The longlist for the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature has been unveiled, with 10 books in contention for the prize.
Derrick Barnes was nominated for The Incredibly Human Henson Blayze, which is also a finalist for the Kirkus Prize. Barnes, a two-time Kirkus Prize winner, was previously a finalist for the National Book Award in 2022 for Victory. Stand!: Raising My Fist for Justice, co-written with Tommie Smith and illustrated by Dawud Anyabwile.
Three other previous National Book Award finalists made this year’s longlist: Kyle Lukoff for A World Worth Saving, Amber McBride for The Leaving Room, and Ibi Zoboi for (S)Kin.
Also nominated for this year’s prize were María Dolores Águila for A Sea of Lemon Trees: The Corrido of Roberto Alvarez, K. Ancrum for The Corruption of Hollis Brown, Mahogany L. Browne for A Bird in the Air Means We Can Still Breathe, Daniel Nayeri for The Teacher of Nomad Land: A World War II Story, Hannah V. Sawyerr for Truth Is, and Maria van Lieshout for Song of a Blackbird.
Previous winners of the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature include Ursula K. Le Guin for The Farthest Shore, Louis Sachar for Holes, and Sabaa Tahir for All My Rage.
The shortlist for this year’s award will be revealed on October 7, with the winner announced at a ceremony in New York on November 19.
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
