21 YA Books to Read With Your Feminist Book Club

YOU ARE READING: 21 YA Books to Read With Your Feminist Book Club AT PhebinhvanhocEN

ever wanted to read a fantastic book and burn the patriarchy in the process? if so, we’ve got you covered.

in rules for being a girl, marin starts a feminist book club with her classmates as a way to combat sexism in her school and is everything. this 100% made us want to start our own feminist book club (have you checked out the epic reads book club yet?) and we have the perfect books to get you started!

From fantasy to modern day, we have an amazing book you should read with your feminist book club. Check out our recommendations and let us know yours in the comments below!

21 truly epic books

You should read with your feminist book club

1. rules for being a girl by candace bushnell & katie cotugno

It starts before you can even remember: You learn the rules for being a girl. . . .

marin has always been good at navigating these unspoken guidelines. A star student and editor of the school newspaper, she dreams of getting into brown college. Marin’s future looks bright, and her young and charismatic English teacher, Mr. Beckett always quickly admires her writing and talks about books with her.

but when “bex” takes things too far and approaches marin, he is shocked and horrified. Had she somehow induced him? Was it his fault?

When Marin works up the courage to tell the administration what happened, no one believes her. she is forced to confront bex in class every day. except that now she has an ax to grind.

but marin is not going to back down. she uses the school newspaper to fight back and starts a feminist book club at school. She finds allies in the most unexpected people, like “slutty” Kendall Gray, whom she had always dismissed as just another lacrosse partner. As things heat up at school and in her personal life, Marin must figure out how to take back the power and write her own rules.

buy rules to be a girl now!

2. little red riding hood by elana k. arnold

You are alone in the woods, seen only by the unblinking yellow moon. Your hands are empty. You are nearly naked. And the wolf is angry.

since his grandmother became his caretaker when he was four years old, bisou martel has lived a quiet life in a small house in seattle. she has mostly kept to herself. she has been good.

But then comes the night on the way home, when she finds herself running for her life over roots and through trees, a fury of claws and teeth behind her.

a wolf attacks. bisou fights back. a new moon rises and with it, questions.

about the blood in bisou’s past and on his hands when he stumbles home.

about broken boys and big bad wolves.

about girls lost in the woods, scared, but not alone.

buy red hood now!

3. full disclosure by camryn garrett

Simone Garcia-Hampton is starting over at a new school, and this time things will be different. She’s making real friends, making a name for herself as student director of Rent, and making a play for Miles, the guy who makes her melt every time he walks into a room. The last thing she wants is for word to get out that she’s HIV-positive, because last time . . . well, last time things got ugly.

Keeping your viral load under control is easy, but keeping your diagnosis a secret is not so simple. As Simone and Miles begin to go out in search of shy kisses of truth that turn into so much more, she feels an uneasiness that goes beyond butterflies. she knows she has to tell him that she’s positive, especially if sex is a possibility, but she’s terrified of how he’ll react! and then she finds an anonymous note in her locker: i know you have hiv. you have until thanksgiving to stop dating thousands. or everyone else will know too.

Simone’s first instinct is to protect her secret at all costs, but as she gains a deeper understanding of the prejudice and fear in her community, she begins to wonder if the only way to overcome them is to confront those who hold them. they hate …

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4. we set fire to the dark by tehlor kay mejia

At the girls’ middle school, distinguished young women are trained for one of two roles in their polarized society. Depending on her major, a graduate will one day manage her husband’s household or raise her children. Both paths promise a life of comfort and luxury, away from the frequent political upheavals of the lower classes.

Daniela Vargas is the best student in school, but her pedigree is a lie. she must keep the truth hidden or be sent back to the fringes of society.

And the school couldn’t prepare her for the tough decisions she has to make after graduation, especially when she’s asked to spy for a resistance group desperately fighting to bring equality to the mainstream.

Will Dani hold on to the privilege her parents fought to earn for her, or will she give up everything she’s fought for in search of a free medium and a chance at forbidden love?

buy we set fire to the dark now!
buy the sequel, we unleash the merciless storm, now!

5. internment for samira ahmed

rebellions are based on hope.

Set in a horrific near future in the United States, seventeen-year-old Layla Amin and her parents are forced into an internment camp for Muslim American citizens.

With the help of new friends who are also trapped inside the internment camp, her boyfriend on the outside, and an unexpected alliance, Layla begins a journey to fight for freedom, leading a revolution against the internment camp director and his guards.

moving and emotional, internment challenges readers to fight against the complicit silence that exists in our current society.

buy admission now!

