A selected list of notable fiction, nonfiction, and graphic novels for young adults about women's history and experience, chosen by LAPL librarians.
![Book cover for Afar](https://lapl.org./sites/default/files/styles/staff_recommends_x97w/public/items/2020/0b6c90d318faad41d637d89aa212c620.jpg?itok=FYq-P4IR)
Afar
![Book cover of Alebrijes](https://lapl.org./sites/default/files/styles/staff_recommends_x97w/public/items/2024/a792396bba0ec5f7c01b6192167d5b1b.jpg?itok=gbcx-mUV)
Alebrijes
![Book cover for Asking for it](https://lapl.org./sites/default/files/styles/staff_recommends_x97w/public/items/2024/37bee64928be58d11c34823501ddfddc.jpg?itok=SXARbQTZ)
Asking For It: The Alarming Rise of Rape Culture—And What We Can Do About It
![Book cover for Assata : an autobiography](https://lapl.org./sites/default/files/styles/staff_recommends_x97w/public/items/2020/00ceddd1e6450bdd8390de65bda4d7b6.jpg?itok=lkCnKVJD)
Assata : an autobiography
![Book cover for Audacity](https://lapl.org./sites/default/files/styles/staff_recommends_x97w/public/items/2020/5a5ddb059a5e123dae7999e97892da80.jpg?itok=iXacPTTu)
Audacity
![Book cover for Bee and Puppycat. created by Natasha Allegri ; written by Natasha Allegri & Garrett Jackson ; illustrated by Natasha Allegri with additional colors by Patrick Seery ; letters by Britt Wilson ; cover b](https://lapl.org./sites/default/files/styles/staff_recommends_x97w/public/items/2024/419cfde82c59fce86cfb8de9980e8041.jpg?itok=GwaMTWbv)
Bee and Puppycat, Vol 1
![Book cover for Brazen: Rebel Ladies Who Rocked the World](https://lapl.org./sites/default/files/styles/staff_recommends_x97w/public/items/2020/6a7bda1c76be850035daa3f3c5ada0df.jpg?itok=HgwJfwOR)
Brazen: Rebel Ladies Who Rocked the World
A graphic novel that is a compendium and retelling of stories about strong women throughout history. Some are famous, some infamous and some ought to be famous. Fabulous gift for those needing an uplifting book about women’s history.
![Book cover for A bride's story. Kaoru Mori. Vol. 1/](https://lapl.org./sites/default/files/styles/staff_recommends_x97w/public/items/2024/b2b09443dc67fdd1f4a30ec69ac03c06.jpg?itok=2F0fnZqk)
A Bride's Story, Vol. 1
Graphic novel that details the daily life of a young woman, Amir, in early 19th Century Turkey.
![Book cover for Climbing free : my life in the vertical world](https://lapl.org./sites/default/files/styles/staff_recommends_x97w/public/items/2020/4c74d912e193f38f3e8ca406f0443eed.jpg?itok=RknuoAld)
Climbing free : my life in the vertical world
![Book cover for Code name Verity](https://lapl.org./sites/default/files/styles/staff_recommends_x97w/public/items/2020/verity.jpg?itok=-OZ5VA87)
Code name Verity
After two British girls, a pilot and a spy, crash their plane in Nazi-occupied France, the spy is captured and imprisoned by the Germans. She is forced to give up her secrets and reveal her mission in writing. Instead, she tells the story of her friend Maddie, the pilot of the crashed plane, whom she assumes is dead. But nothing can be assumed in this story, and nothing is as it seems.
![Book cover for The cure for dreaming](https://lapl.org./sites/default/files/styles/staff_recommends_x97w/public/items/2020/28480ceab2c936c70be52376c0fc33c6.jpg?itok=RSleczmr)
The cure for dreaming
![Book cover for Far From the Tree](https://lapl.org./sites/default/files/styles/staff_recommends_x97w/public/items/2020/8015e0b74314d0a2bd61170ce53e7d29.jpg?itok=-KL3V9A6)
Far From the Tree
Three teens, who have the same biological mother, have always known that they were adopted, or were in foster care, but they did not know they had siblings. When Grace puts her own baby up for adoption, she searches out her biological family to ensure she made the right choice. Maya, the youngest sibling, has a great adopted family, with secrets. Joaquin, the oldest, who was never adopted, keeps to himself. Together the teens discover what family really means, and it’s not always conventional.
