100 Essential Children’s & Young Adult Fiction Books by Black Writers

Explore 100 essential picture books, middle grade fiction, and Young Adult novels by African American and Black diaspora writers. Selected by AALBC based on literary awards, critical recognition, historical significance, and lasting cultural impact.

Adult Fiction Adult Nonfiction Children & YA Fiction Children & YA Nonfiction

Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut

#1 Selection

Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut

by Derrick Barnes Honored Title

New Kid

#2 Selection

New Kid

by Jerry Craft Honored Title

One Crazy Summer

#3 Selection

One Crazy Summer

by Rita Williams-Garcia Honored Title

Big

#4 Selection

Big

by Vashti Harrison Honored Title

Sulwe

#5 Selection

Sulwe

by Lupita Nyong’o Honored Title

Genesis Begins Again

#6 Selection

Genesis Begins Again

by Alicia D. Williams Honored Title

The Hate U Give

#7 Selection

The Hate U Give

by Angie Thomas Honored Title

Freedom Over Me: Eleven Slaves, Their Lives and Dreams Brought to Life

#8 Selection

Freedom Over Me: Eleven Slaves, Their Lives and Dreams Brought to Life

by Ashley Bryan Honored Title

As Brave As You

#9 Selection

As Brave As You

by Jason Reynolds Honored Title

The Crossover

#10 Selection

The Crossover

by Kwame Alexander Honored Title

Henry’s Freedom Box: A True Story from the Underground Railroad

#11 Selection

Henry’s Freedom Box: A True Story from the Underground Railroad

by Ellen Levine Honored Title

#12 Selection

Black Star

by Kwame Alexander Honored Title

The Year We Learned to Fly

#13 Selection

The Year We Learned to Fly

by Jacqueline Woodson Honored Title

I Am Every Good Thing

#14 Selection

I Am Every Good Thing

by Derrick Barnes Honored Title

Nana Akua Goes to School

#15 Selection

Nana Akua Goes to School

by Tricia Elam Walker Honored Title

Hair Love

#16 Selection

Hair Love

by Matthew A. Cherry Honored Title

Let the Children March

#17 Selection

Let the Children March

by Monica Clark-Robinson Honored Title

Long Way Down

#18 Selection

Long Way Down

by Jason Reynolds Honored Title

Ghost: Running for His Life or From It?

#19 Selection

Ghost: Running for His Life or From It?

