Award Winners - Coretta Scott King Award
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2008 (Author)
+CURTI - Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis
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)
+782.253 L - Let it Shine: Three Favorite Spirituals by Ashley Bryan
Illustrated versions of three well-known hymns. -
2007 (Author)
YA DRAPE - Copper Sun by Sharon Draper
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)
+B T885W - Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People To Freedom by Carole Weatherford
Lyrical text describes Harriet Tubman's spiritual journey as she hears the voice of God guiding her North to freedom on that very first trip to escape the brutal practice of forced servitude. -
2006 (Author)
YA LESTE - Day of Tears: A Novel in Dialogue by Julius Lester
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.Also Available In:
2006 (Illustrator)
+E GIOVA - Rosa by Nikki Giovanni
The story of Rosa Parks and her courageous act of defiance. -
2005 (Author)
+379.263 M - Remember: The Journey to School Integration by Toni Morrison
A collection of archival photographs that depict the events surrounding school integration.
2005 (Illustrator)
+E SHANG - Ellington Was Not a Street by Ntozake Shange
Poet Ntozake Shange recalls her childhood home and the close-knit group of innovators that often gathered there. -
2004 (Author)
YA JOHNS - The First Part Last by Angela Johnson
Bobby's carefree teenage life changes forever when he becomes a father and must care for his adored baby daughter.Also Available In:
2004 (Illustrator)
+E BRYAN - Beautiful Blackbird by Ashley Bryan
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."Also Available In: -
2003 (Author)
YA GRIME - Bronx Masquerade by Nikki Grimes
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)
+B C692G - Talkin' About Bessie: The Story of Aviator Elizabeth Coleman by E. B. Lewis
A biography of the woman who became the first licensed Afro-American pilot. -
2002 (Author)
+TAYLO - The Land by Mildred Taylor
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.Also Available In:
2002 (Illustrator)
+E MCKIS - Goin' Someplace Special by Patricia McKissack
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)
YA WOODS - Miracle's Boys by Jacqueline Woodson
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)
+E COLLI - Uptown by Bryan Collier
A tour of the sights of Harlem, including the Metro-North Train, brownstones, shopping on 125th Street, a barber shop, summer basketball, the Boy's Choir, and sunset over the Harlem River. -
2000 (Author)
+CURTI - Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis
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)
+E SIEGE - In the Time of the Drums by Brian Pinkney
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)
+JOHNS - Heaven by Angela Johnson
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.Also Available In:
1999 (Illustrator)
+780.89 I - i see the rhythm by Toyomi Igus
Chronicles and captures poetically the history, mood, and movement of African American music. -
1998 (Author)
YA DRAPE - Forged by Fire by Sharon M. Draper
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.Also Available In:
1998 (Illustrator)
+811.08 I - In Daddy's Arms I am Tall: African Americans Celebrating Fathers by Javaka Steptoe
A collection of poems celebrating African-American fathers by Angela Johnson, E. Ethelbert Miller, Carole Boston Weatherford, and others. -
1997 (Author)
YA MYERS - Slam by Walter Dean Myers
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.Also Available In:
1997 (Illustrator)
+B T885S - Minty: A Story of Young Harriet Tubman by Alan Schroeder
Young Harriet Tubman, whose childhood name was Minty, dreams of escaping slavery on the Brodas plantation in the late 1820s. -
1996 (Author)
+398.2 H - Her Stories by Virginia Hamilton
A collection of 25 compelling tales from the female African American storytelling tradition.
1996 (Illustrator)
759.13 F295 - The Middle Passage: White Ships/Black Cargo by Tom Feelings
A picture book for adults about the Middle Passage, the horrific transatlantic journey that brought enslaved Africans to the land of their imprisonment. -
1995 (Author)
+975.03 M - Christmas in the Big House, Christmas in the Quarters by Patricia C. & Frederick L. McKissack
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)
+811.52 C - The Creation by James Weldon Johnson
A poem based on the story of creation from the first book of the Bible. -
1994 (Author)
+JOHNS - Toning the Sweep by Angela Johnson
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)
+811.08 S - Soul Looks Back in Wonder by Tom Feelings
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)
+MCKIS - Dark Thirty: Southern Tales of the Supernatural by Patricia A. McKissack
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)
+E ANDER - The Origin of Life on Earth: An African Creation Myth by David A. Anderson
Retells the Yoruba creation myth in which the deity Obatala descends from the sky to create the world. -
1992 (Author)
+973.049 M - Now is Your Time: The African American Struggle for Freedom by Walter Dean Myers
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)
+E RINGG - Tar Beach by Faith Ringgold
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.Also Available In: -
1991 (Author)
+TAYLO - The Road to Memphis by Mildred D. Taylor
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.Also Available In:
1991 (Illustrator)
+782.1 P - Aida by by Leontyne Price
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)
+331.8 M - A Long Hard Journey: The Story of the Pullman Porter by Patricia C. & Frederick L. McKissack
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)
+821 G - Nathaniel Talking by Eloise Greenfield
Eighteen poems offers a black child's insights into his own heart and mind, and into the lives of family and friends. -
1989 (Author)
YA MYERS - Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers
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.Also Available In:
1989 (Illustrator)
+E MCKIS - Mirandy and Brother Wind by Patricia McKissack
To win first prize in the Junior Cakewalk, Mirandy tries to capture the wind for her partner. -
1988 (Author)
+TAYLO - The Friendship by Mildred L. Taylor
Four children witness a confrontation between an elderly black man and a white storekeeper in rural Mississippi in the 1930s.
