The world can be a confusing place. Racial tension has been on the rise in the United States over the last several years with fatal police shootings and the resurfacing of Neo-Nazis and the KKK. While America made great strides for our LGBTQ community in years past, those are seemingly being negated by the minute. Sexism, misogyny, and rape culture are rampant. Immigrants are being turned away and deported. Our country seems to be moving backwards as we continue on in 2017.

Making sense of the turmoil in the world can be a daunting task. However, literature has always been a strong force in approaching tough subjects and helping readers come to their own conclusions. Young-adult literature today is no different.

If you are looking for the next great novel to read during Independent Reading or SSR at school — or in your own personal time — check out these great books:

1. The Hate U Give — Angie Thomas

Published just this year, The Hate U Give is an incredible story of Starr Carter, a black teenager, who navigates the inner-city where she lives and the wealthy prep school she attends. Her world is upended when she witnesses the fatal shooting of her unarmed best friend, Khalil, at the hands of a police officer. The novel traverses the next several months of Starr’s life, a time in which some call Khalil a thug, others take to the streets in protest, some try to intimidate Starr and her family, and others want to know what really happened that night. The only person who knows what really happened, though, is Starr. And the question is, will she tell?

2. American Street — Ibi Zoboi

Yet another debut novel published this year, American Street is a coming-of-age story in which the protagonist tries to find her place in the world. The book begins with Fabiola Toussaint and her mother leaving Port-au-Prince, Haiti, to come to the United States for a good life on the corner of American Street and Joy Road. Upon arriving to America, however, Fabiola’s mother is detained by immigration, and Fabiola is forced to continue to Detroit to live with her aunt and her cousins, the Three Bees. She is thrown into a new world, one in which she falls in love but one that also exposes her to dangers she has never known. Soon, she is offered a proposition, an impossible choice: it could change her life, but is she willing to put others in danger?

3. All American Boys — Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely

Written in 2015, All American Boys is told in first-person point-of-view from two protagonists: Rashad, a black teenager mistakenly identified as a shoplifter and beaten by a police officer, and Quinn, a white varsity basketball player and classmate of Rashad who witnessed the event. Paul, the police officer who beat Rashad, raised Quinn when Quinn’s father was killed in Afghanistan, and he is accused of racial profiling and police brutality; Quinn cannot fathom that he could possibly be guilty. The basketball team, the school, and the community are rife with anger, confusion, and tension as everyone takes sides. As young men — one black and one white — Rashad and Quinn are faced with uncomfortable truths, situations, expectations, and decisions for which they are not prepared. Will they be able to confront the privilege and racism that still exist today — and in turn unite their community?

4. Refugee — Alan Gratz

Published this year, Refugee is a heartbreaking, suspenseful story that contextualizes the refugee crisis and depicts the horrors of war and the effects it has on innocent children. Gratz deftly interweaves the stories of three teenagers — Josef, a Jewish boy in 1930s Germany; Isabel, a Cuban girl in the 1990s; and Mahmoud, a Syrian boy in 2015. While the children are separated by thousands of miles and several decades, they share deep connections as well as revelations about oppression, violence, and life and death. Throughout each of their harrowing voyages, will they be able to maintain hope for tomorrow?

5. Freaks and Revelations — Davida Willis Hurwin

Published in 2012 and inspired by the true story of Timothy Zaal and Matthew Boger (featured in the Academy Award nominated film, Facing Fear), Freaks and Revelations follows two teenagers: Doug, an angry misfit immersed in the punk subculture, and Jason, who was kicked out of his home after coming out to his religious family. The novel progresses with Doug sinking further into a life of intolerance and violence with Jason doing whatever he needs to survive on the streets of Los Angeles. One night, the two collide in a violent hate crime, and Jason is left for dead. How does this horrific attack encourage each to work toward forgiveness, acceptance, compassion, and a greater sense of humanity?

In order to change the world, we first must learn to understand others’ perspectives and experiences. Literature is the perfect place to start.