The new year is only a few days away, so let’s get our monthly new releases lists started for 2023. January’s list is huge! Parents, teachers, librarians, or anyone interested in children’s and young adult books by Black authors, get ready to explore. Leave a comment, and let us know what titles interest you.
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Picture Books
Ruby Bridges (My Itty-Bitty Bio)
Kelisa Wing | Jeff Bane | Cherry Lake Publishing | January 1, 2023 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
The Ashe Brothers: How Arthur and Johnnie Changed Tennis Forever
Judy Allen Dodson | David Wilkerson | Capstone | January 1, 2023 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
Baby Boy, You Are a Star! (Bright Brown Baby Board Book)
Andrea Pinkney | Brian Pinkney | Cartwheel Books | January 3, 2023 | Bd Bk | Amazon | Bookshop
Lovely Day (Picture Book Based on the Song by Bill Withers)
Bill Withers | Skip Scarborough | Olivia Duchess | Scholastic Inc | January 3, 2023 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
What Does Brown Mean to You?
Ron Grady | Nancy Paulsen Books | January 3, 2023 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
Beyonce: A Little Golden Book Biography
Lavaille Lavette | Anastasia Williams | Golden Books | January 3, 2023 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
Harry Belafonte: A Little Golden Book Biography
Lavaille Lavette | Anastasia Williams | Golden Books | January 3, 2023 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
We Are Here
Tami Charles | Bryan Collier | Orchard Books | January 3, 2023 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
A Boy and His Mirror
Marchánt Davis | Keturah A. Bobo | Nancy Paulsen Books | January 3, 2023 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
All Aboard the Schooltrain: A Story from the Great Migration
Glenda Armand | Keisha Morris | Scholastic Press | January 3, 2023 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
Holding Her Own: The Exceptional Life of Jackie Ormes
Traci N. Todd | Shannon Wright | Orchard Books | January 3, 2023 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
An American Story
Kwame Alexander | Dare Coulter | Little, Brown | January 3, 2023 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
A Flag for Juneteenth
Kim Taylor | Neal Porter Books | January 3, 2023 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
You Are My Pride: A Love Letter from Your Motherland
Carole Boston Weatherford | E. B. Lewis | Candlewick | January 10, 2023 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
Basketball Dreams
Chris Paul | Courtney Lovett | Roaring Brook Press (Macmillan) | January 10, 2023 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
The Green Piano: How Little Me Found Music
Roberta Flack | Tonya Bolden | Hayden Goodman | Anne Schwartz Books | January 10, 2023 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
Put On Your Shoes and Get Ready!
Raphael G. Warnock | Temika Grooms | Philomel Books | January 10, 2023 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
The Kindest Red: A Story of Hijab and Friendship
Ibtihaj Muhammad | Hatem Aly | S.K. Ali | Little, Brown BYR | January 10, 2023 | Amazon | Bookshop
Little Black Lives Matter
Khodi Dill | Chelsea Charles | Triangle Square | January 10, 2023 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
Lift Every Voice and Change: A Sound Book: A Celebration of Black Leaders and the Words that Inspire Generations
Charnaie Gordon | Aeron Cargill | becker&mayer! Kids | January 10, 2023 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
You So Black
Theresa tha S.O.N.G.B.I.R.D. | London Ladd | Millner/Simon & Schuster | January 10, 2023 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
Justice Rising: 12 Amazing Black Women in the Civil Rights Movement
Katheryn Russell-Brown | Kim Holt | Viking Books for Young Readers | January 10, 2023 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
Let’s Celebrate Juneteenth (Board Book)
Mudpuppy | Tonya Abari | Tabitha Brown | January 17, 2023 | Bd Bk | Amazon | Bookshop
You Come from Greatness: A Celebration of Black History
Sara Chinakwe | Ken Daley | WaterBrook | January 17, 2023 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
To Boldly Go: How Nichelle Nichols and Star Trek Helped Advance Civil Rights
Angela Dalton | Lauren Semmer | HarperCollins | January 17, 2023 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
My Red, White, and Blue
Alana Tyson | London Ladd | Philomel Books | January 17, 2023 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
Ice Cream Man: How Augustus Jackson Made a Sweet Treat Better
Glenda Armand | Kim Freeman | Keith Mallett | Crown BYR | January 17, 2023 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
We Are Allies!
