LibGuides: Coretta Scott King Book Awards: 2010s

Author Winners & Honor Books 2010-2019

Winner

Bad News for Outlaws : the Remarkable Life of Bass Reeves, Deputy U.S. Marshal by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson

Bad News for Outlaws : the remarkable life of Bass Reeves, deputy U. S. marshal by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson; R. Gregory Christie (Illustrator)
Call Number: Juv B REE (Juvenile biography)
ISBN: 9780822567646
Publication Date: 2009-08-01
Sitting tall in the saddle, with a wide-brimmed black hat and twin Colt pistols on his belt, Bass Reeves seemed bigger than life. Outlaws feared him. As a deputy U.S. Marshal and former slave who escaped to freedom in the Indian Territories, Bass was cunning and fearless. When a lawbreaker heard Bass Reeves had his warrant, he knew it was the end of the trail, because Bass always got his man, dead or alive. He achieved all this in spite of whites who didn't like the notion of a black lawman. For three decades, Bass was the most feared and respected lawman in the territories. He made more than 3,000 arrests, and though he was a crack shot and a quick draw, he only killed fourteen men in the line of duty.

Honor Books

Mare's War by Tanita S. David

Winner

One Crazy Summer by Rita WIlliams-Garcia

One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia
Call Number: J-Fiction WI (Juvenile Fiction)
ISBN: 9780060760885
Publication Date: 2010-01-26
In the summer of 1968, after travelling to Oakland, California, to spend a month with their estranged mother, Delphine and her two younger sisters get a cold welcome as their mother makes them attend a Black Panther summer camp.
One Crazy Summer [OverDrive E-Book] by Rita Williams-Garcia
Call Number: OverDrive E-Book
ISBN: 9781456115111
Publication Date: 2011-03-28

Honor Books

Lockdown by Walter Dean Meyers
Ninth Ward by Jewell Parker Rhodes
Yummy : the Last Days of a Southside Shorty by G. Neri

Lockdown by Walter Dean Myers
Call Number: YA F MYE-WD (Young Adult Fiction)
ISBN: 9780061214806
Publication Date: 2010-02-02
Teenage Reese, serving time at a juvenile detention facility, gets a lesson in making it through hard times from an unlikely friend with a harrowing past.

Winner

Heart and Soul : the Story of America and African Americans by Kadir Nelson

Heart and Soul : the story of America and African Americans by Kadir Nelson (Illustrator)
Call Number: J-973 NEL (Juvenile Nonfiction)
ISBN: 9780061730740
Publication Date: 2011-09-27
The compelling and inspiring story of our country through the lens of the African-American experience.

Honor Books

The Great Migration : Journey to the North by Eloise Greenfield
Never Forgotten by Patricia C. McKissack

The Great Migration : journey to the North by Eloise Greenfield; Jan Spivey Gilchrist (Illustrator)
Call Number: Easy GR (Easy Fiction)
ISBN: 9780061259210
Publication Date: 2010-12-21
Why and how African Americans from the South moved to the North during the early 20th century.

Never Forgotten by Patricia C. McKissack; Leo Dillon (Illustrator); Diane Dillon (Illustrator)
Call Number: J-Fiction XM (Juvenile Fiction)
ISBN: 9780375843846
Publication Date: 2011-10-11
In West Africa, a boy raised by his blacksmith father and the Four Elements is captured and taken to America as a slave.

Winner

Hand in Hand : Ten Black Men Who Changed America

Hand in Hand : ten black men who changed America by Andrea Davis Pinkney; Brian Pinkney (Illustrator)
Call Number: J-973 PIN (Juvenile Non-Fiction)
ISBN: 9781423142577
Publication Date: 2012-10-23
Profiles ten notable African American men who worked for racial equality at different times in American history.

