Coretta Scott King Award
The Coretta Scott King Award commemorates the life and work of Martin Luther King Jr. and his widow Coretta Scott King. It is awarded annually to authors and illustrators of African descent whose work promotes the "American Dream." It is sponsored by the Coretta Scott King Task Force of the Social Responsibilities Round Table of the American Library Association.
2016 Author Delphine, Vonetta, and Fern are off to Alabama to visit their grandmother, Big Ma, and her mother, Ma Charles. Across the way lives Ma Charles's half sister, Miss Trotter. The two half sisters haven't spoken in years. As Delphine hears about her family history, she uncovers the surprising truth that's been keeping the sisters apart. But when tragedy strikes, Delphine discovers that the bonds of family run deeper than she ever knew possible. |
|
2016 Illustrator Hailing from the Tremé neighborhood in New Orleans, Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews got his nickname by wielding a trombone twice as long as he was high. A prodigy, he was leading his own band by age six, and today this Grammy-nominated artist headlines the legendary New Orleans Jazz Fest. |
|
2015 Author The author shares her childhood memories and reveals the first sparks that ignited her writing career in free-verse poems about growing up in the North and South. |
|
2015 Illustrator Christopher Myers. Firebird American Ballet Theater soloist Misty Copeland encourages a young ballet student, with brown skin like her own, by telling her that she, too, had to learn basic steps and how to be graceful when she was starting out, and that some day, with practice and dedication, the little girl will become a firebird, too. Includes author's note about dancers who led her to find her voice. |
|
2014 Author |
|
2014 Illustrator Bryan Collier. Knock Knock: My Dad's Dream for Me A boy wakes up one morning to find his father gone. At first, he feels lost. But his father has left him a letter filled with advice to guide him through the times he cannot be there. |
|
2013 Author Andrea Davis Pinkney. Hand in Hand: Ten Black Men Who Changed America Presents the stories of ten African-American men from different eras in American history, organized chronologically to provide a scope from slavery to the modern day. |
|
2013 Illustrator Bryan Collier. I, Too, Am American Presents the popular poem by Langston Hughes, highlighting the courage and dignity of the African American Pullman porters in the early twentieth century. |
|
2012 Author Kadir Nelson. Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans A simple introduction to African-American history, from Revolutionary-era slavery up to the election of President Obama. Includes a timeline. |
|
2012 Illustrator Shane Evans. Underground A stellar introduction to the Underground Railroad, narrated by a group of slaves. Readers experience the fugitives' escape, their long nighttime journey punctuated by meetings with friends and enemies, and their final glorious arrival in a place of freedom. |
|
2011 Author |
|
2011 Illustrator Bryan Collier. Dave the Potter: Artist, Poet, Slave |
|
2010 Author |
|
2010 Illustrator |
|
2009 Author
|
|
2009 Illustrator
|
|
2008 Author In 1859, eleven-year-old Elijah Freeman, the first free-born child in Buxton, Canada, which is a haven for slaves fleeing the American south, uses his wits and skills to try to bring to justice the lying preacher who has stolen money that was to be used to buy a family's freedom. |
|
2008 Illustrator Illustrated versions of three well-known hymns. |
|
2007 Author Identifies the stressors that can affect teens and provides suggestions for dealing with them. Two fifteen-year-old girls--one a slave and the other an indentured servant--escape their Carolina plantation and try to make their way to Fort Moses, Florida, a Spanish colony that gives sanctuary to slaves. |
|
2007 Illustrator Tells the story of Harriet Tubman leading slaves to freedom in the North and the courage that it took. |
|
2006 Author Emma has taken care of the Butler children since Sarah and Frances's mother, Fanny, left. Emma wants to raise the girls to have good hearts, as a rift over slavery has ripped the Butler household apart. Now, to pay off debts, Pierce Butler wants to cash in his slave "assets", possibly including Emma. |
|
2006 Illustrator The story of Rosa Parks and her courageous act of defiance. |
|
2005 Author Presents a pictorial guide to depict the historical events surrounding school desegregation and tells a fictional account of the dialogue and emotions of the children during this time. |
|
2005 Illustrator A poem about the African American community of talented artists that frequented the author's childhood home. |
