Award Books

Coretta Scott King Author Award, 2023; John Newbery Award book 2022
After fleeing the plantation where they were enslaved, siblings Ada and Homer discover the secret community of Freewater, and work with freeborn Sanzi to protect their new home from the encroaching dangers of the outside world.

Coretta Scott King Author Honors 2023
"From the New York Times bestselling author and National Book Award finalist, a biography in verse and prose of science fiction visionary Octavia Butler. Acclaimed novelist Ibi Zoboi illuminates the young life of the visionary storyteller Octavia E. Butler in poems and prose. Born into the Space Race, the Red Scare, and the dawning Civil Rights Movement, Butler experienced an American childhood that shaped her into the groundbreaking science-fiction storyteller whose novels continue to challenge and delight readers fifteen years after her death"--Provided by publisher

Coretta Scott King Author Honors 2023
"As a little boy grows into a bigger boy, ready to take on the world, he first must have that very difficult conversation far too familiar to so many Black and Brown Americans in this gentle and ultimately hopeful picture book." --Provided by publisher.

Coretta Scott King Award Illustrator 2023
The popular spiritual, Standing in the need of prayer, has been reworked to chronicle the milestones, struggles, tragedies, and triumphs of African American people and their history. The text and illustrations of this inspirational book are informative reminders of yesterday, hopeful images for today, and aspirational dreams of tomorrow.

Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor 2023
Six-year-old Lee will not give up until he can show his big sister Zora, a.k.a. the boss, how good he can sew. Includes instructions on how to make Lee's smiling moon.

Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor 2023
"Bree can't wait for her first day at her new middle school, Enith Brigitha, home to the Mighty Manatees--until she's stuck with the only elective that fits her schedule, the dreaded Swim 101. The thought of swimming makes Bree more than a little queasy, yet she's forced to dive headfirst into one of her greatest fears. Lucky for her, Etta, an elderly occupant of her apartment building and former swim team captain, is willing to help"--Front jacket flap.

Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor 2023
A groundbreaking and timely graphic memoir from one of the most iconic figures in American sports - and a tribute to his fight for civil rights. On October 16, 1968, during the medal ceremony at the Mexico City Olympics, Tommie Smith, the gold medal winner in the 200-meter sprint, and John Carlos, the bronze medal winner, stood on the podium in black socks and raised their black-gloved fists to protest racial injustice inflicted upon African Americans. Both men were forced to leave the Olympics, received death threats, and faced ostracism and continuing economic hardships. In his first-ever memoir for young readers, Tommie Smith looks back on his childhood growing up in rural Texas through to his stellar athletic career, culminating in his historic victory and Olympic podium protest. Cowritten with Newbery Honor and Coretta Scott King Author Honor recipient Derrick Barnes, and illustrated with bold and muscular artwork from Emmy Award-winning illustrator Dawud Anyabwile, this book paints a stirring portrait of an iconic moment in Olympic history that still resonates. --Provided by publisher.

Coretta Scott King John Steptoe Author Award 2023
When seventeen-year-old Avery moves to rural Georgia to live with her ailing grandmother, she encounters decade-old family secrets and a mystery surrounding the town's racist past.
Avery Anderson is convinced her senior year is ruined when she's uprooted from her life in DC and forced to Bardell, Georiga, and into the hostile home of her terminally ill grandmother, Mama Letty. The tension between Avery's mom and Mama Letty makes for a frosty arrival and unearths past drama they refuse to talk about. Desperate to learn the secrets that split her family in two, Avery finds friendship in unexpected places: in Simone Cole, her next-door neighbor, and Jade Oliver, daughter of the town's most prominent family-- whose mother's murder remains unsolved. As the three girls grow closer, the sharp-edged opinions of their small southern town begin to hint at something insidious underneath. The racist history of Bardell is rooted in Avery's family, and she must decide if digging for the truth is worth toppling the relationships she's built. -- adapted from jacket