Taimani Emerald | Feiwel & Friends | January 17, 2023 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
A is for Aretha (Board Book)
Leslie Kwan | Rachelle Baker | Kokila | January 24, 2023 | Bd Bk | Amazon | Bookshop
Jump In!
Shadra Strickland | Bloomsbury Children’s Books | January 31, 2023 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
Plátanos Go with Everything
Lissette Norman | Sara Palacios | HarperCollins | January 31, 2023 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
Nell Plants a Tree
Anne Wynter | Daniel Miyares | HarperCollins/Balzer + Bray | January 31, 2023 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
The Smallest Spot of a Dot: The Little Ways We’re Different, The Big Ways We’re the Same
Linsey Davis | Lucy Fleming | Zonderkidz | January 31, 2023 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
That Flag
Tameka Fryer Brown | Nikkolas Smith | HarperCollins | January 31, 2023 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
You Gotta Meet Mr. Pierce!: The Storied Life of Folk Artist Elijah Pierce
Chiquita Mullins Lee | Carmella Van Vleet | Jennifer Mack-Watkins | Kokila | January 31, 2023 | PB | Amazon | Bookshop
Chapter & Middle-Grade Books
Jalen on the Go (Jalen’s Big City Life)
Dorothy H. Price | Shiane Salabie | Picture Window Books | January 1, 2023 | Chp Bk | Amazon | Bookshop
Sadiq and Hooyo’s Drum (Sadiq Series)
Siman Nuurali | Christos Skaltsas | Picture Window Books | January 1, 2023 | Chp Bk | Amazon | Bookshop
Sadiq and the Festival of Cultures (Sadiq Series)
Siman Nuurali | Christos Skaltsas | Picture Window Books | January 1, 2023 | Chp Bk | Amazon | Bookshop
Beauty and the Beast (Plus Jake): An Untraditional Graphic Novel
Jasmine Walls | Vincent Batignole | Stone Arch Books | January 1, 2023 | Chp Bk | Amazon | Bookshop
Snow White and the Unevil Queen: An Untraditional Graphic Novel
Jasmine Walls | Richard Watson | Stone Arch Books | January 1, 2023 | Chp Bk | Amazon | Bookshop
The Hyena and the Fox: A Somali Graphic Folktale
Mariam Mohamed | Picture Window Books | January 1, 2023 | Chp Bk | Amazon | Bookshop
Bo and the Basketball Game (Bo at the Buzz Series)
Elliott Smith | Subi Bosa | Lerner Publications | January 1, 2023 | Chp Bk | Amazon | Bookshop
Bo and the Community Garden (Bo at the Buzz Series)
Elliott Smith | Subi Bosa | Lerner Publications | January 1, 2023 | Chp Bk | Amazon | Bookshop
Bo and the Little Lie (Bo at the Buzz Series)
Elliott Smith | Subi Bosa | Lerner Publications | January 1, 2023 | Chp Bk | Amazon | Bookshop
Bo and the Poetry Lesson (Bo at the Buzz Series)
Elliott Smith | Subi Bosa | Lerner Publications | January 1, 2023 | Chp Bk | Amazon | Bookshop
Bo and the School Bully (Bo at the Buzz Series)
Elliott Smith | Subi Bosa | Lerner Publications | January 1, 2023 | Chp Bk | Amazon | Bookshop
Bo and the Spooky House (Bo at the Buzz Series)
Elliott Smith | Subi Bosa | Lerner Publications | January 1, 2023 | Chp Bk | Amazon | Bookshop
The Untold Story of Annie Turnbo Malone: Hair Care Millionaire
Artika R. Tyner | Capstone Press | January 1, 2023 | Chp Bk | Amazon | Bookshop
