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These are some of our favorite books that feature African culture for children and teens. Please note that the books will be found in three different collections:
Easy,
Juvenile, and
Teen. The Teen book selections include
Teen Middle
and
Teen High
books.
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The Heart Never Forgets
by
Ana Otaru
Attending the first West African masquerade without Grandpa, with each member of the family carrying something that honors him, a young girl brings with her a special memory shared only between the two of them.
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Waiting to Welcome
by
Samantha Cleaver
As her Ghanian family prepares for a whole week to welcome her new baby cousin at a celebration called "outdooring", Andani waits patiently to perform the most important job of all: being the first to greet the little one by name.
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Kwesi and Nana Ruby Learn to Swim
by Kobina Commeh
Kwesi is afraid of the water. When Nana Ruby confides that she is also afraid of swimming, they turn to the West African legend of Mami Wata to face their fear.
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Eco Girl
by
Ken Wilson-Max
Emulating her favorite baobab trees, Eve contributes to the beauty of the forest by nurturing her very own baobab seedling, becoming an environmental steward to express her love for all things leafy and green.
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Sulwe
by
Lupita Nyong'o
When five-year-old Sulwe's classmates make fun of her dark skin, she tries lightening herself to no avail, but her encounter with a shooting star helps her understand there is beauty in every shade.
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Chicken in the Kitchen
by
Nnedi Okorafor
What would you do if you woke up one night to find the shadow of a giant chicken passing your bedroom door? Go and investigate, of course! When Anyaugo follows a giant chicken into her kitchen one warm night in Nigeria, she embarks on a fun-filled adventure where nothing is quite as it seems.
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Naming Ceremony
by
Seina Wedlick
It is time for her baby sister's naming ceremony, and Amira has a name picked out, but as friends and family pronounce the names they have brought, Amira starts to wonder if her chosen name is really the blessing she thought it was.
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Red Shoes
by
Karen English
Delighted when her Nana surprises her with a beautiful pair of red shoes that they admired in a shop window, Malika happily wears her wonderful shoes until outgrowing them and then decides to donate them to a resale shop, from where they travel across the world to Africa to become a gift for a another child's first Ramadan.
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Smile with African Style
by
Mylo Freeman
It's a special day in Macy's classroom as all the children come in dressed up in their most stylish African clothing! Zahra's Ethiopian dress is covered in beads, while Malika's Namibian outfit is bursting with colours. And who is hiding behind that elephant mask from Cameroon? No two outfits are the same, in this beautiful and varied parade of clothing from across Africa!
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Papa Do You Love Me? by Barbara M. JoosseWhen a Maasai father in Africa answers his son's questions, the boy learns that his father's love for him is unconditional, in a follow-up to Mama, Do You Love Me?
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The Arabic Quilt: An Immigrant Story
by Aya Khalil
Kanzi wraps herself in the beautiful Arabic quilt her teita (grandma) in Cairo gave her and writes a poem in Arabic about the quilt. Next day her teacher sees the poem and gets the entire class excited about creating a "quilt" (a paper collage) of student names in Arabic. In the end, Kanzi's most treasured reminder of her old home provides a pathway for acceptance in her new one. This authentic story with beautiful illustrations includes a glossary of Arabic words and a presentation of Arabic letters with their phonetic English equivalents.
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The Water Princess
by
Susan Verde
The story of one young girl's quest to bring clean drinking water to her African village.
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Quill Soup: A Stone Soup Story
by
Alan Durant
In this African version of the traditional folktale Stone Soup, Noko the porcupine tricks the other well fed but selfish animals into sharing their food with him and the whole village.
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Baby Goes to Market
by
Atinuke
Join Baby and his doting mama at a bustling southwest Nigerian marketplace for a bright, bouncy read-aloud offering a gentle introduction to numbers.
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The Storyteller
by
Evan Turk
In a time of drought in the Kingdom of Morocco, a storyteller and a boy weave a tale to thwart a Djinn and his sandstorm from destroying their city.
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Rise of the Green Flame
by Bernard Mensah
Eight-year-old Kwame is eager to start Nkonyaa School and learn calabash magic, yet none of the teachers can figure out what kind of magic is in his calabash--but when one of Kwame's new friends is possessed by an evil magic his power is revealed.
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African Icons: Ten People Who Shaped History
by
Tracey Baptiste
Full-color portraits illustrate the stories of ten people-rulers, educators, inventors, scholars, and explorers-who helped shape the African continent and the world from ancient times through the tumultuous sixteenth century.
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Daughters of the Lamp
by
Nedda Lewers
While in Egypt for her uncle's wedding, Sahara Rashad, who lives by logic and has never believed in magic, embarks on an adventure of a lifetime when her late mother's necklace leads her to Ali Baba's magical treasure and the discovery of her true legacy.