Honor Books

The Dear One by Jacqueline Woodson
No Crystal Stair : a Documentary Novel of the Life and Work of Lewis Micheaux, Harlem Bookseller by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson

Winner

P.S. Be Eleven by Rita Williams-Garcia

P. S. Be Eleven by Rita Williams-Garcia
Call Number: J-Paperback "W" (Juvenile Paperbacks)
ISBN: 9780061938641
Publication Date: 2015-01-27
The Gaither sisters return to Brooklyn and find that changes large and small have come to their home.
P. S. Be Eleven [OverDrive Audiobook] by Rita Williams-Garcia; Sisi Aisha Johnson (Narrated by)
Call Number: OverDrive Audiobook
ISBN: 9781470361808
Publication Date: 2013-07-16

Honor Books

March : Book One by John Lewis and Andrew Aydin
Darius & Twig by Walter Dean Myers
Words with Wings by Nikki Grimes

Darius and Twig by Walter Dean Myers
Call Number: YA F MYE-WD (Young adult fiction)
ISBN: 9780061728235
Publication Date: 2013-04-23
Two best friends, a writer and a runner, deal with bullies, family issues, social pressures, and their quest for success coming out of Harlem.
Words with Wings by Nikki Grimes
Call Number: Juv F GRI (Juvenile fiction)
ISBN: 9781590789858
Publication Date: 2013-09-01
Gabby daydreams to tune out her parents' arguments, but when her parents divorce and she begins a new school, daydreaming gets her into trouble. Her mother scolds her for it, her teacher keeps telling her to pay attention, and the other kids tease her ... until she finds a friend who also daydreams and her teacher decides to work a daydreaming-writing session into every school day. With a notebook "thick with daydreams," Gabby grows more confident about herself and her future. This verse novel poignantly celebrates the power of writing and the inspiration a good teacher can deliver.

Winner

Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson

Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson
Call Number: Juv B WOO (Juvenile Non-Fiction)
ISBN: 9780399252518
Publication Date: 2014-08-28
The author shares her childhood memories and reveals the first sparks that ignited her writing career in free-verse poems about growing up in the North and South.
Brown Girl Dreaming [OverDrive Audiobook] by Jacqueline Woodson
Call Number: Juv B WOO Audiobk (OverDrive)
ISBN: 9780553397277
Publication Date: 2014

Honor Books

The Crossover by Kwame Alexander
How I Discovered Poetry by Marilyn Nelson
How It Went Down by Kekla Magoon

The Crossover by Kwame Alexander
Call Number: J-Fiction AL (Juvenile Fiction)
ISBN: 9780544107717
Publication Date: 2014-03-18
Fourteen-year-old twin basketball stars Josh and Jordan wrestle with highs and lows on and off the court as their father ignores his declining health.
The Crossover [OverDrive E-Book] by Kwame Alexander
Call Number: OverDrive E-Book
ISBN: 9780544289598
Publication Date: 2014-03-18

How I Discovered Poetry by Marilyn Nelson; Hadley Hooper (Illustrator)
Call Number: J-811.54 NEL (Juvenile Fiction)
ISBN: 9780803733046
Publication Date: 2014-01-14
A powerful and thought-provoking Civil Rights era memoir from one of America's most celebrated poets. Using poems, she touches on many aspects of the 1950s: racism and the Civil Rights movement, the "Red Scare," the shadow of the atom bomb, and the first stirrings of the feminist movement.

How It Went Down by Kekla Magoon
Call Number: J-Fiction MA (Juvenile Fiction)
ISBN: 9780805098693
Publication Date: 2014-10-21
When sixteen-year-old Tariq Johnson is shot to death, his community is thrown into an uproar because Tariq was black and the shooter, Jack Franklin, is white, and in the aftermath everyone has something to say, but no two accounts of the events agree.

Winner

Gone Crazy in Alabama by Rita Williams-Garcia

Gone Crazy in Alabama by Rita Williams-Garcia
Call Number: J-Fiction WI (Juvenile Fiction)
ISBN: 9780062215871
Publication Date: 2015-04-21
The Gaither sisters are about to learn what it's like to be fish out of water as they travel from the streets of Brooklyn to the rural South for the summer of a lifetime.

Honor Books

All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely
The Boy in the Black Suit by Jason Reynolds
X : a Novel by Ilyasah Shabazz and Kekla Magoon

All American Boys by Jason Reynolds; Brendan Kiely
Call Number: J-Fiction RE (Juvenile Fiction)
ISBN: 9781481463331
Publication Date: 2015-09-29
When sixteen-year-old Rashad is mistakenly accused of stealing, classmate Quinn witnesses his brutal beating at the hands of a police officer who happens to be the older brother of his best friend. Told through Rashad and Quinn's alternating viewpoints.

