As the year comes to a close, we would like to reflect on the work we’ve done, as well as all of the incredible diverse books and voices we’ve featured over the past 12 months. On each day of this final week, we’ll be highlighting features, Q&As, programming, and more! | January & February | March & April

In May and June of this year, we announced new winners for Creative Writing Awards and Internship Grants, celebrated the accomplishments of WNDB mentees, and announced we were no longer using #OwnVoices as an organization. Read on:

May & June

Picture Books/Early Reader

• Race Cars by Jenny Devenny, edited by Charnaie Gordon – Jenny and Charnaie in Conversation
• My Bindi by Gita Varadarajan, Illustrated by Archana Sreenivasan – Cover Reveal
• Sunday Rain by Rosie J. Pova, illustrated by Amariah Rauscher – How Can Parents and Teachers Help New Kids Adjust?
• The Arabic Quilt by Aya Khalil, illustrated by Anait Semirdhzyan – Celebrating Immigrant Muslim Mothers This Mother’s Day
• Stamped (For Kids): Racism, Antiracism, and You by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi, adapted by Sonja Cherry-Paul and illustrated by Rachelle Baker – Read an Excerpt
• Daddy & Dada by Ryan Brockington and Isaac Webster, illustrated by Lauren May – Q&A With Ryan and Isaac
• What Are Your Words? by Katherine Locke, illustrated by Anne Passchier – Q&A With Katherine and Anne
• Wishes by Mượn Thị Văn, illustrated by Victo Ngai- I Wrote Wishes so Readers Could See What It’s Like To Be a Refugee
• The Meaning of Pride by Rosiee Thor, Illustrated by Sam Kirk – Cover Reveal
• Jenny Mei Is Sad by Tracy Subisak – Why I Wrote A Picture Book About Sadness
• Paletero Man by Lucky Diaz, illustrated by Micah Player – Mexican Paleteros Inspired My Children’s Book
• How to Wear a Sari by Darshana Khiani, illustrated by Joanne Lew-Vriethoff – Q&A With Darshana and Joanne
• Lala’s Words by Gracey Zhang – Q&A With Gracey
• Geraldine Pu and Her Lunch Box, Too! by Maggie P. Chang – Q&A With Maggie
• Dancing in Thatha’s Footsteps by Srividhya Venkat, illustrated by Kavita Ramchandran – Finding Yourself Through Dance

Middle Grade

• Last Gate of the Emperor by Kwame Mbalia and Prince Joel Makonnen – Q&A With Kwame and Prince Joel
• The Shape of Thunder by Jasmine Warga – Jasmine Warga’s The Shape of Thunder Is About Difficult, Beautiful Things
• Unsettled by Reem Faruqi – Q&A With Reem
• Healer of the Water Monster by Brian Young – Read More About Heartdrum
• Pilar Ramirez and the Escape from Zafa by Julian Randall – Cover Reveal
• Miles Morales: Shock Waves by Justin A. Reynolds – Q&A With Justin
• Force of Fire by Sayantani DasGupta – Remembering Our Radical Asian and Asian American Elders
• The Marvellers by Dhonielle Clayton – Cover Reveal
• Freddie vs. the Family Curse by Tracy Badua – Cover Reveal
• Rea and the Blood of the Nectar by Payal Doshi – The Importance of Joyful Stories in Diverse Children’s Books
• Mischief and Mayhem by Ken Lamug – Q&A With Ken
• Hazel Bly and the Deep Blue Sea by Ashley Herring Blake – Q&A With Ashley

Young Adult

• All Kinds of Other by James Sie – Q&A With James
• Meet Cute Diary by Emery Lee – Q&A With Emery
• Counting Down with You by Tashie Bhuiyan – Tashie Bhuiyan Wrote Counting Down with You for Young Brown Girls
• Cool for the Summer by Dahlia Adler – Q&A With Dahlia
• Fix by J. Albert Mann – Rain Is Not Wet: An Adventure in Internalized Ableism
• The Other Side of Perfect by Mariko Turk – Q&A With Mariko
• Where the Rhythm Takes You by Sarah Dass – Sarah Dass’s Where the Rhythm Takes You Is a YA Persuasion Set In Trinidad and Tobago
• Off the Record by Camryn Garrett – Q&A With Camryn
• May the Best Man Win by ZR Ellor – Q&A With ZR
• Made in Korea by Sarah Suk – The Many Different Sides of Korean Diaspora Identity
• Misfit in Love by S.K. Ali – Q&A With S.K.
• Hani and Ishu’s Guide to Fake Dating by Adiba Jaigirdar – The Truth Behind Toxic Friendship
• Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé – Faridah Talks Inspirations for Her Blockbuster Debut
• An Emotion of Great Delight by Tahereh Mafi – An Emotion of Great Delight by Tahereh Mafi Is About Containing Multitudes
• The Ghosts We Keep by Mason Deaver – Q&A With Mason
• Jay’s Gay Agenda by Jason June – Q&A With Jason
• The (Un)Popular Vote by Jasper Sanchez – Q&A With Jasper
• The Passing Playbook by Isaac Fitzsimons – Q&A With Isaac
• Instructions for Dancing by Nicola Yoon – Q&A With Nicola
• One for All by Lillie Lainoff – Cover Reveal
• We Can’t Keep Meeting Like This by Rachel Lynn Solomon – Q&A With Rachel
• Of Princes and Promises by Sandhya Menon – Q&A With Sandhya
• Love & Other Natural Disasters by Misa Sugiura – Q&A With Misa
• How We Fall Apart by Katie Zhao – Q&A With Katie (Part One) | Part Two
• Fifteen Hundred Miles From the Sun by Jonny Garza Villa – I Wrote My Novel so Queer Mexican American Teens Could See Themselves
• The Last True Poets of the Sea by Julia Drake – Reading Widely Was the Best Research I Did for Writing
• The Lucky List by Rachael Lippincott – I Am Once Again Asking You To Use the Word Lesbian
• Blood Like Magic by Liselle Sambury – Liselle Sambury Wants Black Kids To See Themselves in Blood Like Magic
• Dark Things by Sukanya Venkatraghavan – Q&A With Sukanya
• This Is Why They Hate Us by Aaron H. Aceves – Cover and Playlist Reveal
• Camp by L.C. Rosen – Q&A With L.C.
• My Dearest Darkest by Kayla Cottingham – Cover Reveal
• Things We Couldn’t Say by Jay Coles – Read an Excerpt | Writing YA as Freedom
• This Poison Heart by Kalynn Bayron – Centering Queer Families in Young Adult Literature

