Adult Titles with Teen Allure
A lot of books written for adults feature memorable teen characters and stories. Here are our recommendations. (Updated January 2025)
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Wash Day Diaries
Four young women’s lives come together at their local salon. Kimana wants to be a singer, but Malik pushes hard for her to be his girlfriend. Nisha can’t decide between two men, and tests their feelings for her. Davenne deals with depression, and Cookie washes her homophobic grandmother’s hair. GN
Format: Graphic Novel
Availability: Available
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Charlotte Illes Is Not A Detective
Former child detective Charlotte is back on the case when her brother’s girlfriend starts receiving vaguely threatening notes.
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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You Don't Know What War Is
Ten days after her twelfth birthday, Yeva wakes to find her nation, Ukraine, has been invaded by Russia.
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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The Violin Conspiracy
Weeks before a huge competition, Ray discovers his beloved grandfather’s violin has been stolen, and it turns out to have been a priceless Stradivarius. Facing the huge ransom note, Ray also learns that the family who enslaved his grandfather think the violin belongs to them.
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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The High Desert
The creator of Afro-Punk tells the story of his adolescence as a Black punk rocker in rural California, developing his own subculture of art, resistance, and music. GN
Format: Graphic Novel
Availability: Available
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Tell Us No Secrets
Tired of personal drama with former friend Cassidy, Zoey starts a “game” of putting stars by the names of girls in their school who have gotten pregnant, but the game soon gets out of control when another girl is murdered.
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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Big Girl
Coming of age in rapidly gentrifying Harlem, Malaya must face the pressures of society and her own family to lose weight as she learns to love herself just as she is.
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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Daughter of the Moon Goddess
When Xingyin, the secret, half-immortal daughter of the moon goddess, is exposed, the Celestial Emperor hunts her. She is determined not to hide, but to free her mother from exile.
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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You'd Look Better as A Ghost
Rejected from an art show by a poorly worded email, Claire decides she must kill the sender. It's not her first kill, and when she learns she is being blackmailed by someone who knows what she did, she knows it will not be her last.
Format: Book
Availability: Available
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Mack is about to lose her spot at the women’s shelter, so a competition to spend a week at an abandoned amusement park with thirteen other hopeful people (and win $50,000) is an opportunity she can’t miss. When others go missing, though, Mack’s very life is in danger. GN
Format: Graphic Novel
Availability: Available
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