YALSA-bk is a listserv with lively discussions among librarians, educators, and beyond about all things YA lit. Sometimes one listserv member will ask for help finding books around a certain theme or readalikes for a particular title. This post is a compilation of responses for one such request.
The original request
Does anyone have a list of recent biographies that might be of interest to teens? My YA Biography section could use some new blood but it’s not a genre I read in overly much.
Suggested titles
- A Piece of Cake by Cupcake Brown
- Driven by Donald Driver
- This Star Won’t Go Out by Esther Grace Earl
- The Monuments Men by Robert M. Edsel
- The Way I Am by Eminem
- Girlbomb by Janice Erlbaum
- Minecraft: The Unlikely Tale of Markus “Notch” Persson and the Game That Changed Everything by Daniel Goldberg and Linus Larsson, translated by Jennifer Hawkins
- Imagination Illustrated: The Jim Henson Journal by Karen Falk and Lisa Henson
- Comeback by Claire Fontaine and Mia Fontaine
- Everybody’s Brother by CeeLo Green
- The Warrior’s Heart: Becoming a Man of Passion and Courage by Eric Greitens
- Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out by Susan Kucklin
- Staying Strong: 365 Days a Year by Demi Lovato
- Orr: My Story by Bobby Orr
- A Child Called “It” and The Lost Boy by David Pelzer
- Hungry by Crystal Renn
- Si-Cology by Si Robertson
- The Duck Commander Family by Willie Robertson
- My Bloody Life by Raymundo Sanchez
- Monster: The Autobiography of an LA Gang Member by Sanyika Shakur
- My Story by Elizabeth Smart
- Wild by Cheryl Strayed
- Candy Bomber: The Story of the Berlin Airlift’s “Chocolate Pilot” by Michael Tunnell
- Men We Reaped by Jesmyn Ward
- I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai
- Smashed by Koren Zailckas
Suggested graphic novels
- Baby’s in Black: Astrid Kirchherr, Stuart Sutcliffe, and The Beatles by Arne Bellstorf
- Andre the Giant, Life and Legend by Box Brown
- Yummy: The Last Days of a Southside Shorty by Greg Neri
- Jim Ottaviani’s graphic biographies of scientists, including Feynman, Primates, and Suspended in Language
- March, Book One by Congressman John Lewis and Andrew Aykin with art by Nate Powell
Suggested topics
- Hip-hop figures
- Musicians
- Athletes
- Addition/recovery memoirs
- Biographies that are being made into movies
- Biographies that have local interest
Have more titles you think should belong on these lists? Add them on the YALSA wiki or leave a comment! Looking for more compiled booklists? Check out the YALSA wiki or other booklists here at The Hub.
— Gretchen Kolderup, currently reading Panic by Lauren Oliver