2024 Winners
2024 Author Winner
Nigeria Jones by Ibi Zoboi
A sixteen-year-old girl whose father is the leader of a Black liberation group discovers her own place in the world.
2024 Author Illustrator
An American Story by Kwame Alexander
A picture book in verse that threads together past and present to explore the legacy of slavery during a classroom lesson.
2024 John Steptoe Award for New Talent (Author)
There Goes the Neighborhood by Jade Adia
In order to stop the destructive forces of gentrification, three best friends use social media to create a fake gang and get justice for their South L.A. community.
2024 John Steptoe Award for New Talent (Illustrator)
We Could Fly by Rhiannon Giddens
Shares the incantatory dialogue between a mother and daughter that celebrates love, resilience and the spiritual power of tradition and shared cultural memory to sustain and uplift.
2024 Author Honor Books
- Big by Vashti Harrison
- How Do You Spell Unfair?: MacNolia Cox and the National Spelling Bee by Carole Boston Weatherford
- Kin: Rooted in Hope by Carole Boston Weatherford
2024 Illustrator Honor Books
- Big by Vashti Harrison
- Holding Her Own: The Exceptional Life of Jackie Ormes by Traci N. Todd
- There was a party for Langston, King O’ Letters by Jason Reynolds
2023
Author:
- Freewater by Amina Luqman-Dawson
- Star Child: A Biographical Constellation of Octavia Estelle Butler by Ibi Zoboi
- The Talk by Alicia D. Williams
- Victory. Stand!: Raising My Fist for Justice by Tommie Smith and Derrick Barnes
Illustrator:
- Standing in the Need of Prayer: A Modern Retelling of the Classic Spiritual illustrated by Frank Morrison, written by Carole Boston Weatherford
- Me and the Boss: A Story about Mending and Love illustrated by April Harrison, written by Michelle Edwards
- Swim Team illustrated and written by Johnnie Christmas
- Victory. Stand!: Raising My Fist for Justice illustrated by Dawud Anyabwile, written by Tommie Smith and Derrick Barnes
John Steptoe Award for New Talent
- We Deserve Monuments written by Jas Hammonds
- Illustrator: Choosing Brave: How Mamie Till-Mobley and Emmett Till Sparked the Civil Rights Movement illustrated by Janelle Washington
2016-2021
2016
Author
- Gone Crazy in Alabama by Rita Williams-Garcia
- All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely
- The Boy in the Black Suit by Jason Reynolds
- X: A Novel by Ilyasah Shabazz with Kekla Magoon
Illustrator
- Trombone Shorty by Bryan Collier, text: Troy Andrews
- The Book Itch: Freedom, Truth & Harlem’s Greatest Bookstore by R. Gregory Christie, text: Vaunda Micheaux Nelson
- Last Stop on Market Street by Christian Robinson, text: Matt de la Peña
John Steptoe Award for New Talent
Author: Hoodoo by Ronald L. Smith
Illustrator: Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer, Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement by Ekua Holms
2017
Author
- March: Book Three by John Lewis and Andrew Aydin
- As Brave as You by Jason Reynolds
- Freedom Over Me: Eleven Slaves, Their Lives and Dreams Brought to Life by Ashley Bryan
Illustrator
- Radiant Child: The Story of Young Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat by Javaka Steptoe
- Freedom in Congo Square by R. Gregory Christie, text: Carole Boston Weatherford
- Freedom Over Me: Eleven Slaves, Their Lives and Dreams Brought to Life by Ashely Bryan
- In Plain Sight illustrations by Jerry Pinkney, text by Richard Jackson
John Steptoe Award for New Talent
Author: The Sun Is Also a Star Nicola Yoon
2018
Author
- The Stars Beneath Our Feet by David Barclay Moore
- Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut Illustrator: Gordon C. James by Derrick Barnes
- Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds
- The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
Illustrator
- Out of Wonder: Poems Celebrating Poets Text: Kwame Alexander, Ekua Holmes
- Mama Africa How Miriam Makeba Spread Hope With Her Song by Charley Palmer, text: Kathryn Erskine
- Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut by Gordon C. James text: Derrick Barnes
- Before She was Harriet by James E. Ransome, text: Lesa Cline-Ransome
John Steptoe Award for New Talent
Author: The Stars Beneath Our Feet by David Barclay Moore
Illustrator: Mama Africa! How Makeba Spread Hope with Her Song by Charly Palmer
2019
Author
- A Few Red Drops: The Chicago Race Riot of 1919 by Claire Hartfield
- Finding Langston by Lesa Cline-Ransome
- The Parker inheritance by Varian Johnson
- The season of Styx Malone by Kikla Magoon
Illustrator
- The Stuff of Stars by Marion Dane Bauer
- Hidden Figures by Laura Freeman
- Let the Children March by Monica Clark-Robinson
- Memphis, Martin, and the Mountaintop by Alice Faye Duncan
John Steptoe Award for New Talent
Author: Monday’s Not Coming by Tiffany D. Jackson
Illustrator: Thank You, Omu by Oge Mora
2020
Author
- New Kid by Jerry Craft
- Look Both Ways by Jason Reynolds; Alexander Nabaum
- The Stars and the Blackness Between Them by Junauda Petrus
- Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky by Kwame Mbalia
Illustrator
- The Undefeated illustrated by Kadir Nelson, written by Kwame Alexander;
- The Bell Rang by James E. Ransome
- Infinite Hope by Ashley Bryan
- Sulwe illustrated by Vashti Harrison, written Lupita Nyong’o
John Steptoe Award for New Talent
Author: Genesis Begins Again by Alicia D. Williams
Illustrator: What Is Given from the Heart by Patricia C. McKissack; April Harrison
2021
Author:
- All the Days Past, All the Days to Come by Mildred D. Taylor
- King and the Dragonflies by Kacen Callender
- Lifting as We Climb: Black Women’s Battle for the Ballot Box by Evette Dionne
Illustrator:
- Magnificent Homespun Brown illustrated by Kaylani Juanita, written by Samara Cole Doyon
- Exquisite: The Life of Gwendolyn Brooks illustrated by Cozbi A. Cabrera, written by Suzanne Slade
- Me and Mama illustrated and written by Cozbi A. Cabrera
John Steptoe Award for New Talent
Writer: Legendborn by Tracy Deonn
2022
Author:
- Unspeakable : the Tulsa Race Massacre illustrations by Floyd Cooper, written by Carole Boston Weatherford
- Home is Not A Country by Safia Elhillo
- Revolution in Our Time : the Black Panther Party’s Promise to the People by Kekla Magoon.
- The People Remember by Ibi Zoboi ; illustrated by Loveis Wise
Illustrator:
- Unspeakable : the Tulsa Race Massacre illustrations by Floyd Cooper, written by Carole Boston Weatherford
- Nina : a story of Nina Simone illustrated by Christian Robinson, written by Traci N. Todd
- We Wait for the Sun illustrated by Raissa Figueroa, written by Dovey Johnson Roundtree and Katie McCabe
- Soul Food Sunday illustrated by C. G. Esperanza, written by Winsome Bingham
John Steptoe Award for New Talent
- Writer – Me (Moth) by Amber McBride
- Illustrator: The Me I Choose to Be written by Natasha Anastasia Tarpley ; art by Regis and Kahran Bethencourt
*Descriptions are taken from the publisher, summaries and/or our online catalog*