6. the lady’s guide to petticoats and piracy by mackenzi lee

A year after an accidental grand tour with her brother Monty, Felicity Montague has returned to England with two goals in mind: avoid a marriage proposal from a lovelorn suitor in Edinburgh and enroll in medical school. however, her intellect and her passion will never be enough in the eyes of administrators, who see men as the sole guardians of science.

But then a window of opportunity opens: a doctor he idolizes marries an old friend of his in Germany. Felicity believes that if she could meet this man, she could change her future, but she has no money of her own to make the trip. Fortunately, a mysterious young woman is willing to pay for Felicity’s trip, as long as she is allowed to travel with Felicity disguised as a maid.

Despite her suspicions, Felicity agrees, but once the girl’s true motives are revealed, Felicity becomes part of a dangerous quest that takes them from the German countryside to the seafronts of Zurich and… the secrets that lurk under the atlantic.

Buy the women’s guide to petticoats and piracy now!

7. yes no maybe yes by becky albertalli & aisha saeed

yes

jamie goldberg is okay with volunteering for his local state senate candidate, as long as he’s behind the scenes. When it comes to talking to strangers (or, let’s face it, talking to just about anyone), Jamie is a choke artist. there’s no way he’s knocking on doors to ask people for their votes…until he meets maya.

maya rehman is having the worst ramadan of her life. His best friend is too busy to hang out, their summer trip is cancelled, and now his parents are splitting up. why her mom thinks the solution to her problems is political prospecting, with some weird guy she barely knows, is beyond her.

maybe like this

Going door-to-door isn’t exactly glamorous, but it might not be the worst thing in the world. After all, the polls are getting closer, just like Maya and Jamie. dominating local activism is one thing. navigating the cross-cultural avalanche of the century is something else entirely.

buy yes, no, maybe now!

8. fire and paper girls by natasha ngan

Each year, eight beautiful girls are chosen as Paper Girls to serve the king. It’s the highest honor they could hope for… and the most cruel. But this year, there’s a ninth girl. And instead of paper, she’s made of fire.

In this lush fantasy, Lei is a member of the Paper Caste, the lowest and most oppressed class in Ikhara. she lives in a remote village with her father, where she is still haunted by the trauma of a decade of seeing her mother kidnapped by royal guards. Now the guards are back, and this time it’s Lei they’re after: the girl whose golden eyes have piqued the king’s interest.

During weeks of training in the opulent but stifling palace, Lei and eight other girls learn the skills and charm that befits being the consort of a king. But Lei isn’t content to watch her fate consume her. instead, she does the unthinkable: she falls in love with her. Their forbidden romance becomes entangled in an explosive plot that threatens the very foundation of Ikhara, and Lei, still a wide-eyed country girl at heart, must decide how far she’s willing to go for justice and revenge. .

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9. moxie by jennifer mathieu

vivian carter is fed up. Fed up with her small-town Texas high school who thinks the football team can’t go wrong. fed up with sexist dress codes and harassment in the hallways. but above all, viv carter is sick of always following the rules.

Viv’s mom was a punk rock riot grrrl in the ’90s, so now viv takes a page from her mom’s past and creates a feminist magazine that she distributes anonymously to her classmates. she’s just letting off steam, but other girls respond. Soon enough, Viv is forging friendships with other young women across the clique divides and popularity rankings, and she realizes that what she’s started is nothing short of a girl revolution.

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10. the exact opposite of okay by laura steven

Eighteen-year-old Izzy O’Neill knows exactly who she is—a loyal friend, an aspiring comedian, and a person who believes that milk shakes and Reese’s peanut butter cups are major food groups. But after she’s caught in a compromising position with the son of a politician, it seems like everyone around her is eager to give her a new label: slut.

izzy is sure everything will work out and she can go back to worrying about how she doesn’t reciprocate her best friend danny’s feelings for her and wonders how she’s going to find a way out of her small town. . just no. izzy may be determined not to let anyone else define who she is, but it’s easier said than done when it seems like everyone has something to say about her.

buy the exact opposite of ok now!

