The Best YA Books for Young Women of Color

Ever since June 2020, I have been gratified to see more books starring women of color, and have been privileged to read some. However, I’ll leave this topic to those who are more qualified than I (a white woman)am to write it.

If you were to make an essential list of YA books young women of color should read, what would be on it? Would you mix "classics" with more current offerings, and if yes, how and why? Which authors do the best job of representing female POCs, and why? Consider comparing and contrasting modern and classic characters, such as Janie from Their Eyes Were Watching God (Zora Neale Hurston) vs. Renee Watson’s Jasmine of Watch Us Rise, or any other combination of characters you would like.