91´«Ã½

CHICAGO — The 91´«Ã½ Ethnic and Multicultural Information Exchange Round Table (EMIERT) and the Coretta Scott King Book Awards Committee will celebrate the best in children’s and young adult literature representing the African American experience at the 2019 Coretta Scott King Book Awards Breakfast. The 2019 Awards Breakfast will be held from 7 – 9:30 a.m. on Sunday, June 23 in the Marriott Marquis, Marquis Ballroom Salon during 91´«Ã½’s 2019 Annual Conference and Exhibition in Washington, D.C. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Coretta Scott King Book Awards and the annual Book Awards Breakfast will serve as one of the Committee’s many opportunities to celebrate.

The celebration will honor Coretta Scott King Author Award winner Claire Hartfield, author of “A Few Red Drops: The Chicago Race Riot of 1919” (Clarion Books, an imprint of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) and Illustrator Award winner Ekua Holmes, illustrator of “The Stuff of Stars” (Candlewick Press). The John Steptoe Author Award for New Talent winner Tiffany D. Jackson, author of “Monday’s Not Coming,” (Katherine Tegen Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers) and John Steptoe Illustrator Award for New Talent winner Oge Mora, illustrator and author of “Thank You, Omu!” (Little, Brown Young Readers) will also be honored.

The 2019 Coretta Scott King Book Awards Honor recipients will also be recognized, including Lesa Cline-Ransome, author of “Finding Langston” (Holiday House), Varian Johnson, author of “The Parker Inheritance” (Arthur A. Levine Books, an imprint of Scholastic Inc.), and Kekla Magoon, author of “The season of Styx Malone” (Wendy Lamb Books, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books, a division of Penguin Random House LLC), Laura Freeman, illustrator of “Hidden Figures” (HarperCollins Children’s Books, a division of HarperCollins Publishers), Frank Morrison, illustrator of “Let the Children March” (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company), and R. Gregory Christie, illustrator of “Memphis, Martin, and the Mountaintop” (Calkins Creek, an imprint of Highlights).

Also honored will be Dr. Pauletta Bracy, recipient of the 2019 Coretta Scott King-Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement. Dr. Bracy is the Professor of Library Science and Director of the Office of University Accreditation at North Carolina Central University (NCCU). She has successfully merged scholarship and service with publications such as “Libraries, Literacy and African American Youth ”(co-edited with Sandra Hughes Hassell and Casey H. Rawson) as well as her work with the Coretta Scott King Book Awards and with workshops and conferences dedicated to promoting African American books for children and teens. She recently served as co-organizer for Celebrating Our Voices: Black Children's Literature Symposium and Book Festival held at NCCU.

Individual tickets may be purchased for $65 and can be purchased online by visiting .

The Coretta Scott King Book Awards are presented annually by the Coretta Scott King Book Awards Committee of the 91´«Ã½’s Ethnic and Multicultural Information Exchange Round Table (EMIERT) to African-American authors and illustrators to encourage the artistic expression of the African American experience via literature and the graphic arts.

To learn more about the Coretta Scott King Book Awards, please visit . To learn more about the 50th anniversary of the Coretta Scott King Book Awards, visit .