11. the year of grace by kim liggett

No one speaks of the grace year. It’s forbidden.

in garner county, girls are told they have the power to drive grown men out of their beds and drive women mad with jealousy. they believe that their own skin emits a powerful aphrodisiac, the potent essence of youth, of a girl on the verge of femininity. that is why they are banished for their sixteenth year, to release their magic into the wild so they can return purified and ready for marriage. But not everyone will make it home alive.

Sixteen-year-old Tierney James dreams of a better life: a society that doesn’t pit friends against friends or women against women, but as her own grace year approaches, she quickly realizes they’re not only the brutal elements need fear. It’s not even the poachers in the woods, men waiting for a chance to grab one of the girls to make a fortune on the black market. their greatest threat may very well be each other.

buy the grace year now!

12. about the appearance of angie thomas

Sixteen-year-old Bri wants to be one of the greatest rappers of all time. Or at least win her first battle. As the daughter of an underground hip hop legend who died right before he hit big, Bri’s got massive shoes to fill.

but it’s hard to get up when you’re labeled a bully at school and your fridge at home is empty after your mom loses her job. so bri pours out her anger and frustration in her first song, which goes viral. . . for all the wrong reasons.

bri soon finds herself at the center of a controversy, portrayed by the media as more of a threat than mc. But with an eviction notice facing her family, Bri doesn’t just want to survive, she has to. even if it means becoming what the public has said she is.

insightful, unflinching and full of heart, the next is an ode to hip hop from one of the most influential literary voices of a generation. is the story of fighting for your dreams, even when the odds are against you; and how, especially for black youth, freedom of expression is not always free.

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13. these witches don’t burn by isabel sterling

Hannah’s a witch, but not the kind you’re thinking of. She’s the real deal, an Elemental with the power to control fire, earth, water, and air. But even though she lives in Salem, Massachusetts, her magic is a secret she has to keep to herself. If she’s ever caught using it in front of a Reg (read: non-witch), she could lose it. For good. So, Hannah spends most of her time avoiding her ex-girlfriend (and fellow Elemental Witch) Veronica, hanging out with her best friend, and working at the Fly by Night Cauldron selling candles and crystals to tourists, goths, and local Wiccans.

but dealing with her ex is the least of hannah’s worries when a terrifying blood ritual interrupts the end of the school year bonfire. Evidence of dark magic begins to appear throughout Salem, and Hannah is certain it is the work of a witch of mortal blood. Problem is, her coven isn’t so convinced, forcing Hannah to team up with the last person she wants to see: Veronica.

while the pair try to take down the blood witch at a house party, hannah meets morgan, a cute new dancer in town. But trying to date in the midst of a supernatural crisis is easier said than done, and Hannah will have to test the limits of her power if she is to save her coven and get the girl, especially when the Salem witches attack. they become more lethal every day.

buy these witches that don’t burn now!

14. kill by brittney morris

By day, seventeen-year-old Kiera Johnson is an honors student, a math tutor, and one of the only Black kids at Jefferson Academy. But at home, she joins hundreds of thousands of Black gamers who duel worldwide as Nubian personas in the secret multiplayer online role-playing card game, SLAY. No one knows Kiera is the game developer, not her friends, her family, not even her boyfriend, Malcolm, who believes video games are partially responsible for the “downfall of the Black man.”

but when a teenager in kansas city is killed over a dispute in the world of slay, news of the game hits the mainstream media and slay is labeled a racist, exclusionary, and violent hub for thugs and criminals. . Worse still, an anonymous troll infiltrates the game and threatens to sue Kiera for “discrimination against white people”.

Driven to save the only world where she can be herself, Kiera must preserve her secret identity and harness what it means to be unapologetically black in a world intimidated by blackness. but can she protect the game from her without getting lost in the process?

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15. because i was a girl edited by melissa de la cruz

Because I Was a Girl is an inspiring collection of true stories by women and girls about the obstacles, challenges, and opportunities they’ve faced…because of their gender. Edited by #1 New York Times-bestselling author Melissa de la Cruz, the book is the perfect gift for girls of all ages.

The collection includes writing from an impressive array of girls and women who are trailblazers in their fields, including bestselling authors Victoria Aveyard, Libba Bray, and Margaret Stohl; industry pioneers like Dolores Huerta, Trish McEvoy and Holly Knight; renowned chef Katie Button; aerospace and mechanical engineer Emily Calandrelli; and many more.

I bought because I’m a girl now!