New Adult/Adult

• One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston – Q&A With Casey
• Chef’s Kiss by Jarrett Melendez – Cover Reveal

Articles & Educational Resources

• Exploring Social and Emotional Learning On (Korean) Children’s Day by Carol Felicio
• How Rereading Childhood Books Helped Me Process Trauma by Rebecca Wei Hsieh
• How to Talk With Students about Banned Books by Nicole Klett
• The Ezra Jack Keats Foundation Champions Multicultural Children’s Books by Karis Rogerson
• How Librarians and Teachers Can Cultivate Diverse Books That Go Beyond the Trauma Experience by Morgan Jackson
• Trauma-informed Policy and Practice: How Schools Can Support Students and Staff After National Tragedies by Andrea Ruggirello
• How to Pair Classic Texts With Modern YA Novels in the Classroom by Gianna Macchia
• How To Make Disability Justice a Classroom Priority by Cyril Slemaker
• Take a Look at Ellen Oh’s Little Free Library
• Going Beyond Surface-Level Diversity in Children’s Podcasts by Sandhya Nankani
• Meet Youth Activist Draya Gohagon by Laura Shovan

WNDB Programming

Congratulations to the 2021 Creative Writing Awards Winners – The 2021 winners are: Fiction & Drama: Ally Guo of William Mason High School, Mason, OH, for “Superstition”; Personal Essay/Memoir: Ajok Thon of High Tech High Media Arts, San Diego, CA, for “(Un)erasable Shade; Poetry: Evelyn Lee of Sam Houston High School, Moss Bluff, LA, for “My Mother Rejected God When She Was 19 But I Don’t Think God Ever Really Got Over It”; Maya Angelou Award for Spoken Word: Chloe Cramutola of Absegami High School, Stamford, NJ, for “Why”; NYC Entrant: Tandika Somwaru of Midwood High School, Brooklyn, NY, for “How to Write the Great Guyanese Novel”

Why We Need Diverse Books Is No Longer Using the Term #OwnVoices – “We Need Diverse Books (WNDB) will no longer use the term #OwnVoices to refer to children’s literature or its authors and we have removed mentions of #OwnVoices from previously published blog posts. Moving forward, WNDB will use specific descriptions that authors use for themselves and their characters whenever possible (for example, “Korean American author,” or “autistic protagonist”).”

Celebrating the News of Walter Award Winners and WNDB Mentees – “This is the first of an annual round-up, celebrating recent news from Walter Award Winners (in previous years) and WNDB mentorship award winners, and forthcoming 2021 titles from winners and honorees of the Walter Dean Myers Award.”

We Need Diverse Books Announces the Winners of the 2021 WNDB Internship Grants – “We Need Diverse Books (WNDB) is pleased to announce the 2021 recipients of the WNDB Internship Grant, a $3,000 grant to support diverse interns during their internship with a publishing house or literary agency. For the first time, we have awarded grants to interns working in either children’s or adult publishing.

Children’s 2021 Internship Grant Recipients: Alex Aceves, Denzel Nim-Dixon, Sara Canelon, AZ Nowell, Yong Yong Chen, Joo Hee Park, Jin Soo Chun, Zora Pruitt, Perla Gil, Michelle Rajan, Tiffany Liu, Jean Li Spencer, Tereza Lopez, El Wilson, Paktra Lynch, Ami Wong, Kelsey Maldonado, Karen Yao, and Naira Mirza.

Adult 2021 Internship Grant Recipients: Camara Aaron, Alisa Gao, Adaylin Alvarez, Autumn Oliver, Sasha Charlemagne, Sousan Rawwagah, Jasmine Cui, Ambriah Underwood, Uma Dwivedi, and Alecsander Zapata.”

WNDB Announces Three New Walter Grants in 2021 – “This year, WNDB will give 8 grants at $2000 each to unpublished writers or illustrators from marginalized backgrounds who are working on children’s or young adult literature projects. Five of the grants were funded thanks to the generosity of Angie Thomas, author of #1 New York Times bestselling novel The Hate U Give, who is also a former Walter Grant recipient. Three of the 8 grants will be designated for creators from specific marginalized groups: one recurring grant for trans creators, thanks to a donation from author Margaret Owen; one recurring grant for Muslim creators, thanks to a donation from author Hanna Alkaf; one grant for refugee and migrant creators, thanks to a donation from author A. M. Dassu”