- Written by By Ava, Amanda, and Alannah

So often we see authors place their black characters in minor roles with a white savior as the protagonist. So here we present to you a list of six popular fiction genres with corresponding YA novels featuring black protagonists!

1. Romance with Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon

Everything, Everything has been mentioned countless times from both the book and the movie. Maddy is allergic to everything, and can’t leave her house because of the risks, not leaving for seventeen years. Olly moves in and they make eye-contact, and Maddy knows she’s going to fall in love. A sweet, beautiful story about overcoming odds and risking it all for love is a definite, swoon-worthy must-read.

2. Action-Adventure with A Blade So Black by L. L. McKinney

Alice, trained in magic weaponry and battling Nightmares, is struggling to keep up with school and her mother. But when Alice’s mentor is mysteriously poisoned, she must travel to Wonderland, home of the Nightmares that nearly ended her before. The task is seemingly simple: find the antidote and make it back home with her head still attached to her neck. But she soon discovers it’s easier said than done!

3. Biographical Account with Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly

Space travel is easily one of America's greatest accomplishments, with its crowning glory arguably being the spectacular moon landing. Yet contrary to what was for so long believed, this wasn't achieved solely by white men, nor white women either... Meet the HIDDEN FIGURES who helped to make this amazing feat possible - several incredibly devoted and talented black women who fought to assert their rights in a world that was prejudiced against them. Beautifully written by Margot Lee Shetterly, this will be a read that you won't want to put down!

4. Fantasy withThe Belles by Dhonielle Clayton

In Orléans, every person is born ugly and gray without the help of a Belle, who controls beauty and has the power to make people beautiful. Camellia Beauregard, a Belle, wants to be chosen as the royal favorite by the Queen of Orléans and able to be acknowledged as the most talented Belle, serving the royal family. Competing with five other Belles for the position, Camellia navigates through dangerous waters to make a choice for something she truly believes in. Not only is this book a fantastic fantasy book, but it also deals with many issues prevalent in the world today.

5. Speculative Fiction with Dread Nation by Justina Ireland

After the Civil War was brought to a sudden halt when the dead began walking the battlefields, the Native and Negro Reeducation Act was enacted, requiring colored children to train in combat schools with the sole purpose of defending the privileged white people from the dead. Jane McKeene is about to graduate as an Attendant—women who are trained in combat and etiquette, though she wants nothing more than to head back to her home in Kentucky. But when she finds out about a dastardly plot that threatens everyone in Baltimore County, she discovers maybe the dead aren’t the ones to fear after all.

6. Thriller with Kindred by Octavia E. Butler

While technically more historical fiction with a fantastical twist, KINDRED features many thriller-y elements. And it was just so good that we had to put it on this list! While celebrating her twenty-sixth birthday with her husband, Dana, a modern black woman, time travels to the antebellum South to save a drowning young boy. But as Dana is continuously called back to the past to save the boy from life-threatening situations, the time she needs to stay in the past grows longer and longer until she is unsure whether it’s possible to go back to the present in one piece.

Emily Calandrelli

aka @TheSpaceGirl

"Emily is an Emmy-nominated science TV host. She's featured as a correspondent on Bill Nye Saves the World and a producer and the host of FOX's Xploration Outer Space. She is also a guest science writer and host for Discovery News and covers the space industry as a writer for TechCrunch."

Ada Lace is the perfect series for growing scientists. 

 Ada Lace Adventure series is available in stores now, including the newest in the series Ada Lace and the Impossible Mission.

Books Inc. is happy to announce that not only do we have Ada Lace on our shelves, but we have

SIGNED COPIES.

*To order your signed copies, just click on the edition you want, then write "SIGNED COPY PLEASE" in the comments.*

***If you'd like it personalized for the mini-scientist in your life, just include the name in the comments as well! We'll ship them out as soon as Emily signs them. ***

Happy Reading! We hope you enjoy your adventure with Ada Lace!

Order the Ada Lace Adventures Collection (books #1-4) and receive a special gift + a personalized video message sent to a person of your choosing. Emily will follow up with the email provided to coordinate.

Oder the collection here

"Ada Lace has a new social studies teacher—who loves group projects. While most of the class has constructed regular dioramas with clay and construction paper, Ada, her best friend Nina, and sometimes nemesis Milton have built a complex scale model of an historic silver mine. But when Milton reveals that he added his “old Milton touch” on their project right before turning it in, Ada worries that he has sabotaged their work.

In a desperate attempt to save their project, Ada and Nina use their combined creative and technical prowess to perform a heist and break into their teacher’s supply closet after school.

Do the two friends have what it takes to deceive the school’s security system? Or will they get caught trying to pull off this seemingly impossible mission."

Orders placed before January 1 will include a Signed Picture + other small goodies and will ship out the week of November 20.

Paperback Edition

Hardback Edition

"Third grader and inventor extraordinaire Ada Lace likes nothing more than to tinker with mechanics like her robot, George. Her latest project is to fix up a ham radio, something that she could use to contact people on this planet...and beyond. The only problem is that she just can't get it to work properly.

During a sleepover, Ada's best friend Nina hears something strange coming from the radio in the middle of the night. A distant voice says, "Release the swarm " convincing Nina that aliens are about to invade planet Earth.

Could Ada and Nina have stumbled upon something...extraterrestrial?"

Orders placed before January 1 will include a Signed Picture + other small goodies and will ship out the week of November 20.

Paperback Edition

Hardcover Edition

"Ada Lace--third-grade scientist and inventor extraordinaire--has discovered something awful: her neighbor's beloved Yorkie has been dognapped!

With the assistance of a quirky neighbor named Nina (who is convinced an alien took the doggie) and her ever-growing collection of gadgets, Ada sets out to find the wrongdoer. As their investigation becomes more and more mysterious, Ada and Nina grow closer, proving that opposites do, in fact, attract."

Orders placed before January 1 will include a Signed Picture + other small goodies and will ship out the week of November 20.

Paperback Edition

Hardcover Edition 

"Ada Lace is building a new robot She's determined to beat Milton in the upcoming robotics competition. But she's distracted--Ada finds her dad's art class impossible, while Nina is the star of the class, basking in the glory of being Mr. Lace's star pupil.

When Mr. Lace suggests that Nina put on an art show, Ada becomes jealous and loses her temper. Now Ada isn't speaking to her dad, she's falling behind in art class, and she still doesn't know how to fix her robot. As the competition looms closer, Ada starts to wonder if there might be a way to use both science and art to solve her problems.

Will Ada make up with her father in time to test her hypothesis? Or will her hurt feelings leave her seeing red and without a medal at the end of the day?"

Orders placed before January 1 will include a Signed Picture + other small goodies and will ship out the week of November 20.

Paperback Edition

HardcoverEdition

Coming February 12, 2019!

Third grader and inventor extraordinaire Ada Lace is on spring break. But it's just a little less relaxing than she'd imagined. Nina is beside herself with excitement about meeting her favorite artist and enlists Ada and Mr. Peebles's coding-whiz nephew to help revamp her online portfolio.

When Nina finally meets Miroir, he snubs her, and her confidence is shaken--but not enough to miss the art show opening. While there, Ada spots a suspiciously familiar painting that may mean Miroir isn't the original he claims to be.

Will the friends be able to reveal the artist's true nature, before he fools someone else?

Paperback Edition

HardcoverEdition

Signed copies are only available while supplies last so don't wait!