2019 Author Winner: A Few Red Drops by Claire Hartfield
2019 Illustrator Winner: The Stuff of Stars; illustrated by Ekua Holmes
2019 Author Honor Title: The Parker Inheritance by Varian Johnson
2019 Illustrator Honor Title: Memphis, Martin, and the Mountaintop; illustrated by R. Gregory Christie
2020 Author Winner: New Kid by Jerry Craft
2020 Illustrator Award Winner: The Undefeated; illustrated by Kadir Nelson
2020 John Steptoe New Talent Author Award Winner: Genesis Begins Again by Alicia D. Williams
2020 John Steptoe New Talent Illustrator Award Winner: What is Given From the Heart; illustrated by April Harrison
2021 Author Winner: Before the Ever After by Jacqueline Woodson
2021 Illustrator Winner: R-E-S-P-E-C-T; illustrated by Frank Morrison
2021 Author Honor Title: Lifting as We Climb by Evette Dionne
2021 Illustrator Honor Title: Magnificent Homespun Brown; illustrated by Kaylani Juanita
2022 CSK Author and Illustrator Award Winner: Unspeakable The Tulsa Race Massacre by Carole Boston Weatherford; illustrated by Floyd Cooper
2022 Author Honor Book: Home is Not a Country by Safia Elhillo
2022 John Steptoe New Talent Author Award Winner: Me(Moth) by Amber McBride
2022 John Steptoe New Talent Illustrator Award Winner: The Me I Choose to Be; illustrated by Regis and Kahran Bethencourt
The following books were 2023 CSK Book Award Winners
2023 Author Winner: Freewater by Amina Luqman-Dawson
2023 Illustrator Winner: Standing in the Need of Prayer; illustrated by Frank Morrison
2023 John Steptoe New Talent Author Award Winner: We Deserve Monuments by Jas Hammonds
2023 John Steptoe New Talent Illustrator Award Winner: Choosing Brave; illustrated by Janelle Washington
2024 Author Winner: Nigeria Jones by Ibi Zoboi
2024 Illustrator Winner: An American Story art by Dare Coulter
2024 John Steptoe New Talent Author Award Winner: There Goes the Neighborhood by Jade Adia
2024 John Steptoe New Talent Illustrator Award Winner:
This week I will feature award winners and honors from the Coretta Scott Book Awards. This year’s winners and honors:
2025 Author Winner: Twenty-four Seconds From Now by Jason Reynolds
2025 Illustrator Award Winner: My Daddy is a Cowboy illustrated by C. G. Esperanza
2025 Author Honor Book: Black Girl You are Atlas by Renee Watson
2025 Illustrator Honor Book: Coretta, The Autobiography of Mrs. Coretta Scott King illustrated by Ekua Holmes
FYI from the American Library Association (ALA
We’re excited to celebrate Coretta Scott King Book Award Literature Week, happening January 19–23, 2026!
This special week highlights Black authors and illustrators and the lasting legacy of the Coretta Scott King Book Awards through engaging conversations and shared stories.
Register at bit.ly/csk-lit-week-26
Born January 17, Paul Cuffee, an African/Wampanoag Indian, was a sea captain, a member of the Black Founding Fathers and so much more. A few books have been written about this amazing man.
Book 1: Captain Paul Cuffe, Yeoman
Captain Paul Cuffee, Yeoman
Book 2: The Life and Times of Paul Cuffe
Book 3: Narrative of the Life and Adventures of Paul Cuffe
Born January 14, John Oliver Killens wrote several novels, two of which were nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for fiction: And Then We Heard the Thunder and The Cotillion, or One Good Bull is Half the Herd. More information about John Oliver Killens can be found here
The CamaraIfe Maktaba 