On the Come Up by Angie Thomas

Second novel from Gold Inky winning Angie Thomas “is the story of fighting for your dreams, even as the odds are stacked against you; and about how, especially for young black people, freedom of speech isn’t always free.”

Watch Us Rise by Renée Watson and Ellen Hagan

A book about activism and friendship – Jasmine and Chelsea are best friends and they’re sick of the way women are treated even at their progressive NYC high school, so they decide to start a Women’s Rights Club. The result is an affirming book about claiming and discovering your power with joy and friendship. 

Children of Blood and Bone  by Tomi Adeyemi

Fantasy with strong female characters is nothing new. But with Children of Blood and Bone we have themes of feminism, race, social and economic justice wrapped up in an adventure that is brutal, magical and epic.

Beauty Queens by Libba Bray

A hilarious satire of beauty pageants, reality TV and teen pop culture with evening frocks and a body count? Sounds like a fun feminist ride!

Fight Like a Girl  by Clementine Ford

Fight Like A Girl will make you laugh, cry and scream. But above all it will make you demand and fight for a world in which women have real equality and not merely the illusion of it.

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

A groundbreaking novel about a girl who becomes an outcast at school in the aftermath of sexual assault. The book is redemptive and gritty while exposing society’s inherent rape culture and misogyny. One of the first YA books to confront sexual assault and issues of consent, Speak is a significant feminist book.

The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood

Now a feminist classic and hugely popular television series, The Handmaid’s Tale is set in a dystopian future USA where women are enslaved in a patriarchal totalitarian state and reduced to breeding or being wives. Sounds implausible but then…is it?

I am Malala by Malala Yousafzai

This is a memoir from the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. When the Taliban took control of the Swat Valley in Pakistan, one girl spoke out. Malala Yousafzai refused to be silenced and fought for her right to an education and she almost paid the ultimate price. She was shot in the head at point-blank range while riding the bus home from school, and few expected her to survive. Instead, Malala’s miraculous recovery has taken her on an extraordinary journey from a remote valley in northern Pakistan to the halls of the United Nations in New York. At sixteen, she became a global symbol of peaceful protest and the youngest nominee ever for the Nobel Peace Prize. A book to make every woman and girl realise that their voice counts so speak out!