![Book cover for A Fierce and Subtle Poison](https://lapl.org./sites/default/files/styles/staff_recommends_x97w/public/items/2020/52eea4505b35080c67078a347b934116.jpg?itok=vks7FCc1)
A Fierce and Subtle Poison
![Book cover for Goldie Vance: Volume 3](https://lapl.org./sites/default/files/styles/staff_recommends_x97w/public/items/2020/aa9ff596c5ed8019851e7e14a59a5885.jpg?itok=EIjbgcgP)
Goldie Vance: Volume 3
![Book cover for The good girls revolt : how the women of Newsweek sued their bosses and changed the workplace](https://lapl.org./sites/default/files/styles/staff_recommends_x97w/public/items/2020/b82e43389fd3d6dacc3c2500428e8ee1.jpg?itok=m1LbfV06)
The good girls revolt : how the women of Newsweek sued their bosses and changed the workplace
Soon to be an Amazon series, Povich describes in an engrossing narrative the story of what happened to the women who worked for Newsweek in the 1970s before and after they banded together to sue the magazine for discrimination because they were systematically denied promotions and newsroom positions.
![Book cover of Great or nothing](https://lapl.org./sites/default/files/styles/staff_recommends_x97w/public/items/2024/12a6b1295402ea77ac64636bb424fc79.jpg?itok=tPmvdJj6)
Great or Nothing
![Book cover for Here We Are: Feminism for the Real World](https://lapl.org./sites/default/files/styles/staff_recommends_x97w/public/items/2020/6b2e572146f4783e1d67e42d60fff293.jpg?itok=pyIz7ABU)
Here We Are: Feminism for the Real World
![Book cover for Hunger makes me a modern girl : a memoir](https://lapl.org./sites/default/files/styles/staff_recommends_x97w/public/items/2020/e81b57c66d62c7c2430478ca1cabcbaa.jpg?itok=B33j5rwu)
Hunger makes me a modern girl : a memoir
![Book cover for I Am Malala: How One Girl Stood up for Education and Changed the World](https://lapl.org./sites/default/files/styles/staff_recommends_x97w/public/items/2021/3626a02e823ec51ba4749914b1d6ebdc.jpg?itok=JMH7f5iJ)
I Am Malala: How One Girl Stood up for Education and Changed the World
Learn the story of the youngest Nobel Peace Prize winner ever, who risked her life to fight for the rights of girls in Pakistan to attend school. Malala was a young girl who would not be denied an education, despite being threatened by the Taliban, who shot her in the head. She lives in exile and continues to speak out for justice and human rights. In 2014, she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
![Book cover for Inheritance: A Visual Poem](https://lapl.org./sites/default/files/styles/staff_recommends_x97w/public/items/2024/49eeea83efecb7224e6a8bcd24d7766e.jpg?itok=U45DdiOQ)
Inheritance: A Visual Poem
![Book cover for Lakota Woman](https://lapl.org./sites/default/files/styles/staff_recommends_x97w/public/items/2020/04c1d51449d924685c327b61413409ff.jpg?itok=gzsDSUvP)
Lakota Woman
![Book cover for Last Night at the Telegraph Club](https://lapl.org./sites/default/files/styles/staff_recommends_x97w/public/items/2024/0193c847c81b062e53f0813b38b627b9.jpg?itok=riiNoeTG)
Last Night at the Telegraph Club
This historical fiction is set in San Francisco, in 1954, when Chinese Americans and immigrants had to live under increased paranoia, racism, and suspicion for having Communist ideas. Lily is interested in discovering what’s outside her Chinatown home. Her parents warned her not to leave their immediate neighborhood, but Lily ventures forth to various places, such as the Telegraph Club, a lesbian bar. This is where she slowly discovers herself and a relationship with her first white friend, Kathleen. All of this means that Lily may end up in dangerous situations and more than she bargained for.
![Book cover for Lean in : for graduates](https://lapl.org./sites/default/files/styles/staff_recommends_x97w/public/items/2020/c56f8b29c8f142a0e9aba5134426def1.jpg?itok=lSpNSrvN)
Lean in : for graduates
![Book cover for Lies We Tell Ourselves](https://lapl.org./sites/default/files/styles/staff_recommends_x97w/public/items/2023/c692584daf20d78397a902cfe9389eb8.jpg?itok=rSNwi5BE)
Lies We Tell Ourselves
As one of the first African American students to attend Jefferson High School in 1959 Virginia, Sarah faces discrimination and abuse on a daily basis. When she and the white daughter of a rabid segregationist are forced to work together on a school project, however, the two girls begin to realize they have feelings for one another.
