The winners of the Diverse Book Awards have just been announced.

In the Children’s Book category, in third place is Planet Omar: Accidental Trouble Magnet, by Zanib Mian, illustrated by Nasaya Mafaridik.  In second place is My Hair, by Hannah Lee, illustrated by Allen Fatimaharan.

The winner in this category is The Star Outside My Window, by Onjali Rauf (who wrote the much-loved The Boy at the Back of the Class).  This book deals sensitively with themes of loss, trauma, domestic abuse and the care system, and has rave reviews from adults and children alike.

 

 

 

 

In the YA category, third place goes to The Black Flamingo, by Dean Atta, and second place to All the things we never said, by Yasmin Rahman.  The winner is Chinglish, by Sue Cheung; a funny and thoughtful book centred on growing up between two cultures in 1980s Britain.  “Who’d have thought of an average working class girl like me telling her story about growing up in a Chinese takeaway in Coventry.” (from the author’s acceptance speech – see link below).

 

Here is a link to the online award ceremony, with more information about these diverse books, and their diverse authors – and the winners and runners up in the adult category.