FOR RELEASE 10 AM ET, SEPTEMBER 10, 2024

2024 National Book Awards Longlist for YOUNG PEOPLE’S LITERATURE

The ten contenders for the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature

The National Book Foundation today announced the Longlist for the 2024 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature (YPL). The Finalists in all five categories will be revealed on Tuesday, October 1 with the New York Times; Winners will be announced live at the 75 ^th National Book Awards Ceremony & Benefit Dinner on Wednesday, November 20, 2024.

This year’s Longlist includes one author who has been previously honored by the National Book Awards: Randy Ribay was a Finalist for Young People’s Literature in 2019. The authors on this year’s list have been honored by the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Young Adult Novel, the Newbery Honor and Medal, the Pura Belpré Award, and the Walter Dean Myers Award Honor for Outstanding Children's Literature, among others.

Through fiction, nonfiction, and novels-in-verse, the protagonists of the 2024 YPL Longlisted titles traverse societal, familial, and individual expectations, and teach young readers the importance of self-love and forgiveness. These characters consider historical and environmental issues, their personal impact on our present and future, and reflect on their insecurities and strengths. The stories span place and time, from a small town in Delaware visited by a time traveling teenager from 2199 to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Through thoughtful dialogue and character development, these authors deftly represent mental health issues, body dysmorphia, and much more, and reflect the complexity of how young people grow, think, and change.

Three Longlisted titles navigate the interior lives of young people as they grapple with a destabilizing world. In The First State of Being, while Michael Rosario is preparing for the impending Y2K crisis by stockpiling supplies and catastrophizing, his life is forever altered by the arrival of Ridge, a mysterious, disoriented teenage boy from the year 2199. Set in the months leading up to January 1, 2000, Erin Entrada Kelly ’s novel reminds readers of the importance of living in the present moment. Bridging decades and crossing state lines, Everything We Never Had follows protagonist Enzo Maghabol as he negotiates with his own anxiety at the start of the global pandemic. Confronted with his family’s history when his estranged grandfather moves in, Randy Ribay captures the dreams, doubts, and journeys of four generations of Maghabol boys in this story of assimilation, masculinity, and finding your own way. In Buffalo Dreamer , 12-year-old Summer eagerly anticipates summer vacation until she begins to have vivid, unnerving dreams about an Indigenous girl attempting to escape the real-life residential school nearby—that her grandfather was forced to attend. The story, inspired by Violet Duncan’s own family history, introduces to young readers the history and devastating impact of institutions that tore apart Native communities and actively erased Indigenous cultures, and offers an important tale of intergenerational resilience.

This year’s Longlist also features multiple novels-in-verse. In Ariel Crashes a Train , readers are introduced to Ariel Burns, a queer 17-year-old grappling with intrusive, uncontrollable thoughts about harming others in this moving story about the power of naming and community. Olivia A. Cole ’s novel-in-verse compassionately depicts the complicated realities of living with obsessive compulsive disorder, all while Ariel balances familial expectations, new friendships, and explores her gender expression and sexuality. In Shifa Saltagi Safadi’s coming-of-age story, Kareem’s seventh grade school year is already off to a rough start when he is tasked with helping the new student, a Syrian refugee, acclimate. Told through verse, Kareem Between chronicles the story of a Syrian American Muslim teen stuck in the middle of cultures, parents, and countries as he courageously forges his own moral compass.Margarita Engle’s Wild Dreamers centers two teenagers—Cuban American Ana who has been living in a car with her mother, and Leandro who has been struggling emotionally ever since his family escaped Cuba. In this novel-in-verse told in alternating perspectives—including that of Leandro’s service dog, Cielo—the teens serendipitously meet, and soon discover their shared passion for environmental conservation and the transformative capacity of first love.

Two titles in verse beautifully depict and reflect on the innocence, adultification, and joys of Black young people with nuance and heart. After losing one of his best friends in a tragic hit-and-run accident, Isaiah is tormented with guilt and grief in Mid-Air by Alicia D. Williams . Featuring captivating illustrations by Danica Novgorodoff, this novel-in-verse tenderly portrays the struggles and joys of Black boyhood, and weaves together a heartfelt story about self-acceptance and forgiveness in the face of unspeakable tragedy. Angela Shantéreflects on the personal and the political in her ode to Black girlhood—skillfully addressing racism, sexual violence, and mental health, and recounting the stereotypes that the world often forces upon Black girls and women. Told in vignettes and poems influenced by the author’s upbringing in New York City, The Unboxing of a Black Girl serves as a reminder to be gentle with your heart and your mind in defiance of a society that insists on boxing you in.

