Books in Coretta Scott King Award - Author

Named for Coretta Scott King, wife of Martin Luther King Jr., this award recognizes outstanding books for young adults and children by African Americans that reflect the African American experience. Awards are given both to authors and to illustrators for universal human values.

2025

	Book	Author	Award Level	Completed
	Twenty-four Seconds from Now...	Jason Reynolds	Winner	Log In To Like
	Black Star	Kwame Alexander	Honor	Log In To Like
	Black Girl You Are Atlas	Renee Watson	Honor	Log In To Like
	One Big Open Sky	Lesa Cline-Ransome	Honor	Log In To Like

2024

	Book	Author	Award Level	Completed
	Nigeria Jones	Ibi Zoboi	Winner	Log In To Like
	How Do You Spell Unfair?: MacNolia Cox and the National Spelling Bee	Carole Boston Weatherford	Honor	Log In To Like
	Kin: Rooted in Hope	Carole Boston Weatherford	Honor	Log In To Like
	Big	Vashti Harrison	Honor	Log In To Like

2023

	Book	Author	Award Level	Completed
	Freewater	Amina Luqman-Dawson	Winner	Log In To Like
	Victory. Stand!: Raising My Fist for Justice	Tommie Smith	Honor	Log In To Like
	The Talk	Darrin Bell	Honor	Log In To Like
	Star Child: A Biographical Constellation of Octavia Estelle Butler	Ibi Zoboi	Honor	Log In To Like

2022

	Book	Author	Award Level	Completed
	Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre	Carole Boston Weatherford	Winner	Log In To Like
	Revolution in Our Time	Kekla Magoon	Honor	Log In To Like
	The People Remember	Ibi Zoboi	Honor	Log In To Like
	Home is Not a Country	Safia Elhillo	Honor	Log In To Like

2021

	Book	Author	Award Level	Completed
	Before the Ever After	Jacqueline Woodson	Winner	Log In To Like
	All the Days Past, All the Days to Come	Mildred Taylor	Honor	Log In To Like
	King and the Dragonflies	Kacen Callender	Honor	Log In To Like
	Lifting as We Climb: Black Women's Battle for the Ballot Box	Evette Dionne	Honor	Log In To Like

2020

	Book	Author	Award Level	Completed
	New Kid	Jerry Craft	Winner	Log In To Like
	Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky	Kwame Mbalia	Honor	Log In To Like
	Look Both Ways: a Tale Told in Ten Blocks	Jason Reynolds	Honor	Log In To Like
	The Stars and the Blackness Between Them	Junauda Petrus	Honor	Log In To Like

2019

	Book	Author	Award Level	Completed
	A Few Red Drops: The Chicago Race Riot of 1919	Claire Hartfield	Winner	Log In To Like
	Finding Langston	Lesa Cline-Ransome	Honor	Log In To Like
	The Parker Inheritance	Varian Johnson	Honor	Log In To Like
	The Season of Styx Malone	Kekla Magoon	Honor	Log In To Like

2018

	Book	Author	Award Level	Completed
	Piecing Me Together	Renee Watson	Winner	Log In To Like
	Long Way Down	Jason Reynolds	Honor	Log In To Like
	Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut	Derrick Barnes	Honor	Log In To Like
	The Hate U Give	Angie Thomas	Honor	Log In To Like

2017

	Book	Author	Award Level	Completed
	March: Book Three	John Lewis	Winner	Log In To Like
	As Brave as You	Jason Reynolds	Honor	Log In To Like
	Freedom Over Me: Eleven Slaves, Their Lives and Dreams Brought to Life by Ashley Bryan	Ashley Bryan	Honor	Log In To Like

2016

	Book	Author	Award Level	Completed
	Gone Crazy in Alabama	Rita Williams-Garcia	Winner	Log In To Like
	All American Boys	Jason Reynolds	Honor	Log In To Like
	The Boy in the Black Suit	Jason Reynolds	Honor	Log In To Like
	X: A Novel	Ilyasah Shabazz	Honor	Log In To Like

