NEWS

Our 2 Winning PRH Titles at the 56th NAACP Image Awards 

This past Saturday, February 22, 2025, at the 56th NAACP Image Awards in Los Angeles, California, we cheered on our authors during a star-studded ceremony. The live broadcast of the NAACP Image Awards celebrates the outstanding achievements and performances of people of color across more than 80 competitive categories spanning film, television + streaming, music, literature, and podcasts.

The NAACP Image Awards Trophy

This year we were thrilled when two Penguin Random House titles earned a win in the Outstanding Literary Work category! Clarkson Potter’s WASH DAY: Passion on the Legacy, Rituals, and Love of Natural Hair by Tomesha Faxio garnered a win in the Instructional category and Viking Books for Young Readers’ PUNK ROCK KARAOKE written and illustrated by Bianca Xunise earned a win in the category of Graphic Novel. 

Discover the titles below. 

WASH DAY: Passion on the Legacy, Rituals, and Love of Natural Hair by Tomesha Faxio (Clarkson Potter)

In this stunning book, documentary photographer Tomesha Faxio explores the power of “wash day,” a day that Black women dedicate to washing, detangling, conditioning, and styling their natural hair. The significance of wash day goes far beyond hair care—it’s an opportunity for Black women to pour love into their curly, coily locks and, when they have children, pass on this sacred ritual to the next generation. WASH DAY celebrates the unique bonds between Black mothers and their children through intimate photographs of their hair-care routines and insightful stories that detail their natural hair journeys. Capturing the inherent beauty and diversity of natural hair, Wash Day is a visual homage to Black culture, Black rituals, and the generational bonds that strengthen the Black community. 

PUNK ROCK KARAOKE by Bianca Xunise, illustrated by Bianca Xunise (Viking Books for Young Readers)

Punk Rock Karaoke is a coming-of-age graphic novel that draws upon the explosive joy of the underground scene, while raising questions about authenticity, the importance of community and what it means to succeed on your own terms.  

In this tale, school is out for summer and Ariel Grace Jones is determined to make it one for the books! Together with their bestie bandmates, Michele and Gael, Ariel believes they’re destined to break into the music industry and out of Chicago’s Southside by singing lead in their garage punk band, Baby Hares. But before Baby Hares can officially get into the groove, the realities of post grad life start to weigh on this crew of misfits. Ari begins to worry that it’s time to pull the plug on their dreams of making it big. Just when all hope feels lost, a fellow punk and local icon takes an interest in their talent. It seems like he might be the only one Ariel can rely on as frustrations between bandmates reach at an all-time high. 

Congratulations to our publishers and our authors! Discover all the winners in the literature categories here.