The 2024 Book Awards Roundup
Who Won This Year's Biggest Literary Prizes?
By Ashly Moore Sheldon • November 26, 2024
As the year draws to a close, we enjoy putting together a roundup of some of the recipients of literature's most distinguished awards and honors. Read on to get acquainted with 2024's most celebrated books.
The Pulitzer Prize
Since 1917, this award has gone to outstanding work in the areas of journalism, literature, and music. This year's winning books include:
Fiction
Night Watch by Jayne Anne Phillips
In this beautifully rendered novel set in the chaotic aftermath of the Civil War, a severely wounded Union veteran, a twelve-year-old girl, and her mother, who hasn't spoken in more than a year, arrive at West Virginia's Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum where they struggle to reclaim their lives.
History
No Right to an Honest Living: The Struggles of Boston's Black Workers in the Civil War Era by Jacqueline Jones
Impassioned antislavery rhetoric made antebellum Boston famous as the nation's hub of radical abolitionism. In reality, though, the city was far from a beacon of equality. This breathtakingly original reconstruction of free Black life in Boston shows how injustice in the workplace prevented true equality.
Biography
A revelatory portrait of Martin Luther King, Jr. that draws on new sources to enrich our understanding of each stage of the civil rights leader’s life, exploring his strengths and weaknesses, including the self-questioning and depression that accompanied his determination.
Master Slave Husband Wife: An Epic Journey from Slavery to Freedom by Ilyon Woo
Ellen and William Craft were an enslaved couple who escaped from Georgia in 1848, with light-skinned Ellen disguised as a disabled white gentleman and William as her manservant. As they journeyed to the North, they dodged slave traders, military officers, and even friends of their enslavers.
Memoir
Liliana's Invincible Summer: A Sister's Search for Justice by Cristina Rivera Garza
This genre-bending work documents the life of the author’s twenty-year-old sister, murdered by a former boyfriend. The luminous account mixes memoir, feminist investigative journalism and poetic biography to explore the trauma of losing her sister and her ongoing quest for justice.
Poetry
This collection explores the complexities of the poet’s dual Mexican and Chinese heritage, weaving together the narratives of his transnational communities, bringing to light what is overshadowed in the reckless transit of global capitalism and imagining a world otherwise.
General Nonfiction
A Day in the Life of Abed Salama: Anatomy of a Jerusalem Tragedy by Nathan Thrall
This finely reported and intimate account of life under Israeli occupation of the West Bank is told through the eyes of a Palestinian father on an odyssey to find out what happened to his five-year-old son after a deadly traffic accident during a school trip to a theme park on the outskirts of Jerusalem.
National Book Award
This prestigious prize recognizes an outstanding work of literary fiction by a U.S. citizen.
Fiction
Building upon the narrative set pieces from Twain's beloved classic, this brilliant, action-packed reimagining of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is both harrowing and darkly humorous. Experience the story through the eyes of Jim who has just learned that he is to be sold away from his wife and daughter.
Nonfiction
Soldiers and Kings: Survival and Hope in the World of Human Smuggling by Jason De León
In the process of researching this intense, intimate and first-of-its-kind look at the world of human smuggling in Latin America, the author, a MacArthur "genius" grant winner and anthropologist, embedded with a group of smugglers moving migrants across Mexico over the course of seven years.
Poetry
Something About Living by Lena Khalaf Tuffaha
This gorgeous and wide-ranging collection holds the human desire for joy and the insistent agitations of protest at the same time. The poems interweave Palestine's historic suffering, the challenges of living in this world full of violence and ill will, and the gentle delights we embrace to survive that violence.
Translated Literature
Taiwan Travelogue by Yáng Shuang-zi, translated from Mandarin Chinese by Lin King
May 1938. The young novelist Aoyama Chizuko has sailed from her home in Nagasaki, Japan, and arrived in Taiwan where Chizuro, an even younger woman, is hired as her interpreter. Over scenic train rides and braised pork rice, lively banter and winter melon tea, Chizuko grows increasingly infatuated with her companion.
Young People's Literature
Kareem Between by Shifa Saltagi Safadi
Seventh grade begins and Kareem's already fumbled it. His best friend moved away, he messed up his football tryout, and because of his heritage, he was voluntold to help the new kid, a Syrian refugee. This heartfelt novel-in-verse charts the struggles, big and small, of a Syrian American middle schooler.
