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 Libraries
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Allow me to introduce myself
Nwabineli, Onyi
Audiobook
Bellies
Dinan, Nicola
Ebook
"Smart, hilarious and deeply moving." -ELLIOT PAGE A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR from Google Play, 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...
GHOST GIRL, BANANA
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
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
In this stand-alone companion novel to the acclaimed Boy, Everywhere, A. M. Dassu returns to extend the story of Sami's best friend Ali, who organizes a charity soccer match for their friend Aadam while his whole life is privately unraveling. After their friend Mark's mum...
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 A.
Paper Book
Longlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction 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...
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...
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...
YORUBA BOY RUNNING
BANDELE, BLY
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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