The 2018 Kirkus Prize Finalists

by Katie Williams

With its clever, compelling vision of the future, deeply human characters, and delightfully unpredictable story, this novel... Full review >

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by Nafissa Thompson-Spires

In an era when writers of color are broadening the space in which class and culture as well as race are examined,... Full review >

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by Ling Ma

Smart, funny, humane, and superbly well-written. Full review >

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by Eduardo Halfon ; translated by Lisa Dillman & Daniel Hahn

In this follow-up to The Polish Boxer (2012) and Monastery (2014), Halfon constructs a kind of postmodern memorial to his... Full review >

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by Lauren Groff

A literary tour de force of precariousness set in a blistering place, a state shaped like a gun. Full review >

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by Naima Coster

Absorbing and alive, the kind of novel that swallows you whole. Full review >

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by Rebecca Solnit

Solnit is careful with her words (she always is) but never so much that she mutes the infuriated spirit that drives these... Full review >

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by Timothy Snyder

A highly distressing, urgent alarm to awaken Americans to the peril of authoritarianism. Full review >

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by Sarah Smarsh

A potent social and economic message embedded within an affecting memoir. Full review >

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by Beth Macy

An urgent, eye-opening look at a problem that promises to grow much worse in the face of inaction and indifference. Full review >

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by Kiese Laymon

A dynamic memoir that is unsettling in all the best ways. Full review >

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by Shane Bauer

A potent, necessary broadside against incarceration in the U.S., which “imprisons a higher portion of its population than... Full review >

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by Jacqueline Woodson

An extraordinary and timely piece of writing. Full review >

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by Yuyi Morales ; illustrated by Yuyi Morales

A resplendent masterpiece. Full review >

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by Meg Medina

Medina delivers another stellar and deeply moving story. Full review >

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by Derrick Barnes ; illustrated by Gordon C. James

One of the best reads for young black boys in years, it should be in every library, media center, and, yes, barbershop. Full review >

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by Tomi Adeyemi

Powerful, captivating, and raw—Adeyemi is a talent to watch. Exceptional. Full review >

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by Elizabeth Acevedo

Poignant and real, beautiful and intense, this story of a girl struggling to define herself is as powerful as Xiomara’s... Full review >

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