Sleeping babies, a rapping princess, germ hunters, and a few holiday stories are some of the fantastic new releases by Black authors slated for October 2021. This super list of 35 books also features historical nonfiction, fantasy and adventure, biographies, a feminist guide, and a call to Rise Up! And Recognize! All are available for pre-order, and, as usual, some of the release dates could possibly change.
Also coming soon, a list of poetry books like Alice Walker’s, Sweet People Are Everywhere, as well as middle-grade and young adult novels in verse to celebrate Black Poetry Day on October 17th.
1. Count to Love! (Bright Brown Baby Board Book)
Andrea Pinkney | Brian Pinkney | Cartwheel Books | October 5 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
2. Baby, Sleepy Baby
Atinuke | Angela Brooksbank | Candlewick | October 5 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
3. The Rapping Princess
Hannah Lee | Allen Fatimaharan | Faber & Faber | October 5 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
4. Africa, Amazing Africa: Country by Country
Atinuke | Mouni Feddag | Candlewick | October 5 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
5. The Magnificent Makers #4: The Great Germ Hunt!
Theanne Griffith | Reggie Brown | Random House BYR | October 5 | ChpBk | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
6. Playing the Cards You’re Dealt
Varian Johnson | Scholastic Press | October 5 | MG | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
7. Tristan Strong Keeps Punching (A Tristan Strong Novel, Book 3)
Kwame Mbalia | Rick Riordan Presents | October 5 | MG | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
8. Shattered Midnight (The Mirror #2)
Dhonielle Clayton | Disney Hyperion | October 5 | YA | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
9. Black Birds in the Sky: The Story and Legacy of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre
Brandy Colbert | Balzer + Bray | October 5 | YA | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
10. Rise Up!: How You Can Join the Fight Against White Supremacy
Crystal M. Fleming | Henry Holt and Co. BYR | October 5 | YA | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
11. Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance (Adapted for Young Adults)
Barack Obama | Delacorte Press | October 5 | YA | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
12. Why We Fly
Kimberly Jones | Gilly Segal | Sourcebooks Fire | October 5 | YA | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
13. Feminist AF: A Guide to Crushing Girlhood
Brittney Cooper | Chanel Craft Tanner | Susana Morris | Norton Young Readers | October 5 | YA | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
14. Everybody in the Red Brick Building
Anne Wynter | Oge Mora | Balzer + Bray | October 12 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
15. Sweet People Are Everywhere
Alice Walker | Quim Torres | Tra Publishing | October 12 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
16. The Perfect Gift: A Jingle Jangle Story
David E. Talbert and Lyn Sisson-Talbert | Razorbill | October 12 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
17. Liberty’s Civil Rights Road Trip
Michael W. Waters | Nicole Tadgell | Flyaway Books | October 12 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
18. Kingston and the Echoes of Magic
Rucker Moses | Theo Gangi | G.P. Putnam’s Sons BYR | October 12 | MG | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
19. Mighty Inside
Sundee T. Frazier | Levine Querido | October 12 | MG | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
20. Polo Cowboy
G. Neri | Jesse Joshua Watson | Candlewick | October 12 | MG | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
21. Recognize!: An Anthology Honoring and Amplifying Black Life
Wade Hudson, Ed. | Cheryl Willis Hudson, Ed. | Crown BYR | October 12 | MG | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
22. Who Sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott?: Rosa Parks: A Who HQ Graphic Novel
Insha Fitzpatrick | Who HQ | Abelle Hayford | Penguin Workshop | October 12 | MG | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
23. DEFIANT: Growing Up in the Jim Crow South
Wade Hudson | Crown BYR | October 12 | YA | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
24. Black Was the Ink
Michelle Coles | Justin Johnson | Tu Books | October 12 | YA | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
25. Song for Jimi: The Story of Guitar Legend Jimi Hendrix
Charles R. Smith Jr. | Edel Rodriguez | Neal Porter Books | October 19 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
26. The Me I Choose To Be
Natasha Anastasia Tarpley | Regis and Kahran Bethencourt | Little, Brown BYR | October 19 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
27. Charlotte and the Nutcracker: The True Story of a Girl Who Made Ballet History
Charlotte Nebres | Alea Marley | Random House BYR | October 19 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
28. African Icons: Ten People Who Built a Continent
Tracey Baptiste | Hillary D. Wilson | Algonquin Young Readers | October 19 | MG | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
29. The Last Chance for Logan County (A Legendary Alston Boys Adventure)
Lamar Giles | Derick Brooks | Versify | October 19 | MG | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
30. Keeping It Real
Paula Chase | Greenwillow Books | October 19 | MG | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
31. The Shadow Prince
David Anthony Durham | Lee & Low Books | October 19 | MG | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
32. Within These Wicked Walls
Lauren Blackwood | Wednesday Books | October 19 | YA | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
33. The Real Santa
Nancy Redd | Charnelle Pinkney Barlow | Random House BYR | October 26 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
34. Rest Easy
Warona Jolomba | Wattpad |October 26 | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
35. Josefina’s Habichuelas / Las Habichuelas de Josefina (Multilingual Edition)
Jasminne Mendez | Flor de Vita | Adnaloy Espinosa | Pinata Books | October 31 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound
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