Five YA Novels Set in the Bronx
Head uptown for these stories of young people learning and growing in the Bronx.
Burn Down, Rise Up
by Vincent Tirado
When an urban legend rumored to trap people inside subway tunnels seems to be behind mysterious disappearances in the Bronx, sixteen-year-old Raquel and her friends team up to save their city—and confront a dark episode in its history in the process.
Show and Prove
by Sofia Quintero
Attending camp in the South Bronx during the summer before one of them is scheduled to depart for an elite private school, Smiles competes with a rival who was chosen over him for a coveted job while Nike prepares for a breakdancing competition.
The Education of Margot Sanchez
by Lilliam Rivera
Margot Sanchez is paying off her debts by working in her family's South Bronx grocery store, but she must make the right choices about her friends, her family, and Moises, the good looking but outspoken boy from the neighborhood.
More Happy Than Not
by Adam Silvera
Struggling with memories of his impoverished youth, being abandoned by his friends, and his father's suicide, Aaron attempts to forget his own identity through memory-altering therapy when his homosexuality affects a new friendship.
I Am Here Now
by Barbara Bottner
A coming-of-age novel in free verse follows the struggles of a teen from a tumultuous 1960s Bronx home, where her abusive mother and cheating father do not support her dream of becoming an artist.
Summaries provided via NYPL’s catalog, which draws from multiple sources. Click through to each book’s title for more.