The (incomplete) Lit in Colour book list 2024 Edition: KS3-5

We have created The (incomplete) Lit in Colour book lists in response to one of the key findings in the research commissioned with our collaborators The Runnymede Trust, which found that teachers often struggle finding books by writers of colour.

We’re calling our book lists incomplete, because we know they will never manage to be exhaustive or definitive, and we plan to update them annually bringing even more new and classic titles to the list.

There are currently four book lists each for primary and secondary schools, each with over 100 titles from Penguin and our fellow publishers. The first list was created in 2021, and a new list of titles was created in 2024.

The lists also contain handy indexes grouping books together, for educators who want to assign or recommend a number of books on a particular topic, or for pupils who want to read further in a particular area, subject matter or genre. This edition includes Author Focus pages, showcasing the works of influential authors such as Jhumpa Lahiri, Rebecca F. Kuang, and Benjamin Zephaniah.