2015

	Book	Author	Award Level	Completed
	Brown Girl Dreaming	Jacqueline Woodson	Winner	Log In To Like
	How It Went Down	Kekla Magoon	Honor	Log In To Like
	The Crossover	Kwame Alexander	Honor	Log In To Like
	How I Discovered Poetry	Marilyn Nelson	Honor	Log In To Like

2014

	Book	Author	Award Level	Completed
	P.S. Be Eleven	Rita Williams-Garcia	Winner	Log In To Like
	Words with Wings	Nikki Grimes	Honor	Log In To Like
	Darius & Twig	Walter Dean Myers	Honor	Log In To Like
	March: Book One	John Lewis	Honor	Log In To Like

2013

	Book	Author	Award Level	Completed
	Hand in Hand: Ten Black Men Who Changed America	Andrea Davis Pinkney	Winner	Log In To Like
	Each Kindness	Jacqueline Woodson	Honor	Log In To Like
	No Crystal Stair: A Documentary Novel of the Life and Work of Lewis Micheaux, Harlem Bookseller	Vaunda Micheaux Nelson	Honor	Log In To Like

2012

	Book	Author	Award Level	Completed
	Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans	Kadir Nelson	Winner	Log In To Like
	Never Forgotten	Patricia C. McKissack	Honor	Log In To Like
	The Great Migration: Journey to the North	Eloise Greenfield	Honor	Log In To Like

2011

	Book	Author	Award Level	Completed
	One Crazy Summer	Rita Williams-Garcia	Winner	Log In To Like
	Ninth Ward	Jewell Parker Rhodes	Honor	Log In To Like
	Lockdown	Walter Dean Myers	Honor	Log In To Like
	Yummy: The Last Days of a Southside Shorty	G. Neri	Honor	Log In To Like

2010

	Book	Author	Award Level	Completed
	Bad News for Outlaws: The Remarkable Life of Bass Reeves, Deputy U.S. Marshal	Vaunda Micheaux Nelson	Winner	Log In To Like
	Mare's War	Tanita S. Davis	Honor	Log In To Like

2009

	Book	Author	Award Level	Completed
	We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball	Kadir Nelson	Winner	Log In To Like
	Becoming Billie Holiday	Carole Boston Weatherford	Honor	Log In To Like
	Keeping the Night Watch	Hope Anita Smith	Honor	Log In To Like
	The Blacker the Berry	Joyce Carol Thomas	Honor	Log In To Like

2008

	Book	Author	Award Level	Completed
	Elijah of Buxton	Christopher Paul Curtis	Winner	Log In To Like
	November Blues	Sharon Draper	Honor	Log In To Like
	Twelve Rounds to Glory: The Story of Muhammad Ali	Charles R. Smith, Jr.	Honor	Log In To Like

2007

	Book	Author	Award Level	Completed
	Copper Sun	Sharon M. Draper	Winner	Log In To Like
	The Road to Paris	Nikki Grimes	Honor	Log In To Like

2006

	Book	Author	Award Level	Completed
	Day of Tears: A Novel in Dialogue	Julius Lester	Winner	Log In To Like
	A Wreath for Emmett Till	Marilyn Nelson	Honor	Log In To Like
	Dark Sons	Nikki Grimes	Honor	Log In To Like
	Maritcha: A Nineteenth-Century American Girl	Tonya Bolden	Honor	Log In To Like

2005

	Book	Author	Award Level	Completed
	Remember: The Journey to School Integration	Toni Morrison	Winner	Log In To Like
	Fortune's Bones: The Manumission Requiem	Marilyn Nelson	Honor	Log In To Like
	The Legend of Buddy Bush	Shelia P. Moses	Honor	Log In To Like
	Who Am I without Him?: Short Stories about Girls and the Boys in Their Lives	Sharon G. Flake	Honor	Log In To Like

2004

	Book	Author	Award Level	Completed
	The First Part Last	Angela Johnson	Winner	Log In To Like
	Days Of Jubilee: The End of Slavery in the United States	Patricia C. McKissack	Honor	Log In To Like
	The Battle of Jericho	Sharon Draper	Honor	Log In To Like

