50 Black YA authors you should read, from Angie Thomas to Walter Dean Myers Mary Cadden, USA TODAY Replay Video UP NEXT As a genre, young adult literature is still fairly young. Its modern iteration has only been around since the 1960s. And though YA readership has grown exponentially over the last decades, the diversity of the authors behind the books is in its infancy. But that is changing. As the number of Black YA authors grows, so have their stories. These authors not only "show Black teens dealing with the same coming of age issues that any teen would deal with – falling in love, finding your place in the world, coming to terms with their sexuality," but also "navigating issues like systemic racism and microaggressions," says LaKeshia N. Darden, librarian and adjunct professor at Campbell University and Coretta Scott King Book Awards Jury, Chair 2019-2021.