We don't always agree with what we read--but that's kind of the point. Reading widely nurtures empathy, teaches us to think critically, and challenges our understandings of the world. Join us in reading one of these YA books that has been challenged or banned in North American institutions--but not at your public library.
Based on the real-life experiences of the author, Flamer is a raw and heartfelt graphic novel following Aiden, a Filipino-American teen, as he grapples with his identity and vicious bullying. Away at camp the summer before high school, he meets a…
Felix has bever been in love, but he desperately wants to know what it’s like. He worries that he’s “too complicated,” and when an anonymous student starts sending him transphobic messages, these fears seem to be confirmed. One revenge plot and…
Set against the backdrop of the 1937 New London School explosion, Out of Darkness is a tale of segregation, violence, and love that crosses colour lines. Pérez intricately weaves together the lives of a Latina girl and a Black boy in the Texas…
Set in San Francisco’s Chinatown in 1954, Last Night at the Telegraph Club is equal parts historical fiction, romance, and coming of age story. At the height of the Red Scare, seventeen-year-old Lily Hu finds herself sneaking into a lesbian bar with…
The child of committed Marxists and great-granddaughter of one of Iran’s last emperors, Marjane is witness to some of her country’s most turbulent years. Using stark black-and-white illustrations that juxtapose everyday life with violent…
After a racist encounter with the police makes him question his place in society, high schooler Justyce McAllister begins writing letters to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to help process his experiences. But when the unthinkable happens and Justyce is…
When a group of schoolboys become stranded on a remote island, their newfound freedom is initially something they celebrate. As the boys realize they can do whatever they want, however, their newly built society devolves into chaos. Parts parody,…
Life isn’t easy for fifteen-year-old Xiomara Batista, growing into herself in her complicated Harlem neighbourhood. She pours her frustrations into poems that she wants to share with the world, but her expression is blocked at every turn by her…
Understated and beautifully illustrated, This One Summer is a graphic novel that follows friends Rose and Windy through the everyday (but often fraught) moments between childhood and adulthood. This summer feels “different” as the girls navigate…
After she calls 9-1-1 to break up an end-of-summer house party, nobody at Merryweather High will talk to Melinda. What her classmates don’t know—and what she can barely admit to herself—is that she was sexually assaulted at that party by a boy she…