The Boy in the Black Suit by Jason Reynolds
Call Number: J-Fiction RE (Juvenile Fiction)
ISBN: 9781442459502
Publication Date: 2015-01-06
Soon after his mother's death, Matt takes a job at a funeral home in his tough Brooklyn neighborhood and, while attending and assisting with funerals, begins to accept her death and his responsibilities as a man.

X : a novel by Ilyasah Shabazz; Kekla Magoon
Call Number: J-Fiction SH (Juvenile Fiction)
ISBN: 9780763669676
Publication Date: 2015-01-06
Malcolm Little's parents have always told him that he can achieve anything, but from what he can tell, that's a pack of lies -- after all, his father's been murdered, his mother's been taken away, and his dreams of becoming a lawyer have gotten him laughed out of school. There's no point in trying, he figures, and lured by the nightlife of Boston and New York, he escapes into a world of fancy suits, jazz, girls, and reefer. But Malcolm's efforts to leave the past behind lead him into increasingly dangerous territory. Deep down, he knows that the freedom he's found is only an illusion -- and that he can't run forever.
X [OverDrive E-Book] : a novel by Ilyasah Shabazz; Kekla Magoon
Call Number: OverDrive E-Book
ISBN: 9780763674250
Publication Date: 2015-01-06

Winner

March : Book Three by John Lewis and Andrew Aydin

March : book three by John Lewis; Andrew Aydin; Nate Powell
Call Number: YA G LEW-J M3 (Young Adult Graphic Novels)
ISBN: 9781603094023
Publication Date: 2016-08-02
The conclusion to the March trilogy, the books that explain the methods and the moral foundations of the civil rights movement, how civil rights activists did what they did and won what they won, and how they had the strength to do it in the most difficult circumstances imaginable.

Honor Books

As Brave as You by Jason Reynolds
Freedom Over Me : Eleven Slaves, Their Lives and Dreams Brought to Life by Ashley Bryan by Ashley Bryan

As Brave As You by Reynolds, Jason
Call Number: JUV F REY (Juvenile Fiction)
ISBN: 9781481415903
Publication Date: 2016-05-03
Scooping poop at his grandparent's house - that sure as heck wasn't the way eleven-year-old Genie expected to be spending his summer. But when his parents send him and his big brother, Ernie, to Virginia to experience the great (not!) outdoors, they're in for some big surprises. First, there are chores galore (picking peas, really?). Second, Grandpop just might be completely off his rocker. The man has a big ol' secret - and once Genie learns what it is, all of Grandpop's oddities start to make sense. Like why he locks himself up in a room that's filled with birds. And why he never - not ever, no sir, no how, no way - steps foot outside. On top of that, Grandpop has a crazy idea for how to celebrate Ernie's fourteenth birthday. Actually, to Genie it isn't so crazy, but Ernie thinks it's completely wack. Genie wonders if that's because Ernie isn't brave enough. but is being brave doing something? Or knowing when not to?
Freedom over Me : eleven slaves, their lives and dreams brought to life by Ashley Bryan by Ashley Bryan (Illustrator)
Call Number: JUV F BRY (Juvenile fiction)
ISBN: 9781481456906
Publication Date: 2016-09-13
Using original slave auction and plantation estate documents contrasts the monetary value of a slave with the priceless value of life experiences and dreams that a slave owner could never take away.

Winner

Piecing Me Together by Renée Watson

Piecing Me Together by Renée Watson
Call Number: J-Fiction WA (Juvenile Fiction)
ISBN: 9781681191058
Publication Date: 2017-02-14
Tired of being singled out at her mostly-white private school as someone who needs support, high school junior Jade would rather participate in the school's amazing Study Abroad program than join Women to Women, a mentorship program for at-risk girls.

