Anyone who browses the Young Adult fiction section in the local bookstore will be met with stories of vampires, zombies, and magic. But a recent batch of titles is taking on less fantastical and more real-life issues. Books like current New York Times Bestseller The Hate U Give , and the forthcoming  Ghost Boys, How It Went Down  and  Dear Martin are just a few of the stories taking on topics like the Black Lives Matter movement and police brutality. 

Morning Shift talks to Angie Thomas, author of The Hate U Give, and Nic Stone, author of Dear Martin about what compelled them to write BLM novels for teens and the increasing diversity in the genre.