![Book cover for The lightning dreamer : Cuba's greatest abolitionist](https://lapl.org./sites/default/files/styles/staff_recommends_x97w/public/items/2020/9d0619e37835c2d5ba17f13fd9fe5576.jpg?itok=nxh3nXga)
The lightning dreamer : Cuba's greatest abolitionist
![Book cover for Lucy and Linh](https://lapl.org./sites/default/files/styles/staff_recommends_x97w/public/items/2020/1db94fe01daef3576fbf68fca005ad4a.jpg?itok=Aa8CzQas)
Lucy and Linh
![Book cover for Lumberjanes / Gotham Academy](https://lapl.org./sites/default/files/styles/staff_recommends_x97w/public/items/2020/0120aed88f42f2690425a01e384f5e89.jpg?itok=Imne0v0Y)
Lumberjanes / Gotham Academy
![Book cover for A madness so discreet](https://lapl.org./sites/default/files/styles/staff_recommends_x97w/public/items/2020/97b0c1cf211dd4e264f0bd33bdf7fd75.jpg?itok=JOQiTWPV)
A madness so discreet
“Grace Mae knows madness . . . ” Set in 1890, readers plunge head-first into darkness with Grace Mae, a teenager who became pregnant, and at the whim of her father, was imprisoned in an insane asylum. After a chain of events at the asylum causes her to lose her child, a visiting doctor rescues her with an odd proposal: fake her death and become his crime-scene-investigating assistant. This YA historical novel is a piercing look at the madness in ourselves, and in others, and how we all must eventually face that madness. Beautiful and powerful in its delivery.
![Book cover for A Map for Wrecked Girls](https://lapl.org./sites/default/files/styles/staff_recommends_x97w/public/items/2020/8f0715ae9bdbf67a1fea9580a337334e.jpg?itok=Vu1si_jd)
A Map for Wrecked Girls
![Book cover for A Million to One](https://lapl.org./sites/default/files/styles/staff_recommends_x97w/public/items/2024/e6743ceefb206009b876b4ea5226822a.jpg?itok=Jj9ObVfy)
A Million to One
![Book cover for Moxie](https://lapl.org./sites/default/files/styles/staff_recommends_x97w/public/items/2021/51776e3857661d5d39df3e715c1d3343.jpg?itok=rD6KCsDD)
Moxie
Inspired by her mother’s collection of Riot Grrrl memorabilia, Texan teen Vivian starts publishing an anonymous ‘zine in response to her school’s sexist dress code. As her ‘zine gains a following and becomes bigger than just herself, she and her friends find themselves using it to address harassment and assault issues.
![Book cover for Ms. Marvel: Vol. 8, Mecca](https://lapl.org./sites/default/files/styles/staff_recommends_x97w/public/items/2020/8a6ac4f036de097a6e0736b4ba19af82.jpg?itok=_-Wf6lzb)
Ms. Marvel: Vol. 8, Mecca
![Book cover for Nice Jewish Girls](https://lapl.org./sites/default/files/styles/staff_recommends_x97w/public/items/2023/078237b2c2acbdab7573987ddfd1e593.jpg?itok=K6dqSm5g)
"Nice" Jewish Girls
![Book cover for The Nowhere Girls](https://lapl.org./sites/default/files/styles/staff_recommends_x97w/public/items/2020/4b44bb4635187d8c303241c6539d0ce9.jpg?itok=1RkDundj)
The Nowhere Girls
![Book cover for Outrun the Moon](https://lapl.org./sites/default/files/styles/staff_recommends_x97w/public/items/2020/4389b14847dd8256fa956ddbb74e1798.jpg?itok=lTlgeHAi)
Outrun the Moon
Fifteen-year-old Mercy Wong is determined to break from poverty in Chinatown, and she gains admittance to a prestigious finishing school through a mix of cunning and bribery. She soon discovers that getting in was the easiest part, and must carve a niche among the spoiled heiresses. When the earthquake strikes on April 18, Mercy and her classmates are forced to a survivor encampment, but her quick-witted leadership rallies them to help in the tragedy's aftermath.
![Book cover for Radioactive!: How Irene Curie and Lise Meitner Revolutionized Science and Changed the World](https://lapl.org./sites/default/files/styles/staff_recommends_x97w/public/items/2020/a32634a66727004d8a5a70e336a17ec2.jpg?itok=u_iFvP7u)
Radioactive!: How Irene Curie and Lise Meitner Revolutionized Science and Changed the World
Tells the story of two early 20th century female physicists whose groundbreaking contributions were overlooked in their lifetimes and are still largely unknown today despite shaping the field of nuclear science.