Honor Books

Crown : an Ode to the Fresh Cut by Derrick Barnes
Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

Crown : an ode to the fresh cut by Derrick Barnes; Gordon C. James (Illustrator)
Call Number: Easy BAR (Easy Fiction)
ISBN: 9781572842243
Publication Date: 2017-10-10
Celebrates the magnificent feeling that comes from walking out of a barber shop with newly-cut hair.

Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds
Call Number: YA F REY-J (Young Adult Fiction)
ISBN: 9781481438254
Publication Date: 2017-10-24
As Will, fifteen, sets out to avenge his brother Shawn's fatal shooting, seven ghosts who knew Shawn board the elevator and reveal truths Will needs to know.

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
Call Number: YA F THO-A (Young adult fiction)
ISBN: 9780062498533
Publication Date: 2017-02-28
Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed. Soon afterward, his death is a national headline. Some are calling him a thug, maybe even a drug dealer and a gangbanger. Protesters are taking to the streets in Khalil's name. Some cops and the local drug lord try to intimidate Starr and her family. What everyone wants to know is: what really went down that night? And the only person alive who can answer that is Starr. But what Starr does or does not say could upend her community. It could also endanger her life.
The Hate U Give [streaming audiobook] by Angie Thomas; Bahni Turpin (Read by)
Call Number: YA F THO-A Audiobk (OverDrive)
ISBN: 9780062677082
Publication Date: 2017-02-28

Winner

A Few Drops of Rain by Claire Hartfield

A Few Red Drops : the Chicago Race Riot of 1919 by Claire Hartfield
Call Number: Juv 305.896 HAR (Juvenile Biography)
ISBN: 9780544785137
Publication Date: 2018-01-02
Examines the events and forces leading up to 1919 race riots in Chicago.

Honor Books

Finding Langston by Lesa Cline-Ransome
The Parker Inheritance by Varian Johnson
The Season of Styx Malone by Kekla Magoon

Finding Langston by Lesa Cline-Ransome
Call Number: Juv F CLI (Juvenile Fiction)
ISBN: 9780823439607
Publication Date: 2018-08-14
Discovering a book of Langston Hughes' poetry in the library helps Langston cope with the loss of his mother, relocating from Alabama to Chicago as part of the Great Migration, and being bullied.

The Parker Inheritance by Varian Johnson
Call Number: Juv F JOH (Juvenile Fiction)
ISBN: 9780545946179
Publication Date: 2018-03-27
Twelve-year-old Candice Miller is spending the summer in Lambert, South Carolina, in the old house that belonged to her grandmother, who died after being dismissed as city manager for having the city tennis courts dug up looking for buried treasure--but when she finds the letter that sent her grandmother on the treasure hunt, she finds herself caught up in the mystery and, with the help of her new friend and fellow book-worm, Brandon, she sets out to find the inheritance, exonerate her grandmother, and expose an injustice once committed against an African American family in Lambert.

The Season of Styx Malone by Kekla Magoon
Call Number: Juv F MAG (Juvenile Fiction)
ISBN: 9781524715953
Publication Date: 2018-10-16
Caleb Franklin and his younger brother, Bobby Gene, spend an extraordinary summer with their new, older neighbor, Styx Malone, a foster boy from the city.

Illustrator Winners & Honor Books 2010-2019

Winner

My People illustrated by Charles R. Smith, Jr.

My People by Langston Hughes; Charles R. Smith (Illustrator)
Call Number: Juv 811.52 HUG (Juvenile Nonfiction)
ISBN: 9781416935407
Publication Date: 2009-01-06
Hughes's spare yet eloquent tribute to his people has been cherished for generations. Now, acclaimed photographer Smith interprets this beloved poem in vivid sepia photographs that capture the glory, the beauty, and the soul of being a black American today.

Honor Books

The Negro Speaks of Rivers illustrated by E. B. Lewis

Winner

Dave the Potter : Artist, Poet, Slave illustrated by Bryan Collier

Dave the Potter : artist, poet, slave by Laban Carrick Hill; Bryan Collier (Illustrator)
Call Number: Juv B DAV (Juvenile Biography)
ISBN: 9780316107310
Publication Date: 2010-09-07
Chronicles the life of Dave, a nineteenth-century slave, and a potter, who went on to become an influential poet and artist.

