Teen Fiction that Connects to Current Events & Issues

Race Relations/Police Brutality

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

• Pub Date: 2017
• High school Interest
• Starr watches as her friend is shot by a police officer during a traffic stop.

How it Went Down by Kekla Magoon

• Pub Date: 2014
• High School interest
• Tariq is shot by a white police officer and everyone has a different perspective on what happened.

American Street by Ibi Zoboi

• Pub Date: 2017
• High school interest 

All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely

• Pub Date:  2015
• High school interest
• Two boys deal with an incident of police brutality.

Sexual Assault & Justice

What We Saw by Aaron Hartzler

• Pub Date: 2015
• High school interest

 The Mockingbirds by Daisy Whitney

• Pub Date: 2010
• High school interest

Moxie by Jennifer Mathieu

• Pub Date: 2017
• High school interest
• See also: Secret Identity, Mother Daughter Relationship, DIY 
• Vivian is secretly the one behind Moxie, an anonymous zine that shakes things up at her high school. 

Immigration & Refugees

The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon 

• Pub Date: 2016
• High school interest
• See also: 24 hours 

The Lines We Cross by Randa Adbel-Fattah

• Pub Date: 2017
• High school interest

American Street by Ibi Zoboi

• Pub Date: 2017
• High school interest 

Something in Between by Melissa de la Cruz

• Pub Date: 2016
• Middle and High School interest
• See also: Senior Year 
• Jasmine is in her senior year of high school when she finds out she and her family are undocumented. 

School Violence

Big Mouth and Ugly Girl by Joyce Carol Oates

• Pub Date: 2002
• High school interest

Unlocked by Ryan Van Cleve

• Pub Date 2011

This is Where it Ends by Marieke Nijkamp

• Pub Date: 2016

Hate List by Jennifer Brown

• Pub Date 2010
• High school interest

Guns

Unlocked by Ryan Van Cleve

• Pub Date 2011

Bang by Barry Lyga

• Pub Date: 2017
• High school Interest
• See also: Blogs, Guilt, Secrets