Coretta Scott King Illustrator Book Award, Winner, 2022; Coretta Scott King Author Book Award, Winner, 2022; Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Honor 2022
"Celebrated author Carole Boston Weatherford and illustrator Floyd Cooper provide a powerful look at the 1921 Tulsa race massacre, one of the worst incidents of racial violence in our nation's history"--Provided by publisher
On May 31 and June 1, 1921, an armed mob looted homes and businesses as Black families fled. The police did nothing to protect Greenwood, and as many as three hundred African Americans were killed, most buried in unmarked graves. Thousands were left homeless. No official investigation occurred until seventy-five years later. Unspeakable helps young readers understand the events of the Tulsa, Oklahoma race m

Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe Award for New Talent (Author) 2022; William C. Morris Debut YA Award Finalist. 2022
Moth, who lost her family in an accident, and Sani, who is battling ongoing depression, take a road trip that has them chasing ghosts and searching for ancestors, which helps them move forward in surprising, powerful and unforgettable ways.

Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe Award for New Talent (Illustrator) 2022;
"The possibilities are endless in this uplifting ode to the power of potential. With lyrical text by bestselling author Natasha Anastasia Tarpley and images by Regis and Kahran Bethencourt -- the team behind CreativeSoul Photography -- each page of The Me I Choose To Be is an immersive call for self-love that highlights the inherent beauty of all Black and brown children. "--Amazon

:Coretta Scott King Author Honors 2022
"Nima doesn't feel understood. By her mother, who grew up far away in a different land. By her suburban town, which makes her feel too much like an outsider to fit in and not enough like an outsider to feel like that she belongs somewhere else. At least she has her childhood friend Haitham, with whom she can let her guard down and be herself. Until she doesn't. As the ground is pulled out from under her, Nima must grapple with the phantom of a life not chosen, the name her parents didn't give her at birth: Yasmeen. But that other name, that other girl, might just be more real than Nima knows. And more hungry. And the life Nima has, the one she keeps wishing were someone else's...she might have to fight for it with a fierceness she never knew she had."--Publisher's description.

Coretta Scott King Author Honors 2022; Michael L. Printz Honors for Excellence in YA Lit. 2022
"In this comprehensive, inspiring, and all-too-relevant history of the Black Panther Party, Kekla Magoon introduces readers to the Panthers' community activism, grounded in the concept of self-defense, which taught Black Americans how to protect and support themselves in a country that treated them like second-class citizens. For too long the Panthers' story has been a footnote to the civil rights movement rather than what it was: a revolutionary socialist movement that drew thousands of members--mostly women--and became the target of one of the most sustained repression efforts ever made by the U.S. government against its own citizens. Revolution in Our Time puts the Panthers in the proper context of Black American history, from the first arrival of enslaved people to the Black Lives Matter movement of today. Kekla Magoon's eye-opening work invites a new generation of readers grappling with injustices in the United States to learn from the Panthers' history and courage, inspiring them to take their own place in the ongoing fight for justice."--Inside front dust jacket

Coretta Scott King Author Honor Book, 2022
"The People Remember tells the journey of African descendants in America by connecting their history to the seven principles of Kwanzaa. It begins in Africa, where people were taken from their homes and families. They spoke different languages and had different customs. Yet they were bound and chained together and forced onto ships sailing into an unknown future. Ultimately, all these people had to learn one common language and create a culture that combined their memories of home with new traditions that enabled them to thrive in this new land. Sumptuously illustrated, this is an important book to read as a family--a story young readers can visit over and over again to deepen their understanding of African American history in relation to their own lives and current social justice movements. By turns powerful and revealing, this is a lyrical narrative that tells the story of survival, as

Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Book, 2022
"A biography of Nina Simone, an acclaimed singer whose music gave voice to the struggle for racial equality during the Civil Rights Movement"--Provided by publisher

Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor, 2022
The late Civil Rights attorney and activist shares a poignant moment from her childhood beside her wise grandmother, who taught Roundtree the values of self-worth, strength and justice that inspired the co-author's boundary-breaking career.

Coretta Scott King Book Award Illustrator Honor, 2022
Granny teaches her young grandson how to cook the family meal, in this celebration of food, traditions, and gathering together at the table. Includes recipe for baked macaroni and cheese.