Also available at Easy HI

Honor Books

Jimi Sounds Like a Rainbow : a Story of the Young Jimi Hendrix

Winner

Underground : Finding the Light to Freedom illustrated by Shane W. Evans

Underground by Shane W. Evans (Illustrator)
Call Number: Easy EV (Easy)
ISBN: 9781596435384
Publication Date: 2011-01-18
The relaying of a pivotal moment in American history, shown through one slave family's escape to the North, and freedom on the Underground Railroad.

Honor Books

Heart and Soul : the Story of America and African Americans illustrated by Kadir Nelson

Heart and Soul : the story of America and African Americans by Kadir Nelson (Illustrator)
Call Number: J-973 NEL (Juvenile Nonfiction)
ISBN: 9780061730740
Publication Date: 2011-09-27
The compelling and inspiring story of our country through the lens of the African-American experience.

Winner

I, Too, Am America illustrated by Bryan Collier

Honor Books

Ellen's Broom illustrated by Daniel Minter
H. O. R. S. E. illustrated by Christopher Myers
I Have a Dream : Martin Luther King, Jr. illustrated by Kadir Nelson

Heart and Soul : the story of America and African Americans by Kadir Nelson (Illustrator)
Call Number: J-973 NEL (Juvenile Nonfiction)
ISBN: 9780061730740
Publication Date: 2011-09-27
The compelling and inspiring story of our country through the lens of the African-American experience.

Winner

Knock Knock : My Dad's Dream for Me illustrated by Bryan Collier

Honor Books

Nelson Mandela illustrated by Kadir Nelson

Winner

Firebird illustrated by Christopher Myers

Honor Books

Josephine : the Dazzling Life of Josephine Baker illustrated by Christian Robinson
Little Melba and Her Big Trombone illustrated by Frank Morrison

Josephine : the dazzling life of Josephine Baker by Patricia Hruby Powell; Christian Robinson (Illustrator)
Call Number: J-792.8 BAK (Juvenile Non-Fiction)
ISBN: 9781452103143
Publication Date: 2014-01-14
An illustrated biography in verse of Josephine Baker, a dancer, singer, comedienne, and early African American artist.

Winner

Trombone Shorty illustrated by Bryan Collier

Honor Books

The Book Itch : Freedom, Truth & Harlem's Greatest Bookstore illustrated by R. Gregory Christie
Last Stop on Market Street illustrated by R. Gregory Christie

Winner

Radiant Child : the Story of Young Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat illustrated by Javaka Steptoe

Radiant Child : the story of young artist Jean-Michel Basquiat by Javaka Steptoe
Call Number: J-740.92 STE (Juvenile Non-Fiction)
ISBN: 9780316213882
Publication Date: 2016-10-25
A picture book biography about modern art phenomenon Jean-Michel Basquiat of New York City.

Honor Books

Freedom in Congo Square illustrated by R. Gregory Christie
Freedom Over Me : Eleven Slaves, Their Lives and Dreams Brought to Life by Ashley Bryan by Ashley Bryan
In Plain Sight by Jerry Pinkney

Freedom over Me : eleven slaves, their lives and dreams brought to life by Ashley Bryan by Ashley Bryan (Illustrator)
Call Number: JUV F BRY (Juvenile fiction)
ISBN: 9781481456906
Publication Date: 2016-09-13
Using original slave auction and plantation estate documents contrasts the monetary value of a slave with the priceless value of life experiences and dreams that a slave owner could never take away.

Winner

Out of Wonder : Poems Celebrating Poets illustrated by Ekua Holmes

Honor Books

Crown : An Ode to the Fresh Cut illustrated by Gordon C. James
Before She Was Harriet : the Story of Harriet Tubman illustrated by James Ransome

Crown : an ode to the fresh cut by Derrick Barnes; Gordon C. James (Illustrator)
Call Number: Easy BAR (Easy Fiction)
ISBN: 9781572842243
Publication Date: 2017-10-10
Celebrates the magnificent feeling that comes from walking out of a barber shop with newly-cut hair.

