Awards season is upon us, and all week long, the National Book Award judges will be releasing their 2025 longlists across five categories. These are among the most prestigious honors bestowed upon books in a given year. The National Book Awards began in 1936 by the American Booksellers Association, took a break during World War II, and then resumed under the leadership of several collaborating book industry organizations in 1950. A few decades later, the National Book Foundation took over, with the goal of ensuring these books are not only honored but that their impact is felt across the country in a real, meaningful way.
The National Book Awards honor books written by U.S. authors for books published in the United States. The five categories include Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, Translated Literature, and Young People’s Literature. Starting in 2013, the Foundation elected to present a longlist in each category, composed of ten titles and released in September. Those longlists are whittled down to a shortlist and shared in October, as a run-up to the awards, which are presented in November at the National Book Awards Ceremony and Dinner. Finalists each take home $1,000, while the winner in each category received $10,000 and a bronze sculpture.
This morning, the National Book Awards presented their Longlist for Young People’s Literature. It is a bounty of excellent reading, featuring an array of books published for middle grade and young adult readers.
The ten longlist titles for the 2025 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature are:
A Sea of Lemon Trees: The Corrido of Roberto Alvarez by María Dolores Águila The Corruption of Hollis Brown by K. Ancrum The Incredibly Human Henson Blayze by Derrick Barnes A Bird in the Air Means We Can Still Breathe by Mahogany L. Browne A World Worth Saving by Kyle Lukoff The Leaving Room by Amber McBride The Teacher of Nomad Land: A World War II Story by Daniel Nayeri Truth Is by Hannah V. Sawyerr Song of a Blackbird by Maria van Lieshout (S)kin by Ibi ZoboiThe judges for this year’s National Book Award for Young People’s Literature are author Candice Iloh, bookseller Cathy Berner, author and professor David Bowles, professor Jung Kim, and actor/author Maulik Pancholy.
More information about the National Book Awards is available on their website. Keep your eyes peeled for the rest of the longlists this week!
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