![Book cover for Sally Ride : a photo biography of America's pioneering woman in space](https://lapl.org./sites/default/files/styles/staff_recommends_x97w/public/items/2020/86b763d83cd9d5f89a0903839e4a26a1_1.jpg?itok=mGl6A0YR)
Sally Ride : a photo biography of America's pioneering woman in space
![Book cover of Salt the water](https://lapl.org./sites/default/files/styles/staff_recommends_x97w/public/items/2024/0ed79e54fce7eb4d4e8008951c08ea7e.jpg?itok=mqRqEqi1)
Salt the Water
![Book cover for She takes a stand : 16 fearless activists who have changed the world](https://lapl.org./sites/default/files/styles/staff_recommends_x97w/public/items/2020/8e119b297b9f5761846003a299e9f6de.jpg?itok=qyOPiX6E)
She takes a stand : 16 fearless activists who have changed the world
![Book cover for Tell Me Again How a Crush Should Feel](https://lapl.org./sites/default/files/styles/staff_recommends_x97w/public/items/2020/71b945af41aac1a4c0920f53ea4495bd.jpg?itok=D6MTE34X)
Tell Me Again How a Crush Should Feel
Leila’s managed to get all the way to junior year without letting romance complicate her life, but when a beautiful new girl starts attending her school, Leila finds herself taking chances - and figuring out how to come out to her friends and family.
![Book cover for A tyranny of petticoats : 15 stories of belles, bank robbers & other badass girls](https://lapl.org./sites/default/files/styles/staff_recommends_x97w/public/items/2020/903d56b043cedd0414646047090515bb.jpg?itok=kek45895)
A tyranny of petticoats : 15 stories of belles, bank robbers & other badass girls
With stories written by various popular YA authors such as Marie Lu and Marissa Meyer, this collection follows fifteen extraordinary American women, from the 18th century colonial world of pirates and new discoveries to the tumultuous 1960s.
![Book cover for Under a painted sky](https://lapl.org./sites/default/files/styles/staff_recommends_x97w/public/items/2020/3e5e45b4af2e3ca6e47a2c35605c9705.jpg?itok=HzmYW1kM)
Under a painted sky
Two teenage girls - one of them Chinese American, the other African American - on the run from the law disguise themselves as boys and set out on the Oregon Trail in this tale of adventure and friendship set during the Gold Rush.
![Book cover for The Upside of Unrequited](https://lapl.org./sites/default/files/styles/staff_recommends_x97w/public/items/2020/9499d983ea8b8d4e88a962212ed02441.jpg?itok=9GVqBF0r)
The Upside of Unrequited
![Book cover for Wake: The Hidden History of Women-Led Slave Revolts](https://lapl.org./sites/default/files/styles/staff_recommends_x97w/public/items/2024/d587a8e9f0ca56877809de280bc2a23b.jpg?itok=Hwm7Vhf6)
Wake: The Hidden History of Women-Led Slave Revolts
![Book cover for We Are Okay](https://lapl.org./sites/default/files/styles/staff_recommends_x97w/public/items/2022/7dd821477c1bc8921266cb73068ff3be.jpg?itok=1M9gKfU4)
We Are Okay
Marin hasn’t spoken to anyone from her old life since the day she left everything behind. No one knows the truth about those final weeks. Not even her best friend, Mabel. But even thousands of miles away from the California coast, at college in New York, Marin still feels the pull of the life and tragedy she’s tried to outrun. The book details Marin’s exploration of her sexuality and her complicated relationship with her best friend.
![Book cover for West with the night](https://lapl.org./sites/default/files/styles/staff_recommends_x97w/public/items/2020/f1ab0a3bd2e102ce896e4bbe8c926caa.jpg?itok=jvVhRA6d)
West with the night
![Book cover for When I was Puerto Rican](https://lapl.org./sites/default/files/styles/staff_recommends_x97w/public/items/2020/f5b52d9f9dec6e97f8efd00c3e33fd6c.jpg?itok=BtPBUGoT)
When I was Puerto Rican
Esmeralda Santiago was one of eleven children who grew up in a tin-can of a house in Puerto Rico, surrounded by quarreling parents and poverty. While living in Brooklyn with her grandmother, Santiago's ambition and hard work resulted in a Harvard education, and a successful career as a writer and film producer.
![Book cover for Woman rebel : the Margaret Sanger story : [graphic novel]](https://lapl.org./sites/default/files/styles/staff_recommends_x97w/public/items/2020/72ab6ca64db997302c74bdef6f3bf323.jpg?itok=zVRY-V3I)
Woman rebel : the Margaret Sanger story : [graphic novel]
![Book cover for Wonder Woman : the hiketeia](https://lapl.org./sites/default/files/styles/staff_recommends_x97w/public/items/2020/592f437123451730419fc2491ea07d8f.jpg?itok=-eWPVBLM)