These three books are from the 2025 Miself in Book list. You can view the list here.
Book 1 (Elementary): Black Star by Kwame Alexander
Book 2 (Middle Grade): One Big Open Sky by Lesa Cline-Ransome
Book 3 (Young Adult): Knucklehead Poems by Tony Keith, Jr.
The Black Caucus of the American Library Association (BCALA) will soon be publishing the 2025 Best of the Best Books (BOTB). In the meantime, check out these books from the 2024 BOTB list.
Elementary: A Voice of Hope The Myrlie Evers-Williams Story by Nadia Saloman; illustrated by London Ladd
Middle Grade: Onyx & Beyond by Amber McBride
Young Adult Tanglefoot by Kalela Williams
Since 2020, BCALA has published a list of Best of the Best (BOTB) Books for PreK-Grade 12. These books are selected based on criteria, that represents the black experience with authenticity. The 2025 BOTB will be published early next year. In the meantime, I will post a medley of books from the 2024 BOTB list.
Book 1: Bridges Instead of Walls The Story of Mavis Staples by Mavis Staples and Carole Boston Weatherford ; illustrated by Steffi Walthall
Book 2: Moko Magic Carnival Chaos by Tracey Baptiste
Book 3: Love Requires Chocolate by Rayvnn K. Stringfield
Today’s posts will feature books from the 2024 MiSelf in Books PK-Grade 12 booklist. These are diverse, are exemplary in literary merit and authentic representation.
Book 1: Bros by Carole Boston Weatherford; illustrated by Reggie Brown. (Grades PreK-1)
Book 2: The Last Stand by Atwan Eady; illustrated by Jarrett & Jerome Pumphrey (Grades 2-3)
Book 3: Duel by Jessixa Bagley; illustrated by Aaron Bagley (Grades 3-7)
Book 4: The Order of Things by Kaija Langley (Grades 6-8)
Book 5: Forever is Now by Mariama J. Lockington (Grades 9-12)
Two Truths and a Lionel by Brian Wasson
An interesting story about young man name Lionel wanting to live up to his family name. He is called a hero for helping some people escape from a pet shop fire. But is Lionel really the hero? Lionel doesn’t remember. However, Lionel is certainly enjoying all the attention he is receiving. When some additional footage from the fire threatens to surface, will it reveal Lionel or someone else as the hero?
My visit to my local library branches was an opportunity to check out some new books. Here are the titles:
Book 1: J vs. K by Kwame Alexander and Jerry Craft. I’m excited to read this one!
Book 2: Greatness by the award-winning team Regis and Kahran Bethencourt
Book 3: The Davenports More Than This by Krystal Marquis
Today was special to me. I attended Ladarrion Williams book signing at the Detroit Public Library. I admire and respect his grit, perseverance, and writing skills. His book, Blood at the Root, is a sci-fi/fantasy book with a young black man as the man character with special skills. He rescues his foster brother and together they embark on a journey to a new and better life for themselves. But, there are some curves, twists, and turns along the journey. A good read!
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/2296774/ladarrion-williams/
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/738959/blood-at-the-root-by-ladarrion-williams/
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/738995/bones-at-the-crossroads-by-ladarrion-williams/
It’s all about the “we” in these Wednesday’s titles.
Book 1: The History of We by Nikkolas Smith
Book 2: We Are Here by Tami Charles
Book 3: When We Were Birds by Ayanna Lloyd Banyo
Book 4: We Speak for Ourselves: A Word From Forgotten Black America by D. Watkins
Book 5: We Refuse A Forceful History of Black Resistance by Kellie Carter Jackson
Today I will feature three books on YA romance comedy.
Book 1: The Last Chance Dance by Lakita Wilson. I read this book and thoroughly enjoyed it.
Book 2: Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute by Talia Hibbert. A book I want to read.
Book 3: Reggie and Delilah’s Year of Falling by Elise Bryant. Another book I want to read.
Today I will feature two award-winning authors last name starting with a T. These authors have a body of work that are classics, and worth revisiting and/or reading for the first time.
Author 1: Mildred Taylor, author of Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cryhttps://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/30681/mildred-d-taylor/
Author 2: Joyce Carol Thomas, who wrote several books for children and young adults. She passed away in 2016. However, her books are still available to read.https://thebrownbookshelf.com/28days/day-16-throwback-joyce-carol-thomas/
The CamaraIfe Maktaba 