2003

	Book	Author	Award Level	Completed
	Bronx Masquerade	Nikki Grimes	Winner	Log In To Like
	The Red Rose Box	Brenda Woods	Honor	Log In To Like
	Talkin' About Bessie: The Story of Aviator Elizabeth Coleman	Nikki Grimes	Honor	Log In To Like

2002

	Book	Author	Award Level	Completed
	The Land	Mildred D. Taylor	Winner	Log In To Like
	Money-Hungry	Sharon G. Flake	Honor	Log In To Like
	Carver: A Life in Poems	Marilyn Nelson	Honor	Log In To Like

2001

	Book	Author	Award Level	Completed
	Miracle's Boys	Jacqueline Woodson	Winner	Log In To Like
	Let It Shine! Stories of Black Women Freedom Fighters	Andrea Davis Pinkney	Honor	Log In To Like

2000

	Book	Author	Award Level	Completed
	Bud, Not Buddy	Christopher Paul Curtis	Winner	Log In To Like
	Francie	Carole Boston Weatherford	Honor	Log In To Like
	Black Hands, White Sails: The Story of African-American Whalers	Patricia C. McKissack	Honor	Log In To Like
	Monster	Walter Dean Myers	Honor	Log In To Like

1999

	Book	Author	Award Level	Completed
	Heaven	Angela Johnson	Winner	Log In To Like
	Breaking Ground, Breaking Silence: The Story of New York's African Burial Ground	Joyce Hansen	Honor	Log In To Like
	Jazmin's Notebook	Nikki Grimes	Honor	Log In To Like
	The Other Side: Shorter Poems	Angela Johnson	Honor	Log In To Like

1998

	Book	Author	Award Level	Completed
	Forged By Fire	Sharon Draper	Winner	Log In To Like
	Bayard Rustin: Behind the Scenes of the Civil Rights Movement	James Haskins	Honor	Log In To Like
	I Thought My Soul Would Rise and Fly: The Diary of Patsy, a Freed Girl	Joyce Hansen	Honor	Log In To Like

1997

	Book	Author	Award Level	Completed
	Slam	Walter Dean Myers	Winner	Log In To Like
	Rebels Against Slavery: American Slave Revolts	Patricia C. McKissack	Honor	Log In To Like

1996

	Book	Author	Award Level	Completed
	Her Stories: African American Folktales, Fairy Tales, and True Tales	Virginia Hamilton	Winner	Log In To Like
	From the Notebooks of Melanin Sun	Jacqueline Woodson	Honor	Log In To Like
	The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963	Christopher Paul Curtis	Honor	Log In To Like
	Like Sisters on the Homefront	Rita Williams-Garcia	Honor	Log In To Like

1995

	Book	Author	Award Level	Completed
	Christmas in the Big House, Christmas in the Quarters	Patricia C. McKissack	Winner	Log In To Like
	I Hadn't Meant to Tell You This	Jacqueline Woodson	Honor	Log In To Like
	Black Diamond: The Story of the Negro Baseball Leagues	Patricia C. McKissack	Honor	Log In To Like
	The Captive	Joyce Hansen	Honor	Log In To Like

1994

	Book	Author	Award Level	Completed
	Toning the Sweep	Angela Johnson	Winner	Log In To Like
	Brown Honey in Broomwheat Tea	Joyce Carol Thomas	Honor	Log In To Like
	Malcolm X: By Any Means Necessary	Walter Dean Myers	Honor	Log In To Like

1993

	Book	Author	Award Level	Completed
	The Dark-Thirty: Southern Tales of the Supernatural	Patricia C. McKissack	Winner	Log In To Like
	Sojourner Truth: Ain't I a Woman?	Patricia C. McKissack	Honor	Log In To Like
	Mississippi Challenge	Mildred Pitts Walter	Honor	Log In To Like
	Somewhere in the Darkness	Walter Dean Myers	Honor	Log In To Like

