It’s weird to write “many years ago” on a blog post, but when you’ve been writing a blog for 11 years (whoa!), it’s a true statement. Many years ago, I wrote about what I perceive the difference to be among contemporary fiction, realistic fiction, and historical fiction in YA. My thoughts on this continue to simmer, and I still land pretty much where I did back then: there’s a difference among the three, and that difference, while maybe pedantic, does have some meaning in the world of YA, where the teen age is so defined and limited. Since that post, we’ve seen a wave of realistic YA hitting shelves that are set in the 1990s, owing in part to nostalgia on the part of the authors, but also in part due to the fact that, whether we like it or not, the 90s are popular with today’s teenagers.
I remember vividly when Austin Powers came out, and the 1970s were so popular. I was a teenager then, and I pulled out the boot cut/bell bottom jeans, wore jewelry reminiscent of the hippie era, wished beyond all wishes I could have that long, center parted hair that I saw gracing magazine covers that mimicked those styles of the 70s. Everything old becomes cool again, is what I was told at the time by adults who remembered being teenagers during the 70s and cringing at the return of such trends.
And this is, of course, where I find myself thinking about how I am now the adult cringing at the return of 90s style. It only feels natural that the books for young readers would reflect this trend.
But even more than the 90s trending, so much of what these YA books set in the 90s do is explore the intersections of history and bring to light the challenges that existed for those who live in the margins. Certainly there is fun here, but there’s also a real look at racial injustice, bigotry toward those of different sexualities, and more.
Let’s take a look at some of the recent and forthcoming YA books set in the 90s. This won’t be comprehensive, and descriptions are from Goodreads. I’d love to hear about any others you might know about hitting shelves this year or that came out in the past year or so. What have been your favorites?
As someone who tends to avoid YA books set in the 90s because of what it brings up for me, I’m willing to give some of the strongest ones a try.
Recent and Upcoming YA Books Set In The 90s
Baby and Solo by Lisabeth Posthuma (2021)
Seventeen-year-old Joel Teague is in the unique position of having completed seven years of treatment for a mental illness he may have never had. Now he’s got a new prescription from his therapist—a part-time job, which he finds at ROYO Video, a video rental store. He’s lugging around two humongous secrets (“The Bad Thing That Happened” and “What Was Wrong With Me,” as he refers to them) until he encounters, in his closed-off co-worker “Baby,” a remarkable and terrifying opportunity. To open up. To be there for her, and to be there. To choose vulnerability.
It’s a difficult choice. A childhood trauma has left him both more and less erratic than everyone around him (including his perpetually concerned parents and ROYO Video’s motley crew of femme fatales, enigmas and bratty-younger-brothers). And he’s obsessively chasing an elusive “normal life,” while navigating the pitfalls of exactly that.
BABY & SOLO explores urgent issues (LGBTQ+ identity, mental illness, female autonomy) by examining a less-enlightened time (the year 1996), to summon belly laughs and weepy spells almost simultaneously, and to trust its audience with a character and story as complex as the world around us. Joel’s voice is both hilarious and heart-bursting—and completely absorbs the reader as you hope he’ll find what he needs.
The Black Kids by Christina Hammonds Reed (September 1)
Los Angeles, 1992
Ashley Bennett and her friends are living the charmed life. It’s the end of senior year and they’re spending more time at the beach than in the classroom. They can already feel the sunny days and endless possibilities of summer.
Everything changes one afternoon in April, when four LAPD officers are acquitted after beating a black man named Rodney King half to death. Suddenly, Ashley’s not just one of the girls. She’s one of the black kids.
As violent protests engulf LA and the city burns, Ashley tries to continue on as if life were normal. Even as her self-destructive sister gets dangerously involved in the riots. Even as the model black family façade her wealthy and prominent parents have built starts to crumble. Even as her best friends help spread a rumor that could completely derail the future of her classmate and fellow black kid, LaShawn Johnson.
With her world splintering around her, Ashley, along with the rest of LA, is left to question who is the us? And who is the them?
Let Me Hear a Rhyme by Tiffany D. Jackson (Available Now)
Biggie Smalls was right. Things done changed. But that doesn’t mean that Quadir and Jarrell are okay letting their best friend Steph’s tracks lie forgotten in his bedroom after he’s killed—not when his beats could turn any Bed-Stuy corner into a celebration, not after years of having each other’s backs.
