Black high school student Cade makes a wish that everyone would stop being so scared around him. He will quickly learn that you should be very careful what you wish for.
- General Recommendations
- Staff-Created List
2025 Teen Book Rave| Multcolib Teens
Best books for teen readers as chosen by Oregon's young adult librarians.
StaffLibrary Staff
Multnomah County Library


20 items
- When transgender teen Miles Abernathy is nearly beaten to death by the town sheriff's son, it restarts a century-long feud between their families. THIS. GETS. DARK. This one is as much about class warfare in the Appalachian South as it is about…
- Surreal, haunting, and full of rage. This is the story of a family whose rock-star feminist icon mother has been locked away, in a prison of tubes and terror, right in their family home. As the family begins to unravel, our hero -- Punk Rock Jane --…
- Icarus has always stolen for revenge -- until he meets Helios, Mr. Black's magnetic son. Drawn into a dangerous game of desire and betrayal, Icarus must choose between a love that could destroy him and the freedom he craves. Flying too close to the…
- They say if you eat dragonfruit, a sea dragon egg, you will receive your heart's desire, but the cost must be equal. It's been ten years since Hanalei's father gave up his life for hers, at the cost of the kingdom's Crown Princess' cure. Now she and…
- Watson's short poetic memoir is a love letter to the strength of Black women holding up their worlds in neighborhoods and homes, and to the Pacific Northwest. Poems are arranged year by year as she enters adolescence. Side note: the audiobook is…
- It's 1955 and Calvin has just left his life as a Black teen in Chicago for a life in the suburbs passing as white. His "whites only" neighborhood may give him good opportunities, but will anything get better for his community if he continues to live…
- Absolutely epic fantasies with unique magic systems your vibe? Then this one is for you, complete with the rise and fall of countries, epic loves/betrayals, and terrible things done in the name of good...or is it in the name of power? This is the…
- Plant lover and secret metalhead, Isaiah struggles to stay soft in a world that tells him he needs to be tough. Grieving the loss of his best friend and navigating the summer before high school is full of challenges.
- Two siblings find themselves caught in a world of intrigue, spies, and code-breaking in this WWII novel. Who can you trust when your world is all secrets and codes?
- Summer begins to have vivid dreams about running away from a residential school, almost as if she is seeing through another's eyes. Her relaxed summer, spending time with her family on the reservation, is about to be an eye opening look at the past…
- If you're only the life of the party when you're blackout drunk, is it really you that everyone likes? Blake Brenner's future college career rides on her getting into an exclusive sorority for women of color. Acceptance may depend on how wild she…
- To stop herself from murdering her dad, Ariel has to tap each sharp knife in the kitchen six times exactly perfectly. Only rituals like this, she believes, will stop her from acting on the thoughts of bloody violence that come from her "crocodile"…
- From 1930 to 2020, four generations of Filipino American boys grapple with identity, masculinity, and their complex father-son relationships. Each forging their own path, different from their father. This one will make you feel all the feels and…
- Tender and sincere, Jason Reynolds tells a teenage story that reminds us that love comes in many shapes, including romantic. When two teens find their relationship has only continued to grow over the last two years, they need to decide what the next…
- Belén just wants to feel loved and supported, but if she can't love or support herself how can anyone else? The world is messy and Belén just wants to survive.
- This is one of those books you don't really care what it's about because it's so lyrical and filled with magical realism that it takes your breath away. Luckily, it also has a great plot filled with family, love, anger, and good food.
- After being outed to his father, Rex is thrust into a world of survival on the streets of New Orleans, where he faces rejection, abuse, and heartache. Ogle's raw and poignant true story is one of resilience and the search for belonging.
- Shanté's collection of autobiographical poems of growing up in New York City is all about getting rid of the boxes that society, parents, and even herself put around a Black girlhood. There's great stuff here about healing the harm of generations of…
Rising From the Ashes
Los Angeles, 1992 : Edward Jae Song Lee, Latasha Harlins, Rodney King, and a City on Fire
Yoo, Paula,1992, Los Angeles. This nonfiction book is filled with hatred, pain, and a city torn apart by grief. Is there any hope to be found?
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