2008 · 2009 · 2010 · 2011 · 2012 · 2013 · 2014 · 2015 · 2016 · 2017 · 2018 · 2019 · 2020 · 2021 · 2022 · 2023 · 2024

Day 5: Ray Anthony Shepard

  Ray Anthony Shepard’s Now or Never-Fifty-Fourth Massachsetts Infantry’s War to End Slavery has earned two starred reviews from Kirkus Reviews and School Library Journal. His meticulously researched book is riveting and lands you squarely on the battlefield. The Journey I was born in Missouri, a state that benchmarked the path to Civil War, in [ Read the full article… ]

Day 4: Katura J. Hudson

There’s something special about celebrating family. And that’s what you become when you publish with Just Us Books. Katura J. Hudson is the director of marketing for the company her parents founded three decades ago. She has lovingly edited and promoted countless titles by Black children’s book creators including mine. It’s a joy to honor [ Read the full article… ]

Day 3: Nic Stone

As I rejoin my Brown Bookshelf colleagues in the trenches of 28 Days Later, I’m elated with today’s YA authors. They’re vocal in a new way and their books reflect a time period where young people are witness to divisive political rhetoric that has remained at its height since President Obama took office a life [ Read the full article… ]

Day 2: Kacen Callender

As a Trinidadian-American writer, it’s particularly thrilling to see children’s books set in the Caribbean. The moment I saw the cover for HURRICANE CHILD, I was excited. Then the starred reviews started coming in. Kirkus wrote, “Callender draws readers in and makes them identify with Caroline’s angst and sorrow and joy and pain,” and School [ Read the full article… ]