2025 Rubies

“Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability but comes through continuous struggle.” – Martin Luther King Jr.

Rubies, precious descendant stones set for the future with books that debut in 2025.

For years, we’ve relied upon numbers from the Children’s Cooperative Book Center (CCBC) at UW-Madison to quantify representation in youth literature. It’ll be a few more months before the 2024 numbers are released, but the 2023 numbers indicate a minimal increase for books by Black Americans, and Arab Americans, and a decrease in those by Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. There was a noticeable increase in books by Indigenous authors. Oh, we’re not talking about thousands of books in any of these categories. There remains so few books by any group of BIPOC authors that plus or minus 10 books will make an observable difference. Consider how that compares to the overall number of books purchased each year.

The impetus for representation has shifted, but it remains as real as ever. Where the work had been trendsetting, now it’s work to maintain. It’s work to resist book bans and the erasure of marginalized stories and lives. And, it’s work to be visionary. The thing is our stories are really the only things that separate me from you. But, it’s sharing our stories that connects us, that validates our experiences, and ignites empathy.

Our work has shifted, but it remains the same. It remains urgent.

It includes recognizing and promoting new voices in the field. One sign of how much things have changed is how hard it’s become to find BIPOC debut others. I’m working to list them here.

This is going to be a dynamic post, I’ll keep adding names as I become aware of them. Please add any you’re aware of in the comments. I’ll also keep gathering them on BlueSky (@cottonquiltsedi.bsky.social) and Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/edicottonquilts/).

In the meantime, let’s do some pre-ordering.

January
7
Kaya of the Ocean by Gloria L. Huang. Holiday House
This is the Year by Bloria Miñoz. Holiday House

14
Build a Girlfriend by Elba Luz. Simon and Schuster
No Purchase Necessary by Maria Marianayagam. HarperCollins
Playing Flirty by Shameez Patel. Forever

February
4
Needy Little Things by Channelle Desamours. Wednesday Books

April
15
Afia in the Land of Wonders by Mia Araujo. Scholastic Press
All the Noise at Once by Deandra Davis. Atheneum
22
If We Were a Movie by Zakiya N. Jama. HarperCollins

May

6
If I Could Go Back by Briana Johnson. PeachTree Tee
13
Death in the Cards by Mia P. Manansala. Delacorte

June
3
Celestial Banquet by Roselle Lim. Zando-Sweet July Books
Under the Neon Lights by Arriel Vinson. G.P. Putnam’s Sons

August
5
Mistress of Bones by Maria Z. Median. Wednesday Books

September
11
And the River Drags Her Down by Jihyun Yun. Rock the Boat/One World

October
7
The Omen Girl by Yuen Yang.  Wattpad

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