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Coretta Scott King Book Awards
The Coretta Scott King Book Awards
The Coretta Scott King Award is presented annually by the Ethnic & Multicultural Information Exchange Round Table, part of the American Library Association (ALA). Named for Coretta Scott King, wife of civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., this award recognizes outstanding books for young adults and children by African Americans, that reflect the African-American experience. Awards are given both to authors and to illustrators. The concept of the award was first proposed in 1969 and the first actual award was presented in 1970. For the first few years, only Authors were acknowledged, but starting in 1974, and regularly thereafter, an Illustrator was also recognized. You can find more information about the Coretta Scott King Book Awards at – The Official Site (from the ALA) and Wikipedia.
The titles in this list are “hotlinked” to our library’s catalog, for all those titles currently owned by the Lincoln City Libraries. Please note that only the “winners” are listed on our page, not the “Honor” books, which you can find by visiting either of the links in the preceeding paragraph. If there is a title you are interested in which we no longer own, and you are a Lincoln City Libraries customer, please consider requesting it through our Interlibrary Loan service.
2023
Author – Amina Luqman-Dawson – Freewater (j Luqman-Dawson)
Illustrator – Frank Morrison – Standing in the Need of Prayer: A Modern Retelling of the Classic Spiritual (jP Weatherford)
2022
Author – Carole Boston Weatherford – Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre (j976.686 Wea)
Illustrator – Floyd Cooper – Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre (j976.686 Wea)
2021
Author – Jacqueline Woodson – Before the Ever After (j Woodson)
Illustrator – Frank Morrison – R-E-S-P-E-C-T: Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul (j Biography Franklin)
2020
Author – Jerry Craft – New Kid (jPB [Series] Kraft)
Illustrator – Kadir Nelson – The Undefeated (jP Bauer)
2019
Author – Claire Hartfield – A Few Red Drops: The Chicago Race Riot of 1919 (j977.311 Har)
Illustrator – Ekua Holmes – The Stuff of Stars (jP Bauer)
2018
Author – Renee Watson – Piecing Me Together (YA Watson)
Illustrator – Ekua Holmes – Out of Wonder: Poems Celebrating Poets (j811.08 Ale)
2017
Author – John Lewis and Andrew Aydin – March: Book Three (Biography Lewis)
Illustrator – Javaka Steptoe – Radiant Child: The Story of Young Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat (j Biography Basquiat)
2016
Author – Rita Williams-Garcia – Gone Crazy in Alabama (j Williams-Garcia)
Illustrator – Bryan Collier – Trombone Shorty (j Biography Trombone)
2015
Author – Jacqueline Woodson – Brown Girl Dreaming (j818 Woo)
Illustrator – Christopher Myers – Firebird (jP Copeland)
2014
Author – Rita Williams-Garcia – P.S. Be Eleven (j Williams-Garcia)
Illustrator – Bryan Collier – Knock, Knock: My Dad’s Dreams For Me (jP Beaty)
2013
Author – Andrea Davis Pinkney – Hand in Hand: Ten Black Men Who Changed America (j305.8 AfrYp)
llustrator – Bryan Collier – I, Too, Am America (jP Hughes)
2012
Author – Kadir Nelson – Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans (j305.8 AfrYn)
Illustrator – Shane W. Evans – Underground: Finding the Light to Freedom (jP Evans)
2011
Author – Rita Williams-Garcia – One Crazy Summer (j Williams-Garcia)
Illustrator – Bryan Collier – Dave the Potter: Artist, Poet, Slave (j Biography Dave)
2010
Author – Vaunda Micheaux Nelson – Bad News for Outlaws: The Remarkable Life of Bass Reeves, Deputy U.S. Marshal (j Biography Reeves)
Illustrator – Charles R. Smith Jr. – My People (jP Hughes)
2009
Author – Kadir Nelson – We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball (j796.357 Nel)
Illustrator – Floyd Cooper – The Blacker the Berry (j811 Tho)
2008
Author – Christopher Paul Curtis – Elijah of Buxton (j Curtis)
Illustrator – Ashley Bryan – Let it Shine: Three Favorite Spirituals (j781.629 Let)
2007
Author – Sharon Draper – Copper Sun (YA PB Draper)
Illustrator – Kadir Nelson – Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom (jB T79w)
2006
Author – Julius Lester – Day of Tears: A Novel in Dialogue (YA Lester)
Illustrator – Bryan Collier – Rosa (not in library)
2005
Author – Toni Morrison – Remember: The Journey to School Integration (j379.263 Mor)
Illustrator – Kadir Nelson – Ellington Was Not a Street (j811 Sha)
2004
Author – Angela Johnson– The First Part Last (YA PB Johnson)
Illustrator – Ashley Bryan – Beautiful Blackbird (jP Bryan)
2003
Author – Nikki Grimes – Bronx Masquerade (YA PB Grimes)
Illustrator – E.B. Lewis – Talkin’ About Bessie: The Story of Aviator Elizabeth Coleman (jB C6709g)
