We're so excited to present to you our 2022 shortlist! These are the top 8 diverse UK books in Children's, YA and Adult fiction. The in person awards will be on October 20th 2022 at Waterstones Piccadilly (invite only). Who will win best children's, best YA and best adult?
Please do support all of these amazing books. Don't forget to use the hashtag #TheDBAwards
Children's
Danny Chung Does Not Do Maths by Maisie Chan, illustrated by Anh Cao (Piccadilly Press)
Hey You! by Dapo Adeola, Diane Ewan, Onyinye Iwu, Jade Orlando, Bec Glendining, Derick Brooks, Joelle Avelino, Dunni Mustapha, Kingsley Nebechi, Chanté Timothy, Nicole Miles, Camilla Sucre, Jobe Anderson, Alyissa Johnson, Chatlot Kristensen, Sharee Miller, Reggie Brown, Selom Sunu, Gladys Jose (Penguin Random House Children’s)
How I Saved the World In A Week by Polly Ho-Yen, illustrated by George Ermos (Simon & Schuster Children’s UK)
Me, My Dad and the End of the Rainbow by Benjamin Dean, illustrated by Sandhya Prabhat (Simon & Schuster Children’s UK)
The Best Diwali Ever by Sonali Shah, illustrator Chaaya Prabhat (Scholastic)
The Lightning Catcher by Claire Weze (Bloomsbury Children's Books)
The Shark Caller by Zillah Bethell (Usborne)
The Very Merry Murder Club by Abiola Bello, Annabelle Sami, Benjamin Dean, Dominique Valente, Elle McNicoll, E.L. Norry, Maisie Chan, Roopa Farooki, Nizrana Farook, Patrice Lawrence, Joanna Williams, Serena Patel, Sharna Jackson, illustrated by Harry Woodgate. Edited by Robin Stevens and Serena Patel (Farshore)
Young Adult
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)
Adult
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)