1988 (Illustrator)
+E STEPT - Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters: An African Tale by John Steptoe
Mufaro's two beautiful daughters, one bad-tempered, one kind and sweet, go before the king, who is choosing a wife. -
1987 (Author)
+WALTE - Justin and the Best Biscuits in the World by Mildred Pitts Walter
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)
+E DRAGO - Half a Moon and One Whole Star by Crescent Dragonwagon
The summer night is full of wonderful sounds and scents as Susan falls asleep. -
1986 (Author)
+398 H - The People Could Fly: American Black Folktales by Virginia Hamilton
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)
+E FLOUR - The Patchwork Quilt by Valerie Flournoy
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.Also Available In: -
1985 (Author)
YA MYERS - Motown and Didi by Walter Dean Myers
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. -
1984 (Author)
+E CLIFT - Everett Anderson's Good-bye by Lucille Clifton
Everett Anderson has a difficult time coming to terms with his grief after his father dies.
1984 (Illustrator)
+E WALTE - My Mama Needs Me by Mildred Pitts Walter
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)
+HAMIL - Sweet Whispers, Brother Rush by Virginia Hamilton
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)
N/A - Black Child by Peter Mugabane -
1982 (Author)
+TAYLO - Let the Circle Be Unbroken by Mildred D. Taylor
Four black children living in rural Mississippi during the depression, experience racial prejudice and hard times, but, in order to survive, learn self-respect and pride from their parents.Also Available In:
1982 (Illustrator)
+E DIOP - Mother Crocodile; An Uncle Amadou Tale from Sengal by Rosa Guy
Because Mother Crocodile tells stories of the past, the little crocodiles choose to believe she is crazy until almost too late they learn otherwise. -
1981 (Author)
N/A - This Life by Sidney Poitier
Biography of actor Sidney Poitier.
1981 (Illustrator)
+398 B - Beat the Story Drum, Pum-Pum by Ashley Bryan
Five traditional Nigerian tales. -
1980 (Author)
+MYERS - The Young Landlords by Walter Dean Myers
Five devoted friends become landlords and try to make their Harlem neighborhood a better place to live.
1980 (Illustrator)
+E YARBR - Cornrows by Carole Byard
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)
+793.1 D - Escape to Freedom by Ossie Davis
Born a slave, young Frederick Douglass endures many years of cruelty before escaping to the North to claim his freedom.
1979 (Illustrator)
+E FEELI - Something on My Mind by Tom Feelings
Poems expressing the hopes, fears, joys, and sorrows of growing up. -
1978 (Author)
+E GREEN - Africa Dream by Eloise Greenfield
A black child's dreams are filled with the images of the people and places of Africa. -
1977 (Author)
N/A - The Story of Stevie Wonder by James Haskins
Biography of musician Stevie Wonder. -
1976 (Author)
BAILE - Duey's Tale by Pearl Bailey -
1975 (Author)
+ROBIN - The Legend of Africana by Dorothy Robinson
An allegorical tale of Africa's struggle against the ravishment of its people and country. -
1974 (Author)
+B C476M - Ray Charles by Sharon Bell Mathis
Biography of musician Ray Charles. -
1973 (Author)
796.357092 R662 - I Never Had it Made: The Autobiography of Jackie Robinson by Alfred Duckett
Biography of baseball great Jackie Robinson. -
1972 (Author)
N/A - 17 Black Artists by Elton C. Fax
Biographies of prominent Black artists. -
1971 (Author)
N/A - Black Troubador: Langston Hughes by Charlemae Rollins
Biography of poet Langston Hughes. -
1970 (Author)
N/A - Martin Luther King, Jr.: Man of Peace by Lillie Patterson
Biography of civil rights activist Martin Luther King, Jr.