2002
Author – Mildred Taylor – The Land (digital audio only)
Illustrator – Jerry Pinkney – Goin’ Someplace Special (jP McKissack)
2001
Author – Jacqueline Woodson – Miracle’s Boys (j Woodson)
Illustrator – Bryan Collier – Uptown (jP Collier)
2000
Author – Christopher Paul Curtis – Bud, Not Buddy (j Curtis)
Illustrator – Brian Pinkney – In the Time of the Drums (jP Siegelson)
1999
Author – Angela Johnson – Heaven (not in library)
Illustrator – Michelle Wood – I See the Rhythm (j781.629 Igu)
1998
Author – Sharon Draper – Forged By Fire (j Draper)
Illustrator – Javaka Steptoe – In Daddy’s Arms I am Tall: African Americans Celebrating Fathers (j811.08 Ste)
1997
Author – Walter Dean Myers – Slam (j Myers)
Illustrator – Jerry Pinkney – Minty: A Story of Young Harriet Tubman (jB T79s)
1996
Author – Virginia Hamilton – Her Stories: African American Folktales, Fairy Tales, and True Tales (j398.2 Ham)
Illustrator – Tom Feelings – The Middle Passage (not in library)
1995
Author – Patricia C. McKissack and Fredrick L. McKissack – Christmas in the Big House, Christmas in the Quarters (j394.26 McK)
Illustrator – James Ransome – The Creation (jP Johnson)
1994
Author – Angela Johnson – Toning the Sweep (not in library)
Illustrator – Tom Feelings – Soul Looks Back in Wonder (jP Feelings)
1993
Author – Patricia C. McKissack – The Dark-Thirty: Southern Tales of the Supernatural (j McKissack)
Illustrator – Kathleen Atkins Wilson – The Origin of Life on Earth: An African Creation Myth (not in library)
1992
Author – Walter Dean Myers – Now is Your Time: The African American Struggle for Freedom (Hoopla digital only)
Illustrator – Faith Ringgold – Tar Beach (jPB Picture Book Ringgold)
1991
Author – Mildred Taylor – The Road to Memphis (j Taylor)
Illustrator – Leo and Diane Dillon – Aida (not in library)
1990
Author – Patricia C. McKissack and Fredrick L. McKissack – A Long Hard Journey: The Story of the Pullman Porter (not in library)
Illustrator – Jan Spivey Gilchrist – Nathaniel Talking (not in library)
1989
Author – Walter Dean Myers – Fallen Angels (YA PB Myers)
Illustrator – Jerry Pinkney – Mirandy and Brother Wind (jP McKissack)
1988
Author – Mildred Taylor – The Friendship (jC Taylor or jPB (Series) Taylor)
Illustrator – John Steptoe – Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters: An African Tale (jP Steptoe)
1987
Author – Mildred Pitts Walter – Justin and the Best Biscuits in the World (jPB Walter)
Illustrator – Jerry Pinkney – Half a Moon and One Whole Star (jP Dragonwagon)
1986
Author – Virginia Hamilton – The People Could Fly: American Black Folktales (jP Hamilton)
Illustrator – Jerry Pinkney – The Patchwork Quilt (jP Flournoy)
1985
Author – Walter Dean Myers – Motown and Didi (not in library)
Illustrator – ( None )
1984
Special – Coretta Scott King (Editor) – The Words of Martin Luther King Jr. (B K585r)
Author – Lucille Clifton – Everett Anderson’s Goodbye (not in library)
Illustrator – Pat Cummings – My Mama Needs Me (not in library)
1983
Author – Virginia Hamilton – Sweet Whispers, Brother Rush (j Hamilton)
Illustrator – Peter Magubane – Black Child (not in library)
1982
Author – Mildred Taylor – Let the Circle Be Unbroken (j Taylor)
Illustrator – John Steptoe – Mother Crocodile: An Uncle Amadou Tale from Senegal (j398.2 Dio)
1981
Author – Sidney Poitier – This Life (791.43 Poi)
Illustrator – Ashley Bryan – Beat the Story Drum, Pum-Pum (not in library)
1980
Author – Walter Dean Myers – The Young Landlords (YA PB Myers)
Illustrator – Carole Byard – Cornrows (jP Yarbrough)
1979
Author – Ossie Davis – Escape to Freedom (not in library)
Illustrator – Tom Feelings – Something on My Mind (not in library)
1978
Author – Eloise Greenfield – Africa Dream (jP Greenfield)
Illustrator – Carole Byard– Africa Dream (jP Greenfield)
1977
Author – James Haskins – The Story of Stevie Wonder (not in library)
Illustrator – ( None )
1976
Author – Pearl Bailey – Duey’s Tale (not in library)
Illustrator – ( None )
1975
Author – Dorothy Robinson – The Legend of Africania (not in library)
Illustrator – ( None )
1974
Author – Sharon Bell Mathis – Ray Charles (jB C378m)
Illustrator – George Ford– Ray Charles (jB C378m)
1973
Author – Alfred Duckett – I Never Had It Made: An Autobiography of Jackie Robinson (Biography Robinson)
1972
Author – Elton Fax – 17 Black Artists (not in library)
1971
Author – Charlemae Robbins – Black Troubadour: Langston Hughes (not in library)
1970
Author – Lillie Patterson– Martin Luther King, Jr.: Man of Peace (not in library)
The John Steptoe Award for New Talent
Since 1995, the Coretta Scott King Awards program has included (with a few years’ gaps) the Steptoe Award, named for John Steptoe. The Steptoe Award recognizes new talents — both Authors and Illustrators — who have debuted in the past year.
