Coretta Scott King Award winners & Honor books

Distinguished books by African American authors and illustrators.

Included: Winners and Honor books, 2016–2025; main Author and Illustrator awards only

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Lists and sources

Browse the included records below. Award years refer to the award, not the publication date.

Coretta Scott King Book Awards

Original list ↗︎

  • Gone Crazy in Alabama — Rita Williams-Garcia (2016) · Author · winner · Source
  • Trombone Shorty — Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews and Bill Taylor (2016) · Illustrator · winner · Source
  • All American Boys — Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely (2016) · Author · honor · Source
  • The Boy in the Black Suit — Jason Reynolds (2016) · Author · honor · Source
  • X: A Novel — Ilyasah Shabazz with Kekla Magoon (2016) · Author · honor · Source
  • The Book Itch: Freedom, Truth & Harlem's Greatest Bookstore — Vaunda Micheaux Nelson (2016) · Illustrator · honor · Source
  • Last Stop on Market Street — Matt de la Peña (2016) · Illustrator · honor · Source
  • March: Book Three — John Lewis and Andrew Aydin (2017) · Author · winner · Source
  • Radiant Child: The Story of Young Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat — Javaka Steptoe (2017) · Illustrator · winner · Source
  • Freedom Over Me: Eleven Slaves, Their Lives and Dreams Brought to Life — Ashley Bryan (2017) · Author · honor · Source
  • As Brave as You — Jason Reynolds (2017) · Author · honor · Source
  • Freedom Over Me: Eleven Slaves, Their Lives and Dreams Brought to Life — Ashley Bryan (2017) · Illustrator · honor · Source
  • Freedom in Congo Square — Carole Boston Weatherford (2017) · Illustrator · honor · Source
  • In Plain Sight — Richard Jackson (2017) · Illustrator · honor · Source
  • Piecing Me Together — Renée Watson (2018) · Author · winner · Source
  • Out of Wonder: Poems Celebrating Poets — Kwame Alexander, Chris Colderley, and Marjory Wentworth (2018) · Illustrator · winner · Source
  • Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut — Derrick Barnes (2018) · Author · honor · Source
  • Long Way Down — Jason Reynolds (2018) · Author · honor · Source
  • The Hate U Give — Angie Thomas (2018) · Author · honor · Source
  • Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut — Derrick Barnes (2018) · Illustrator · honor · Source
  • Before She Was Harriet: The Story of Harriet Tubman — Lesa Cline-Ransome (2018) · Illustrator · honor · Source
  • A Few Red Drops: The Chicago Race Riot of 1919 — Claire Hartfield (2019) · Author · winner · Source
  • The Stuff of Stars — Marion Dane Bauer (2019) · Illustrator · winner · Source
  • Finding Langston — Lesa Cline-Ransome (2019) · Author · honor · Source
  • The Parker Inheritance — Varian Johnson (2019) · Author · honor · Source
  • The Season of Styx Malone — Kekla Magoon (2019) · Author · honor · Source
  • Hidden Figures — Margot Lee Shetterly with Winifred Conkling (2019) · Illustrator · honor · Source
  • Let the Children March — Monica Clark-Robinson (2019) · Illustrator · honor · Source
  • Memphis, Martin, and the Mountaintop — Alice Faye Duncan (2019) · Illustrator · honor · Source
  • New Kid — Jerry Craft (2020) · Author · winner · Source
  • The Undefeated — Kwame Alexander (2020) · Illustrator · winner · Source
  • Look Both Ways — Jason Reynolds (2020) · Author · honor · Source
  • The Stars and the Blackness Between Them — Junauda Petrus (2020) · Author · honor · Source
  • Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky — Kwame Mbalia (2020) · Author · honor · Source
  • The Bell Rang — James E. Ransome (2020) · Illustrator · honor · Source
  • Infinite Hope: A Black Artist's Journey from World War II to Peace — Ashley Bryan (2020) · Illustrator · honor · Source
