Young adult books that teach empathy

Paperback

The Sun is also a Star

Nicola Yoon

The dazzling new novel from Nicola Yoon, the New York Times bestselling author of Everything, Everything.

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Becoming Kirrali Lewis

Jane Harrison

Set within the explosive cultural shifts of the 1960s and 1980s, Becoming Kirrali Lewis chronicles the journey of a young Aboriginal teenager as she leaves her home town in rural…

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Hardback

Sister Heart

Sally Morgan

A young Aboriginal girl is taken from the north of Australia and sent to an institution in the distant south. There, she slowly makes a new life for herself and…

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Paperback

Freedom Swimmer

Wai Chim

This incredible tale about two boys’ swim from mainland China to Hong Kong in search of freedom from poverty and oppression is inspired by a true story.

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Paperback

Mr Romanov’s Garden in the Sky

Robert Newton

Living in the commission, Lexie is left to fend for herself. Her mother is mostly absent, out searching for something to help her forget the tragic death of Lexie’s dad…

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Paperback

All I Ever Wanted

Vikki Wakefield

Mim knows what she wants, and where she wants to go - anywhere but home, stuck in the suburbs with her mother who won’t get off the couch, and two…

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Paperback

Trouble Tomorrow

Terry Whitebeach,Sarafino Wani Enadio

The compelling story of a Sudanese boy who escapes from civil war and learns not only how to survive on his own without friend or family, but how to construct…

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Take Three Girls

Cath Crowley,Simmone Howell,Fiona Wood

Rumour is the new truth: feminism, identity and belonging are explored in a spectacular collaboration between three award-winning YA authors.

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Paperback

Becoming Aurora

Elizabeth Kasmer

Sixteen-year-old Rory is at a crossroads in her life. While her gang plans its next move in a racially motivated turf war, Rory is sentenced to spend her summer at…

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The Things We Promise

J. C. Burke

Gemma’s older brother Billy made her a promise that he would ensure she looked fabulous for her first school formal. But his circumstances change dramatically and Billy’s promise becomes the…

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Paperback

This One Summer

Mariko Tamaki

Every summer, Rose goes with her mum and dad to a lake house in Awago Beach. It’s their getaway, their refuge. Rosie’s friend Windy is always there, too, like the…

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When Michael Met Mina

Randa Abdel-Fattah

Michael has always believed that everything in life is black and white. But that was before he met Mina.

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The Protected

Claire Zorn

A compulsively readable novel from the acclaimed author of The Sky So Heavy. The worst thing that could happen would be for my life to go back to how it…

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Paperback

The Hate U Give

Angie Thomas

A powerful and brave YA novel about what prejudice looks like in the 21st century.

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Paperback

13 Reasons Why

Jay Asher

Clay Jensen returns home to find a strange package with his name on it. Inside he discovers several cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker - his classmate and first love…

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Paperback

The Bone Sparrow

Zana Fraillon

Subhi’s imagination is as big as the ocean and wide as the sky, but his world is much smaller: he’s spent his whole life in an immigration detention centre. The…

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Hardback

Beck

Mal Peet,Meg Rosoff

The final novel from Carnegie Medal-winning author Mal Peet is a sweeping coming-of-age adventure, with all the characteristic beauty and strenth of his prose.

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Paperback

Making Friends With Alice Dyson

Poppy Nwosu

Alice knows exactly how she’ll be spending her final year of high school: with her head down, concentrating on textbooks and homework. Until an encounter with the school’s most notorious…

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Paperback

Because of You

Pip Harry

Meet Tiny and Nola. Two very different girls with two very different stories who are just trying to find a place to belong. A powerful and compelling novel about friendship…

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Paperback

The Astonishing Colour of After

Emily X.R. Pan

Life, loss, love and art explode in a kaleidoscope of emotions as one girl must learn the truth about her family’s past in order to bring peace to the present…

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Internment

Samira Ahmed

New York Times bestselling and Carnegie Prize-nominated author Samira Ahmed (Love, Hate and Other Filters) fights against Islamophobia and complicit silence in a novel about a futuristic internment camp for…

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Paperback

Nothing But the Truth

Dick Lehr

Inspired by the true story of a young man’s false imprisonment for murder, this is a gripping novel about a daughter’s fight for justice against the odds.

In his first…

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What I Like About Me

Jenna Guillaume

Maisie Martin is a clever, shy, funny, confused 16-year-old. She’s ready for the summer of her life. Until everything starts going wrong…

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Paperback

I Had Such Friends

Meg Gatland-Veness

A moving debut set in a rural Australian town, I Had Such Friends by Meg Gatland-Veness encourages young adults to see the gaps in our friends’ silence and question the…

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Paperback

Clean

Juno Dawson

A razor-sharp, adrenaline rush of a novel from award-winning author Juno Dawson, Clean is Gossip Girl meets Girl, Interrupted

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Paperback

Amal Unbound

Aisha Saeed

Aisha Saeed’s middle-grade debut tells the compelling story of a girl’s fight to regain her life and dreams after being forced into indentured servitude.

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Paperback

Living on Hope Street

Demet Divaroren

We all love someone. We all fear something. Sometimes they live right next door - or even closer.