Winner

The Stuff of Stars illustrated by Ekua Holmes

The Stuff of Stars by Marion Dane Bauer; Ekua Holmes (Illustrator)
Call Number: Easy XBA (Easy Fiction)
ISBN: 9780763678838
Publication Date: 2018-09-04
An exploration of how the Big Bang may have formed the universe, giving birth to its many organisms including humans.

Honor Books

Hidden Figures : the True Story of Four Black Women and the Space Race illustrated by Laura Freeman
Let the Children March illustrated by Frank Morrison
Memphis, Martin, and the Mountaintop illustrated by R. Gregory Christie

Hidden Figures : the true story of four Black women and the space race by Margot Lee Shetterly; Laura Freeman (Illustrator)
Call Number: Easy B HID (Easy Biography)
ISBN: 9780062742469
Publication Date: 2018-01-16
Explores the previously uncelebrated but pivotal contributions of NASA's African American women mathematicians to America's space program, describing how Jim Crow laws segregated them despite their groundbreaking successes. Includes biographies on Dorothy Jackson Vaughan (1910-2008), Mary Winston Jackson (1921-2005), Katherine Colman Goble Johnson (1918- ), Dr. Christine Mann Darden (1942- ).

Coretta Scott King Book Awards

Author Winners & Honor Books 2010-2019

Winner

Bad News for Outlaws : the Remarkable Life of Bass Reeves, Deputy U.S. Marshal by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson

Honor Books

Mare's War by Tanita S. David

Winner

One Crazy Summer by Rita WIlliams-Garcia

Honor Books

Winner

Heart and Soul : the Story of America and African Americans by Kadir Nelson

Honor Books

The Great Migration : Journey to the North by Eloise Greenfield

Never Forgotten by Patricia C. McKissack

Winner

Hand in Hand : Ten Black Men Who Changed America

Honor Books

The Dear One by Jacqueline Woodson

No Crystal Stair : a Documentary Novel of the Life and Work of Lewis Micheaux, Harlem Bookseller by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson

Winner

P.S. Be Eleven by Rita Williams-Garcia

Honor Books

March : Book One by John Lewis and Andrew Aydin

Darius & Twig by Walter Dean Myers

Words with Wings by Nikki Grimes

Winner

Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson

Honor Books

The Crossover by Kwame Alexander

How I Discovered Poetry by Marilyn Nelson

How It Went Down by Kekla Magoon

Winner

Gone Crazy in Alabama by Rita Williams-Garcia

Honor Books

All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely

The Boy in the Black Suit by Jason Reynolds

X : a Novel by Ilyasah Shabazz and Kekla Magoon

Winner

March : Book Three by John Lewis and Andrew Aydin

Honor Books

Winner

Piecing Me Together by Renée Watson

Honor Books

Crown : an Ode to the Fresh Cut by Derrick Barnes

Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

Winner

A Few Drops of Rain by Claire Hartfield

Honor Books

Finding Langston by Lesa Cline-Ransome

The Parker Inheritance by Varian Johnson

The Season of Styx Malone by Kekla Magoon

Illustrator Winners & Honor Books 2010-2019

Winner

My People illustrated by Charles R. Smith, Jr.

Honor Books

The Negro Speaks of Rivers illustrated by E. B. Lewis

Winner

Dave the Potter : Artist, Poet, Slave illustrated by Bryan Collier

Honor Books

Winner

Underground : Finding the Light to Freedom illustrated by Shane W. Evans

Honor Books

Heart and Soul : the Story of America and African Americans illustrated by Kadir Nelson

Winner

I, Too, Am America illustrated by Bryan Collier

Honor Books

Ellen's Broom illustrated by Daniel Minter

H. O. R. S. E. illustrated by Christopher Myers

I Have a Dream : Martin Luther King, Jr. illustrated by Kadir Nelson

Winner

Knock Knock : My Dad's Dream for Me illustrated by Bryan Collier

Honor Books

Nelson Mandela illustrated by Kadir Nelson

Winner

Firebird illustrated by Christopher Myers

Honor Books

Josephine : the Dazzling Life of Josephine Baker illustrated by Christian Robinson

Little Melba and Her Big Trombone illustrated by Frank Morrison

Winner