20 Bestselling Children’s Books
Period: May/June - 2021
Celebrating books written by or about Black people, the African American Literature Book Club’s Bestsellers List has been published continuously since 1998 (Learn More ▶). In 2026, we began publishing our list quarterly, focusing our efforts on America’s top-selling titles: The BLK Bestsellers.
Fiction: The #1 Fiction title for this period was, Voices of the Harlem Renaissance: Originally Published as The New Negro an Interpretation Edited by Alain Locke and Introduction by AALBC.com’s Founder, Troy Johnson. Sales were bolstered by a 50% off “Flash Sale” offered exclusively to AALBC text message subscribers.
Nonfiction: Books dealing with racism continue to sell strong. The new book, How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America by Clint Smith led all nonfiction titles.
Children’s Books: Cool Cuts written and illustrated by Mechal Renee Roe makes our list for the 2nd time and takes the top position for the first time.
Poetry: We did not sell enough poetry books to compile a list this period. However editor choices include, The Collection Plate: Poems by Kendra Allen
More About our Bestsellers List
View a printer-friendly version or a collage of the book covers.
You will learn about books selling well in the Black community that may never show up on lists published by corporate entities. Spread the word about our list; don’t let one or two lists, which we don’t control, determine which books are important.
We collect our bestselling titles from all our sales channels. The majority of our sales come from this website and our in-person events. We also include sales generated through our affiliate relationships, including Bookshop.org, Libro.fm (audiobooks), and Amazon.com*.
*For a few years, we actively boycotted Amazon but have discontinued this practice to ensure we do not exclude authors who are exclusive to that platform. We still discourage exclusivity but support all Black authors.
Related Links
