In honor of Black History Month, I’ m listing the names of prominent and upcoming Black authors who write primarily for children and Young Adults and the titles of a few of their better-known works. Making sure your children read a variety of authors from all walks of life, different ethnicities, countries, genders, races, religions, and ages is important.
We are and must remain a culturally diverse society. The more we learn about each other, the more we can begin to understand our differences and similarities. Enjoy!
Amanda Gorman:
Girls on the Rise – For ages 4-9
Jacqueline Woodson:
Before the Ever After – for ages 10-12
Show Way – For ages 4-8
The Day You Begin – for ages 5-8
The World Belonged to Us – for ages 5-8
Visiting Day – For ages 5-7
Feathers – For ages 10-11
The Year We Learned to Fly – For ages 4-8
Brown Girl Dreaming – for ages 9-12
After Tupac & D Foster – For ages 10 and up
Each Kindness – for ages 6-10
Locomotion – For ages 7-12
Hush – For ages 10 and up
Miracle’s Boys for ages 11-17
Claudette Colvin:
I Want Freedom Now – Civil Rights activist Claudette Colvin working with Phillip Hoose, the author of her biography, Claudette Colvin, adapts the story of her refusal to give up her seat on a Memphis bus to a white man for this children’s book. Nine months before Rosa Parks made history, Colvin, a fifteen-year-old, took a stand for human dignity in 1955 and ended up with a juvenile criminal record that was finally expunged in 2021. For ages 4-9
Nonieqa Ramos:
They Thought They Buried Us – For Young Adults
The Disturbed Girl’s Dictionary - For Young Adults
Your Mama – For Young Adults
Beauty Woke - poetry collection for young adults
Evermore – a Queer retelling of Poe’s “The Raven” for Young Adults
Jason Reynolds (YA Author)
All American Boys
As Brave as You
Track series
Miles Morales : Spider-Man
Long Way Down
For Everyone
Ten Things I’ve Been Meaning to Say to You
Look Both Ways: A Tale Told in Ten Blocks
Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You
Barack Obama:
Dreams From My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance – Memoir - Adapted for Young Adults
Sources:
https://www.fbmarketplace.org/on-hold/books-by-black-authors-and-illustrators