Books Honored by the National Book Foundation
The mission of the National Book Foundation is to celebrate the best of American literature, to expand its audience, and to enhance the cultural value of great writing in America. National Book Awards are given five categories: Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, Translated Literature, and Young People’s Literature.
Here we highlight the winners of African descent. The first African-American writer to win a National Book Award was Ralph Ellison, in 1953, for Invisible Man.
Check Out AALBC’s Coverage of the National Book Awards: 2017 – 2016 – 2015 – 2014 – 2013
15 Books Honored by the National Book Foundation in 2019
Winner - Nonfiction
The Yellow House: A Memoir
by Sarah M. Broom
- 1 Time AALBC.com Bestselling Book!
- Selected for 1 Book Club’s Reading List
- An NAACP Image Award Honored Book
Publication Date: Aug 13, 2019
List Price: $26.00
Format: Hardcover, 304 pages
Classification: Nonfiction
ISBN13: 9780802125088
Imprint: Grove Press
Publisher: Grove Atlantic, Inc.
Parent Company: Grove Atlantic, Inc.
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Finalist - Fiction
Black Leopard, Red Wolf
by Marlon James
Publication Date: Feb 05, 2019
List Price: $30.00
Format: Hardcover, 640 pages
Classification: Fiction
ISBN13: 9780735220171
Imprint: Riverhead Books
Publisher: Penguin Random House
Parent Company: Bertelsmann
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Finalist - Fiction
The Other Americans
by Laila Lalami
Publication Date: Mar 26, 2019
List Price: $25.95
Format: Hardcover, 320 pages
Classification: Fiction
ISBN13: 9781524747145
Imprint: Pantheon Books
Publisher: Penguin Random House
Parent Company: Bertelsmann
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Finalist - Nonfiction
Solitary
by Albert Woodfox
Publication Date: Dec 03, 2019
List Price: $18.00
Format: Paperback, 448 pages
Classification: Nonfiction
ISBN13: 9780802148308
Imprint: Grove Press
Publisher: Grove Atlantic, Inc.
Parent Company: Grove Atlantic, Inc.
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Finalist - Nonfiction
Thick: And Other Essays
by Tressie McMillan Cottom
Publication Date: Jan 08, 2019
List Price: $24.99
Format: Hardcover, 224 pages
Classification: Nonfiction
ISBN13: 9781620974360
Imprint: The New Press
Publisher: The New Press
Parent Company: The New Press
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Finalist - Poetry
I: New and Selected Poems
by Toi Derricotte
Publication Date: Mar 26, 2019
List Price: $29.95
Format: Hardcover, 320 pages
Classification: Poetry
ISBN13: 9780822945666
Imprint: University of Pittsburgh Press
Publisher: University of Pittsburgh Press
Parent Company: University of Pittsburgh
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Finalist - Poetry
The Tradition
by Jericho Brown
Publication Date: Apr 02, 2019
List Price: $17.00
Format: Paperback, 110 pages
Classification: Poetry
ISBN13: 9781556594861
Imprint: Copper Canyon Press
Publisher: Copper Canyon Press
Parent Company: Copper Canyon Press
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Finalist - Translated Literature
The Barefoot Woman
by Scholastique Mukasonga
Publication Date: Dec 18, 2018
List Price: $16.00
Format: Paperback, 152 pages
Classification: Fiction
ISBN13: 9781939810045
Imprint: Archipelago
Publisher: Archipelago
Parent Company: Archipelago
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Finalist - Young People’s Literature
Pet
by Akwaeke Emezi
Publication Date: Sep 10, 2019
List Price: $17.99
Format: Hardcover, 208 pages
Classification: Fiction
Target Age Group: Young Adult
ISBN13: 9780525647072
Imprint: Make Me a World
Publisher: Penguin Random House
Parent Company: Bertelsmann
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Finalist - Young People’s Literature
Look Both Ways: A Tale Told in Ten Blocks
by Jason Reynolds
Publication Date: Oct 08, 2019
List Price: $17.99
Format: Paperback, 208 pages
Classification: Fiction
Target Age Group: Young Adult
ISBN13: 9781481438285
Imprint: Atheneum
Publisher: Simon & Schuster, Inc.
Parent Company: CBS Corporation
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Longlist - Fiction
The Nickel Boys: A Novel
by Colson Whitehead
- 6 Time AALBC.com Bestselling Book!
- Selected for 1 Book Club’s Reading List
- Kirkus Prize Finalist/Winner 2019
Publication Date: Jul 30, 2019
List Price: $24.95
Format: Hardcover, 208 pages
Classification: Fiction
ISBN13: 9780385537070
Imprint: Doubleday
Publisher: Penguin Random House
Parent Company: Bertelsmann
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Longlist - Nonfiction
Race for Profit: How Banks and the Real Estate Industry Undermined Black Homeownership
by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor
Publication Date: Oct 21, 2019
List Price: $30.00
Format: Hardcover, 368 pages
Classification: Nonfiction
ISBN13: 9781469653662
Imprint: The University of North Carolina Press
Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press
Parent Company: The University of North Carolina
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Longlist - Nonfiction
Go Ahead in the Rain: Notes to a Tribe Called Quest
by Hanif Abdurraqib
Publication Date: Feb 01, 2019
List Price: $16.95
Format: Paperback, 216 pages
Classification: Nonfiction
ISBN13: 9781477316481
Imprint: University of Texas Press
Publisher: University of Texas Press
Parent Company: University of Texas at Austin
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Longlist - Poetry
Build Yourself a Boat
by Camonghne Felix
Publication Date: Apr 23, 2019
List Price: $16.00
Format: Paperback, 72 pages
Classification: Poetry
ISBN13: 9781608466115
Imprint: Haymarket Books
Publisher: Haymarket Books
Parent Company: Haymarket Books
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Longlist - Young People’s Literature
The Undefeated
by Kwame Alexander, Illustrated by Kadir Nelson
- A Top 150 Children’s Book
- 10 Time AALBC.com Bestselling Book!
- Coretta Scott King Award Winning Book 2020
- Carter G. Woodson Award Winning Book y
- Kirkus Prize Finalist/Winner 2019
- Newbery Medal Winner or Honor 2020
- Caldecott Medal Winner or Honor 2020
Publication Date: Apr 02, 2019
List Price: $17.99
Format: Hardcover, 40 pages
Classification: Nonfiction
Target Age Group: Picture Book
ISBN13: 9781328780966
Imprint: Versify
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Parent Company: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt