The Diverse Book awards

Created by bestselling, award-winning author Abiola Bello and award-winning publicist Helen Lewis. We want to highlight the best of the diverse voices published in the UK & Ireland both traditionally and self-published. We believe there's a need to showcase the talent of marginalised voices, so we came up with The Diverse Book Awards to open a space where the spotlight is on them.

thediversebookawards.co.uk

Updated September 22, 2025
Kirklees Council Kirklees Libraries
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The Diverse Book awards

Created by bestselling, award-winning author Abiola Bello and award-winning publicist Helen Lewis. We want to highlight the best of the diverse voices published in the UK & Ireland both traditionally and self-published. We believe there's a need to showcase the talent of marginalised voices, so we came up with The Diverse Book Awards to open a space where the spotlight is on them.

thediversebookawards.co.uk

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Allow me to introduce myself
Nwabineli, Onyi
Paper Book
Her life. Her rules. Finally. Anuri Chinasa has had enough. And really, who can blame her? She was the unwilling star of her stepmother's social media empire before "momfluencers" were even a thing. For years, Ophelia documented every birthday, every skinned knee,...
Alter ego
Heckety, Helen
Paper Book
WINNER OF THE 2025 ADCI LITERARY PRIZE BBC RADIO 2 BOOK CLUB PICK 'Powerful, joyful, heartbreaking and so funny all at once' SARA NISHA ADAMS 'Every now and then a book comes along that changes the way you see the world, and this is...
The ballad of Jacquotte Delahaye : a novel
Cameron, Briony
Paper Book
This "thrilling, swashbuckling story" (People) based on true events illuminates a woman of color's rise to power as one of the few female pirate captains to sail the Caribbean, and a forbidden love story that will shape the course of history. In the tumultuous town of...
Bellies : a novel
Dinan, Nicola
Paper Book
"Smart, hilarious, and deeply moving." --Elliot Page A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR from NPR, BookRiot and BookPage Amazon Editors' Pick for Best Books of 2023 It begins as your typical boy meets boy. While out with...
Boy like me
Green, Simon James
Paper Book
In the margins of a book's pages, sparks fly as a teenage romance begins. But in this time and place, sparks like these can only ignite trouble. It's 1994 and thanks to Section 28, there can be no mention of gay relationships in UK schools. When a kind librarian leads Jamie to a disguised...
The boy who fell from the sky
Dean, Benjamin
Paper Book
Combining the warmth and heart of Ross Welford's The 1,000 Year Old Boy with the epic adventure and inseparable friendship of Frank Cottrell Boyce's Cosmic comes an otherworldly new middle grade adventure from the award-winning Benjamin Dean. Twelve-year-old Zed has...
Bringing back Kay-Kay
Kothari, Dev
Paper Book
Steeped in mystery and adventure, this brisk and beautifully crafted middle-grade debut set in modern-day India explores the complexities of the sibling bond. When her older brother, Karthik--Kay-Kay, the golden child of the family--heads to camp for two weeks, Lena's parents...
Close to home
Magee, Michael
Paper Book
While growing up in West Belfast, Sean does every­thing he's supposed to do. He works hard, he studies, and he - mostly - stays out of trouble. The thirty-year conflict is over, he's told, and his future is lit with promise. But when Sean returns home from university, he finds much...
Fire rush
Crooks, Jacqueline
Paper Book
FINALIST FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE A NEW YORKER BEST BOOK OF 2023 "[A] powerful debut." --The Washington Post "An exceptional and stunningly original novel by a major new writer." --Bernardine Evaristo, Booker Prize-winning author of Girl,...
Flower Block
Butterfield, Lanisha.
Paper Book
Winner of the 2025 Children's Wainwright Prize for Nature Writing Winner of Derby Book Festival's - Derby Children's Picture Book Award 2025 When Jeremiah plants a packet of sunflower seeds, the very last thing he expects is for the vines and leaves to grow overnight and...
Ghost girl, banana : a novel
Wharton, Wiz
Paper Book
Set between the last years of the "Chinese Windrush" in 1966 and Hong Kong's Handover to China in 1997, a mysterious inheritance sees a young woman from London uncovering buried secrets in her late mother's homeland in this captivating, wry debut about family, identity, and the price of belonging...
Gina Kaminski saves the wolf
Barr-Green, Craig
Paper Book
Gina enters into the fairy-tale world of Little Red Riding Hood to fix what she's decided are the Wolf's three big mistakes.  With fantastic illustrations and clever use of pictorial emojis, this adventure with the plucky, neurodivergent Gina is one readers will find irresistible.
Gwen & Art are not in love
Croucher, Lex
Paper Book
An Instant New York Times Bestseller! "A total, rollicking delight. Gwen & Art gave me the same cheeky, swoony, giddy, irresistible high of the first time I saw A Knight's Tale. Lex Croucher is one of my favorite romcom authors, and they should be yours...
