I lived in my local library when I was in high school. It was my favorite hang out spot. During the summers, when I had a job, Boarders became my second home. Books about teenagers who looked like me, and were going through similar situations as me, were my greatest escape. For the most part, young adult books were all I read. I snuck a few adult books in, too. You know, the ones we couldn’t bring home so they had to be read in the library. But as far as my YA books, they were everything to me. Kimani Tru and Dafina Books got me through some of my best and most rough days. Check out the authors who shaped the reader I am today and a few of their books!