A Look Ahead: 2019 Book Previews

The new year is almost here, and with it comes exciting stories from your favorite authors and debuts from fresh voices, such as Lisa Moore Ramée and Justin A. Reynolds. The much anticipated second novel from Angie Thomas, On the Come Up, is due out in February. March brings young adult fantasy sequels from Dhonielle Clayton (The Belles) and Tomi Adeyemi (Legacy of Orisha). Kwame Alexander’s imprint, Versify, is showcasing the stellar talents of Kadir Nelson and Lamar Giles. The award-winning team of Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut, Derrick Barnes and Gordon C. James, have separate picture book projects. Since the January 2019 list is already posted, the following previews represent some of the releases from February to July, and the dates shown could change as publishers may move up or push back the release of a book. Get your pre-orders in—and have a Happy New Year!

Picture Books

Let ‘er Buck!: George Fletcher, the People’s Champion | Vaunda Micheaux Nelson | Gordon C. James | Carolrhoda | February 5

I Am Farmer: Growing an Environmental Movement in Cameroon | Baptiste Paul | Miranda Paul | Elizabeth Zunon | Millbrook | February 5

Another | Christian Robinson | Atheneum BYR | March 5

Going Down Home with Daddy | Kelly Starling Lyons | Daniel Minter | Peachtree | April 1

The Undefeated | Kwame Alexander | Kadir Nelson | Versify | April 2

Grandpa Cacao: A Tale of Chocolate, from Farm to Family | Elizabeth Zunon | Bloomsbury | May 21

Party: A Mystery | Jamaica Kincaid | Ricardo Cortés | Black Sheep | June 4

How to Read a Book | Kwame Alexander | Melissa Sweet | HarperCollins | June 18

Puppy Truck | Brian Pinkney | Atheneum BYR | June 25

The King of Kindergarten | Derrick Barnes | Vanessa Brantley-Newton | Nancy Paulsen Books | July 2  

The Night is Yours | Abdul-Razak Zachariah | Keturah A. Bobo | Dial Books | July 2

I Got Next | Daria Peoples-Riley | Greenwillow Books | July 30

Chapter & Middle-Grade Books

Biddy Mason Speaks Up | Arisa White | Laura Atkins |Laura Freeman | Heyday | February 1

New Kid | Jerry Craft | HarperCollins | February 5

The Owls Have Come to Take Us Away | Ronald L. Smith | Clarion Books | February 19

How High the Moon | Karyn Parsons | Little, Brown BYR | March 5

A Good Kind of Trouble | Lisa Moore Ramée | Balzer + Bray | March 12

Jake the Fake Goes for Laughs | Craig Robinson | Adam Mansbach | Keith Knight | Crown BYR | March 26

The Last Last-Day-of-Summer | Lamar Giles | Versify | April 2

Trace | Pat Cummings | HarperCollins | April 2

Just South of Cursed | Karen Strong | Simon & Schuster BYR | May 7

Jada Sly, Artist & Spy | Sherri Winston | Little, Brown BYR | May 14

Dancing Queen (Jada Jones #4) | Kelly Starling Lyons | Penguin Workshop | June 25

For Black Girls Like Me | Mariama Lockington | Farrar, Straus and Giroux BYR | July 30

YA Books

On the Come Up | Angie Thomas | Balzer + Bray | February 5

No One Here Is Lonely | Sarah Everett | Knopf BYR | February 5

Watch Us Rise | Renée Watson & Ellen Hagan | Bloomsbury YA | February 12

The Everlasting Rose (The Belles 2) | Dhonielle Clayton | Freeform | March 5

Opposite of Always | Justin A. Reynolds | Katherine Tegen Books | March 5

Children of Virtue and Vengeance (Legacy of Orisha 2) | Tomi Adeyemi | Henry Holt and Co. BYR | March 5

The Weight of the Stars | K. Ancrum | Imprint | March 19  

A Place for Wolves | Kosoko Jackson | Sourcebooks Fire | April 2

With the Fire on High | Elizabeth Acevedo | HarperTeen | May 7

Let Me Hear a Rhyme | Tiffany D. Jackson | Katherine Tegen Books | May 21

If It Makes You Happy | Claire Kann | Swoon Reads | June 4

Truly Madly Royally | Debbie Rigaud | Point | July 30

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