55 Children’s & YA New Releases for September 2021

September is National Literacy Month, and with it comes a huge list of new releases—55! Most of the selections are from major, traditional publishers and a few from indie publishers. They include fiction and nonfiction books with a broad range of topics. For instance, “Award-winning storyteller Donna L. Washington has cooked up a delightfully spooky fractured fairy tale with a diverse cast of characters and an imaginative twist…” Washington’s story, Boo Stew, is a retelling of “the classic Goldilocks tale,” and should be a fun read for Halloween along with Tracey Baptiste’s Caribbean tale, Looking for a Jumbie. Another holiday (and all year round read) offering is Ibi Zoboi’s picture book debut, The People Remember. It “uses the principles of Kwanzaa to talk about the history of African Americans.” Get into this list—the books are exciting, adventurous, spooky, romantic, magical, educational, inspirational, and much, much more!

Also, for this month, Sunday, September 12th Grandparents’ Day, so look for a list of stories like Time for Bed, Old House, and others that feature children and their grandparents.

1. Boo Stew

2. Amara’s Farm (Where In the Garden?)

4. My Heart Flies Open

5. A Child of God

6. A Feast for Joseph

7. Better Together, Cinderella

8. Magic Like That

9. Madam Speaker: Nancy Pelosi Calls the House to Order

10. Smile with African Style (Macy World)

11. When Langston Dances

12. Hoop Kings 2: New Royalty

13. Time for Bed, Old House

14. Partly Cloudy

15. Artie and the Wolf Moon

16. The Bones of Ruin (The Bones of Ruin #1)

17. So Many Beginnings: A Little Women Remix

18. We Are Not Broken

19. Star Wars: The High Republic: Edge of Balance, Vol. 1

20. Zero O’Clock

C.J. Farley | Black Sheep | September 7 | YA | Amazon

21. The Problem with the Other Side

22. When We Say Black Lives Matter

23. Paradise on Fire

24. A Soft Place to Land

25. Kneel

26. Resilient Black Girl: 52 Weeks of Anti-Racist Activities for Black Joy and Resilience

27. White Smoke

28. Allies: Real Talk about Showing Up, Screwing Up, and Trying Again

29. More than Just a Game: The Black Origins of Basketball

30. A Cat Named Sam: Friendship Is for Adventure

31. Yoga Adventure!

32. Alligator Slim and His Snazzy Jazz Band

33. Change Sings: A Children’s Anthem

34. Looking for a Jumbie

35. What Is Black Lives Matter? (Who HQ Now)

36. Maya and the Return of the Godlings (Maya and the Rising Dark)

37. We’re Better Than This: Young Readers’ Edition: My Fight for the Future of Our Democracy

38. Kwame Nkrumah’s Midnight Speech for Independence

39. A Man Called Horse: John Horse and the Black Seminole Underground Railroad

40. The Leopard Behind the Moon

41. 20th Century African American History for Kids: The Major Events that Shaped the Past and Present (History by Century)

42. Things We Couldn’t Say

43. It’s Her Story: Ida B. Wells: A Graphic Novel

44. Nina: A Story of Nina Simone

45. We Can: Portraits of Power

46. Remember to Dream, Ebere

47. Keep Your Head Up

48. Your Legacy: A Bold Reclaiming of Our Enslaved History

49. The People Remember

50. Black Panther Spellbound

51. Nelson Mandela (The First Names Series)

52. Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls: 100 Real-Life Tales of Black Girl Magic

53. Beasts of Prey

54. For All Time

55. Revolution in Our Time: The Black Panthers Party’s Promise to the People

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*This article was edited on September 1, 2021 to remove book #3, The Progress of Our People: A Story of Black Representation at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair by Anne E. Johnson from September’s New Releases. BCBA is not certain if the writer is a Black author. Until BCBA can confirm, the title will remain off the list.

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