Coretta Scott King Award Winners and Honorables: Juvenile and YA Titles

This list contains the winners and honored authors and illustrators for the Coretta Scott King Award that we carry throughout the Sussex County Library System from 1990 to present day. This award goes to any African American children's or young adult author or illustrator that has reflected the African American experience through their works outstandingly.

In honor of Coretta Scott King who, often remembered as Martin King Jr's wife, has also been referred to as "First Lady of the Civil Rights Movement".

Updated June 6, 2025
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Sussex County Library System (NJ)
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The crossover /
Alexander, Kwame
Paper Book
Series streaming now on Disney+, with executive producers including NBA great LeBron James! The Newbery Medal and Coretta Scott King Award-winning middle grade bestseller! Basketball and heartache share the court in this slam-dunk novel in verse. "With a bolt of lightning on my...
Crown :
Barnes, Derrick
Paper Book
Winner of the 2018 Kirkus Prize for Young Readers A Newbery Honor Book A Caldecott Honor Book A Coretta Scott King Author Honor Book A Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor Book An Ezra Jack Keats New Writer Award Book An Ezra Jack Keats New Illustrator Honor...
King and the dragonflies
Callender, Kacen
Paper Book
A 2021 Coretta Scott King Honor Book! Winner of the 2020 National Book Award for Young People's Literature! Winner of the 2020 Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for Fiction and Poetry! In a small but turbulent Louisiana town, one boy's grief takes him...
Swim team
Christmas, Johnnie.
Paper Book
"Combines wonderful characters and history to create a story that will make you want to dive right in!" JERRY CRAFT, author of the Newbery Medal-winning New Kid A splashy, contemporary middle grade graphic novel from bestselling comics creator Johnnie Christmas! Bree can't wait for...
Bud, not Buddy
Curtis, Christopher Paul.
Paper Book
The Newbery Medal and Coretta Scott King Award-winning classic about a boy who decides to hit the road to find his father--from Christopher Paul Curtis, recipient of the Coretta Scott King-Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement.   It's 1936, in Flint, Michigan....
The Watsons go to Birmingham - 1963
Curtis, Christopher Paul.
Paper Book
During one of the most important times in the civil rights movement, one unforgettable family goes on a road trip in this Newbery and Coretta Scott King Honoree, from author Christopher Paul Curtis, recipient of the Coretta Scott King-Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement. ...
Copper sun
Draper, Sharon M.
Ebook
In this "searing work of historical fiction" (Booklist), Coretta Scott King Award-winning author Sharon M. Draper tells the epic story of a young girl torn from her African village, sold into slavery, and stripped of everything she has ever known--except hope. Amari's life...
Rosa /
Giovanni, Nikki
Paper Book
An inspiring account of an event that shaped American history She had not sought this moment but she was ready for it. When the policeman bent down to ask "Auntie, are you going to move?" all the strength of all the people through all those many years joined in her. She...
Big /
Harrison, Vashti
Paper Book
Winner of the Caldecott Medal! A Coretta Scott King Award Author and Illustrator Honor book, a National Book Award finalist, and a New York Times bestseller! This deeply moving story shares valuable lessons about fitting in, standing out, and the beauty of joyful acceptance,...
Last stop on Market Street
de la Pen?a, Matt
Paper Book
On Sundays, CJ and his nana ride the bus across town to their stop on Market Street. But today, CJ's not happy about it. Today, he's wondering out loud why they have to wait in the rain and why they don't have a car like his other friends. But it's Nana who opens young CJ's eyes and shows him the...
Freewater
Luqman-Dawson, Amina.
Paper Book
Winner of the John Newbery Medal Winner of the Coretta Scott King Author Award  An Indiebound Bestseller A New York Times Bestseller Award-winning author Amina Luqman-Dawson pens a lyrical,...
Monster
Myers, Walter Dean
Paper Book
This New York Times bestselling novel from acclaimed author Walter Dean Myers tells the story of Steve Harmon, a teenage boy in juvenile detention and on trial. Presented as a screenplay of Steve's own imagination, and peppered with journal entries, the book shows how one...
Josephine :
Powell, Patricia Hruby,
Paper Book
Coretta Scott King Book Award, Illustrator, Honor Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Award, Honor Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, Nonfiction Honor Parent's Choice Award Wall Street Journal's 10 Best Children's Books of the Year List Bologna Ragazzi Nonfiction Honor...
All American boys
Reynolds, Jason
Paper Book
A 2016 Coretta Scott King Author Honor book, and recipient of the Walter Dean Myers Award for Outstanding Children's Literature. In this Coretta Scott King Honor Award-winning novel, two teens--one black, one white--grapple with the repercussions of a single violent act that...
Twenty-four seconds from now :
Reynolds, Jason.
Paper Book
A Coretta Scott King Author Award Winner A New York Times Bestseller Seven starred reviews! "Jason Reynolds has done it again!...Fresh from start to finish...This is what it could be, should be, if only we were all as lucky as Aria. Girls (and...
The hate u give /
Thomas, Angie
Paper Book
8 starred reviews · Goodreads Choice Awards Best of the Best  ·  William C. Morris Award Winner · National Book Award Longlist · Printz Honor Book · Coretta Scott King Honor Book · #1 New York Times Bestseller! "Absolutely riveting!" --Jason Reynolds "Stunning." -...
Piecing me together
Watson, Renee
Paper Book
Newbery Honor and Coretta Scott King Author Award Winner New York Times bestseller "Timely and timeless." -Jacqueline Woodson "Important and deeply moving." -John Green Bestselling and award-winning author Renée Watson offers a powerful...
Moses :
Weatherford, Carole Boston,
Paper Book
A Caldecott Honor Book A Coretta Scott King Award Winner From a highly acclaimed author and bestselling artist comes a resounding, reverent tribute to Harriet Tubman, the woman who earned the name Moses for her heroic role in the Underground...
Before the ever after
Woodson, Jacqueline
Paper Book
WINNER OF THE NAACP IMAGE AWARD WINNER OF THE CORETTA SCOTT KING AUTHOR AWARD National Book Award winner Jacqueline Woodson's stirring novel-in-verse explores how a family moves forward when their glory days have passed and the cost of professional sports on Black bodies...
Each kindness /
Woodson, Jacqueline
Paper Book
WINNER OF A CORETTA SCOTT KING HONOR AND THE JANE ADDAMS PEACE AWARD! Each kindness makes the world a little better This unforgettable book is written and illustrated by the award-winning team that created The Other Side and the Caldecott Honor winner Coming On...
Brown girl dreaming
Woodson, Jacqueline.
Paper Book
A New York Times Bestseller and National Book Award Winner A Kirkus Reviews Best Middle Grade Book of the Century Jacqueline Woodson, the acclaimed author of Red at the Bone, tells the moving story of her childhood in mesmerizing verse.
Nigeria Jones /
Zoboi, Ibi Aanu
Paper Book
Coretta Scott King Author Award Winner! "An unwavering proclamation of Black girlhood." --Candice Iloh, author of National Book Award finalist Every Body Looking From Ibi Zoboi, bestselling, award-winning author of American Street and coauthor of Punching the Air, comes a bold...

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