16. pet by awkaeke emezi

Pet is here to hunt a monster. Are you brave enough to look?

there are no more monsters, or so they teach children in the city of lucille. With loving parents and a best friend named Redemption, Jam has grown up with this lesson her entire life. But when she meets Pet, a creature made of horns, colors and claws, who emerges from one of her mother’s paintings and a drop of marmalade blood, she must reconsider what she’s been told. pet has come to hunt a monster, and the shadow of something dark lurks in the house of redemption. Jam must fight not only to protect her best friend, but also to discover the truth and the answer to the question: how do you save the world from monsters if no one admits they exist?

buy your pet now!

17. elizabeth acevedo’s poet x

Xiomara Batista feels unheard and unable to hide in her Harlem neighborhood. Ever since her body grew into curves, she has learned to let her fists and her fierceness do the talking.

but xiomara has a lot to say, and she pours all her frustration and passion into the pages of a leather notebook, reciting the words to herself like sentences, especially after she has feelings for a boy in her biology class named aman. , who his family will never know.

with mommy’s determination to force her daughter to obey the laws of the church, xiomara understands that it is better to keep her thoughts to herself. So when she’s invited to join her school’s poetry slam club, she doesn’t know how she could attend without her mom finding out about her. but she still can’t stop thinking about performing the poems for her.

because faced with a world that may not want to listen to her, xiomara refuses to shut up.

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18. pride for ibi zoboi

Zuri Benitez has pride. Brooklyn pride, family pride, and pride in her Afro-Latino roots. But pride might not be enough to save her rapidly gentrifying neighborhood from becoming unrecognizable.

When the wealthy Darcy family moves in across the street, Zuri wants nothing to do with her two teenage sons, even as her older sister, Janae, begins to fall for the charming Ainsley. She especially can’t stand the critical and arrogant Darius. However, when Zuri and Darius are forced to find common ground, their initial dislike turns into an unexpected understanding.

But with four wild sisters pulling her in different directions, a cute Warren boy vying for her attention, and college applications floating on the horizon, Zuri struggles to find her place in Bushwick’s changing landscape, or lose it all.

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19. scream by laurie halse anderson

Bestselling author Laurie Halse Anderson is known for the unflinching way she writes about, and advocates for, survivors of sexual assault. Now, inspired by her fans and enraged by how little in our culture has changed since her groundbreaking novel Speak was first published twenty years ago, she has written a poetry memoir that is as vulnerable as it is rallying, as timely as it is timeless. In free verse, Anderson shares reflections, rants, and calls to action woven between deeply personal stories from her life that she’s never written about before. Searing and soul-searching, this important memoir is a denouncement of our society’s failures and a love letter to all the people with the courage to say #metoo and #timesup, whether aloud, online, or only in their own hearts. Shout speaks truth to power in a loud, clear voice- and once you hear it, it is impossible to ignore.

buy and scream now!

20. fearsome nation by justina ireland

Jane McKeene was born two days before the dead began to walk the battlefields of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania—derailing the War Between the States and changing the nation forever.

In this new America, the safety of all depends on the work of a few, and laws like the Native American and Black Education Act require certain children to attend combat schools to learn how to sacrifice the dead.

But there are opportunities, too, and Jane is studying to become a wizard, trained in both weaponry and etiquette to protect the rich. it is a chance for a better life for black girls like jane. after all, not even being the daughter of a wealthy white southern woman could save her from society’s expectations.

but that’s not the life jane wants. Almost done with her education at Miss Preston’s Combat School in Baltimore, Jane is determined to return home to Kentucky and doesn’t pay much attention to the politics of eastern cities, with their talk of returning America to the glory of his days before the dead arose.

But when families in Baltimore County begin to disappear, Jane finds herself caught in the middle of a conspiracy, one that finds her in a desperate fight for her life against some powerful enemies.

And restless dead, it seems, are the least of their problems.

buy dread nations now!
buy the sequel, deadless divide, now!

21. the athena protocol by shamim sarif

Jessie Archer is a member of the Athena Protocol, an elite organization of female spies who enact vigilante justice around the world.

Athena’s operatives are never supposed to shoot to kill, so when Jessie can’t help but pull the trigger, she’s kicked out of the organization, just before a big mission to take down a human trafficker in Belgrade.

Jessie needs to fix her mistake and prove herself, so she starts her own traffic investigation. but going rogue means she has no one to watch over her as she digs into the horrors she uncovers. Meanwhile, her former teammates have been ordered to take her down. Jessie must face danger from all sides if she wants to complete her mission and survive.

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