2023 – Jas Hammonds – Author – We Deserve Monuments (YA Hammonds)
2023 – Janelle Washington – Illustrator – Choosing Brave: How Mamie Till- Mobley and Emmett Till Sparked the Civil Rights Movement (not in library)
2022 – Amber McBride – Author – Me (Moth) (YA McBride)
2021 – Tracy Deonn – Author – Legendborn (YA Deonn)
2020 – April Harrison – Illustrator – What is Given From the Heart (jP McKissack)
2020 – Alicia D. Williams – Author – Genesis Begins Again (j Williams)
2019 – Oge Mora – Illustrator – Thank You, Omu (jP Mora)
2019 – Tiffany D. Jackson – Author – Monday’s Not Coming (YA Jackson)
2018 – Charly Palmer – Illustrator – Mama Africa! How Miriam Makeba Spread Hope with Her Song (j Biography Makeba)
2018 – David Barclay Moore – Author – The Stars Beneath Our Feet (j Moore)
2017 – Nicola Yoon – Author – The Sun is Also a Star (YA Yoon)
2016 – Ekua Holmes – Illustrator – Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer, Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement (j Biography Hamer)
2016 – Ronald L. Smith – Author – Hoodoo (j Smith)
2015 – Jason Reynolds – Author – When I Was the Greatest (YA PB Reynolds)
2014 – Theodore Taylor III – Illustrator – When the Beat Was Born: DJ Kool Herc and the Creation of Hip Hop (j Biography DJ Kool)
2013 – none
2012 – none
2011 – Sonia Lynn Sadler – Illustrator – Seeds of Change: Planting a Path to Peace, written by Jen Cullerton Johnson (j Biography Maathal)
2011 – Victoria Bond and T. R. Simon – Authors – Zora and Me (j Bond)
2010 – Kekla Magoon – Author – The Rock and the River (YA PB Fiction Magoon)
2009 – Shadra Strickland- Illustrator – Bird, written by Zetta Elliott (jP Elliott)
2008 – Sundee T. Frazier – Author – Brendan Buckley’s Universe and Everything In It (j Frazier)
2007 – Traci L. Jones – Author – Standing Against the Wind (not in library)
2006 – Jaime Adoff – author – Jimi & Me (not in library)
2005 – Frank Morrison – Illustrator – Jazzy Miz Mozetta, written by Brenda C. Roberts (jP Roberts)
2005 – Barbara Hathaway – Author – Missy Violet and Me (not in library)
2004 – Hope Anita Smith – Author – The Way a Door Closes, illustrated by Shane W. Evans (not in library)
2003 – Randy DuBurke – Author/Illustrator – The Moon Ring (jP DeBurke)
2003 – Janet McDonald – Author – Chill Wind (not in library)
2002 – Jerome Lagarrigue – Illustrator of – Freedom Summer, written by Deborah Wiles (jP Wiles)
2001 – none
2000 – none
1999 – Sharon Flake – Author – The Skin I’m In (Hoopla eBook only)
1999 – Eric Velasquez – Illustrator – The Piano Man, written by Debbie Chocolate (jP Chocolate)
1998 – none
1997 – Martha Southgate – Author – Another Way to Dance (not in library)
1996 – none
1995 – Sharon Draper – Author – Tears of a Tiger (not in library)
Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement
Beginning in 2010, the Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement has joined the Coretta Scott King Awards. This award is presented in alternating years to African American Authors/Illustrators, and to “practitioners” (educators, librarians, booksellers, etc.) whose support of African American works for youth and teens has been outstanding.
2023 – Dr. Claudette McLinn, the founder and executive director of the Center for the Study of Multicultural Children’s Literature
2022 – Nikki Grimes, author
2021 – Dorothy L. Guthrie, retired librarian, district administrator, author and school board member
2020 – Mildred Taylor, author
2019 – Dr. Pauletta Brown Bracy, Professor of Library Science and Director of the Office of University Accreditation at North Carolina Central University
2018 – Eloise Greenfield, author
2017 – Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop, Professor Emerita of Education at Ohio State University
2016 – Jerry Pinkney, illustrator
2015 – Deborah D. Taylor, young adult librarian
2014 – Patricia McKissack and Fredrick McKissack, children’s authors
2013 – Demetria Tucker, family and youth services librarian for the Pearl Bailey Library, a branch of the Newport News (Va.) Public Library System
2012 – Ashley Bryan, storyteller, artist, author, poet, and musician
2011 – Dr. Henrietta Mays Smith, professor emerita at the University of South Florida, Tampa, School of Library and Information Science
2010 – Walter Dean Myers – Author
Last updated January 2023 – sdc
