The Diverse Book Awards

Juhi helps her Appa in the flower shop. She understands the language of love and the messages that flowers can share e.g. affection, sorrow or an embrace. She knows how flowers can be offered as a language of faith such as offerings at a temple. But Juhi does not understand the language of grief.

In this evocative picturebook, Smith’s graceful writing is complimented beautifully by Asis’ illustrations. We learn with Juhi what grief looks like and how beauty can offer comfort in times of loss.

A heartfelt story about navigating grief, embracing self-expression, and discovering reasons to celebrate even in life’s most challenging times. Great for children who are curious about the loss of their loved ones.

A moving and heartfelt story about the relationship between an orphan and a pit pony in 1950s Yorkshire.

Reminiscent of classics like Black Beauty and Goodnight Mr Tom, Birdie is both a heart-warming animal story and a powerful exploration of belonging and bravery. A must-read for young readers, teachers and anyone who cherishes stories about finding hope in the face of adversity. Timeless, heartbreaking and ultimately uplifting, Birdie is destined to become a classic.

Winner of the Commonword Diversity YA novel in 2018, Dev Kothari brings us her much anticipated, debut novel bringing to life her experience of growing up in a small village outside of Mumbai.

Aimed at the middle-grade market but equally compelling for older years too, Kothari has artfully created a gripping mystery story interwoven with a narrative that leaves you simultaneously fearing for and cheering on the main characters.

Lena has grown up in the shadow of her older brother, Kay-Kay, always feeling second-best at school and at home but, when KayKay goes missing, Lena realises just how much her brother has always been there for her and vows to help find him.

Bringing back Kay-Kay is a story of love – for India, for family and sometimes even for those who seem least deserving. Touching on the true-life, shocking statistics of missing children in India, as well as some quite difficult issues, such as depression, poverty and runaways, this story is most suitable for UKS2 and beyond. Suitable as a class read or as a good quality library addition.

This laugh-out-loud book is jam-packed with funny black-and-white pictures reminiscent of Diary of a Wimpy Kid. ‘The Cheat Book’ was a delight to read with hilarious, likeable characters. The author, Ramzee has taken the subject of refugees and fitting in and written about it sensitively but also in an entertaining way. I loved how I learnt about Somali culture and the references to Islam were interesting like the fact that Kamal has two angels on his shoulders, who write down his good and bad deeds. Readers, young and old may relate to moving to a strange, new place and starting over. Most will be able to relate to the worry of having to make new friends and only showing certain aspects of yourself so others can like you. In this book, Kamal wants to be cool, and have a seat at the cool table.

There’s a new app called Popstock which gives everyone a ranking out of 10. Unfortunately, for Kamal, he’s a 0, something that has never happened before. But fortunately for Kamal, he finds the Cheat Book in the library. It’s full of lifehacks that help him work his ranking up to 10. The ending is empowering despite Kamal getting booed off the stage. I look forward to reading volume two and seeing what Kamal and his friends, JoJo and Wing get up to.

This is a mystery with so many different components; it features the same characters as Sharna Jackson’s previously published High Rise Mystery book.11-year-old Wesley and his friends, Margot and Josie, help Wesley’s mum to throw a surprise 40th birthday party for their neighbour, Rachel, which includes an invitation to four friends whom Margot has located from Rachel’s Facebook. The party is a strange event, full of contradictions and bizarre conversations.

The following morning, Wesley finds Rachel dead. The party attendees follow Rachel’s cultural traditions and throw a Caribbean Nine Night Celebration, intended to guide her spirit to the next world. But the children’s suspicions are raised as to the nature of Rachel’s death and they determine to investigate it, using some quite underhanded methods.

The plot is quite complex and moves very quickly; the dead-end clues throw your thoughts off in various wrong directions! In addition to Rachel’s mysterious death, other related puzzles are woven into the storyline. Characters are well-constructed and encompass a good range of different family types, including an estranged father and sisters, as well as introducing a mix of cultures, beliefs and values. The teenage dialogue is engaging and funny – you can almost hear the three friends talking. They are very self-possessed and, although taking on tasks that would best be left to adults, they are extremely resilient and have strong values and bonds of friendship.

In this collaboration with the National Literacy Trust, Tom Percival has written a book that should be in every school library in the country. For Will, things just keep going wrong. Bullied for having cheap shoes, misunderstood by his teachers, and struggling to come to terms with the bleak and hungry life he leads after his dad lost his job, life seems to be pushing him down a path of self-destruction.

The love of his family, the persistence of his friends, and a freak encounter with nature keep filling him with just enough hope to keep doing the next right thing. Will is living on the poverty line, and this will be a sensitive issue for some children. Life for Will is hard, but he learns that he is still powerful and in a position to make choices about his future and the path he wants to take.

The Wrong Shoes is a story that will increase empathy in children whose lives are easier than Will’s and empower those who relate to him. Suitable for Upper KS2 and beyond.

Written in verse. Ronny moves out of London after his friend is attacked, but he struggles to fit into his new town until he discovers spoken word.

Powerful, empathetic, raw, inspiring and creative!