US National Book Awards: The Young People's Literature Longlist

The longlist for Young People’s Literature from the United States’ National Book Awards includes a graphic novel, verse, and more.

By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson

The Third of Five Categories

Today (September 11) with yet another of the five longlists being released this week by the United States’ National Book Awards. In this case, we look at the 10-title longlist in the Young People’s Literature category.

The National Book Awards’ 2025 shortlists—often called finalists in the lexicon of this prize regime—are expected to be released on October 7. Winners are then to be named on November 19 at the 76th iteration of the program’s fundraising event in New York City.

For the 2025 competition, publishers submitted a total 325 books in this category. That’s a slight increase over the 333 books submitted for this category in the 2024 competition.

Last year’s winner in the Young People’s Literature contest was Shifa Saltagi Safadi for Kareem Between (Penguin Random House, GP Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers).

Among this year’s longlistees for Young People’s Literature category are four past shortlistees, or finalists, in this category:

Derrick Barnes was shortlisted in 2022 for Victory. Stand!: Raising My Fist for Justice, co-written with Tommie Smith and illustrated by Dawud Anyabwile;
Kyle Lukoff was shortlisted in 2021 for Too Bright to See;
Amber McBride was on the shortlist in 2021 for Me (Moth); and
Ibi Zoboi was shortlisted in 2017 for American Street.

The US National Book Awards pay US$10,000 to each of the five category winners, and $1,000 to finalists. In the case of the Translated Literature award, the cash prize is shared by the author and translator. Winners also receive a bronze sculpture, and finalists each receive a medal.

National Book Awards Young People’s Literature Longlist

The jury this year in Young People’s Literature comprises Cathy Berner, David Bowles (chair), candice iloh, Jung Kim, and Maulik Pancholy.

Author	Title	Publisher / Imprint
María Dolores Águila	A Sea of Lemon Trees: The Corrido of Roberto Alvarez	Macmillan / Roaring Book Press
K. Ancrum	The Corruption of Hollis Brown	HarperCollins Publishers / HarperCollins
Derrick Barnes	The Incredibly Human Henson Blayze	Penguin Random House / Viking Books for Young Readers
Mahogany L. Browne	A Bird in the Air Means We Can Still Breathe	Penguin Random House / Crown Books for Young Readers
Kyle Lukoff	A World Worth Saving	Penguin Random House / Dial Books for Young Readers
Amber McBride	The Leaving Room	Macmillan / Feiwel and Friends
Daniel Nayeri	The Teacher of Nomad Land: A World War II Story	Levine Querido
Hannah V. Sawyerr	Truth Is	Abrams / Amulet Books
Maria van Lieshout	Song of a Blackbird	Macmillan / First Second
Ibi Zoboi	(S)Kin	HarperCollins / Versify

As always, the jury’s decisions are made independently of the National Book Foundation staff and board of directors and deliberations are strictly confidential.

More from Publishing Perspectives on the National Book Awards in the United States is here and more on the vast field of international book awards and prizes is here. More from us on children’s and young-adult literature is here and more on the United States’ market is here.

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About the Author

Porter Anderson

Porter Anderson has been named International Trade Press Journalist of the Year in London Book Fair's International Excellence Awards. He is Editor-in-Chief of Publishing Perspectives. He formerly was Associate Editor for The FutureBook at London's The Bookseller. Anderson was for more than a decade a senior producer and anchor with CNN.com, CNN International, and CNN USA. As an arts critic (Fellow, National Critics Institute), he was with The Village Voice, the Dallas Times Herald, and the Tampa Tribune, now the Tampa Bay Times. He co-founded The Hot Sheet, a newsletter for authors, which now is owned and operated by Jane Friedman.