Heavenly birthday wishes Walter Dean Myers! Born August 12, 1937, Walter Dean Myers was an award-winning African American writer best known for young adult literature. He has written about 70 novels, including the award winning novel, Monster. Some of his young adult literature feature African American young adult males. Walter Dean Myers died in 2014.
Heavenly birthday wishes Janet McDonald! Born August 10, 1953, Janet McDonald was an African American author of young adult novels as well as the author of Project Girl, a memoir about her early life in Brooklyn’s Farragut Houses and struggle to achieve an Ivy League education. She died in 2007. I read Project Girl many years ago. It is a very real, very engaging, and very well written story!
Happy birthday Derrick Barnes! Born August 9, Derrick Barnes is an award-winning African American children’s and young adult’s author. Derrick Barnes is a National Book Award Finalist for his 2022 graphic novel Victory. Stand!-Raising My Fist For Justice, which also won the 2023 YALSA Excellence in Young Adult Nonfiction Award, and a Coretta Scott King Award Author Honor. He is also the author of the critically acclaimed, multi-award-winning picture book Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut which received a Newbery Honor, a Coretta Scott King Author Honor, the Ezra Jack Keats New Writer Award, and the Kirkus Prize for Young Readers.
In 2020, he became the only author to win the Kirkus Prize twice for his twelfth release, the New York Times bestseller, I Am Every Good Thing. The title also won a Charlotte Huck Award (NCTE), and a Boston Globe-Horn Book Award Honor. Visit his website for more of his notable books.
Happy birthday Renee Watson! Born July 29, Renee Watson is a #1 New York Times bestselling author with over one million books sold. TIME named Watson a 2026 Visionary, honoring her commitment to helping children and young people reach their full potential. Renee Watson was among the first authors invited to give a reading at the Obama Presidential Center. Renee Watson is best known for her Newbery Medal winning All the Blues in the Sky and New York Times bestselling young adult novel Piecing Me Together. Watson was among the first authors invited to give a reading at the Obama Presidential Center.
Happy birthday Nic Stone! Born July 10, Andrea Nicole Livingstone, known as Nic Stone, is a New York Times best selling African American author of young adult fiction and middle grade fiction, best known for her debut novel Dear Martin and her middle grade debut, Clean Getaway. Her novels have been translated into six languages. Some of her best selling works are:
Belated birthday wishes Angela Johnson! Born June 18, Angela Johnson is an award-winning children’s and young adult author, poet, and an 2003 McArthur Fellow. Here are just a few of the 40 books she has written since she began writing in 1989.
Happy birthday Akwaeke Emezi! Born June 6, Akwaeke Emezi is a Nigerian fiction writer and visual artist, best known for their novels Freshwater, Pet, and the New York Times bestselling work The Death of Vivek Oji. Emezi is a generalist who writes speculative fiction, romance, memoir, and poetry for both young adults and adults with mostly LGBTQ themes.
Months ago, I featured titles for “Mindfulness Monday” Today, I am featuring some fiction titles that might help children and young adults mentally, socially, and emotionally.
Book 1: I am Enough by Grace Byers
Book 2: A Place Inside of Me by Zetta Elliott
Book 3: Stuntboy by Jason Reynolds
Book 4: We Are All Good at Smiling by Amber McBride
Book 5: The Minus-One Club by Kekla Magoon
Book 6: Break This House by Candice Iloh
Happy birthday Marilyn Nelson! Born April 26, Marilyn Nelson is an award-winning children’s and young adult poet, author, and professor. Here are just a few of her award winning books:
Today, it’s about having fun on a Friday. Starting with:
Book 1: Water, Water a classic by Eloise Greenfield; illustrated by Jan Spivey Gilchrist
Book 2: Soggy Like Cush Cush by Karly Pierre; illustrated by Kristen Uroda.
Book 3: Black Diamond Kings by Charles R. Smith; illustrated Adrian Brandon
Book 4: Under the Neon Lights by Arriel Vinson
The CamaraIfe Maktaba 