National Book Critics Circle Award Winners
This prestigious prize recognizes an outstanding work of literary fiction by a U.S. citizen.
Fiction
I Am Homeless if This Is Not My Home by Lorrie Moore
A teacher visits his dying brother in the Bronx. A mysterious journal from the nineteenth century is stolen from a boarding house. Bold, meditative, and theatrical, this new novel is an inventive, poetic portrait of lovers and siblings as it questions the stories we have been told which may or may not be true.
Nonfiction
We Were Once a Family: A Story of Love, Death, and Child Removal in America by Roxanna Asgarian
On March 26, 2018, rescue workers discovered a crumpled SUV and the bodies of two women and multiple children at the bottom of a cliff along the Pacific Coast Highway. This is the deeply reported story of a murder-suicide that claimed the lives of six children—and a searing indictment of the American foster care system.
Biography
Winnie and Nelson: Portrait of a Marriage by Jonny Steinberg
One of the most celebrated political leaders of a century, much has been written about Nelson Mandela. But one area of his life remains largely untold: his marriage to Winnie. This absorbing, deeply researched account reveals the fractures and bonds at the heart of a volatile and groundbreaking union.
Autobiography
How to Say Babylon: A Memoir by Safiya Sinclair
Growing up, Sinclair's father, a volatile reggae musician and adherent to a strict sect of Rastafari, was obsessed with the ever-present threat of the corrupting evils of the Western world. This lyrical memoir recounts the author's struggle to break free of her father's control and navigate the world on her own terms.
Poetry
Phantom Pain Wings by Kim Hyesoon, translated from Korean by Don Mee Choi
Through intensely rhythmic lines marked by visual puns and words that crash together and then fly away as one, this collection—an exploration of the memory of war, trauma, and the collective grief of parting—pushes the poetic envelope into the farthest reaches of the lyric universe.
Booker Prize
Awarded for the best original novel written in the English language and published in the U.K.
Selected for one of the last space station missions of its kind before the program is dismantled, astronauts from America, Russia, Italy, Britain, and Japan have left their lives behind to travel through space. This slender novel of epic power chronicles one extraordinary day in the lives of six women and men.
International Booker Prize
Awarded for an international book translated to English for publication in the U.K.
Kairos by Jenny Erpenbeck, translated from German by Michael Hofmann
This compelling story follows the passionate, yet difficult, long-running affair between young Katharina and Hans, an older man, in 1980s East Berlin. Their relationship embodies East Germany’s crushed idealism, hitting the rocks as the socialist German Democratic Republic (GDR) dissolves.
Women's Prize for Fiction
Awarded to a female author of any nationality for the best original full-length novel written in English and published in the United States.
Brotherless Night by V. V. Ganeshananthan
This beautifully written story follows Sashi, a sixteen-year-old aspiring doctor, growing up in Jaffna, Sri Lanka, in the 1980s. Over the next decade, her dream spins off course as a vicious civil war tears through her home and she sees her four beloved brothers and their friend K swept up in the mounting violence.
Pen/Faulkner Award
Awarded to the author of the year's best work of fiction by a living American citizen.
What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez by Claire Jiménez
The Ramirez women of Staten Island orbit around absence. When thirteen-year-old middle child Ruthy disappeared after track practice without a trace, it left the family scarred. Then twelve years later, oldest sister Jessica sees a woman on a reality TV show who she thinks might be her missing sister.
Edgar Award
Presented by the Mystery Writers of America, honoring the best in crime and mystery fiction.
Best Novel
Flags on the Bayou by James Lee Burke
Set in Civil War-era Louisiana, this engaging novel is an action-packed narrative that includes a duel that ends in disaster, a brutal encounter with the local Union commander, repeated skirmishes with Confederate irregulars led by a diseased and probably deranged colonel, and an unlikely love story.
Nebula Award
Given each year by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America for the best science fiction or fantasy novel.
The Saint of Bright Doors by Vajra Chandrasakera
Fetter was raised to kill, honed as a knife to cut down his sainted father. This gave him plenty to talk about in therapy. After a blood-soaked childhood, he escaped his rural hometown for the big city. In this unknowable metropolis, Fetter will discover what kind of man he is, and his discovery will rewrite the world.
Hugo Award
Awarded for the best science fiction or fantasy story of 40,000 words or more published in English or translated in the prior calendar year.
Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh
Since she was born, gifted warrior Kyr has trained for the day she can avenge the murder of planet Earth. When Command assigns her brother to certain death and relegates her to Nursery to bear sons until she dies trying, she knows she must take humanity's revenge into her own hands.
Bram Stoker Award
Presented by the Horror Writers Association for superior achievement in horror writing for novels.
The Reformatory by Tananarive Due
1950, Gracetown, Florida: Twelve-year-old Robbie Stephens, Jr., is sentenced to six months at the Gracetown School for Boys for defending his sister from the son of the largest landowner in town. Robbie's talent for seeing ghosts becomes a window of truth to the horrors of the school known as The Reformatory.
Newbery Medal
Awarded for the most outstanding contribution to children's literature.
The Eyes and the Impossible by Dave Eggers, illustrated by Shawn Harris
This enthralling middle-grade novel is told from the perspective of Johannes, a free dog living in an urban park by the sea. His job is to be the Eyes of the park, reporting back to the park's elders, three ancient Bison. It's a story about friendship, beauty, liberation, and running very, very fast.
Caldecott Medal
Awarded for the most distinguished American picture book for children.
This picture book traces a child's journey to self-love and shows the power of words to both hurt and heal. With spare text and exquisite illustrations, this emotional exploration of being big in a world that prizes small is a tender portrayal of how you can stand out and feel invisible at the same time.
Coretta Scott King Book Award
Recognizes African-American authors and illustrators of outstanding books for children and young adults.
Author Award
Warrior Princess. That's what Nigeria Jones's father calls her. He has raised her as part of the Movement, a Black separatist group based in Philadelphia. But when her mother disappears, Nigeria's world is upended. This powerful YA coming-of-age novel explores race, feminism, and complicated family dynamics.
Illustrator Award
An American Story illustrated by Dare Coulter; written by Kwame Alexander
From the fireside tales in an African village, through the unspeakable passage across the Atlantic, to the backbreaking work in the fields of the South, this is the story of American slavery, a story that needs to be told and understood by all of us. With stunning mixed-media illustrations.
Michael L. Printz Award
For excellence in literature written for young adults.
The Collectors: Stories edited by A. S. King
An anthology of ten stories centering around an unforgettable cast of characters and their strange and surprising collections. Authors include M. T. Anderson, E. E. Charlton-Trujillo, A. S. King, David Levithan, Cory McCarthy, Anna-Marie McLemore, G. Neri, Jason Reynolds, Randy Ribay, and Jenny Torres Sanchez.
Schneider Family Book Award
For books that embody an artistic expression of the disability experience.
Young Children's Award
Henry, Like Always by Jenn Bailey; illustrated by Mika Song
Henry, a first grader on the autism spectrum, attempts to navigate friendships, and sudden changes in classroom routines—like a parade on Friday disrupting the usual share time. This beginning chapter book series expands on the award-winning picture book, A Friend for Harry.
Middle Grades Award
The Fire, The Water, and Maudie McGinn by Sally J. Pla
Neurodivergent Maudie always looks forward to the summers she spends in California with her dad. But this year, she's keeping a troubling secret about life with her mom and new stepdad. When a wildfire strikes, it means more change—and new opportunities for Maudie to be brave.
Teens Award
Forever is Now by Mariama J. Lockington
When sixteen-year-old Sadie develops agoraphobia the summer before her junior year, she relies on her best friend, family, and therapist to overcome her fears. This powerful YA novel-in-verse is about mental health, love, family, Black joy, and finding your power in an uncertain world.
Pura Belpré Award
Honoring Latinx writers and illustrators whose children's and young adult books best portray, affirm, and celebrate the Latino cultural experience.
Children's Author Award and Youth Illustration Award
Mexikid: A Graphic Novel written and illustrated by Pedro Martín
Mexican-American Pedro has grown up hearing stories about his abuelito—his legendary crime-fighting grandfather who was once a part of the Mexican Revolution! Now Abuelito is coming to live with them and the family road trip to Mexico to bring him home turns into the trip of a lifetime.
Young Adult Author Award
Saints of the Household by Ari Tison
After breaking up a fight—and harming their school’s star soccer player in the process—two Bribri American brothers grapple with the weight of their actions, their shifting relationship as brothers, and the realization that they may be more like their physically abusive father than they thought.
Awards like these help to highlight excellent reads that may otherwise not get the attention they deserve. We hope you have a chance to check out some of the exciting titles honored in 2024.
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