The 2025 longlist of The Diverse Book Awards were announced, and these are a great selection of diverse reads that you should definitely check out!
Created by award-winning author Abiola Bello and award-winning publicist Helen Lewis and co-founders of The Author School, this award aims to highlight the best of the diverse voices published in the UK & Ireland, this year focusing on those published during 2024, both traditionally and self-published. And just like last year, the DBAs is giving readers a chance to vote for their favorites with The Readers” Choice Awards. Click on the link to start voting for your favorites!
The winners will be announced at a ceremony on October 9. And now without further ado, here is the shortlist:
All links will lead to either Bookshop.org or Waterstones. If you purchase through the links, this blog will receive a commission.
Picture Book
A Fairy Called Fred by Robert Tregoning and illustrated by Stef Murphy
Fred the fairy works at a Wish-Granting Plant – and when he’s finally given his very first wish to grant, he wants to get it right!
Josh only has one wish. He’s been invited to a princess party . . . and he needs a dress to wear!
With time ticking and the party approaching, it’s up to Fred to conjure up the PERFECT outfit, and make sure that Josh is the very best-dressed princess. Can Fred make this little boy’s wish come true, and prove himself in the process? (Credit: Bloomsbury Publishing)
Priya Mistry and the Paw Prints Puzzle by Babita Sharma and illustrated by Ali Pye
Introducing Priya Mistry – corner shop super sleuth! She’s a Mistry by name, and mysteries are her game.
When some puzzling paw prints appear on the floor of her family’s corner shop, Priya grabs her mission kit and kicks off an investigation. Can Priya crack the case and uncover the mysterious creature before it eats all the food in the shop?
This is a fantastically fun and mischievously mysterious picture book that is perfect for little detectives! (Credit: Hachette Children’s Group)
- Flower Block by Lanisha Butterfield, illustrated by Hoang Giang (Puffin)
- Grandma’s Locs by Karen Arthur, illustrated by Camilla Ru (Tate Publishing)
- Me and My Hair by Kimberley Kinloch, illustrated by Jessica Gibson (Usborne Publishing)
- Olu’s Teacher: A Story About Starting Nursery by Jamel C. Campbell, illustrated by Lydia Mba (Walker Books)
- Pearl and her Bunch by Momoko Abe (Orchard Books)
- The Boy Who Loves to Lick the Wind by Fiona Carswell, illustrated by Yu Rong (Otter-Barry Books)
- The Language of Flowers by Shyala Smith, illustrated by Aaron Asis (Lantana Publishing)
- Until You Find the Sun by Maryam Hassan, illustrated by Anna Wilson (Hodder Children’s Books)
Children
Birdie by J P Rose
Birdie Bagshaw has never known her parents. Having grown up in a children’s home for mixed race children in 1950s Leeds, now she has come to live with her great-aunt in the Yorkshire Dales. From her arrival, Birdie is treated like an outsider by the local children. When their bullying drives Birdie to hide in the nearby coal mine, she finds an unexpected rescuer in the form of Mr Duke, the last remaining pit pony in the village. As the weeks pass, Birdie forms a special bond with the spirited little pony. But his future is in danger, and Birdie comes up with a daring plan to save his life in return . . .(Credit: Andersen Press)
The Boy Who Fell from the Sky by Benjamin Dean
Combining the warmth and heart of Ross Welford’s The 1,000 Year Old Boy with the epic adventure and inseparable friendship of Frank Cottrell Boyce’s Cosmic comes an otherworldly new middle grade adventure from the award-winning Benjamin Dean.
Twelve-year-old Zed has always been fascinated by the Demons that fall from the sky. His whole life his dad has worked as a Hunter, tasked with eliminating Demons once and for all, and Zed hopes to one day follow in his footsteps.
But then one night Spark appears and disrupts everything Zed thought he knew. Because this Demon is nothing like the myths – he’s a frightened boy, no older than Zed, who wants to go back home.
Can Zed stand up for what’s right, even if it means going against his own family? (Credit: Simon & Schuster Children’s Books)
- Bobby Bains Plays a Blinder by Bali Rai, illustrated by Daniel Duncan (Barrington Stoke)
- Bringing Back Kay-Kay by Dev Kothari (Walker Books)
- Mayowa and the Sea of Words by Chibundu Onuzo (Bloomsbury Children’s Books)
- The Cheat Book (Vol. 1) by RAMZEE (Hodder Children’s Books)
- The Fights That Make Us by Sarah Hagger-Holt (Usborne)
- The Nine Night Mystery by Sharna Jackson (Puffin)
- The Wrong Shoes by Tom Percival (Simon & Schuster Children’s Books)
- Time Tub Travellers and the Silk Thief by Claire Linney (Self-published)
Teen & Young Adult
Desi Girl Speaking by A.S. Hussain
Tweety is struggling.