Enlisting the help of Steph’s younger sister, Jasmine, Quadir and Jarrell come up with a plan to promote Steph’s music under a new rap name: The Architect. Soon, everyone in Brooklyn is dancing to Steph’s voice. But then his mixtape catches the attention of a hotheaded music rep and—with just hours on the clock—the trio must race to prove Steph’s talent from beyond the grave.
Now, as the pressure—and danger—of keeping their secret grows, Quadir, Jarrell, and Jasmine are forced to confront the truth about what happened to Steph. Only each has something to hide. And with everything riding on Steph’s fame, together they need to decide what they stand for before they lose everything they’ve worked so hard to hold on to—including each other.
The Mall by Megan McCafferty (June 9)
The year is 1991. Scrunchies, mixtapes and 90210 are, like, totally fresh. Cassie Worthy is psyched to spend the summer after graduation working at the Parkway Center Mall. In six weeks, she and her boyfriend head off to college in NYC to fulfill The Plan: higher education and happily ever after.
But you know what they say about the best laid plans…
Set entirely in a classic “monument to consumerism,” the novel follows Cassie as she finds friendship, love, and ultimately herself, in the most unexpected of places. Megan McCafferty, beloved New York Times bestselling author of the Jessica Darling series, takes readers on an epic trip back in time to The Mall.
Rebel Girls by Elizabeth Keenan (Available Now)
It’s 1992, and there’s a rumor spreading in Baton Rouge…
When it comes to being social, Athena Graves is far more comfortable creating a mixtape playlist than she is talking to cute boys—or anyone, for that matter. Plus her staunchly feminist views and love of punk rock aren’t exactly mainstream at St. Ann’s, her conservative Catholic high school.
Then a malicious rumor starts spreading through the halls…a rumor that her popular, pretty, pro-life sister had an abortion over the summer. A rumor that has the power to not only hurt Helen, but possibly see her expelled.
Despite their wildly contrasting views, Athena, Helen and their friends must find a way to convince the student body and the administration that it doesn’t matter what Helen did or didn’t do…even if their riot grrrl protests result in the expulsion of their entire rebel girl gang.
Those Who Prey by Jennifer Moffett (November 10)
College life isn’t what Emily expected.
She expected to spend freshman year strolling through the ivy-covered campus with new friends, finally feeling like she belonged. Instead, she walks the campus alone, still not having found her place or her people so far away from home.
But then the Kingdom finds her.
The Kingdom, an exclusive on-campus group, offers everything Emily expected of college and more: acceptance, friends, a potential boyfriend, and a chance to spend the summer in Italy on a mission trip. But the trip is not what she thought it would be. Emily and the others are stripped of their passports and money. They’re cut off from their families back home. The Kingdom’s practices become increasingly manipulative and dangerous.
And someone ends up dead.
At times unsettling and always riveting, Those Who Prey looks at the allure of cult life, while questioning just how far we’re willing to go to find where we belong.
We Were Promised Spotlights by Lindsay Sproul (March 24)
The Miseducation of Cameron Post meets Everything Leads to You in this queer young adult novel.
Taylor Garland’s good looks have earned her the admiration of everyone in her small town. She’s homecoming queen, the life of every party, and she’s on every boy’s most-wanted list.
People think Taylor is living the dream, and assume she’ll stay in town and have kids with the homecoming king–maybe even be a dental hygienist if she’s super ambitious. But Taylor is actually desperate to leave home, and she hates the smell of dentists’ offices. Also? She’s completely in love with her best friend, Susan.
Senior year is almost over, and everything seems perfect. Now Taylor just has to figure out how to throw it all away.
Lindsay Sproul’s debut is full of compelling introspection and painfully honest commentary on what it’s like to be harnessed to a destiny you never wanted.
Who Put This Song On? by Morgan Parker (Available Now)
Trapped in sunny, stifling, small-town suburbia, seventeen-year-old Morgan knows why she’s in therapy. She can’t count the number of times she’s been the only non-white person at the sleepover, been teased for her “weird” outfits, and been told she’s not “really” black. Also, she’s spent most of her summer crying in bed. So there’s that, too.
Lately, it feels like the whole world is listening to the same terrible track on repeat—and it’s telling them how to feel, who to vote for, what to believe. Morgan wonders, when can she turn this song off and begin living for herself?
Life may be a never-ending hamster wheel of agony, but Morgan finds her crew of fellow outcasts, blasts music like there’s no tomorrow, discovers what being black means to her, and finally puts her mental health first. She decides that, no matter what, she will always be intense, ridiculous, passionate, and sometimes hilarious. After all, darkness doesn’t have to be a bad thing. Darkness is just real.