1992

	Book	Author	Award Level	Completed
	Now is Your Time: The African American Struggle for Freedom	Walter Dean Myers	Winner	Log In To Like
	Night on Neighborhood Street	Eloise Greenfield	Honor	Log In To Like

1991

	Book	Author	Award Level	Completed
	The Road to Memphis	Mildred Taylor	Winner	Log In To Like
	When I Am Old with You	Angela Johnson	Honor	Log In To Like
	Black Dance in America	James Haskins	Honor	Log In To Like

1990

	Book	Author	Award Level	Completed
	A Long Hard Journey: The Story of the Pullman Porter	Patricia C. McKissack	Winner	Log In To Like
	Nathaniel Talking	Eloise Greenfield	Honor	Log In To Like
	The Bells of Christmas	Virginia Hamilton	Honor	Log In To Like
	Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Freedom Movement	Lillie Patterson	Honor	Log In To Like

1989

	Book	Author	Award Level	Completed
	Fallen Angels	Walter Dean Myers	Winner	Log In To Like
	Anthony Burns: The Defeat and Triumph of a Fugitive Slave	Virginia Hamilton	Honor	Log In To Like
	A Thief in the Village and Other Stories	James Berry	Honor	Log In To Like

1988

	Book	Author	Award Level	Completed
	The Friendship	Mildred D. Taylor	Winner	Log In To Like
	An Enchanted Hair Tale	Alexis De Veaux	Honor	Log In To Like
	The Tales of Uncle Remus: The Adventures of Brer Rabbit	Julius Lester	Honor	Log In To Like

1987

	Book	Author	Award Level	Completed
	Justin and the Best Biscuits in the World	Mildred Walters	Winner	Log In To Like
	Lion and the Ostrich Chicks and Other African Folk Tales	Ashley Bryan	Honor	Log In To Like
	Which Way Freedom	Joyce Hansen	Honor	Log In To Like

1986

	Book	Author	Award Level	Completed
	The People Could Fly: American Black Folktales	Virginia Hamilton	Winner	Log In To Like
	Junius Over Far	Virginia Hamilton	Honor	Log In To Like
	Trouble's Child	Mildred Pitts Walter	Honor	Log In To Like

1985

	Book	Author	Award Level	Completed
	Motown and Didi	Walter Dean Myers	Winner	Log In To Like
	A Little Love	Virginia Hamilton	Honor	Log In To Like
	Circle of Gold	Candy Dawson Boyd	Honor	Log In To Like

1984

	Book	Author	Award Level	Completed
	Everett Anderson's Goodbye	Lucille Clifton	Winner	Log In To Like
	Lena Horne	James Haskins	Honor	Log In To Like
	Bright Shadow	Joyce Carol Thomas	Honor	Log In To Like
	The Magical Adventures of Pretty Pearl	Virginia Hamilton	Honor	Log In To Like
	Because We Are	Mildred Pitts Walter	Honor	Log In To Like
	The Words of Martin Luther King, Jr	Coretta Scott King	Special	Log In To Like

1983

	Book	Author	Award Level	Completed
	Sweet Whispers, Brother Rush	Virginia Hamilton	Winner	Log In To Like
	This Strange New Feeling	Julius Lester	Honor	Log In To Like

1982

	Book	Author	Award Level	Completed
	Let the Circle Be Unbroken	Mildred Taylor	Winner	Log In To Like
	Rainbow Jordan	Alice Childress	Honor	Log In To Like
	Lou In the Limelight	Kristin Hunter	Honor	Log In To Like
	Mary: An Autobiography	Mary E. Mebane	Honor	Log In To Like

1981

	Book	Author	Award Level	Completed
	This Life	Sidney Poitier	Winner	Log In To Like
	Don't Explain: A Song of Billie Holiday	Alexis De Veaux	Honor	Log In To Like

1980

	Book	Author	Award Level	Completed
	The Young Landlords	Walter Dean Myers	Winner	Log In To Like
	Let the Lion Eat Straw	Ellease Southerland	Honor	Log In To Like
	Childtimes: A Three-Generation Memoir	Eloise Greenfield	Honor	Log In To Like
	Andrew Young: Young Man with a Mission	James Haskins	Honor	Log In To Like
	James Van Der Zee: The Picture Takin' Man	James Haskins	Honor	Log In To Like
	Movin' Up	Berry Gordy	Honor	Log In To Like

