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Find The New Yorker’s announcement here.
The National Book Foundation today announced the Longlist for the 2025 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature (YPL) with The New Yorker. The Finalists in all five categories will be revealed on Tuesday, October 7 with the New York Times; Winners will be announced live at the 76th National Book Awards Ceremony & Benefit Dinner on Wednesday, November 19, 2025.
This year’s Longlist includes four past Finalists for the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature: Derrick Barnes, honored in 2022 for Victory. Stand!: Raising My Fist for Justice, co-written with Tommie Smith and illustrated by Dawud Anyabwile; Kyle Lukoff, honored in 2021 for Too Bright to See; Amber McBride, honored in 2021 for Me (Moth); and Ibi Zoboi, honored in 2017 for American Street. The authors on this year’s Longlist have also been honored by the Coretta Scott King Book Award, the Kirkus Prize for Young Readers, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, the Newbery Honor, the Printz Award, the Stonewall Award, and many others. Through fiction, nonfiction, graphic novels, and novels-in-verse, the protagonists of the 2025 YPL Longlisted titles navigate historical circumstances, deconstruct societal expectations, and aspire to brighter futures.
Three novels on the Young People’s Literature Longlist place fantasy and horror in contemporary contexts. (S)Kin by Ibi Zoboi alternates between the perspectives of Marisol, the 15-year-old daughter of a soucouyant—or shape-shifting, skin-shedding witch—and Genevieve, the 17-year-old daughter of a college professor suffering from an unbearable skin condition. Inspired by Caribbean folklore, Zoboi’s novel-in-verse—and fantasy debut—explores self-discovery, immigration and assimilation, colorism, and the significance of preserving cultural traditions. In A World Worth Saving, Kyle Lukoff blends Jewish mythology and adventure to share the story of A, a trans teen who came out during the COVID-19 pandemic, and whose parents force him into attending weekly “Save Our Sons and Daughters meetings”—a conversion therapy program that is actually run by a soul-sucking demon. When one of A’s friends disappears for “advanced treatment,” A sets off on a journey to save his friend, dismantle the program, build community, and use his voice to stand up against bigotry and transphobia. The Corruption of Hollis Brown by K. Ancrum sets a queer romantic thriller against the backdrop of 17-year-old Hollis Brown’s rural hometown. After Hollis realizes that Walt, the mysterious, new-to-town stranger, is a ghost with unfinished business, the two must work together to reverse the town’s curse and return it to the place of possibility it once was.
2025 Longlisters use verse to explore grief and death with deep respect, creativity, and care for their young protagonists. In Amber McBride’s novel-in-verse The Leaving Room, a Keeper named Gospel is intent on providing peaceful final moments for recently deceased young people. After Melodee, a fellow Keeper, enters Gospel’s Leaving Room, they push the boundaries of their shared transitional space together to find one that can hold their love. Through interconnected prose, poems, and stories, A Bird in the Air Means We Can Still Breathe by Mahogany L. Browne tells the stories of resilient teens, their families, and the communities that were disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Browne tenderly depicts the pain, love, and hope experienced by young New Yorkers in the face of unmeasurable loss, and reminds readers of the healing that still needs to be done.
Healing and hope go hand-in-hand for two protagonists who have big dreams for the future, as they grapple with the pressures of coming-of-age and speaking up. Hannah V. Sawyerr’s novel-in-verse Truth Is follows Truth Bangura, a 17-year-old poet who begins to write poems that reveal her inner world—including her decision to have an abortion, and not tell her mother. When Truth’s slam poetry performance goes viral, her private choices become a matter of public opinion, and she must reckon with her relationships, her writing, and her post-graduation dreams. Henson Blayze is a 13-year-old football prodigy, who is idolized in his small, predominantly white town. When his friend is the victim of police brutality, he must decide what he is willing to risk in order to speak out against injustice. In his latest novel, The Incredibly Human Henson Blayze, Derrick Barnes tackles systemic racism, tokenism, and prejudice through the story of a young, Black teenager who asks to be seen as human.
Three Longlisted titles explore the past and our shared histories in order to better understand the present. Set against the Great Depression and Mexican Repatriation, A Sea of Lemon Trees: The Corrido of Roberto Alvarez follows 12-year-old Mexican American Roberto Alvarez, an enthusiastic student who is not allowed to return to Lemon Grove Grammar School, but is instead sent to an “Americanization” school in an old barn. María Dolores Águila’s novel-in-verse is based on the true story of the Lemon Grove Incident, a landmark school desegregation case two decades before Brown v. Board of Education. Maria van Lieshout’s graphic novel Song of a Blackbird weaves together the stories of two girls whose lives, despite being separated by decades, are linked. In 1943, Emma joins the Dutch Resistance after witnessing the forced deportations of Jewish families; and in 2011, Annick searches for a bone marrow donor for her grandmother after her family learns she was secretly adopted. Van Lieshout juxtaposes her text and illustrations against black-and-white photographs, underscoring the importance of art to history and resistance. In 1941 Iran, after the father of 13-year-old Babak and eight-year-old Sana is killed and the siblings are left orphaned, they come up with a plan to stay together: Babak will follow in his father’s footsteps and become an educator to nomadic tribes. The siblings set off to trek across the mountains, encountering a Jewish boy hiding from the Nazis along the way. Daniel Nayeri uncovers a hidden World War II history and highlights the power of cross-cultural understanding, education, and empathy in The Teacher of Nomad Land: A World War II Story.
Publishers submitted a total of 325 books for the 2025 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature. The judges for Young People’s Literature are Cathy Berner, David Bowles (Chair), candice iloh, Jung Kim, and Maulik Pancholy. Judges’ decisions are made independently of the National Book Foundation staff and Board of Directors, and deliberations are strictly confidential. For more information about the 76th National Book Awards Ceremony & Benefit Dinner and to register for the livestream, please visit nationalbook.org/awards.
María Dolores Águila, A Sea of Lemon Trees: The Corrido of Roberto Alvarez
Roaring Brook Press / Macmillan Publishers
K. Ancrum, The Corruption of Hollis Brown
HarperCollins / HarperCollins Publishers
Derrick Barnes, The Incredibly Human Henson Blayze
Viking Books for Young Readers / Penguin Random House
Mahogany L. Browne, A Bird in the Air Means We Can Still Breathe
Crown Books for Young Readers / Penguin Random House
Kyle Lukoff, A World Worth Saving
Dial Books for Young Readers / Penguin Random House
Amber McBride, The Leaving Room
Feiwel & Friends / Macmillan Publishers
Daniel Nayeri, The Teacher of Nomad Land: A World War II Story
Levine Querido
Hannah V. Sawyerr, Truth Is
Amulet Books / Abrams
Maria van Lieshout, Song of a Blackbird
First Second / Macmillan Publishers
Ibi Zoboi, (S)Kin
Versify / HarperCollins Publishers