  • Sulwe — Lupita Nyong'o (2020) · Illustrator · honor · Source
  • Before the Ever After — Jacqueline Woodson (2021) · Author · winner · Source
  • R-E-S-P-E-C-T: Aretha Franklin, The Queen of Soul — Carole Boston Weatherford (2021) · Illustrator · winner · Source
  • All the Days Past, All the Days to Come — Mildred D. Taylor (2021) · Author · honor · Source
  • King and the Dragonflies — Kacen Callender (2021) · Author · honor · Source
  • Lifting as We Climb: Black Women's Battle for the Ballot Box — Evette Dionne (2021) · Author · honor · Source
  • Magnificent Homespun Brown — Samara Cole Doyon (2021) · Illustrator · honor · Source
  • Exquisite: The Poetry and Life of Gwendolyn Brooks — Suzanne Slade (2021) · Illustrator · honor · Source
  • Me & Mama — Cozbi A. Cabrera (2021) · Illustrator · honor · Source
  • Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre — Carole Boston Weatherford (2022) · Author · winner · Source
  • Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre — Carole Boston Weatherford (2022) · Illustrator · winner · Source
  • Home Is Not A Country — Safia Elhillo (2022) · Author · honor · Source
  • Revolution in Our Time: The Black Panther Party's Promise to the People — Kekla Magoon (2022) · Author · honor · Source
  • The People Remember — Ibi Zoboi (2022) · Author · honor · Source
  • Nina: A Story of Nina Simone — Traci N. Todd (2022) · Illustrator · honor · Source
  • We Wait for the Sun — Dovey Johnson Roundtree and Katie McCabe (2022) · Illustrator · honor · Source
  • Soul Food Sunday — Winsome Bingham (2022) · Illustrator · honor · Source
  • Freewater — Amina Luqman-Dawson (2023) · Author · winner · Source
  • Standing in the Need of Prayer: A Modern Retelling of the Classic Spiritual — Carole Boston Weatherford (2023) · Illustrator · winner · Source
  • Star Child — Ibi Zoboi (2023) · Author · honor · Source
  • The Talk — Alicia D. Williams (2023) · Author · honor · Source
  • Victory. Stand!: Raising My Fist for Justice — Tommie Smith and Derrick Barnes (2023) · Author · honor · Source
  • Me and the Boss: A Story about Mending and Love — Michelle Edwards (2023) · Illustrator · honor · Source
  • Swim Team — Johnnie Christmas (2023) · Illustrator · honor · Source
  • Victory. Stand!: Raising My Fist for Justice — Tommie Smith and Derrick Barnes (2023) · Illustrator · honor · Source
  • Nigeria Jones — Ibi Zoboi (2024) · Author · winner · Source
  • An American Story — Kwame Alexander (2024) · Illustrator · winner · Source
  • Big — Vashti Harrison (2024) · Author · honor · Source
  • How Do You Spell Unfair?: MacNolia Cox and the National Spelling Bee — Carole Boston Weatherford (2024) · Author · honor · Source
  • Kin: Rooted in Hope — Carole Boston Weatherford (2024) · Author · honor · Source
  • Big — Vashti Harrison (2024) · Illustrator · honor · Source
  • Holding Her Own: The Exceptional Life of Jackie Ormes — Traci N. Todd (2024) · Illustrator · honor · Source
  • There Was a Party for Langston — Jason Reynolds (2024) · Illustrator · honor · Source
  • Twenty-Four Seconds from Now... — Jason Reynolds (2025) · Author · winner · Source
  • My Daddy is a Cowboy — Stephanie Seales (2025) · Illustrator · winner · Source
  • Black Girl You Are Atlas — Renée Watson (2025) · Author · honor · Source
  • Black Star — Kwame Alexander (2025) · Author · honor · Source
  • One Big Open Sky — Lesa Cline-Ransome (2025) · Author · honor · Source
  • Coretta: The Autobiography of Mrs. Coretta Scott King — Coretta Scott King with the Reverend Dr. Barbara Reynolds (2025) · Illustrator · honor · Source
  • Everywhere Beauty Is Harlem: The Vision of Photographer Roy DeCarava — Gary Golio (2025) · Illustrator · honor · Source
  • Go Forth and Tell: The Life of Augusta Baker, Librarian and Master Storyteller — Breanna J. McDaniel (2025) · Illustrator · honor · Source