It’s gift-giving season—the perfect time to share a great book or two with the readers in your life. It’s also the perfect time to donate a few titles to classrooms and community centers. There were many great stories published this year by Black authors. So, before the next year rolls in with new and exciting releases—a 2019 preview is coming soon—the list below is sure to offer some terrific gift ideas for middle and young adult readers. All 30 titles are 2018 releases, and the list includes fiction and nonfiction books with cultural and universal themes of love, family, and friendship, as well as self and social awareness. To find more 2018 releases go here. Also, look here for picture book ideas and here for award-winning books. Happy Holidays—and Happy Reading!
Middle-Grade
Black Panther: The Young Prince | Ronald L. Smith | Marvel Press | Purchase
The Journey of Little Charlie | Christopher Paul Curtis | Scholastic Press | Purchase
Like Vanessa | Tami Charles | Charlesbridge| Purchase
The Parker Inheritance | Varian Johnson | Arthur A. Levine Books | Purchase
Love Double Dutch! | Doreen Spicer-Dannelly | Random House BYR | Purchase
Dragons in a Bag | Zetta Elliott | Random House BYR | Purchase
Marley Dias Gets It Done: And So Can You | Marley Dias | Scholastic Press | Purchase
The Season of Styx Malone | Kekla Magoon | Wendy Lamb Books | Purchase
Love Like Sky | Leslie C. Youngblood | Disney-Hyperion | Purchase
Minecraft: The Crash | Tracey Baptiste | Del Rey | Purchase
Courage | Barbara Binns | HarperCollins | Purchase
Finding Langston | Lesa Cline-Ransome | Holiday House | Purchase
So Done | Paula Chase | Greenwillow Books | Purchase
Tight | Torrey Maldonado | Nancy Paulsen Books | Purchase
We Rise, We Resist, We Raise Our Voices | Wade Hudson & Cheryl Willis Hudson Crown BYR | Purchase
Young Adult
Tiffany Sly Lives Here Now | Dana L. Davis | Harlequin Teen | Purchase
Let’s Talk About Love | Claire Kann | Swoon Reads | Purchase
Home and Away | Candice Montgomery | Page Street Publishing | Purchase
Tyler Johnson Was Here | Jay Coles | Little, Brown Books for Young Readers | Purchase
Fresh Ink: An Anthology | Lamar Giles | Crown BYR | Purchase
Monday’s Not Coming | Tiffany D. Jackson | Katherine Tegen Books | Purchase
Learning to Breathe | Janice Lynn Mather | Simon & Schuster BYR | Purchase
Proud: Living My American Dream | Ibtihaj Muhammad | Little, Brown BYR | Purchase
For Every One | Jason Reynolds | Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy | Purchase
Finding Yvonne | Brandy Colbert | Little, Brown BYR | Purchase
Temper | Nicky Drayden | Harper Voyager | Purchase
Dream Country | Shannon Gibney | Dutton BYR | Purchase
Just Mercy (Adapted for Young Adults): A True Story of the Fight for Justice | Bryan Stevenson | Delacorte Press | Purchase
A Blade So Black | L.L. McKinney | Imprint | Purchase
Swing | Kwame Alexander & Mary Rand Hess | Blink | Purchase
Do you think books are great holiday gifts? Leave a comment below.
During this giving season, please consider donating to Black Children’s Books and Authors. Our stories matter. Thank you!
