2019 has been a great year for children's & YA books by and about 'BAME' people / PoC and there is a sense that some of the initiatives of the past few years are just beginning to impact UK children’s publishing.

By way of example, two authors who were first featured in 2017’s A Change Is Gonna Come (Stripes) had superb debuts - @aishabushby's magical middle-grade A Pocketful of Stars (Egmont), and @YasminwithanE YA tale of friendship and survival All The Things We Never Said (Hot Key).

@kenwilsonmax's Astro Girl (Otter-Barry 2019) gives young children a chance to read and dream about their own experience in space. Look Up! (Penguin 2019) by Nathan Bryan and @DapsDraws is a beautifully illustrated story featuring Rocket, who is fascinated by the stars.

My Hair (Faber & Faber 2019), written by @hannahleewrites and illustrated by Allen Fatimiaharan, combines the excitement of a forthcoming birthday party with a celebration of the wealth of Black hairstyles for women and men.

Breanna J. McDaniel’s ( @readwellbewell ) Hands Up! (Dial 2019) reimagines a potentially frightening phrase through the activities of a young girl experiencing an ordinary day—and a protest march.

Atinuke’s B is for Baby (Walker 2019) delights with its pictures of an adorable toddler falling into a basket of bananas that become breakfast. @NadiaShireen's follow up to Billy and the Beast, is the hilarious Billy and the Dragon (Jonathan Cape 2019).

@pmistryartist whose beautiful a illustrations for You’re Safe with Me gained a Kate Greenaway nomination, has created a remarkable visual experience with How the Stars Came to Be (Tate 2019). @csoundar and Mistry have combined again for You’re Snug with Me (Lantana 2018).

Hassanzadeh Sharif’s graffito illustrations are the ideal complement to Sally Pomme Clayton’s retelling of The Phoenix of Persia (Tiny Owl 2019).

Leah’s Star – A Nativity Story (Alanna Max 2019) written by @paperdragon59 and beautifully illustrated by Karin Littlewood tells the nativity story through the eyes of the innkeeper’s daughter.

Under the Great Plum Tree (Tiny Owl 2019), written by @sufiyaahmed and illustrated by Reza Dalvand draws upon the Ancient India text The Panchatantra.

@catwrote's Freedom (Scholastic 2018) won the Little Rebels Award this year, and for good reason; it intertwines one boy’s experience as a Black Briton with the fate of the Zong Case in the 18th century, letting readers witness it through Nat’s, the main character’s, eyes.

The most recent in @scholasticuk's Voices series to appear is E. L. Norry’s Son of the Circus, A Victorian Story about the 19th century circus owner, Pablo Fanqué.

@LawrencePatrice Diver’s Daughter, A Tudor Story and @balirai 's Now Or Never, A Dunkirk Story also published in 2019 were featuring in an earlier Beyond the Secret Garden column.

Middle Grade: @sharnajackson 's High Rise Mystery ( @_KnightsOf 2019) reinvigorates the ‘detective duo’ trope in children’s literature by placing the action in an urban tower block, where two Black British sisters solve the crime.

Planet Omar - Accidental Trouble Magnet written by Zanib Mian ( @Zendibble ) and illustrated by @nasayamafaridik ( @HachetteKids 2019) should be read by anyone who enjoys the Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Tom Gates series.

Little Badman and the Invasion Of The Killer Aunties written Humza Arshad ( @HumzaProduction) and Henrey White and illustrated by @Bitskoff ( @PenguinUKBooks 2019) features Humza Khan, an ambitious eleven year old rapper.

Combining poetry and science,
@jamescarterpoet and Nomoco’s Once Upon a Raindrop (Caterpillar 2018) will please readers who respond to words, the workings of nature, and stylish illustration.

In this year of heightened concern over the environment, @JosephACoelho's A Year of Nature Poems (Wide Eyed Editions 2019) gives young poets and naturalists beautiful images of the nature around them.

For an older audience, @SophiaThakur has been a rising star of the spoken word scene for some time now. Somebody Give This Heart A Pen ( @WalkerBooksUK 2019) is her debut collection and explores issues of identity, difference, perseverance, relationships, fear, loss and joy.

Where the River Runs Gold by @SitaBrahmachari (Orion 2019) is not only a beautifully written adventure of two children trying to find their way home through a dystopian world, it carries a timely environmental message as well.

Jasbinder Bilan’s @jasinbath debut novel, Asha and the Spirit Bird (Chicken House 2019) is also a journey adventure with a sense of mysticism pervading it. The Tunnels Below (Pushkin 2019) is as a gripping fantasy debut novel from Nadine Wild-Palmer @NadineWildPalm.

YA readers are spoiled for choice this year. Alex Wheatle's @brixtonbard Home Girl (Atom 2019), Elizabeth Acevedo's With The Fire on High (Hot Key 2019), and @LawrencePatrice's Rose, Interrupted (Hachette 2019) all focus on teenaged girls trying to navigate their worlds.

Dean Atta’s @DeanAtta The Black Flamingo (Hodder 2019) beautifully details the story of a gay Black / mixed teen as a novel-in-verse. @malorieblackman's Crossfire (PRH 2019) continues the story of a racially divided world she first created in Noughts and Crosses.

Both @nikeshshukla's The Boxer (Hodder 2019) and @savitakalhan That Asian Kid (Troika 2019) have teenage boys deciding how to confront racism and find acceptance.

The Million Pieces of Neena Gill (Penguin 2019) is @EmmaSmithBarton 's first novel for young adults and is a tense and moving look at teenage mental health. Kick The Moon by @mkhanauthor (Macmillan 2019) confirms Khan as an important voice in contemporary YA.

Oh My Gods by @alexsheppard (Scholastic 2019) is a smart reworking of Ancient Greek mythology, telling the story of half-mortal London teenager Helen. Becoming Dinah by @KitdeWaal (Bellatrix 2019) is a road-trip coming of age YA debut from the author of My Name is Leon.

Details of all the books mentioned can be found here, under 'Books for Everyone': http://booksforkeeps.co.uk/issue/238/childrens-books/articles/the-books-for-keeps-christmas-books-gift-list-2019

This thread is from the latest 'Beyond the Secret Garden' a column I write for @BooksForKeeps with @ksandsoconnor. All columns to date can be accessed for free here: http://booksforkeeps.co.uk/member/darren-chetty ENDS