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
14 Books Honored by the National Book Foundation in 2020
Winner - Nonfiction
The Dead Are Arising: The Life of Malcolm X
by Les Payne and Tamara Payne
Publication Date: Oct 20, 2020
List Price: $35.00
Format: Hardcover, 640 pages
Classification: Nonfiction
ISBN13: 9781631491665
Imprint: Liveright Publishing Corporation
Publisher: Liveright Publishing Corporation
Parent Company: Liveright Publishing Corporation
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Winner - Young People’s Literature
King and the Dragonflies
by Kacen Callender
Publication Date: Feb 04, 2020
List Price: $17.99
Format: Hardcover, 272 pages
Classification: Fiction
Target Age Group: Middle Grade
ISBN13: 9781338129335
Imprint: Scholastic Press
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Parent Company: Scholastic Inc.
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Finalist - Fiction
The Secret Lives of Church Ladies
by Deesha Philyaw
Publication Date: Sep 01, 2020
List Price: $18.99
Format: Paperback, 192 pages
Classification: Fiction
ISBN13: 9781949199734
Imprint: West Virginia University Press
Publisher: West Virginia University Press
Parent Company: West Virginia University
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Finalist - Nonfiction
Unworthy Republic: The Dispossession of Native Americans and the Road to Indian Territory
by Claudio Saunt
Publication Date: Mar 24, 2020
List Price: $26.95
Format: Hardcover, 416 pages
Classification: Nonfiction
ISBN13: 9780393609844
Imprint: W. W. Norton & Company
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.
Parent Company: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.
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Finalist - Nonfiction
How to Make a Slave and Other Essays
by Jerald Walker
Publication Date: Nov 02, 2020
List Price: $19.95
Format: Paperback, 152 pages
Classification: Nonfiction
ISBN13: 9780814255995
Imprint: Mad Creek Books
Publisher: Ohio University Press
Parent Company: Ohio University
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Finalist - Poetry
Fantasia for the Man in Blue
by Tommye Blount
Publication Date: Mar 02, 2020
List Price: $16.95
Format: Paperback, 152 pages
Classification: Poetry
ISBN13: 9781945588495
Imprint: Four Way Books
Publisher: Four Way Books
Parent Company: Four Way Books
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Finalist - Young People’s Literature
When Stars Are Scattered
by Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed
Publication Date: Apr 14, 2020
List Price: $12.99
Format: Paperback, 264 pages
Classification: Fiction
Target Age Group: Middle Grade
ISBN13: 9780525553908
Imprint: Dial Books
Publisher: Penguin Random House
Parent Company: Bertelsmann
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Finalist - Young People’s Literature
Every Body Looking
by Candice Iloh
Publication Date: Sep 22, 2020
List Price: $17.99
Format: Hardcover, 416 pages
Classification: Fiction
Target Age Group: Young Adult
ISBN13: 9780525556206
Imprint: Dutton Books for Young Readers
Publisher: Penguin Random House
Parent Company: Bertelsmann
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Longlist - Fiction
The Vanishing Half
by Brit Bennett
Publication Date: Jun 02, 2020
List Price: $27.00
Format: Hardcover, 352 pages
Classification: Fiction
ISBN13: 9780525536291
Imprint: Riverhead Books
Publisher: Penguin Random House
Parent Company: Bertelsmann
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Longlist - Fiction
If I Had Two Wings: Stories
by Randall Kenan
Publication Date: Aug 04, 2020
List Price: $25.95
Format: Hardcover, 224 pages
Classification: Fiction
ISBN13: 9781324005469
Imprint: W. W. Norton & Company
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.
Parent Company: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.
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Longlist - Nonfiction
Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents
by Isabel Wilkerson
- 8 Time AALBC.com Bestselling Book!
- Selected for 4 Book Clubs’s Reading Lists
- Kirkus Prize Finalist/Winner 2020
Publication Date: Aug 04, 2020
List Price: $32.00
Format: Hardcover, 496 pages
Classification: Nonfiction
ISBN13: 9780593230251
Imprint: Random House
Publisher: Penguin Random House
Parent Company: Bertelsmann
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Longlist - Nonfiction
Afropessimism
by Frank B. Wilderson III
Hardcover Unavailable for Sale from AALBC
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Publication Date: Apr 07, 2020
List Price: Unavailable
Format: Hardcover, 368 pages
Classification: Nonfiction
ISBN13: 9781631496141
Imprint: Liveright Publishing Corporation
Publisher: Liveright Publishing Corporation
Parent Company: Liveright Publishing Corporation
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Longlist - Poetry
The Age of Phillis
by Honorée Fanonne Jeffers
Publication Date: Mar 03, 2020
List Price: $26.95
Format: Hardcover, 200 pages
Classification: Poetry
ISBN13: 9780819579492
Imprint: Wesleyan University Press
Publisher: Wesleyan University Press
Parent Company: Wesleyan University
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Longlist - Young People’s Literature
Lifting as We Climb: Black Women’s Battle for the Ballot Box
by Evette Dionne
Publication Date: Apr 21, 2020
List Price: $19.99
Format: Hardcover, 176 pages
Classification: Nonfiction
Target Age Group: Middle Grade
ISBN13: 9780451481542
Imprint: Viking Books for Young Readers
Publisher: Penguin Random House
Parent Company: Bertelsmann