by Jason Reynolds Honored Title

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry

#20 Selection

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry

by Mildred D. Taylor Honored Title

Last Stop on Market Street

#21 Selection

Last Stop on Market Street

by Matt De La Peña Honored Title

Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters: An African Tale

#22 Selection

Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters: An African Tale

by John Steptoe Honored Title

Monster

#23 Selection

Monster

by Walter Dean Myers Honored Title

Tar Beach

#24 Selection

Tar Beach

by Faith Ringgold Honored Title

The Incredibly Human Henson Blayze

#25 Selection

The Incredibly Human Henson Blayze

by Derrick Barnes Honored Title

Will’s Race for Home

#26 Selection

Will’s Race for Home

by Jewell Parker Rhodes Honored Title

Black Girl You Are Atlas

#27 Selection

Black Girl You Are Atlas

by Renée Watson Honored Title

Nigeria Jones

#28 Selection

Nigeria Jones

by Ibi Zoboi Honored Title

Swim Team

#29 Selection

Swim Team

by Johnnie Christmas Honored Title

The Dark-Thirty: Southern Tales of the Supernatural

#30 Selection

The Dark-Thirty: Southern Tales of the Supernatural

by Patricia C. Mckissack Honored Title

Stacey’s Extraordinary Words

#31 Selection

Stacey’s Extraordinary Words

by Stacey Abrams aka Selena Montgomery Honored Title

Home Is Not a Country

#32 Selection

Home Is Not a Country

by Safia Elhillo Honored Title

Me & Mama

#33 Selection

Me & Mama

by Cozbi A. Cabrera Honored Title

I Promise

#34 Selection

I Promise

by Lebron James Honored Title

She Was the First!: The Trailblazing Life of Shirley Chisholm

#35 Selection

She Was the First!: The Trailblazing Life of Shirley Chisholm

by Katheryn Russell-Brown Honored Title

When Stars Are Scattered

#36 Selection

When Stars Are Scattered

by Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed Honored Title

Layla’s Happiness

#37 Selection

Layla’s Happiness

by Mariahadessa Ekere Tallie Honored Title

The Skin I’m In

#38 Selection

The Skin I’m In

by Sharon G. Flake Honored Title

The Season of Styx Malone

#39 Selection

The Season of Styx Malone

by Kekla Magoon Honored Title

Thank You, Omu!

#40 Selection

Thank You, Omu!

