Rosetta Tharpe, godmother and queen of Rock and Roll, is celebrated this month with two picture book biographies, just in time for Black History Month, Women’s History Month, and the legendary trailblazer’s birthday, which is March 20th. Prolific and award-winning author and historian Tonya Bolden collaborated with R. Gregory Christie on Rock, Rosetta, Rock! Roll, Rosetta, Roll! Illustrator Charnelle Pinky Barlow makes her authorial debut with Little Rosetta and the Talking Guitar. Barlow is not the only debut author appearing on February’s list. Take a look at the debut titles by Akim Aliu, Alisha Emrich, Moses Use Utomi, and Erika Turner—and many more books to explore.
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Picture Books
One Good Night ’til Easter (Board Book)
Frank J. Berrios | Ramon Olivera | LB Kids | February 7, 2022 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
Sugar Pie Lullaby: The Soul of Motown in a Song of Love
Carole Weatherford | Sawyer Cloud | Sourcebooks Explore | February 7, 2023 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
Ally Baby Can: Be an Eco-Activist (Board Book)
Nyasha Williams | Jade Orlando | HarperCollins | February 14, 2023 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
Rock, Rosetta, Rock! Roll, Rosetta, Roll!: Presenting Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the Godmother of Rock & Roll
Tonya Bolden | R. Gregory Christie | HarperCollins | February 14, 2023 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
Hey Otter! Hey Beaver!
Brian Pinkney | Greenwillow | February 21, 2023 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
Little Rosetta and the Talking Guitar: The Musical Story of Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the Woman Who Invented Rock and Roll
Charnelle Pinkney Barlow | Doubleday BYR | February 28, 2023 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
All Rise: The Story of Ketanji Brown Jackson
Carole Boston Weatherford | Ashley Evans | Crown BYR | February 28, 2023 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
Chapter & Middle-Grade Books
Mimi and the Boo-Hoo Blahs (Mimi Bk. 2)
Shauna J. Grant | Graphix Scholastic | February 7, 2023 | Chp Bk | Amazon | Bookshop
Best Friends Furever (Love Puppies, Bk. 1)
Janay Brown-Wood | Scholastic | February 7, 2023 | Chp Bk | Amazon | Bookshop
Lost Pet Blues (Love Puppies, Bk. 2)
Janay Brown-Wood | Scholastic | February 7, 2023 | Chp Bk | Amazon | Bookshop
She Persisted: Dorothy Height
Kelly Starling Lyons | Philomel Books | February 7, 2023 | Chp Bk | Amazon | Bookshop
Who Is LeBron James? (Who Was?)
Crystal Hubbard | Who HQ | Stephen Marchesi | Penguin Workshop | February 7, 2023 | MG | Amazon | Bookshop
Dreamer (Original Graphic Memoir)
Akim Aliu | Greg Anderson Elysée | Karen De la Vega | Marcus Williams | Graphix | February 7, 2023 | MG | Amazon | Bookshop
Hope’s Path: The Story of a Family’s Journey on the Overland Trail
Jerdine Nolen | Simon & Schuster/Wiseman | February 7, 2023 | MG | Amazon | Bookshop
Stories from the Storyteller: Life Lessons from the Parables of Jesus
Jonathan Evans | Todd Hampson | Harvest Kids | February 7, 2023 | MG | Amazon | Bookshop
On Air with Zoe Washington
Janae Marks | Katherine Tegen Books | February 14, 2023 | MG | Amazon | Bookshop
Speculation
Nisi Shawl | Tu Books | February 14, 2023 | MG | Amazon | Bookshop
The Crossover Tie-in Edition (The Crossover Series)
Kwame Alexander | Dawud Anyabwile | Clarion Books | February 14, 2023 | MG | Amazon | Bookshop
Pilar Ramirez and the Curse of San Zenon (Pilar Ramirez Duology, Bk. 2)
Julian Randall | Henry Holt and Co. (BYR) (Macmillan) | February 28, 2023 | MG | Amazon | Bookshop
Not an Easy Win
Chrystal D. Giles | Random House BYR | February 28, 2023 | MG | Amazon | Bookshop
Cameron Battle and the Escape Trials (Cameron Battle, Bk. 2)
Jamar J. Perry | Bloomsbury Children’s Books | February 28, 2023 | MG | Amazon | Bookshop
Young Adult Books
Nerdcrush
Alisha Emrich | Running Press Kids | February 7, 2023 | YA | Amazon | Bookshop
Daughters of Oduma
Moses Ose Utomi | Atheneum BYR | February 7, 2023 | YA | Amazon | Bookshop
Wildblood
Lauren Blackwood | Wednesday Books (Macmillan) | February 7, 2023 | YA | Amazon | Bookshop
The Beauty Trials (The Belles, Bk. 3)
Dhonielle Clayton | Disney-Hyperion | February 14, 2023 | YA | Amazon | Bookshop
And Other Mistakes
Erika Turner | Feiwel and Friends | February 14, 2023 | YA | Amazon | Bookshop
Last Chance Dance
Lakita Wilson | Viking BYR | February 21, 2023 | YA | Amazon | Bookshop
The Sum of Us: How Racism Hurts Everyone (Adapted for Young Readers)
Heather McGhee | Delacorte Press | February 21, 2023 | YA | Amazon | Bookshop
Delicious Monsters
Liselle Sambury | Margaret K. McElderry (Simon & Schuster) | February 28, 2023 | YA | Amazon | Bookshop
Chaos Theory
Nic Stone | Crown BYR | February 28, 2023 | YA | Amazon | Bookshop
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