The Diverse Book Awards 2022 – Shortlist Announced!

3 October, 2022

Congratulations to all the authors and illustrators shortlisted for The Diverse Book Awards 2022!

Now in their third year, The Diverse Book Awards were set up to showcase the best inclusive fiction across three award categories: Children’s Fiction, Young Adult Fiction and Adult Fiction.

Commenting on the shortlists, Abiola Bello, co-founder of The Diverse Book Awards and award-wining author, said: “It was a challenging but fun task to get the shortlist together, each of the judges had their favourites. We’re so happy with our list and know that any one of these amazing books could go on to win The Diverse Book Awards 2022.”

Cover shots of the eight shortlisted titles for The Diverse Book Awards 2022 Children's Fiction

The Diverse Book Awards 2022 – Children’ Shortlist:

Danny Chung Does Not Do Maths by Maisie Chan, illustrated by Anh Cao (Piccadilly Press)

The Diverse Book Awards 2022 – YA Shortlist:

Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé (Usborne)

Being Amani by Annabelle Steele (Hashtag BLAK)

Skin of The Sea by Natasha Bowen (Penguin Random House Children’s)

Splinters of Sunshine by Patrice Lawrence (Hodder Children’s Books)

The Crossing by Manjeet Mann (Penguin Random House Children’s)

The Henna Wars by Adiba Jaigirdar (Hodder Children’s Books)

What We’re Scared Of by Keren David (Scholastic)

You’re The One That I Want by Simon James Green (Scholastic)

Cover shots of the eight shortlisted titles for The Diverse Book Awards 2022 Adult Fiction

The Diverse Book Awards 2022 – Adult Shortlist:

Black Water Sister by Zen Cho (Pan Macmillan)

His Only Wife by Peace Adzo Medie (Oneworld)

Next of Kin by Kia Abdullah (HQ)

Open Water by Caleb Azumah Nelson (Viking Books)

The Day I Fell Off My Island by Yvonne Bailey-Smith (Myriad Editions)

The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak (Viking Books)

The Jigsaw Man by Nadine Matheson (HQ)

This One Sky Day by Leone Ross (Faber)

The winners of The Diverse Book Awards 2022 will be announced on 20th October. Watch out for our winner announcement.

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