John Newbery Medal Winning and Honored Books
← Back to Main Awards Page
First awarded in 1922, The John Newbery Medal is awarded annually by the American Library Association for the most distinguished American children’s book published the previous year. Virginia Hamilton, in 1975, was the first African American writer to win the medal. Learn more about this award at the ALA Website.
Below are the Newbery Winning and Honored books which were written by, or about, people of African descent.
One Book Honored with The Newbery Medal or Honor in 2026
All the Blues in the Sky
by Renée Watson
#1 New York Times bestselling and Newbery Honor author Renée Watson explores friendship, loss, and life with grief in this poignant new novel in verse and vignettes.
Sage s thirteenth birthday was supposed to be about movies and treats, staying up late with her best friend and watching the sunrise together. Instead, it was the day her best friend died. Without the person she had to hold her secrets and dream with, Sage is lost. In a counseling group with other girls who have lost someone close to them, she learns that not all losses are the same, and healing isn t predictable. There is sadness, loneliness, anxiety, guilt, pain, love. And even as Sage grieves, new, good things enter her life -- and she just may find a way to know that she can feel it all.
In accessible, engaging verse and prose, this is an important story of a girl s journey to heal, grow, and forgive herself. To read it is to see how many shades there are in grief, and to know that someone understands.