1979

	Book	Author	Award Level	Completed
	Escape to Freedom	Ossie Davis	Winner	Log In To Like
	Benjamin Banneker	Lillie Patterson	Honor	Log In To Like
	Skates of Uncle Richard	Carol Fenner	Honor	Log In To Like
	I Have a Sister, My Sister is Deaf	Jeanne W. Peterson	Honor	Log In To Like
	Justice and Her Brothers	Virginia Hamilton	Honor	Log In To Like

1978

	Book	Author	Award Level	Completed
	Africa Dream	Eloise Greenfield	Winner	Log In To Like
	Portia: The Life of Portia Washington Pittman, the Daughter of Booker T. Washington	Ruth Ann Stewart	Honor	Log In To Like
	Marvin and Tige	Frankcina Glass	Honor	Log In To Like
	The Days When the Animals Talked: Black Folk Tales and How They Came to Be	William J. Faulkner	Honor	Log In To Like
	Coretta Scott King	Lillie Patterson	Honor	Log In To Like
	Mary McCleod Bethune	Eloise Greenfield	Honor	Log In To Like
	Barbara Jordan	Chris Barton	Honor	Log In To Like

1977

	Book	Author	Award Level	Completed
	The Story of Stevie Wonder	James Haskins	Winner	Log In To Like
	Everett Anderson's Friend	Lucille Clifton	Honor	Log In To Like
	Quiz Book on Black America	Clarence N. Blake	Honor	Log In To Like
	Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry	Mildred Taylor	Honor	Log In To Like

1976

	Book	Author	Award Level	Completed
	Duey's Tale	Pearl Bailey	Winner	Log In To Like
	Fast Sam, Cool Clyde, and Stuff	Walter Dean Myers	Honor	Log In To Like
	Julius K. Nyerere: Teacher of Africa	Shirley Graham	Honor	Log In To Like
	Song of the Trees	Mildred Taylor	Honor	Log In To Like
	Paul Robeson	Eloise Greenfield	Honor	Log In To Like

1975

	Book	Author	Award Level	Completed
	The Legend of Africania	Dorothy Robinson	Winner	Log In To Like

1974

	Book	Author	Award Level	Completed
	Ray Charles	Sharon Bell Mathers	Winner	Log In To Like
	Don't You Remember?	Lucille Clifton	Honor	Log In To Like
	Guest in the Promise Land	Kristin Hunter	Honor	Log In To Like
	Ms. Africa: Profiles of Modern African Women	Louise Crane	Honor	Log In To Like
	Mukasa	John Nagenda	Honor	Log In To Like
	A Hero Ain't Nothin' But a Sandwich	Alice Childress	Honor	Log In To Like

1973

	Book	Author	Award Level	Completed
	I Never Had It Made: An Autobiography of Jackie Robinson	Alfred Duckett	Winner	Log In To Like

1972

	Book	Author	Award Level	Completed
	17 Black Artists	Elton Fax	Winner	Log In To Like

1971

	Book	Author	Award Level	Completed
	Black Troubadour: Langston Hughes	Charlemae Rollins	Winner	Log In To Like
	Mary Jo's Grandmother	Janice May Udry	Honor	Log In To Like
	Every Man Heart Lay Down	Lorenz Graham	Honor	Log In To Like
	Black Means	Gladys Groom	Honor	Log In To Like
	I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings	Maya Angelou	Honor	Log In To Like
	I Am a Black Woman	Mari Evans	Honor	Log In To Like
	Unbought and Unbossed	Shirley Chisholm	Honor	Log In To Like
	Ebony Book of Black Achievement	Margaret W. Peters	Honor	Log In To Like
	The Voice of the Children	June Jordan	Honor	Log In To Like

1970

	Book	Author	Award Level	Completed
	Martin Luther King Jr.: Man of Peace	Lillie Patterson	Winner	Log In To Like