Black Children's Books & Authors

“Literature transforms human experience and reflects it back to us, and in that reflection we can see our own lives and experiences as part of the larger human experience. Reading, then, becomes a means of self-affirmation, and readers often seek their mirrors in books.”—Rudine Sims Bishop

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📚YA Books by Black Authors Coming in April 2023

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📚Picture Books by Black Authors Coming in April 2023

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2023 Debut Authors

✍🏿Meet Leah Freeman-Haskin, author of The Last Two Crayons

I know my audience has felt “othered” before, causing them to question their own sense of self and beauty. This book is about the diversity of skin colors, self-love, and generating more awareness around the impact that words and labels can have on others. It’s a book I wish that I had when I was younger, and I hope others can see themselves in the main character’s journey.

Read more here

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2023 Debut Authors

✍🏿Meet Samantha Hawkins, author of My Mommy Marches

In my book…a young girl watches her mother proudly take to the streets to march for what she believes in. Mommy marches through the sunshine, through the rain, and through the deepest snow, on her own or hand-in-hand with others, to give voice to causes that need to be heard. Inspired to join the next generation of young activists, her daughter dreams of marching alongside her.

Read more here

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📚March 2023: New Children’s & YA Books by Black Authors

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📖Delicious Monsters

Liselle Sambury

Margaret K. McElderry Books

YA Books

Ages: 14+

Pages: 512

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❤️Picture Book Love

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❣️20 (and More) YA Romance Novels by Black Authors

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February 2023: New Children’s & YA Books by Black Authors

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Belated birthday post for #LangstonHughes born on February 1, 1901. This poem❤️

My People

The night is beautiful,

So the faces of my people.

The stars are beautiful,

So the eyes of my people.

Beautiful, also, is the sun.

Beautiful, also, are the souls of my people.

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New Children’s & YA Books by Black Authors Released in January 2023

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Confident You!: 45 Picture Books for Black History Month and Every Month

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✍🏿What’s Your Story? (Series for #SelfPublished Authors)

Meet Ashley Cavalier, author of Doctor Do You Know…

Here’s an excerpt:

“One in two hundred.” Those were the words my doctor spoke to my mother as I lay in recovery from my fifteenth-plus surgery in August 2019. When I awakened, my mother repeated those very words to me. My name is Ashley Cavalier, and I was born with a rare bone condition, Ollier disease….I wanted to tell my story for the little girl who grew up not feeling worthy or beautiful so that children with differences and disabilities everywhere would have someone they could relate to, unlike me as a child.”

Read more from Ashley Cavalier HERE

📖Doctor Do You Know…Available here👉🏿Amazon | Bookshop 

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✍🏿Debut You 2023

Meet Alisha Emrich, author of NerdCrush

Here’s an excerpt:

Explain your book’s journey—how long did it take—from idea to publication? 

NerdCrush was an idea I had for a while, but I didn’t start making concrete plans (like giving my protagonist a name) until 2019. That was also when I enrolled in Southern New Hampshire University’s online MFA program, so NerdCrush turned into my thesis project. All in all, I’d say it took me from 2019 until 2021 to write a draft that was polished enough to be sent out to agents. Once I graduated from the program in February 2021, I began querying and got an offer from an agent the following month. My agent got me a book deal in May 2021.

Read more from Alisha Emrich HERE

📖NerdCrush

Alisha Emrich

Running Press Kids

February 7, 2023

Young Adult (YA)

Available for pre-order👉🏿Amazon | Bookshop

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📖Introduction to Igbo Mythology for Kids: A Fun Collection of Heroes, Creatures, Gods, and Goddesses in West African Tradition

Chinelo Anyadiegwu

Ulysses Press

Ages: 10+

Pages: 200

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Our Stories Matter African American Read-In

Memphis, family, friends, and folks, you’re invited to the Our Stories Matter 6th Annual African American Read-In: LET’S CELEBRATE POETRY! Hosted by Black Children’s Books and Authors (BCBA). Eventbrite Registration HERE.

Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library, Room C, 3030 Poplar Ave, Memphis, TN, 

Saturday, February 18, 2023, 3:00 PM-5:00 PM. 

Need a poem? You can choose from a selection of poems provided by the host (please arrive early to select a poem).

Do you have a favorite poem by a Black poet? Bring it, read it. This is a family event, ALL READERS ARE WELCOME! 

Book giveaway for children in attendance.