YA fiction featuring Black characters is having a moment, especially on the Science Fiction and Fantasy side. But not only those genres. Realistic contemporary is right alongside them offering reflections of Black teenagers that even a few years ago, we weren’t seeing regularly. Now, I’ll admit, since I’m raising a little bunhead of my own, [ Read the full article… ]
28 Days
KYANDREIA JONES – DAY 7
Kyandreia Jones is a Posse Miami Scholar and a Creative Writing major at Hamilton College in Clinton, New York. She was born and raised in South Florida. When she thinks of home she likes to muse that she is in a “sunshine state of mind.” Jones’ poetry and prose has been published in various college [ Read the full article… ]
Day 6: Malaika Adero
Malaika Adero, author of A Black Woman Did That, experienced her first “Black girl magic” moment when she was in high school and received a silver pendant in recognition of her creative writing work on the school’s literary magazine. Fifteen years later, she received the publishing industry’s Tony Godwin Award given to an editor of [ Read the full article… ]
Day 5: Hasan Davis
Hope Dealer. Actor. Speaker. Advocate. Teaching Artist. Hasan Davis creates change and sows inspiration in many ways. His latest is as children’s book author. Through his picture book The Journey of York (illustrated by Alleanna Harris, published by Capstone), Hasan gives voice to a hero on the Lewis & Clark expedition who has been too [ Read the full article… ]
Day 4: Daria Peoples-Riley
Author-illustrator Daria Peoples-Riley made her debut in children’s publishing with the picture book THIS IS IT (Greenwillow/HarperCollins, 2018). It is a celebration of individuality, self-expression, and dance. Her companion book, I GOT NEXT (Greenwillow/HarperCollins, 2019),followed with a starred review from Kirkus. Peoples-Riley is also the illustrator of GLORIA TAKES A STAND by Jessica M. Rinker, [ Read the full article… ]
Day 3: Camryn Garrett
Today I’m very excited to feature Camryn Garrett, a young author who has been a part of the industry landscape for years. (I’ve been following her on twitter for a long time.) Her debut FULL DISCLOSURE was released in Fall 2019. It’s smart, funny, and features a main character we haven’t seen much of in YA, a sexual teen who happens to be HIV+.
Day 2: Ashley Franklin
“I write. I teach. I mom.” That’s the way Ashley Franklin explains it on her website. Ashley is the debut author of Not Quite Snow White, a lovely picture book illustrated by Ebony Glenn and published by HarperCollins. She is also an adjunct college professor who lives in Arkansas with her husband and two young [ Read the full article… ]
Day 1 ~ Siman Nuurali
The Brown Bookshelf is proud to introduce the children’s book author, Siman Nuurali to our readers. She has written the SADIQ series of four books published by Picture Window Books, a Capstone imprint. Originally from Kenya, Siman writes from her home in Minnesota. The Journey I had never really thought about getting published up [ Read the full article… ]