Battling depression and faced with parents and friends who don’t fully understand what’s happening, sixteen-year-old Tweety feels like no one is listening and there’s nowhere to turn to. Until she stumbles across Desi Girl Speaking, a podcast by someone else who’s struggling too.
Through episodes and exchanged emails, Tweety and Desi Girl begin to confide in each other, but as Tweety’s depression deepens, she’ll have to decide whether to stay silenced or use her voice to speak up.
A powerful and compassionate novel about mental health and hope, for readers of Yasmin Rahman, Muhammad Khan and Danielle Jawando.(Credit: Hot Key Books)
If My Words Had Wings by Danielle Jawando
A life affirming story of rehabilitation and hope after prison. The third novel from multi-award-winning Danielle Jawando, perfect for fans of Angie Thomas and Elizabeth Acevedo.
When fifteen-year-old Tyrell Forrester gets caught up in a high-profile armed robbery, he’s sentenced to two years in a young offenders’ prison. Now he’s getting out, and he’s determined to turn his life around. But despite his release, systemic discrimination makes it difficult for Ty to truly be free. Inspired by a visiting poet while inside, Ty discovers a whole new world through spoken word and is finally finding his voice. But will society ever see him as anything other than a criminal? (Credit: Simon & Schuster)
- Dancers of the Dawn by Zulekhá A. Afzal (Rock the Boat)
- I Never Shall Fall in Love by Hari Conner (Simon & Schuster)
- King of Nothing by Nathanael Lessore (Hot Key Books)
- Not for the Faint of Heart by Lex Croucher (Bloomsbury Children’s Books)
- Some Like It Cold by Elle McNicoll (First Ink)
- The Boy Next Door by Jenny Ireland (Penguin Random House Children’s)
- The Thread That Connects Us by Ayaan Mohamud (Usborne)
- Wild East by Ashley Hickson-Lovence (Penguin Random House Children’s)
Adult
Allow Me to Introduce Myself by Onyi Nwabineli
Her life. Her rules. Finally.
Anuri Chinasa has had enough. And really, who can blame her? She was the unwilling star of her stepmother’s social media empire before “momfluencers” were even a thing. For years, Ophelia documented every birthday, every skinned knee, every milestone and meltdown for millions of strangers to fawn over and pick apart.
Now, at twenty-five, Anuri is desperate to put her way-too-public past behind her and start living on her own terms. But it’s not going so great. She can barely walk down the street without someone recognizing her, and the fraught relationship with her father has fallen apart. Then there’s her PhD application (still unfinished) and her drinking problem (still going strong). When every detail of her childhood was so intensely scrutinized, how can she tell what she really wants?
Still, Ophelia is never far away and has made it clear she won’t go down without a fight. With Noelle, Anuri’s five-year-old half sister now being forced down the same path, Anuri discovers she has a new mission in life…
To take back control of the family narrative.
Through biting wit and heartfelt introspection, this darkly humorous story dives deep into the deceptive allure of a picture-perfect existence, the overexposure of children in social media and the excitement of self-discovery. (Credit: Magpie)
The Ballad of Jacquotte Delahaye by Briony Cameron
In the tumultuous town of Yáquimo, Santo Domingo, Jacquotte Delahaye is an up-and-coming shipwright, but her ambitions are bound by the confines of her self-seeking French father. When her way of life and the delicate balance of power in the town are threatened, she is forced to flee her home and become a woman on the run along with a motley crew of refugees, including a mysterious young woman named Teresa.
Jacquotte and her band become indentured servants to the infamous Blackhand, a ruthless pirate captain who rules his ship with an iron fist. As they struggle to survive, Jacquotte finds herself unable to resist Teresa despite their differences. When Blackhand hatches a dangerous scheme to steal a Portuguese shipment of jewels, Jacquotte must rely on her wits, resourcefulness, and friends to survive. But she discovers there is a grander, darker scheme of treachery at play, and she ultimately must decide what price she is willing to pay to secure a better future for them all. (Credit: Atria Books)
- Alter Ego by Helen Heckety (Renegade Books)
- Godzilla and the Songbird by Manzu Islam (Peepal Tree Press)
- Ground by Jadelin Gangbo (Jacaranda)
- Lost Love Songs by Ingrid Persaud (Faber)
- Rinsing Mũkami’s Soul by Njambi McGrath (Jacaranda)
- The House of Broken Bricks by Fiona Williams (Faber)
- The Witness by Alexandra Wilson (Sphere)
- Yorùbá Boy Running by Biyi Bándélé (Hamish Hamilton)
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