The house of broken bricks : a novel
Williams, Fiona
Paper Book
Every marriage has its seasons...It's autumn when we meet Tess, but her relationship with Richard is in a deep, cold winter. A winter so harsh, their union may never see the bright light of spring. Tess is a Londoner whose relationship with Richard transports her from a...
I'm going to be a princess
Taylor, Stephanie
Paper Book
A warm and witty celebration of the lives of amazing Black women.
Kicked out
Dassu, A. M.
Paper Book
After their friend Mark's mum wins the lottery and gets a giant house with an indoor pool, Ali and Sami have been having the time of their lives hanging at Mark's house. Even their friend Aadam gets a job there, which means he can make more money for his legal battle for UK residency. But when some...
King of nothing
Lessore, Nathanael
Paper Book
A laugh-out-loud teen comedy with heart from the Yoto Carnegie-shortlisted author of STEADY FOR THIS!
Maame
George, Jessica
Paper Book
AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER! * A Today Show #ReadWithJenna Book Club Pick * A February 2023 Indie Next Pick "Sparkling." --The New York Times "An utterly charming and deeply moving portrait of the joys<...
Mayowa and the Sea of Words
Onuzo, Chibundu
Paper Book
'Joyful and truly original' - Katherine Rundell, author of Impossible Creatures WARNING: DO NOT JUMP ON THIS BOOK! Have you ever jumped on a book? Perhaps not. Most people would think it was a rather unusual thing to do. ...
A million to one
Jaigirdar, Adiba
Paper Book
2024 Rainbow Book List Adiba Jaigirdar, author of one of Time's Best YA books of all time, gives Titanic an Ocean's 8 makeover in this nail-biting heist set onboard the infamous ship. Josefa is an unapologetic and charismatic thief who loves the thrill of the chase. She has her eye...
Nightbloom : a novel
Medie, Peace Adzo
Paper Book
Inseparable when they were girls but now estranged, cousins Akorfa and Selasi have to repair the silences between them or lose each other forever in this moving novel set in Ghana and America from the author of Reese's Book Club pick His Only Wife. "Stunning." -...
Rab Howell : a Romani story
O'Neill, Richard
Paper Book
  A gripping football-filled adventure based in the Romani community of 19th-century Sheffield. "The superb Voices series takes unsung heroes of the past and imagines them recounting the story of their remarkable lives' " - The Times   This action...
Safiyyah's war
Khan, Hiba Noor
Paper Book
Inspired by the true story of how the Grand Mosque of Paris saved the lives of hundreds of Jews during World War II, this breathtaking tale of suspense, compassion, and courage stars an extraordinary young heroine readers will never forget. "A riveting read for children and adults alike." -...
Small worlds
Nelson, Caleb Azumah
Paper Book
An exhilarating and expansive new novel about fathers and sons, faith and friendship from National Book Foundation 5 Under 35 honoree and Costa First Novel Award winning author Caleb Azumah Nelson One of the most acclaimed and internationally bestselling "unforgettable" (New York...
Some like it cold
McNicoll, Elle
Paper Book
A big-hearted small-town romance from bestselling, award-winning author Elle McNicoll, Some Like it Cold is perfect for fans of Alice Oseman, Rainbow Rowell and Gilmore Girls. After a long absence, 18-year-old Jasper is finally heading home for the holidays - and she's...
This book kills
Guron, Ravena.
Paper Book
I'll make it clear from the start: I did not kill Hugh Henry Van Boren. I didn't even help...Well, not intentionally. All Jess Choudhary wants is to keep her head down, do her work, and make it through high school without any problems. As a scholarship student--and one of only two students...
Perfectly nice neighbors
Abdullah, Kia
Paper Book
"One of my ten best reads of the year. Easy five stars." -- Lisa Jewell, New York Times bestselling author of None of This is True A twisty and consuming thriller, Perfectly Nice Neighbors asks: When your dream home comes with nightmare neighbors, how far...
To the other side
Meza, Erika
Paper Book
Author-illustrator Erika Meza delivers a stunning and emotionally rich book from the viewpoint of those most impacted by border walls: young refugee children. This powerfully told tale highlights the spirit and strength of those embarking on a dangerous trek, and what awaits them on the other...
Until you find the sun
Hassan, Maryam (Children's author)
Paper Book
An uplifting story about coping with change and finding your way in a new and unfamiliar place, by debut author Maryam Hassan, beautifully brought to life with illustrations by Anna Wilson. Aminah's life is full of warmth and joy, from days spent in the golden sunshine eating...
Yorb̮ ̀boy running : a novel
Bandele-Thomas, Biyi
Paper Book
"A true artist. A brilliant writer. An original thinker."--Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie A captivating, fictionalized retelling of African linguist and clergyman Samuel Ajayi Crowther's miraculous journey from slave to liberator. "Run, Àjàyí, run!" When Malian slave traders...
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