|
2004 Author With powerful language and keen insight, Johnson tells the story of a teen father's struggle to figure out what "the right thing" is and then to do it. |
|
2004 Illustrator In a story of the Ila people, the colorful birds of Africa ask Blackbird, whom they think is the most beautiful of birds, to decorate them with some of his "blackening brew." |
|
2003 Author While studying the Harlem Renaissance, students at a Bronx high school read aloud poems they've written, revealing their innermost thoughts and fears to their formerly clueless classmates. |
|
2003 Illustrator A biography of the woman who became the first licensed Afro-American pilot. |
|
2002 Author After the Civil War Paul, the son of a white father and a black mother, finds himself caught between the two worlds of colored folks and white folks as he pursues his dream of owning land of his own. |
|
2002 Illustrator In segregated 1950s Nashville, a young African American girl braves a series of indignities and obstacles to get to one of the few integrated places in town: the public library. |
|
2001 Author Twelve-year-old Lafayette's close relationship with his older brother Charlie changes after Charlie is released from a detention home and blames Lafayette for the death of their mother. |
|
2001 Illustrator A tour of the sights of Harlem, including the Metro-North Train, brownstones, shopping on 125th Street, a barbershop, summer basketball, the Harlem Boys Choir, and sunset over the Harlem River. |
|
2000 Author Ten-year-old Bud , a motherless boy living in Flint, Michigan, during the Great Depression, escapes a bad foster home and sets out in search of the man he believes to be his father--the renowned bandleader, H.E. Calloway of Grand Rapids. |
|
2000 Illustrator Mentu, an American-born slave boy, watches his beloved grandmother, Twi, lead the insurrection at Teakettle Creek of Ibo people arriving from Africa on a slave ship. |
|
1999 Author Fourteen-year-old Marley's seemingly perfect life in the small town of Heaven is disrupted when she discovers that her father and mother are not her real parents. |
|
1999 Illustrator Chronicles and captures poetically the history, mood, and movement of African American music. |
|
1998 Author Teenage Gerald, who has spent years protecting his fragile half-sister from their abusive father, faces the prospect of one final confrontation before the problem can be solved. |
|
1998 Illustrator A collection of poems celebrating African-American fathers by Angela Johnson, E. Ethelbert Miller, Carole Boston Weatherford, and others. |
|
1997 Author Sixteen-year-old " Slam " Harris is counting on his noteworthy basketball talents to get him out of the inner city and give him a chance to succeed in life, but his coach sees things differently. |
|
1997 Illustrator Young Harriet Tubman, whose childhood name was Minty, dreams of escaping slavery on the Brodas plantation in the late 1820s. |
|
1996 Author In this spellbinding sequel to a best-selling novel, cousins Cammy Coleman and Eloise Odie are forced to face some dark family secrets when their second cousins visit from New York City. |
|
1996 Illustrator Feelings's art speaks to the soul in this magnificent visual record of the Black Diaspora in the Americas. Clarke provides a concise narrative of the slave trade, and then readers pause at a double-spread image of a man, woman, bird, sun, and land before the pages become horrific. - School Library Journal review |
|
1995 Author Describes the customs, recipes, poems, and songs used to celebrate Christmas in the big plantation houses and in the slave quarters just before the Civil War. |
|
1995 Illustrator A poem based on the story of creation from the first book of the Bible. |
|
1994 Author On a visit to her grandmother Ola, who is dying of cancer in her house in the desert, fourteen-year-old Emmie hears many stories about the past and her family history and comes to a better understanding of relatives both dead and living. |
|
1994 Illustrator Artwork and poems by such writers as Maya Angelou, Langston Hughes, and Askia Toure portray the creativity, strength, and beauty of their African American heritage. |
|
1993 Author A collection of ghost stories with African American themes, designed to be told during the Dark Thirty --the half hour before sunset--when ghosts seem all too believable. |
|
1993 Illustrator Retells the Yoruba creation myth in which the deity Obatala descends from the sky to create the world. |
|
1992 Author A history of the African-American struggle for freedom and equality, beginning with the capture of Africans in 1619, continuing through the American Revolution, the Civil War, and into contemporary times. |