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Mwikali and the Forbidden Mask
by
Shiko Nguru
12-year-old Mwikali is moving to a new school in Nairobi and just wants her life to be normal. But when she meets Soni, Odwar, and Xirsi who reveal that she is descended from an ancient bloodline of legendary Kenyan warriors, all hope of a normal life fades. Now, with an array of malign forces massing, Mwikali must delve deep into the past to discover her ancestry, learn to harness her extraordinary powers, and enter a race against time to defeat a village elder who has turned to dark magic in an effort to gain ultimate power.
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Good Luck, Anna Hibiscus!
by
Atinuke
During the dry, dusty winter season in Nigeria, Anna Hibiscus prepares to visit her grandmother in Canada, where she will see snow for the first time but will be sad to leave the big family she loves behind.
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When Stars are Scattered
by
Victoria Jamieson
A Somali refugee who spent his childhood at the Dadaab camp and the Newbery Honor-winning creator of Roller Girl present the graphic-novel story of a young refugee who struggles with leaving behind his nonverbal brother when he has an opportunity to help his family by going to school.
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Last Gate of the Emperor
by
Kwame Mbalia
Yared Heywat lives an isolated life in Addis Prime -- a hardscrabble city with rundown tech, lots of rules, and not much to do. His worrywart Uncle Moti and bionic lioness Besa are his only family... and his only friends. Often in trouble for his thrill-seeking antics and smart mouth, those same qualities make Yared a star player of the underground augmented reality game, The Hunt for Kaleb's Obelisk. But when a change in the game rules prompts Yared to log in with his real name, it triggers an attack that rocks the city. In the chaos, Uncle Moti disappears. Suddenly, all the stories Yared's uncle told him as a young boy are coming to life, of kingdoms in the sky and city-razing monsters. And somehow Yared is at the center of them.
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One Hen: How One Small Loan Made A Big Difference by Katie Smith MilwayInspired by actual events, a picture book tells the story of Kojo, a boy from Ghana, who, with a very small loan from his mother, started a tiny poultry farm and earned enough money to return to school--and make a better life for his family.
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The Red Pencil
by
Andrea Davis Pinkney
After her village is attacked by militants, Amira, a young Sudanese girl, flees to a refugee camp, where she finds hope and the chance to pursue an education in the form of a single red pencil and the encouragement of a wise elder.
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Orange for the Sunsets
by
Tina Athaide
From debut author Tina Athaide comes a soaring tale of empathy, hope, and resilience, as two best friends living under Ugandan President Amin's divisive rule must examine where--and who--they call home.
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Ace of Spades
by
Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé
Gossip Girl meets Get Out in Ace of Spades, a YA contemporary thriller by debut author Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé about two students, Devon & Chiamaka, and their struggles against an anonymous bully.
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The Gilded Ones
by
Namina Forna
The start of a bold and immersive West African-inspired, feminist fantasy series for fans of Children of Blood and Bone and Black Panther. In this world, girls are outcasts by blood and warriors by choice.
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Every Body Looking
by
Candice Iloh
In this novel in verse, a mixed-heritage dancer's coming of age within the African diaspora is shaped by abuse at the hands of a cousin, her mother's descent into addiction, and her father's efforts to create a Nigerian-inspired home in America.
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Nubia: The Awakening
by
Omar Epps
In a climate-ravaged New York deeply divided by class, Zuberi, Uzochi, and Lencho, three teens of refugees from a fallen African utopia, begin to develop supernatural powers.
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City of Saints & Thieves
by
Natalie C. Anderson
Sixteen-year-old Tina and two friends leave Kenya and slip into the Congo, from where she and her mother fled years before, seeking revenge for her mother's murder but uncovering startling secrets.
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Iyanu: Child of Wonder by Roye OkupeA teenage orphan with no recollection of her past, suddenly discovers that she has abilities that rival the ancient deities told in the folklore of her people.
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Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi AdeyemiComing of age in a land where her magi mother was killed by the zealous king's guards along with other former wielders of magic, Zélie embarks on a journey alongside her brother and a fugitive princess to restore her people's magical abilities.
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Steeplejack
by
A. J. Hartley
Repairing roof fixtures in an alternate world resembling Victorian South Africa, Anglet Sutonga investigates the death of an apprentice while caring for her sister's baby against a backdrop of racial tensions, political secrets, and a historical icon.
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by Linda Sue Park
When the Sudanese civil war reaches his village in 1985, eleven-year-old Salva becomes separated from his family and must walk with other Dinka tribe members through southern Sudan, Ethiopia, and Kenya in search of safe haven. |
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War Girls
by
Tochi Onyebuchi
The year is 2172. Climate change and nuclear disasters have rendered much of earth unlivable. Only the lucky ones have escaped to space colonies in the sky. In a war-torn Nigeria, battles are fought using flying, deadly mechs and soldiers are outfitted with bionic limbs and artificial organs meant to protect them from the harsh, radiation-heavy climate. Across the nation, as the years-long civil war wages on, survival becomes the only way of life. Two sisters, Onyii and Ify, dream of more. Their lives have been marked by violence and political unrest. Still, they dream of peace, of hope, of a future together. And they're willing to fight an entire war to get there.
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