect him to end up with a nice Korean girl--which is a problem, since Frank is finally dating the girl of his dreams: Brit Means. Brit, who is funny and nerdy just like him. Brit, who makes...
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English
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Description
Middle school student Junie Kim turns inward and becomes depressed after enduring the taunts of a school bus bully and a racist incident happens at school. While working on a school assignment to interview a family elder, Junie learns of her Korean grandparents' sufferings and courage during the Korean War and learns to unpack her own courage to face the racism surrounding her.
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English
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Description
After a white mob murders her father, twelve-year-old Ophelia Harrison is awakened by his ghost, who tells her to wake her mother and retreat to the woods. They comply, and escape before their home is burned to the ground by the same men. The pair move to Pittsburgh to live with relatives and take jobs at Daffodil Manor, the home of a wealthy white woman. There, Ophelia continues to see ghosts and learns she has a gift with helping them move on.
Author
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English
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Awesome YA Books by Black Authors
High School Project Lit Titles
Nashville Reads 2023: Celebrating Our Freedom to Read!
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High School Project Lit Titles
Nashville Reads 2023: Celebrating Our Freedom to Read!
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Description
Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed. Soon afterward, his death is a national headline. Some are calling him a thug, maybe even a drug dealer and a gangbanger. Protesters...
10) Prairie lotus
Author
Language
English
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6th Grade Reading
Celebrating Asian American and Pacific Islander Authors for Kids
Historical Fiction for Kids
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Celebrating Asian American and Pacific Islander Authors for Kids
Historical Fiction for Kids
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Description
In Dakota Territory in the 1880s, half-Chinese Hanna and her white father face racism and resistance to change as they try to make a home for themselves. Includes author's note.
11) The getaway
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English
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Description
Jay discovers that mountain resort where he lives and works with his friends and family is also a doomsday oasis for the rich and powerful who expect top-notch customer service even as the world outside the resort's walls disintegrates.
Author
Language
English
Description
Javari, a Black boy from Bushwick, Brooklyn, finds life at STEM camp in a little Appalachian town in West Virginia shockingly different--except for run-ins with the police, which are still racist. Learning about all sorts science, tech, engineering, and math things at camp also comes with learning about racism, hidden agendas, and what rich people will do to get ahead--but when he meets and befriends Cricket, a local boy and budding activist, as well...
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English
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9th-10th Grade Reading
Built-In Besties or Baddies: Siblings in YA Books
High School Project Lit Titles
Project Lit - Full List
Built-In Besties or Baddies: Siblings in YA Books
High School Project Lit Titles
Project Lit - Full List
Description
Sixteen-year-old Alex Rufus's curse of seeing the future distracts him from being and doing his best, but when he sees his little brother Isaiah's imminent death, he races against time, death, and circumstances to save him.
14) Kneel
Author
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English
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Description
For guys like Russell Boudreaux, football is the only way out of their small Louisiana town. As the team's varsity tight end, Rus has a singular goal: to get a scholarship and play on the national stage. When his best friend is unfairly arrested and kicked off the team, Rus faces an impossible choice: speak up or live in fear. Desperate for change, Rus kneels during the national anthem. In one instant, he falls from local stardom and becomes a target...
17) Fast pitch
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English
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5th Grade Reading
Middle School Project Lit Titles
Project Lit - Full List
Summer Olympics: Sports Fiction for Kids
Middle School Project Lit Titles
Project Lit - Full List
Summer Olympics: Sports Fiction for Kids
Description
"Shenice Lockwood dreams of leading the Fulton Firebirds to the U12 softball regional championship. But Shenice's focus gets shaken when her great-uncle Jack reveals that a career-ending-and family-name-ruining-crime may have been a setup. It's up to Shenice to discover the truth about her family's past--and fast--before secrets take the Firebirds out of the game forever."--
Author
Language
English
Description
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.
Author
Language
English
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ALA Youth Media Award Winners 2023
Summer Reading Committee's Recommended Reads
VSBA 2023-2024 -- Intermediate Nominees
Summer Reading Committee's Recommended Reads
VSBA 2023-2024 -- Intermediate Nominees
Description
"Eleven-year-old Maizy Chen visits her estranged grandparents, who own and run a Chinese restaurant in Last Chance, Minnesota; as her visit lengthens, she makes unexpected discoveries about her family's history and herself"--
20) Ace of spades
Author
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English
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Description
At Niveus Private Academy, Devon and Chiamaka are the only students chosen to be Senior Prefects who are also black, which makes them targets for a series of anonymous texts revealing their secrets to the entire student body. Both students were on track toward valedictorian and bright college futures, but this prank quickly turns into a very dangerous game and they are at more than one disadvantage as it looks like things could turn deadly.