The Untold Story of Sarah Keys Evans: Civil Rights Soldier
Artika R. Tyner | Capstone Press | January 1, 2023 | Chp Bk | Amazon | Bookshop
I Am Born to Be Awesome! (Step into Reading)
Mechal Renee Roe | Random House BYR | January 3, 2023 | Chp Bk | Amazon | Bookshop
Tiana’s Garden Grows (Disney Princess) (Step into Reading)
Bria Alston | Disney Storybook Art Team | January 3, 2023 | Chp Bk | Amazon | Bookshop
Harmony and Heartbreak (Suitehearts, Bk. 1)
Claire Kann | HarperCollins | January 3, 2023 | MG | Amazon | Bookshop
Sincerely Sicily
Tamika Burgess | HarperCollins | January 3, 2023 | MG | Amazon | Bookshop
Books N Bros: 44 Inspiring Books for Black Boys
Sidney Keys III | Get Creative 6 | January 3, 2023 | MG | Amazon | Bookshop
Mission to Shadow Sea (Future Hero, Bk. 2)
Remi Blackwood | Scholastic Press | January 3, 2023 | MG | Amazon | Bookshop
My Selma: True Stories of a Southern Childhood at the Height of the Civil Rights Movement
Willie Mae Brown | Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR) | January 3, 2023 | MG | Amazon | Bookshop
History Comics: Rosa Parks and Claudette Colvin: Civil Rights Heroes graphic
Tracey Baptiste | Shauna J. Grant | First Second | January 3, 2023 | MG | Amazon | Bookshop
If You Sailed on the Titanic
Denise Lewis Patrick | Winona Nelson | Scholastic Press | January 3, 2023 | Amazon | Bookshop
The Tyrell Show: Season Two
Miles Grose | Shaz Enrico Lym | Scholastic Inc.| January 3, 2023 | MG | Amazon | Bookshop
Infected: An AFK Book (Piggy Original Novel)
Terrance Crawford | Dan Widdowson | Scholastic Inc. | January 3, 2023 | MG | Amazon | Bookshop
Save the…Blue Whales
Christine Taylor-Butler | Chelsea Clinton| Philomel Books | January 10, 2023 | Chp Bk | Amazon | Bookshop
The Enchanted Bridge (Dragons in a Bag)
Zetta Elliott | Cherise Harris | Random House BYR | January 17, 2023 | MG | Amazon | Bookshop
Cookie Monsters
Erika J. Kendrick | Little Brown BYR | January 17, 2023 | MG | Amazon | Bookshop
Just Jerry: How Drawing Shaped My Life
Jerry Pinkney | Little, Brown BYR | January 17, 2023 | MG | Amazon | Bookshop
The In-Between
Katie Wingate | Aladdin | January 17, 2023 | MG | Amazon | Bookshop
Figure It Out, Henri Weldon
Tanita S. Davis | Katherine Tegen Books | January 17, 2023 | MG | Amazon | Bookshop
The Doggie Defendant (Judge Kim and the Kids’ Court, Bk. 2)
Milo Stone | Shawn Martinbrough | Joseph P. Illidge | Simon Spotlight | January 24, 2023 | Chp Bk | Amazon | Bookshop
The Many Fortunes of Maya
Nicole D. Collier | Versify | January 24, 2023 | MG | Amazon | Bookshop
Hands
Torrey Maldonado | Nancy Paulsen Books | January 24, 2023 | MG | Amazon | Bookshop
Resistance Stories from Black History for Kids: Inspiring People and Events That Every Kid Should Know
Rann Miller | Bloom BYR | January 24, 2023 | MG | Amazon | Bookshop
Love without Bounds: An IntersectionAllies Book about Families
Chelsea Johnson | LaToya Council | Carolyn Choi | Ashley Seil Smith | Dottir Press | January 24, 2023 | MG | Amazon | Bookshop
Where the Black Flowers Bloom
