10 Bestselling Children’s Books for September/October - 2017

AALBC’s Bestselling Book SealOur bestsellers list has been published continuously since 1998. Learn More ▶

Fiction: Sadeqa Johnson’s novel Second House from the Corner, tops our bestsellers list for the 2nd straight period. Margaret Wilkerson Sexton’s A Kind of Freedom makes its debut on our list this period and is already one of the most critically acclaimed books for 2017.

Nonfiction: This was the top-selling genre for the Sept/Oct 2017 period. The bestsellers in the nonfiction category are a nice mix of new books and classic titles. Anthony Browder’s seminal work, Nile Valley Contributions to Civilization should be required reading for all Americans (check out Browder’s documentary film covering the book subject).

Children’s Books: One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia has made our bestsellers list 11 times and is now our all-time bestselling children’s book. Bright Eyes, Brown Skin by Cheryl Willis Hudson, originally published in 1990, is still a favorite with our readers. It was the first children’s book published, illustrated, and written by Black people to win a major award.

Poetry: Sells each 2 month period for which we report, however sales were insufficient to compile a bestsellers for the genre. The last poetry list was last reported Jan/Feb 2017

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View a printer-friendly version and a collage of the book covers. Also, check out links to more great books. Enjoy

#1

Book cover of As Brave As You by Jason Reynolds

As Brave As You

by Jason Reynolds

Add to Cart

#2

Book cover of Ghost: Running for His Life or From It?  by Jason Reynolds

Ghost

by Jason Reynolds

Add to Cart

#3

Book cover of Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson

Brown Girl Dreaming

by Jacqueline Woodson

Add to Cart

#6

Book cover of One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia

One Crazy Summer

by Rita Williams-Garcia

Add to Cart

#7

Book cover of The Crossover by Kwame Alexander

The Crossover

by Kwame Alexander

Add to Cart

#8

Book cover of Bright Eyes, Brown Skin by Cheryl Willis Hudson and Bernette Ford

Bright Eyes, Brown Skin

by Cheryl Willis Hudson and Bernette Ford

Add to Cart

#9

Book cover of Dream Big: Michael Jordan and the Pursuit of Excellence by Deloris Jordan

Dream Big

by Deloris Jordan

Add to Cart

#10

Book cover of Emmanuel’s Dream: The True Story of Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah by Laurie Ann Thompson

Emmanuel’s Dream

by Laurie Ann Thompson

Add to Cart

More About our Bestsellers List


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), Black History 365 Education, and Amazon.com*.

We aggregate all formats of a book sold (print, ebook, and audio) into one format, usually the most popular print format

*For a few years, we actively boycotted Amazon but have discontinued this practice, as many of our authors have made their books exclusively available from Amazon. While we discourage giving Amazon the exclusive right to sell a book, we do not want this to be a reason to exclude an author from our site. Amazon also has an effective monopoly on eBooks and out-of-print books, which we highlight on this site.


The Most Critically Acclaimed Books

Bestselling Books By Year May be Found Here

Our All-Time Bestselling Books May be Found Here