by Oge Mora Honored Title

Sing to the Moon

#41 Selection

Sing to the Moon

by Nansubuga Nagadya Isdahl Honored Title

The Poet X

#42 Selection

The Poet X

by Elizabeth Acevedo Honored Title

Children of Blood and Bone

#43 Selection

Children of Blood and Bone

by Tomi Adeyemi Honored Title

I Can Be Anything! Don’t Tell Me I Can’t

#44 Selection

I Can Be Anything! Don’t Tell Me I Can’t

by Leo and Diane Dillon Honored Title

Clayton Byrd Goes Underground

#45 Selection

Clayton Byrd Goes Underground

by Rita Williams-Garcia Honored Title

The Sun Is Also a Star

#46 Selection

The Sun Is Also a Star

by Nicola Yoon Honored Title

Gone Crazy in Alabama

#47 Selection

Gone Crazy in Alabama

by Rita Williams-Garcia Honored Title

X: A Novel

#48 Selection

X: A Novel

by Ilyasah Shabazz Honored Title

Beautiful Moon: A Child’s Prayer

#49 Selection

Beautiful Moon: A Child’s Prayer

by Tonya Bolden Honored Title

Firebird

#50 Selection

Firebird

by Misty Copeland Honored Title

The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963

#51 Selection

The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963

by Christopher Paul Curtis Honored Title

The Great Migration: Journey To The North

#52 Selection

The Great Migration: Journey To The North

by Eloise Greenfield Honored Title

Sit-In: How Four Friends Stood Up By Sitting Down

#53 Selection

Sit-In: How Four Friends Stood Up By Sitting Down

by Andrea Davis Pinkney Honored Title

The Negro Speaks Of Rivers

#54 Selection

The Negro Speaks Of Rivers

by Langston Hughes Honored Title

Bird

#55 Selection

Bird

by Zetta Elliott Honored Title

Jazz

#56 Selection

Jazz

by Walter Dean Myers Honored Title

Thunder Rose

#57 Selection

Thunder Rose

by Jerdine Nolen Honored Title

Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom

#58 Selection

Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom

by Carole Boston Weatherford Honored Title

The People Could Fly: American Black Folktales

#59 Selection

The People Could Fly: American Black Folktales

by Virginia Hamilton Honored Title

Bud, Not Buddy

#60 Selection

Bud, Not Buddy

by Christopher Paul Curtis Honored Title

Sweet Whispers, Brother Rush

#61 Selection

Sweet Whispers, Brother Rush

by Virginia Hamilton Honored Title

A Hero Ain’t Nothin But a Sandwich

#62 Selection

A Hero Ain’t Nothin But a Sandwich

by Alice Childress Honored Title

Mirandy and Brother Wind

#63 Selection

Mirandy and Brother Wind

by Patricia C. Mckissack Honored Title

Just Us Women

#64 Selection

Just Us Women

by Jeannette Caines Honored Title

Ashanti to Zulu: African Traditions

#65 Selection

Ashanti to Zulu: African Traditions

by Margaret Musgrove Honored Title

One Big Open Sky

#66 Selection

One Big Open Sky

by Lesa Cline-Ransome Honored Title

Blood in the Water

#67 Selection

Blood in the Water

by Tiffany D. Jackson Honored Title

Under the Neon Lights

#68 Selection

Under the Neon Lights

by Arriel Vinson Honored Title

J vs. K

#69 Selection

J vs. K

by Kwame Alexander and Jerry Craft Honored Title

Harlem Honey: The Adventures of a Curious Kid

#70 Selection

Harlem Honey: The Adventures of a Curious Kid

by Tamron Hall Honored Title

Hello There, Sunshine

#71 Selection

Hello There, Sunshine

by Tabitha Brown Honored Title

A Bird in the Air Means We Can Still Breathe

#72 Selection

A Bird in the Air Means We Can Still Breathe

by Mahogany L. Browne Honored Title

(S)Kin

#73 Selection

(S)Kin

by Ibi Zoboi Honored Title

All the Blues in the Sky

#74 Selection

All the Blues in the Sky

by Renée Watson Honored Title

Go Tell It: How James Baldwin Became a Writer

#75 Selection

Go Tell It: How James Baldwin Became a Writer

by Quartez Harris Honored Title

Twenty-Four Seconds from Now …: A Love Story

#76 Selection

Twenty-Four Seconds from Now …: A Love Story

by Jason Reynolds Honored Title

Kwame Crashes the Underworld

#77 Selection

Kwame Crashes the Underworld

by Craig Kofi Farmer Honored Title

Clutch Time: A Shot Clock Novel

#78 Selection

Clutch Time: A Shot Clock Novel

by Caron Butler and justin a. reynolds Honored Title

Out of My Dreams

#79 Selection

Out of My Dreams

by Sharon M. Draper Honored Title

Children of Anguish and Anarchy

#80 Selection

Children of Anguish and Anarchy

by Tomi Adeyemi Honored Title

You Can Be a Good Friend (No Matter What!): A Lil Tj Book

#81 Selection

You Can Be a Good Friend (No Matter What!): A Lil Tj Book

by Taraji P. Henson Honored Title

My Daddy Is a Cowboy: A Picture Book

#82 Selection

My Daddy Is a Cowboy: A Picture Book

by Stephanie Seales Honored Title

The Door of No Return

#83 Selection

The Door of No Return

by Kwame Alexander Honored Title

Something, Someday

#84 Selection

Something, Someday

by Amanda Gorman Honored Title

Hair Love ABCs

#85 Selection

Hair Love ABCs

by Matthew A. Cherry Honored Title

Stacey’s Remarkable Books

#86 Selection

Stacey’s Remarkable Books

by Stacey Abrams aka Selena Montgomery Honored Title

Victory. Stand!: Raising My Fist for Justice

#87 Selection

Victory. Stand!: Raising My Fist for Justice

by Tommie Smith, Derrick Barnes, and Dawud Anyabwile Honored Title

How You Grow Wings

#88 Selection

How You Grow Wings

by Rimma Onoseta Honored Title

On My Papa’s Shoulders

#89 Selection

On My Papa’s Shoulders

by Niki Daly Honored Title

Akie & Ebuka Got into Trouble

#90 Selection

Akie & Ebuka Got into Trouble

by Uzoma R. Ezekwudo Honored Title

Freewater

#91 Selection

Freewater

by Amina Luqman-Dawson Honored Title

Skin of the Sea

#92 Selection

Skin of the Sea

by Natasha Bowen Honored Title

Change Sings: A Children’s Anthem

#93 Selection

Change Sings: A Children’s Anthem

by Amanda Gorman Honored Title

Me (Moth)

#94 Selection

Me (Moth)

by Amber McBride Honored Title

Look Both Ways: A Tale Told in Ten Blocks (Paperback)

#95 Selection

Look Both Ways: A Tale Told in Ten Blocks (Paperback)

by Jason Reynolds Honored Title

All Because You Matter

#96 Selection

All Because You Matter

by Tami Charles Honored Title

Legendborn

#97 Selection

Legendborn

by Tracy Deonn Honored Title

Before the Ever After

#98 Selection

Before the Ever After

by Jacqueline Woodson Honored Title

Your Name Is a Song

#99 Selection

Your Name Is a Song

by Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow Honored Title

Kamala and Maya’s Big Idea

#100 Selection

Kamala and Maya’s Big Idea

by Meena Harris Honored Title

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