Ronald L. Smith | Clarion Books | January 31, 2023 | MG | Amazon | IndieBound
Young Adult Books
Not Talking About You
Kevin heronJones | Lorimer | January 1, 2023 | YA | Amazon | Bookshop
Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute
Talia Hibbert | Joy Revolution | January 3, 2023 | YA | Amazon | Bookshop
The Wrong Kind of Weird
James Ramos | Inkyard | January 3, 2023 | YA | Amazon | Bookshop
Dark Testament: Blackout Poems
Crystal Simone Smith | Henry Holt | January 3, 2023 | YA | Amazon | Bookshop
For Lamb
Lesa Cline-Ransome | Holiday House | January 3, 2023 | YA | Amazon | Bookshop
All That It Ever Meant
Blessing Musariri | Norton Young Readers | January 3, 2023 | YA | Amazon | Bookshop
16 & Pregnant
LaLa Thomas | MTV Books (Simon & Schuster) | January 3, 2023 | YA | Amazon | Bookshop
We Are All So Good at Smiling
Amber McBride | Feiwel & Friends | January 10, 2023 | YA | Amazon | Bookshop
Cool. Awkward. Black.
Karen Strong | Viking BYR | January 10, 2023 | YA | Amazon | Bookshop
The Girl I Am, Was, and Never Will Be: A Speculative Memoir of Transracial Adoption
Shannon Gibney | Dutton BYR | January 10, 2023 | YA | Amazon | Bookshop
Friday I’m in Love
Camryn Garrett | Knopf BYR | January 10, 2023 | YA | Amazon | Bookshop
A Mighty Long Way ( Adapted for Young Readers)
Carlotta Walls LaNier | Lisa Frazier Page | January 17, 2023 | YA | Amazon | Bookshop
As You Walk On By
Julian Winters | Viking BYR | January 17, 2023 | YA | Amazon | Bookshop
Sun Keep Rising
Kristen R. Lee | Crown BYR | January 24, 2023 | YA | Amazon | Bookshop
The Minus-One Club
Kekla Magoon | Henry Holt and Co BYR | January 24, 2023 | YA | Amazon | Bookshop
Introduction to Igbo Mythology for Kids
Chinelo Anyadiegwu | Bloom BYR | January 24, 2023 | YA | Amazon | Bookshop
Reggie & Delilah’s Year of Falling
Elise Bryant | Balzer + Bray | January 31, 2023 | YA | Amazon | Bookshop
Play the Game
Charlene Allen | HarperCollins/Tegen | January 31, 2023 | YA | Amazon | Bookshop
The Davenports
Krystal Marquis | Dial | January 31, 2023 | YA | Amazon | Bookshop
How to Be a (Young) Antiracist
Ibram X. Kendi | Nic Stone | Kokila | January 31, 2023 | YA | Amazon | Bookshop
Promise Boys
Nick Brooks | Feiwel & Friends | January 31, 2023 | YA | Amazon | Bookshop
The (Young) Antiracist’s Workbook: Questions for Changemakers
Ibram X. Kendi | Nic Stone| One World | January 31, 2023 | YA | Amazon | Bookshop
The Black Queen
Jumata Emill | Delacorte Press | January 31, 2023 | YA | Amazon | Bookshop
December is a BIG month for us because your support in December makes a huge difference in the coming year. You can help us get off to a GREAT start in 2023 by donating to our mission to promote awareness of children’s and young adult literature by Black authors and Books-To-You (BTY). BTY gives free books by Black authors to children in our community. You can donate today or any time of the year via PayPal, Cash App: $BCBooksA, or Venmo: BCBooksA. BCBA is a 501(c)3 nonprofit, and donations are tax-deductible. Thank you!
Edit (01/12/23) We Are Your Children Too (YA) by P O’Connell Pearson was removed, the author is not Black.
