NAACP Image Awards Winners and Nominees

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The NAACP Image Awards nominates five books in nine categories for Outstanding Literature. You may print a list of all the award-winning and nominated books. Learn more at the NAACP Image Awards website.

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Fiction Nonfiction Poetry Debut Author Biography/Autobiography Children Youth/Teens Instructional Graphic Novel

37 Image Award Winning and Nominated Books for 2019

Winner – Biography/Autobiography

Becoming

Becoming

by Michelle Obama

Nominee – Biography/Autobiography

Barracoon: The Story of the Last “Black Cargo”

Barracoon: The Story of the Last “Black Cargo”

by Zora Neale Hurston and Deborah G. Plant

Nominee – Biography/Autobiography

The New Negro: The Life of Alain Locke

The New Negro: The Life of Alain Locke

by Jeffrey C. Stewart

Nominee – Biography/Autobiography

Well, That Escalated Quickly: Memoirs and Mistakes of an Accidental Activist

Well, That Escalated Quickly: Memoirs and Mistakes of an Accidental Activist

by Franchesca Ramsey

Nominee – Biography/Autobiography

The Prison Letters of Nelson Mandela

The Prison Letters of Nelson Mandela

by Nelson Mandela

Winner – Children

Hidden Figures: The True Story of Four Black Women and the Space Race

Hidden Figures: The True Story of Four Black Women and the Space Race

by Margot Lee Shetterly, Illustrated by Laura Freeman

Nominee – Children

Facing Frederick: The Life of Frederick Douglass, a Monumental American Man

Facing Frederick: The Life of Frederick Douglass, a Monumental American Man

by Tonya Bolden

Nominee – Children

I Can Be Anything! Don’t Tell Me I Can’t

I Can Be Anything! Don’t Tell Me I Can’t

by Leo and Diane Dillon

Nominee – Children

The Word Collector

The Word Collector

by Peter H. Reynolds

Nominee – Children

A Very Large Expanse of Sea

A Very Large Expanse of Sea

by Tahereh Mafi

Winner – Debut Author

Us Against the World: Our Secrets to Love, Marriage, and Family

Us Against the World: Our Secrets to Love, Marriage, and Family

by David Mann and Shaun Sanders

Nominee – Debut Author

Lighting the Fires of Freedom: African American Women in the Civil Rights Movement

Lighting the Fires of Freedom: African American Women in the Civil Rights Movement

by Janet Dewart Bell

Nominee – Debut Author

Small Country

Small Country

Nominee – Debut Author

Heads of the Colored People (paperback): Stories

Heads of the Colored People (paperback): Stories

by Nafissa Thompson-Spires

Nominee – Debut Author

Lucile H. Bluford and the Kansas City Call: Activist Voice for Social Justice

Lucile H. Bluford and the Kansas City Call: Activist Voice for Social Justice

by Sheila Brooks and Clint C. Wilson II

Winner – Fiction

An American Marriage: A Novel

An American Marriage: A Novel

by Tayari Jones

Nominee – Fiction

They Come in All Colors

They Come in All Colors

by Malcolm Hansen

Nominee – Fiction

Envy: A Seven Deadly Sins Novel

Envy: A Seven Deadly Sins Novel

by Victoria Christopher Murray

Nominee – Fiction

Better Late Than Never (Final Book in Reverend Curtis Black Series #15)

Better Late Than Never (Final Book in Reverend Curtis Black Series #15)

by Kimberla Lawson Roby

Nominee – Fiction

Who Is the Black Panther?: A Novel of the Marvel Universe

Who Is the Black Panther?: A Novel of the Marvel Universe

by Jesse J. Holland

Winner – Instructional

Rise and Grind: Outperform, Outwork, and Outhustle Your Way to a More Successful and Rewarding Life

Rise and Grind: Outperform, Outwork, and Outhustle Your Way to a More Successful and Rewarding Life

by Daymond John

Nominee – Instructional

Poised for Excellence: Fundamental Principles of Effective Leadership in the Boardroom and Beyond

Poised for Excellence: Fundamental Principles of Effective Leadership in the Boardroom and Beyond

by Karima Mariama-Arthur

Nominee – Instructional

Well-Read Black Girl: Finding Our Stories, Discovering Ourselves

Well-Read Black Girl: Finding Our Stories, Discovering Ourselves

Nominee – Instructional

Carla Hall’s Soul Food: Everyday and Celebration

Carla Hall’s Soul Food: Everyday and Celebration

Nominee – Nonfiction

Black Girls Rock!: Owning Our Magic. Rocking Our Truth.

Black Girls Rock!: Owning Our Magic. Rocking Our Truth.

by Beverly Bond

Nominee – Nonfiction

The Sun Does Shine: How I Found Life and Freedom on Death Row

The Sun Does Shine: How I Found Life and Freedom on Death Row

by Anthony Ray Hinton, with Lara Love Hardin

Nominee – Nonfiction

Barracoon: The Story of the Last “Black Cargo”

Barracoon: The Story of the Last “Black Cargo”

by Zora Neale Hurston and Deborah G. Plant

Winner – Poetry

Taking the Arrow Out of the Heart

Taking the Arrow Out of the Heart

by Alice Walker

Nominee – Poetry

Ghost, Like a Place

Ghost, Like a Place

by Iain Haley Pollock

Nominee – Poetry

Confessions of a Barefaced Woman

Confessions of a Barefaced Woman

by Allison Joseph

Nominee – Poetry

Refuse: Poems

Refuse: Poems

by Julian Randall

Nominee – Poetry

The Gospel According to Wild Indigo

The Gospel According to Wild Indigo

by Cyrus Cassells

Winner – Youth/Teens

The Dream of America

The Dream of America

by Jacqueline Woodson

Nominee – Youth/Teens

The Journey of Little Charlie

The Journey of Little Charlie

by Christopher Paul Curtis

Nominee – Youth/Teens

Chasing King’s Killer: The Hunt for Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Assassin: The Hunt for Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Assassin

Chasing King’s Killer: The Hunt for Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Assassin: The Hunt for Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Assassin

by James L. Swanson

Nominee – Youth/Teens

The 5 O’Clock Band

The 5 O’Clock Band

by Troy Andrews, Illustrated by Bryan Collier

Nominee – Youth/Teens

We Are Not Yet Equal: Understanding Our Racial Divide

We Are Not Yet Equal: Understanding Our Racial Divide

by Carol Anderson and Tonya Bolden