Where Are All the Books for Pre-Teen Black Girls?

Welcome Back, Booklovers!


This post was inspired by a recent discussion. And during Women's History Month I think it's more important than ever to raise this discussion. There are hundreds of Middle Grade books released every year but when it comes to suggestions for books for little black girls in that 10-13 age range I find people don't know what to recommend. Sure they can read the same books as their white peers but what about when they want to see themselves reflected in the stories?

When I was in that age range I read mostly white books if I wanted to read a carefree relatable story or a magical fantasy. The other black girls I grew up around weren't interested in reading. That was something for white girls I was told.  Being young and innocent was considered a privileged for white girls. Most of my black girl peers had moved on to adult movies because there were no movies for black girls our age. I had a mother who fostered my love of reading and let me be a carefree child while doing her best to make me feel comfortable in my blackness.

Little black girls don't have enough media marketed towards them. I've seen people make reading suggestions for these young girls more suited for older teens and adults. I've heard my peers state as young girls they were suggested adult reads to relate to. It's pretty much expected for black girls to move on from being little girls to adults. They're not viewed in society as innocent like their peers. There are studies to back this up showing that black girls aged 5-9 are assumed to need less support and protection and know more about adult topics.

Let's keep our girls innocent and not contribute to the adultification of black girls. Let's give them realistic fiction but let's also give them stories where they can see themselves depicted in fantastical worlds. Let's give them their stories of just navigating the life of a young girl going to school and meeting new friends.

We can't just push them towards young adult or adult books where there are themes they may not be able to relate to or are not quite ready emotionally to explore. There are some amazing authors writing contemporary and fantasy stories for our girls.  Here's some 2020 release recommendations for the young girls in your lives. Buy or request through your local library.

From the Desk of Zoe Washington

Zoe Washington isn’t sure what to write. What does a girl say to the father she’s never met, hadn’t heard from until his letter arrived on her twelfth birthday, and who’s been in prison for a terrible crime?

A crime he says he never committed.

Could Marcus really be innocent? Zoe is determined to uncover the truth. Even if it means hiding his letters and her investigation from the rest of her family. Everyone else thinks Zoe’s worrying about doing a good job at her bakery internship and proving to her parents that she’s worthy of auditioning for Food Network’s Kids Bake Challenge.

But with bakery confections on one part of her mind, and Marcus’s conviction weighing heavily on the other, this is one recipe Zoe doesn’t know how to balance. The only thing she knows to be true: Everyone lies.

Ways to Make Sunshine

Ryan Hart loves to spend time with her friends, loves to invent recipes, and has a lot on her mind—school, self-image, and family. Her dad finally has a new job, but money is tight. That means changes like selling their second car and moving into a new (old) house. But Ryan is a girl who knows how to make sunshine out of setbacks. Because Ryan is all about trying to see the best. Even when things aren’t all she would wish for—her brother is infuriating, her parents don’t understand, when her recipes don’t turn out right, and when the unexpected occurs—she can find a way forward, with wit and plenty of sunshine.

Ghost Squad

Shortly before Halloween, Lucely and her best friend, Syd, cast a spell that accidentally awakens malicious spirits, wreaking havoc throughout St. Augustine. Together, they must join forces with Syd's witch grandmother, Babette, and her tubby tabby, Chunk, to fight the haunting head-on and reverse the curse to save the town and Lucely's firefly spirits before it's too late.

Something to Say

Eleven-year-old Jenae doesn’t have any friends—and she’s just fine with that. She’s so good at being invisible in school, it’s almost like she has a superpower, like her idol, Astrid Dane. At home, Jenae has plenty of company, like her no-nonsense mama; her older brother, Malcolm, who is home from college after a basketball injury; and her beloved grandpa, Gee.

Then a new student shows up at school—a boy named Aubrey with fiery red hair and a smile that won’t quit. Jenae can’t figure out why he keeps popping up everywhere she goes. The more she tries to push him away, the more he seems determined to be her friend. Despite herself, Jenae starts getting used to having him around.

But when the two are paired up for a class debate about the proposed name change for their school, Jenae knows this new friendship has an expiration date. Aubrey is desperate to win and earn a coveted spot on the debate team.

There’s just one problem: Jenae would do almost anything to avoid speaking up in front of an audience—including risking the first real friendship she’s ever had.

Hide and Seeker

Don't let the Seeker find you!

Twelve-year-old Zee is back now. He disappeared for a year and nobody knows where he went or what happened to him. Not even his best friends Justin, Nia, and Lyric. But ever since Zee has been back, he's been... different. After Zee freaks out at his friends playing hide-and-seek at an odd party in his backyard -- the first time his friends are back together since his reappearance -- strange things begin to occur. Everyone who played in the game has a mark on their wrist. And then they disappear.


The kids are pulled into a shadow world -- the Nowhere -- ruled by the monstrous, shape-shifting Seeker. Justin and his friends will have to band together and face their worst nightmares to defeat the Seeker or lose themselves to the Nowhere forever.

When Life Gives You Mangos

Twelve-year-old Clara lives on an island that visitors call exotic. But there's nothing exotic about it to Clara. She loves eating ripe mangos off the ground, running outside in the rain with her Papa during rainy season, and going to her secret hideout with Gaynah—even though lately she's not acting like a best friend.

     The only thing out of the ordinary for Clara is that something happened to her memory that made her forget everything that happened last summer after a hurricane hit. Sometimes things come back to her in drips like a tap that hasn't been turned off properly. Other times her Mama fills in the blanks...only she knows those aren't her memories and it is hard feeling like she is not like everybody else.


     But this summer is going to be different for Clara. Everyone is buzzing with excitement over a new girl in the village who is not like other visitors. She is about to make big waves on the island—and give Clara a summer she won't forget.

Maya and the Rising Dark 

Twelve-year-old Maya is the only one in her South Side Chicago neighborhood who witnesses weird occurrences like werehyenas stalking the streets at night and a scary man made of shadows plaguing her dreams. Her friends try to find an explanation—perhaps a ghost uprising or a lunchroom experiment gone awry. But to Maya, it sounds like something from one of Papa’s stories or her favorite comics.

When Papa goes missing, Maya is thrust into a world both strange and familiar as she uncovers the truth. Her father is the guardian of the veil between our world and the Dark—where an army led by the Lord of Shadows, the man from Maya’s nightmares, awaits. Maya herself is a godling, half orisha and half human, and her neighborhood is a safe haven. But now that the veil is failing, the Lord of Shadows is determined to destroy the human world and it’s up to Maya to stop him. She just hopes she can do it in time to attend Comic-Con before summer’s over.

Forever This Summer

Georgie has no idea what to expect when she, Mama, and Peaches are plopped down in the middle of nowhere--AKA Bogalusa, Louisiana. G-baby wants to help out at the famous family diner that once served celebrities like the Jackson 5 and the Supremes, but with restaurateur Great Aunt Elvie needing help remembering day-to-day things, everyone is too busy to show G-baby the ropes.G-baby makes friends with Markie, a foster kid under Aunt Elvie's care, who has a short arm caused by something called ULD and a huge singing voice. When G-baby's best friend, Nikki, comes to visit they realize that the kids in town don't have a place to hang out like their Boys & Girls club in Atlanta. G-baby, Nikki, and Markie embark on a mission to start a club of their own: the Bogalusa Summer Club. Since clubs aren't exactly free, they decide to put on a talent show to raise money. Along the way, G-baby will discover an unexpected talent of her own: fighting for what's fair and right even when everything is stacked against you

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