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40 Children’s and YA New Releases for January 2021

New year, new books! 

What kind of children’s and YA stories are you hoping to see from Black authors in 2021, fantasy thrillers, verse novels, historical fiction, romantic comedies? Or maybe you love memoirs, biographies, happy hair tales, or fun-with-the-family picture books. Well, January’s 2021 new releases will not disappoint! This list features 40 awesome fiction and nonfiction selections from dear and debut authors. As always, this is not a complete list, so if you know of any new releases for January, leave a comment below. Also, let us know which books you are most interested in and ready to pre-order. Our stories matter.



Song in a Rainstorm: The Story of Musical Prodigy Thomas Blind Tom Wiggins 

Glenda Armand | Brittany Jackson | Albert Whitman |  January 1 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound


Baby Young, Gifted, and Black: With a Mirror! (Board  Book)  

Jamia Wilson | Andrea Pippins | Wide Eyed Editions | January 5 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound


My Friend!  

Taye Diggs | Shane W. Evans | Feiwel and Friends | January 5 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound


C Is for Country 

Lil Nas X | Theodore Taylor III. | Random House |  January 5 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound 


One Step Further: My Story of Math, the Moon, and a Mission  

Katherine Johnson | Joylette Hylick | Katherine Moore | Charnelle Pinkney Barlow | January 5 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound  



Stella’s Stellar Hair  

Yesenia Moises | Imprint | January 5 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound


Runaway: The Daring Escape of Ona Judge 

Ray Anthony Shepard | Keith Mallett | Farrar, Straus and Giroux BYR | January 5 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound


The Highest Tribute: Thurgood Marshall’s Life, Leadership, and Legacy 

Kekla Magoon | Laura Freeman | January 5 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound


She Persisted : Harriet Tubman

Andrea Davis Pinkney | Gillian Flint | Philomel Books | January 5 | ChpBk  | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound


Root Magic  

Eden Royce | Walden Pond Press | January 5 | MG | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound



Legacy: Women Poets of the Harlem Renaissance  

Nikki Grimes | Bloomsbury Children’s Books | January 5 | MG | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound


Have I Ever Told You Black Lives Matter 

Shani King | Bobby C. Martin Jr. | Tilbury House Publishers | January 5 | MG | Amazon | IndieBound


Star Wars The High Republic: A Test of Courage  

Justina Ireland | Petur Antonsson | Disney Lucasfilm Press | January 5 | MG | Amazon | IndieBound


Lewis Latimer: Engineering Wizard 

Denise Lewis Patrick | Daniel Duncan | HarperCollins | January 5 | MG | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound


Baseball’s Leading Lady: Effa Manley and the Rise and Fall of the Negro Leagues 

Andrea Williams | Roaring Brook Press | January 5 | MG | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound 



Happily Ever Afters

Elise Bryant | Balzer + Bray | January 5  | YA | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound 


The Life I’m In

Sharon G. Flake | Scholastic Press | January 5 | YA | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound


One of the Good Ones

Maika Moulite | Maritza Moulite | Green Book | January 5 | YA | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound


Roman and Jewel

Dana L. Davis | Inkyard Press | January 5 | YA | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound


The Awakening of Malcolm X

Ilyasah Shabazz | Tiffany Jackson | Farrar, Straus and Giroux BYR | January 5 | YA | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound



When You Look Like Us

Pamela Harris | Quill Tree Books | January 5 | YA | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound


Time for Kenny

Brian Pinkney | Greenwillow Books | January 12 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound


Off to See the Sea 

Nikki Grimes | Elizabeth Zunon | Sourcebooks | January 12 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound


Watch Me: A Story of Immigration and Inspiration 

Doyin Richards | Joe Cepeda | Feiwel and Friends | January 12 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound


Jump at the Sun: The True Life Tale of Unstoppable Storycatcher Zora Neale Hurston 

Alicia D. Williams | Jacqueline Alcántara | Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy | January 12 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound



The Protest (Confetti Kids)  

Samantha Thornhill | Shirley Ng-Benitez | Lee & Low | January 12 | ChBk |  Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound 


Angel of Greenwood

Randi Pink | Feiwel & Friends | January 12 | YA | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound


Concrete Rose

Angie Thomas | Balzer + Bray | January 12 | YA | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound


The Meet-Cute Project

Rhiannon Richardson | Simon & Schuster BYR | January 12 | YA | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound


The Beautiful Struggle (Adapted for Young Adults)

Ta-Nehisi Coates | Delacorte Press | January 12 | YA | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound



Chlorine Sky

Mahogany L. Browne | Crown BYR | January 12 | YA | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound


Ambitious Girl 

Meena Harris | Little, Brown BYR | January 19 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound


Together We March: 25 Protest Movements That Marched into History

Leah Henderson | Tyler Feder | Atheneum BYR | January 19 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound


Maryam’s Magic: The Story of Mathematician Maryam Mirzakhani

Megan Reid | Aaliya Jaleel | January 19 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound


Amari and the Night Brothers   

B. B. Alston | Balzer + Bray | January 19 | MG | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound



Your Corner Dark

Desmond Hall | Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy | January 19 | YA | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound


The Black Panther Party: A Graphic History

David Walker | Marcus Kwame Anderson | Ten Speed Press | January 19  | YA | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound


Opening the Road: Victor Hugo Green and His Green Book

Keila V. Dawson | Alleanna Harris | Beaming Books | January 26 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound


Take Back the Block  

Chrystal D. Giles | Random House BYR | January 26 | MG | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound 


Wings of Ebony

J. Elle | Denene Millner Books/S & S  BYR | January 26 | YA | Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound


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