The award is established to affirm new talent and to offer visibility to excellence in writing and/or illustration, from 1995 to the present.

Book cover for There Goes the Neighborhood
2024

There Goes the Neighborhood

by Adia, Jade
Call Number:

Book cover for We Deserve Monuments
2023

We Deserve Monuments

by Hammonds, Jas
Call Number: YA

Book cover for Me (Moth)
2022

Me (Moth)

by McBride, Amber
Call Number: YA

Book cover for Legendborn
2021

Legendborn

by Deonn, Tracy
Call Number: YA

Excellently paced novel about a teen who, while mourning her mother’s death, stumbles into the reality of magic and discovers how it ties into her life. Full of mystery, suspense, romance and friendship, the start of this series will have you turning the pages well into the night.


Book cover for Genesis Begins Again
2020

Genesis Begins Again

by Williams, Alicia
Call Number: YA

Book cover for Monday's Not Coming
2019

Monday's Not Coming

by Jackson, Tiffany D.
Call Number: YA

Claudia and Monday are best friends and inseparable. However, Monday is nowhere to be found on the first day of school and as the weeks go by she does not appear. Claudia begins a journey to discover where and what happened to her best friend but unfortunately gets no help from anyone including her mother and sister. A dark and deep mystery that looks at how easily people vanish and the effects that it has on a community.


Book cover for The Stars Beneath Our Feet
2018

The Stars Beneath Our Feet

by Moore, David Barclay,
Call Number: YA

Book cover for The Sun is Also a Star
2017

The Sun is Also a Star

by Yoon, Nicola
Call Number: YA

Told over several hours on an ordinary day in New York, teens Natasha and Daniel meet, and discover the universe, which in its own extraordinary way, has brought them into each other’s lives.


Book cover for Hoodoo
2016

Hoodoo

by Smith, Ronald L. (Ronald Lenard), 1959-
Call Number: YA

Book cover for When I Was the Greatest
2015

When I Was the Greatest

by Reynolds, Jason.
Call Number: YA

Set in Brooklyn, fifteen-year-old Ali and his two best friends, brothers Needles and Noodles, learn about themselves and each other after they get caught up in a dangerous situation that tests their friendship.


Book cover for Zora and Me
2011

Zora and Me

by Bond, Victoria, 1979-
Call Number: x

Gr. 5 and up. A coming of age novel about the life of a young Zora Neale Hurston as told from the perspective of her best friend Carrie. Zora uses folkloric stories to explain what she does not yet fully understand - class struggles, racial tensions, murder, and death while growing up in Eatonville, Florida, one of the nation's first all-black towns.


Book cover for The Rock and the River
2010

The Rock and the River

by Magoon, Kekla.
Call Number: YA

Book cover for Bird
2009

Bird

by Elliott, Zetta.
Call Number: x

Book cover for Brendan Buckley's Universe and Everything in it
2008

Brendan Buckley's Universe and Everything in it

by Frazier, Sundee Tucker, 1968-
Call Number: x

Mixed-race Brendan loves science, Tae Kwon Do and his family, and he's very surprised to learn that the president of the local rock collectors' club is the white grandfather he's never met.


Book cover for Standing Against the Wind
2007

Standing Against the Wind

by Jones, Traci L.
Call Number:

Book cover for Jimi & Me
2006

Jimi & Me

by Adoff, Jaime.
Call Number:

Book cover for Missy Violet & Me
2005

Missy Violet & Me

by Hathaway, Barbara, 1944-
Call Number: x

Book cover for The Way a Door Closes
2004

The Way a Door Closes

by Smith, Hope Anita.
Call Number: x 811 S649

Book cover for Chill Wind
2003

Chill Wind

by McDonald, Janet, 1953-2007.
Call Number: x

Book cover for The Skin I'm In
1999

The Skin I'm In

by Flake, Sharon.
Call Number:

Maleeka is embarrassed by her extremely dark skin, but she gets encouragement from a teacher who has appearance issues herself.


Book cover for Another Way to Dance
1997

Another Way to Dance

by Southgate, Martha.
Call Number:

Book cover for Tears of a Tiger
1995

Tears of a Tiger

by Draper, Sharon M. (Sharon Mills).
Call Number: YA