|
1992 Illustrator A young girl dreams of flying above her Harlem home, claiming all she sees for herself and her family. Based on the author's quilt painting of the same name. |
|
1991 Author Sadistically teased by two white boys in 1940's rural Mississippi, a black youth severely injures one of the boys with a tire iron and enlists Cassie's help in trying to flee the state. |
|
1991 Illustrator Retells the story of Verdi's opera in which the love of the enslaved Ethiopian princess for an Egyptian general brings tragedy to all involved. |
|
1990 Author A chronicle of the first black-controlled union, made up of Pullman porters, who after years of unfair labor practices staged a battle against a corporate giant resulting in a "David and Goliath" ending. |
|
1990 Illustrator A collection of first person poems that as a whole characterize an individual black child through the child's lyric impressions of self and the surrounding world. |
|
1989 Author Seventeen-year-old Richie Perry, just out of his Harlem high school, enlists in the Army in the summer of 1967 and spends a devastating year on active duty in Vietnam. |
|
1989 Illustrator To win first prize in the Junior Cakewalk, Mirandy tries to capture the wind for her partner. |
|
1988 Author Four children witness a confrontation between an elderly black man and a white storekeeper in rural Mississippi in the 1930s. |
|
1988 Illustrator Mufaro's two beautiful daughters , one bad-tempered, one kind and sweet, go before the king, who is choosing a wife. |
|
1987 Author Suffering in a family full of females, ten-year-old Justin feels that cleaning and keeping house are women's work until he spends time on his beloved grandfather's ranch. |
|
1987 Illustrator The summer night is full of wonderful sounds and scents as Susan falls asleep. |
|
1986 Author Retold Afro-American folktales of animals, fantasy, the supernatural, and desire for freedom, born of the sorrow of the slaves, but passed on in hope. |
|
1986 Illustrator Using scraps cut from the family's old clothing, Tanya helps her grandmother and mother make a beautiful quilt that tells the story of her family's life. |
|
1985 Author Motown and Didi , two teenage loners in Harlem, become allies in a fight against Touchy, the drug dealer whose dope is destroying Didi 's brother, and find themselves falling in love with each other. |
|
1985 Illustrator |
|
1984 Author Everett Anderson has a difficult time coming to terms with his grief after his father dies. |
|
1984 Illustrator Jason wants to help, but isn't sure that his mother needs him at all after she brings home a new baby from the hospital. |
|
1983 Author Fourteen-year-old Tree, resentful of her working mother who leaves her in charge of a retarded brother , encounters the ghost of her dead uncle and comes to a deeper understanding of her family's problems. |
|
1983 Illustrator |
|
1982 Author Four black children growing up in rural Mississippi during the Depression experience racial antagonisms and hard times, but learn from their parents the pride and self-respect they need to survive |
|
1982 Illustrator |
|
1981 Author Autobiography of actor Sidney Poitier. |
|
1981 Illustrator Five Nigerian folktales, masterfully retold, are accompanied by vibrant woodcuts. - Publishers Weekly |
|
1980 Author Five devoted friends become landlords and try to make their Harlem neighborhood a better place to live. |
|
|
1980 Illustrator Explains how the hair style of cornrows , a symbol in Africa since ancient times, can today in this country symbolize the courage of outstanding Afro-Americans. |
1979 Author Born a slave, young Frederick Douglass endures many years of cruelty before escaping to the North to claim his freedom. |
|
1979 Illustrator |
|
1978 Author A black child's dreams are filled with the images of the people and places of Africa. |
|
1978 Illustrator A black child's dreams are filled with the images of the people and places of Africa. |
|
1977 Author |
|
1977 Illustrator |
|
1976 Author A maple seedling becomes separated from his mother tree, makes friends with a bottle and a log, and searches for his own place in life. |
|
1976 Illustrator |
|
1975 Author |
|
1975 Illustrator |
|
1974 Author A biography of the popular singer, who became blind as a young boy. |
|
1974 Illustrator A biography of the popular singer, who became blind as a young boy. |
|
1973 Author Before Barry Bonds, before Reggie Jackson, before Hank Aaron, baseball's stars had one undeniable trait in common: they were all white. In 1947, Jackie Robinson broke that barrier, striking a crucial blow for racial equality and changing the world of sports forever. |
|
1972 Author |
|
1971 Author |
|
1970 Author |