Taylor Cassidy’s Black History is Your History is the most accessible collective biography for young adults. Cassidy’s grew her voice as a TikTok influencer, starting her series “Fast Black History” at the height of the pandemic. Having grown up with check-the-box lessons in January and February of Black history (like 90% of US students in the early 2000s), Cassidy wanted to take the real education she received from her parents and her desire as a kid to watch more about Black history (rather than read about it in books) to the vertical screen. Her outstanding success there gave Cassidy the inspiration to write this book, a dive into the lives of twelve Black Americans (Claudette Colvin, Benjamin Banneker, Ida B. Wells, Zora Neal Hurston, Gordon Parks, Ledger Smith, Tommie Smith, Cicely Tyson, Maya Angelou, Patrick Kelly, Marsha Johnson and Mae Jemison) across time who have pushed her to go on, be strong, and make their mark on the world. During each chapter, Cassidy breaks ranks to have her own “Taystory”–a vignette where she ties her life to the history she’s exploring. During the Taystory in Cecily Tyson’s chapter, Cassidy sums up the theme of this collective biography with this thought: “…being Black didn’t mean fitting into stereotypes and avoiding interests that didn’t fit into a box someone else made for me” (118). These vignettes, as well as all of her 2020s authentic slang, will make middle and high school students wish all of their history lessons were so lively and empowering. Cassidy truly loves writing about history, perhaps as much as talking about it online, as shown when a Benjamin Banneker letter from the 1700s is modernized into a rap in the style of the Hamilton musical (27). Her positive messaging runs throughout: “Remember that every little thing about you is a breath of fresh air for someone. Your quirks are the intricate engravings of your identity” (137). These 185 pages of an 8.5 x 5.5 book will be devoured by most. Highly Recommended!

If you like competitive fight scenes like The Hunger Games, kick-ass female protagonists who can rise to the occasion more than they ever thought they could, and a plot full of twists that will bring frustration as well as appreciation of the author’s cleverness, Liselle Sambury’s A Mastery of Monsters is your next adventurous read. Our main character, August, is mad at the world because her mother and brother have gone missing. She doesn’t seem as upset about her mother, but her brother is her rock. While on their college campus trying to find him, she gets attacked by a weird creature, foreshadowing her path for the next 575 pages. Slide that little attack to the side, because August soon meets Virgil. The vibe is real, but he has an alternative motive to befriend her — he needs a partner who will fight on his behalf to literally save his life.

There is a ton more world-building in this darker, monster-driven fantasy. August will connect with a secret society, and her mother and brother’s disappearances will be tied in with a mastery of monsters she never knew existed.

Even though August speaks her mind and doesn’t take crap from anyone, teen angst is less the focus than August learning to be confident in herself and realizing she can handle it all, physically and mentally. The challenge competitions make chapters fly by, but it takes a minute to get to those scenes. The second book in this trilogy was released on August 26th, and it sounds like the physical challenges will continue to entertain.