Award Winners: Coretta Scott King and Walter Dean Myers Edition

Nigeria Jones explores love and loyalty in this richly complex coming-of-age story about a young girl asking hard questions about her family and her upbringing in the Movement, her father’s Black separatist group. Brave and unwavering, Ibi Zoboi’s newest is perfect for fans of Nic Stone and Candice Iloh.

This searing debut follows Rhea, a fifteen-year-old girl fighting gentrification in her neighborhood. With the help of new kids in town and carefully curated social media posts, Rhea works to save her neighborhood from becoming another overpriced Los Angeles suburb.

To describe An American Story by Kwame Alexander and Dare Coulter as simply an “important” book would be an egregious understatement. In the way only two distinctive creators such as Alexander and Coulter can, An American Story is the haunted but masterfully constructed bridge connecting the traditional African Village of the past and the modern day African American community. If there is one “must read” book for all ages, An American Story is it.

In this 2024 Young Reader Walter Award winner, Jacqueline Woodson brings her gorgeously lyrical style to a story about acceptance, both internal and external. Touching on important contemporary issues alongside a highly relatable narrator, this is just another brilliant work from an author we all love.

As the 2024 Young Reader recipient of the Walter Dean Myers Award, Grounded is a book with equal parts heart and laughs. Centered around four kids grappling with different worries and fears that come together to solve a mystery in the Zora Neale Hurston airport. Told from differing perspectives, Grounded is an unforgettable collaboration from some of our favorite authors.

This 2024 Teen Walter Award winner was also selected as the 2024 Pura Belpré Young Adult Author Award Winner. Tison’s stunning novel, told through interwoven poems and prose, depicts the remarkable bravery from two Bribri American brothers wrestling with the fears of learning the wrong lessons from their abusive father, and drawing on the strengths of their ancestors to forge their own path forward.

This 2024 Walter Dean Myers Award-winning novel for teens is an essential book for any young person struggling to find their voice. All the Fighting Parts stuns with unflinching honesty and teems with lyrical sentences written in verse. Perfect for fans of Angie Thomas and Elizabeth Acevedo.

Set against the backdrop of the American South, Freewater is a poignant tale of courage, survival and strength. Debut author Amina Luqman-Dawson has seamlessly woven fiction into reality with the story of a young boy working to free himself and his family from slavery.

ZJ’s dad has always been a hero. As a beloved pro football star, he has been a source of pride and inspiration to his neighborhood and adoring fans — but now he is having trouble remembering it all. A heartfelt story of loss and longing, award-winning author Jacqueline Woodson’s captivating novel-in-verse explores the consequences and true cost of injury on Black bodies.

It’s not easy being the new kid, especially when you don’t look like everyone else. This instant classic middle grade graphic novel is about existing in two worlds and not belonging in either. It’s the story of finding yourself so that others can find you too.

Vibrant, colorful artwork brings Johnnie Christmas’ middle grade debut to life in Swim Team, a standout graphic novel about a young girl overcoming her fear of the water. Christmas seamlessly blends fact and fiction, delivering a fun, informative, and powerful read of courage and resilience.

For fans of The Black Kids, We Deserve Monuments is an astounding YA debut about inter-generational trauma, first love, and how far the past can bury the truth. With a riveting mystery that will leave you breathless to the very end, Jas Hammonds will transport you to this small southern town and all its stark truths.

Southern Black girl magic meets Arthurian Legend in this unputdownable contemporary fantasy from Tracy Deonn. Rife with edge-of-your-seat suspense, lush world-building and intricate plot details, Legendborn also adeptly weaves in important commentary on the history of racism in the American South and the effects of that trauma and grief today.

Bestelling author Kwame Alexander’s The Undefeated is a powerful read that is poignant and astute. Focused on the experience of African Americans in the United States, Alexander discusses the difficult topic of slavery and the perseverance and triumph of leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Gwendolyn Brooks.

Omar Mohamed was only four years old when he fled to a Kenyan refugee camp from war-torn Somalia with his little brother. Accompanied by Victoria Jamieson’s brilliant graphic artwork, When Stars Are Scattered is a remarkable true account of Omar’s childhood, raising his little brother and dreaming of a better life for them both. A heartbreaking, hopeful, eye-opening must-read for all ages.

From acclaimed author Dr. Jewell Parker Rhodes comes a haunting novel detailing the lasting societal impacts of systemic racism, told from the perspective of the ghost of a young boy killed by a police officer, and featuring the ghost of Emmet Till. Perfect for fans of Nic Stone.

Debut author Angeline Boulley has crafted an immersive and heart-stopping thriller told through the eyes of 18-year-old Daunis, a biracial, un-enrolled member of the Ojibwe tribe. With authentic depictions of the complexities of Native communities and the trauma and strength of Native women, this book is a complete standout for YA and adult readers alike.

An unflinching look inside the American criminal justice system told from the perspective of a boy incarcerated for a crime he didn’t commit and working to communicate his truth through art. Honest, raw and profoundly eye-opening, this is a must-read for teens and adults alike.

Pack with hard-hitting questions about faith and identity, The Poet X is a sweeping #ownvoices tale told in beautiful, poetic language that’s enough to capture any reader. This is a book that regularly reminds you what a magnificent work of art it is.

First off, it’s Jason Reynolds. Second off, this novel takes place in sixty seconds. That’s it. It’s a story of consequences, told in verse, and hitting on every level of the storytelling spectrum.