The Diverse Book Awards 2025 shortlist announced

The shortlist for the Diverse Book Awards 2025 across Picture Books, Children's, YA and Adults published in the UK and Ireland have been announced and include ten titles in each category. The overall winners will be announced at an award ceremony in October.

Readers are also invited to choose their favourite book via the Readers' Choice Award. You can vote for one book per category and the books with the most votes will be announced at the awards ceremony next month.

Created by author Abiola Bello and publicist Helen Lewis, the Diverse Book Awards aim to highlight the best of the diverse voices published in the UK & Ireland both traditionally and self-published. You can follow the Diverse Book Award news with the hashtag #TheDBAwards.

Here are the shortlists in full:

Picture Book Shortlist

A Fairy Called Fred by Robert Tregoning, illustrated by Stef Murphy (Bloomsbury Children's Books)

Flower Block by Lanisha Butterfield, illustrated by Hoang Giang (Puffin)

Grandma's Locs by Karen Arthur, illustrated by Camilla Ru (Tate Publishing)

Me and My Hair by Kimberley Kinloch, illustrated by Jessica Gibson (Usborne Publishing)

Olu's Teacher: A Story About Starting Nursery by Jamel C. Campbell, illustrated by Lydia Mba (Walker Books)

Pearl and her Bunch by Momoko Abe (Orchard Books)

Priya Mistry and the Paw Prints Puzzle by Babita Sharma, illustrated by Ali Pye (Orchard Books)

The Boy Who Loves to Lick the Wind by Fiona Carswell, illustrated by Yu Rong (Otter-Barry Books)

The Language of Flowers by Shyala Smith, illustrated by Aaron Asis (Lantana Publishing)

Until You Find the Sun by Maryam Hassan, illustrated by Anna Wilson (Hodder Children's Books) ​ ​​​

 

Children's ​​Shortlist

Birdie by J. P. Rose (Andersen Press)

Bobby Bains Plays a Blinder by Bali Rai, illustrated by Daniel Duncan (Barrington Stoke)

Bringing Back Kay-Kay by Dev Kothari (Walker Books)

Mayowa and the Sea of Words by Chibundu Onuzo (Bloomsbury Children's Books)

The Boy Who Fell from the Sky by Benjamin Dean (Simon & Schuster Children's Books)

The Cheat Book (Vol. 1) by RAMZEE (Hodder Children's Books)

The Fights That Make Us by Sarah Hagger-Holt (Usborne)

The Nine Night Mystery by Sharna Jackson (Puffin)

The Wrong Shoes by Tom Percival (Simon & Schuster Children's Books)

Time Tub Travellers and the Silk Thief by Claire Linney (Self-published) ​ ​​​​​​

 

YA ​Shortlist

Dancers of the Dawn by Zulekhá A. Afzal (Rock the Boat)

Desi Girl Speaking by A. S. Hussain (Hot Key Books)

I Never Shall Fall in Love by Hari Conner (Simon & Schuster)

If My Words Had Wings by Danielle Jawando (Simon & Schuster)

King of Nothing by Nathanael Lessore (Hot Key Books)

Not for the Faint of Heart by Lex Croucher (Bloomsbury Children's Books)

Some Like It Cold by Elle McNicoll (First Ink)

The Boy Next Door by Jenny Ireland (Penguin Random House Children's)

The Thread That Connects Us by Ayaan Mohamud (Usborne) ​

Wild East by Ashley Hickson-Lovence (Penguin Random House Children's) ​

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Adult ​Shortlist

Allow Me to Introduce Myself by Onyi Nwabineli (Magpie)

Alter Ego by Helen Heckety (Renegade Books)

Godzilla and the Songbird by Manzu Islam (Peepal Tree Press)

Ground by Jadelin Gangbo (Jacaranda)

Lost Love Songs by Ingrid Persaud (Faber) ​

Rinsing Mũkami's Soul by Njambi McGrath (Jacaranda)

The Ballad of Jacquotte Delahaye by Briony Cameron (Piatkus)

The House of Broken Bricks by Fiona Williams (Faber)

The Witness by Alexandra Wilson (Sphere) ​

Yorùbá Boy Running by Biyi Bándélé (Hamish Hamilton)