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You’re Welcome, Universe

Whitney Gardner

For use in schools and libraries only. Creating a graffiti mural to cover up a nasty slur about her best friend written on the back of their school for the…

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We Are Okay

Nina LaCour

After leaving her life behind to go to college in New York, Marin must face the truth about the tragedy that happened in the final weeks of summer when her…

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Paperback

A Very Large Expanse of Sea

Tahereh Mafi

From the New York Times bestselling author of the Shatter Me series comes a powerful, heartrending contemporary YA novel about fear, first love, and the devastating impact of prejudice.

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Paperback

Inside the Tiger

Hayley Lawrence

It’s not because Bel’s mother was murdered. It’s not because her father is a politician. Bel writes to a Death Row prisoner as an easy way out of an assignment…

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Long Way Down: ‘A masterpiece.’ Angie Thomas

Jason Reynolds

Pressed our lips to the pavement and prayed the boom, followed by the buzz of a bullet, didn’t meet us. After Will’s brother is shot in a gang crime, he…

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Paperback

This Thing of Darkness

Matt Davies

Riley’s sister is dead and she feels responsible. Nothing numbs the pain. Nobody gets her. Until she meets Dean. He’s new to the school, mysterious, and Riley is immediately drawn…

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Between Us

Clare Atkins

Winner of the CBCA Book of the Year Award for Older Readers 2019. Ana’s in a detention centre and Jono’s life is spiralling out of control. Can their growing romance…

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Paperback

Little & Lion

Brandy Colbert

A stunning novel on love, identity, loss, and redemption, featuring diverse characters grappling with such issues as bipolar illness and bisexuality–now in paperback!

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Unmasked (Young Readers’ Edition)

Turia Pitt

Shortlisted for the Readings Young Adult Book Prize 2019

Telling the story of Turia’s life before and after the fire, this young readers’ this book unmasks the real Turia –…

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Girls Like Me

Lola StVil

Girls Like Me is a fresh poetic take on teen angst, high school romance, and cyber-bullying. A novel-in-verse that is campy like Glee, subversive, and downright funny.

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After the Lights Go Out

Lili Wilkinson

What happens when the lights go off after what might truly be an end-of-the-world event? How do you stay alive? Who do you trust? How much do you have to…

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Saints and Misfits

S. K. Ali

Saints and Misfits is a “timely and authentic” (School Library Journal, starred review) debut novel that feels like a modern day My So-Called Life…starring a Muslim teen.

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Changing Gear

Scot Gardner

The vivid story of a teenage boy and the road trip that clears his head and his heart.

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What If It’s Us

Adam Silvera,Becky Albertalli

From bestselling authors Becky Albertalli (Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda which was made into the film Love, Simon) and Adam Silvera (They Both Die At The End) comes a…

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Paperback

Brontide

Sue McPherson

Brontide is a coming of age story about four boys and their lot in life. Recounted through storytelling sessions at their school over a period of five days, these boys…

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P is for Pearl

Eliza Henry Jones

From the talented author of the celebrated novels In the Quiet and Ache comes a poignant and moving book that explores the stories we tell ourselves about our families, and…

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The Librarian of Auschwitz

Antonio Iturbe

Based on the experience of real-life Auschwitz prisoner Dita Kraus, this is the incredible story of a girl who risked her life to keep the magic of books alive during…

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Meet Me at the Intersection

Meet Me at the Intersection is an anthology of short fiction, memoir and poetry by authors who are First Nations, People of Colour, LGBTIQA+ or living with disability. The focus…

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Highway Bodies

Alison Evans

Highway Bodies is a unique zombie apocalypse story featuring a range of queer and gender non-conforming teens who have lost their families and friends and can only rely upon each…

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I Am Out With Lanterns

Emily Gale

A beautiful novel about friendship, first love and the power of art to change lives.

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Catching Teller Crow

Ambelin Kwaymullina,Ezekiel Kwaymullina

Winner of the Prize for Young Adult Writing at the 2019 Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards. Told in two unforgettable voices, this gripping novel interweaves themes of grief, colonial history, violence…

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Young adult books that teach empathy

The Sun is also a Star

Becoming Kirrali Lewis

Sister Heart

Freedom Swimmer

Mr Romanov’s Garden in the Sky

All I Ever Wanted

Trouble Tomorrow

Take Three Girls

Becoming Aurora

The Things We Promise

This One Summer

When Michael Met Mina

The Protected

The Hate U Give

13 Reasons Why

The Bone Sparrow

Beck

Making Friends With Alice Dyson

Because of You

The Astonishing Colour of After

Internment

Nothing But the Truth

What I Like About Me

I Had Such Friends

Clean

Amal Unbound

Living on Hope Street

You’re Welcome, Universe

We Are Okay

A Very Large Expanse of Sea

Inside the Tiger

Long Way Down: ‘A masterpiece.’ Angie Thomas

This Thing of Darkness

Between Us

Little & Lion

Unmasked (Young Readers’ Edition)

Girls Like Me

After the Lights Go Out

Saints and Misfits

Changing Gear

What If It’s Us

Brontide

P is for Pearl

The Librarian of Auschwitz

Meet Me at the Intersection

Highway Bodies

I Am Out With Lanterns

Catching Teller Crow