Two debut young adult novels feature on this year’s Longlist. Following his adoptive mother’s cancer diagnosis, Brett tries to temper his anxiety by pouring his energy into his self-authored comic book series, Kid Condor, in Josh Galarza’s debut novel, The Great Cool Ranch Dorito in the Sky. After his journal goes viral on social media, Brett is forced to deal with his peers’ scrutiny and judgement, and ultimately—with the help of unexpected friends—face his own internalized fatphobia, disordered eating, and, even, real life. In Ali Terese’s debut novel, Free Period, when Helen and Gracie attempt to pull off their most extravagant prank yet, they receive an unconventional punishment: joining the middle school's Community Action Club. With only one month to leave a positive mark on the school, the duo campaigns to provide free menstrual products in all school bathrooms in this story about friendship, period equity, and the impact we can make on our communities.

Publishers submitted a total of 333 books for the 2024 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature. The judges for Young People’s Literature are Rose Brock, Huda Fahmy, Leah Johnson , Mike Jung, and Brein Lopez (Chair). 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 75 ^th National Book Awards Ceremony & Benefit Dinner and to register for the broadcast, please visit nationalbook.org/awards .

2024 Longlist for the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature:

Olivia A. Cole, Ariel Crashes a Train

Labyrinth Road / Penguin Random House

Violet Duncan, Buffalo Dreamer

Nancy Paulsen Books / Penguin Random House

Margarita Engle, Wild Dreamers

Atheneum Books for Young Readers / Simon & Schuster

Josh Galarza, The Great Cool Ranch Dorito in the Sky

Henry Holt and Company (BYR) / Macmillan Publishers

Erin Entrada Kelly, The First State of Being

Greenwillow Books / HarperCollins Publishers

Randy Ribay, Everything We Never Had

Kokila / Penguin Random House

Shifa Saltagi Safadi, Kareem Between

G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers / Penguin Random House

Angela Shanté, The Unboxing of a Black Girl

Page Street Publishing

Ali Terese, Free Period

Scholastic Press / Scholastic Inc.

Alicia D. Williams, Mid-Air

Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books / Simon & Schuster

Young People’s Literature Biographies:

Olivia A. Cole is a writer from Louisville, Kentucky whose essays have been published by Bitch Media, Real Simple,the Los Angeles Times, HuffPost, Teen Vogue, Gay Mag, and more. Olivia is the author of several books for children and adults.

Violet Duncan is Plains Cree and Taíno from Kehewin Cree Nation. After becoming a mother of four and seeing the need for Native representation in literature, she wrote three picture books: I am Native , When We Dance, and Let’s Hoop Dance! She is currently the Indigenous Cultural Advisor at the Tempe Center for the Arts, where she aims to create space for a permanent program of Indigenous performance and practice. She lives in Mesa, Arizona.

Margarita Engle is the Cuban American author of many books including the verse novels Rima’s Rebellion; Your Heart, My Sky ; With a Star in My Hand; The Surrender Tree, which received a Newbery Honor; and The Lightning Dreamer. Her verse memoirs include Soaring Earth and Enchanted Air: Two Cultures, Two Wings , which received the Pura Belpré Award, a Walter Dean Myers Award Honor for Outstanding Children's Literature, and was a finalist for the YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction, among others. Her picture books include Drum Dream Girl , Dancing Hands, and The Flying Girl.

Longtime Montessori educator Josh Galarza writes fiction and creative nonfiction and is a multidisciplinary visual artist specializing in printmaking and book arts. His research centers around male gender performance, queer issues, body liberation, and Chicano studies. His young adult debut is The Great Cool Ranch Dorito in the Sky. Galarza earned his BA in English and BFA in art from the University of Nevada, Reno. He currently lives in Richmond, VA, where he teaches in the English Department at Virginia Commonwealth University while completing an MFA in Creative Writing.

Erin Entrada Kelly was awarded the Newbery Medal for Hello, Universeand a Newbery Honor for We Dream of Space. She is a professor of children’s literature in the graduate fiction and publishing programs at Rosemont College, where she earned her MFA, and is on the faculty at Hamline University. Her debut novel,Blackbird Fly, was a Kirkus ReviewsBest Book, a School Library Journal Best Book, an Association for Library Service to Children Notable Book, and an Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature Honor book. She is also the author of The Land of Forgotten Girls, winner of the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature, among others.

Randy Ribay is a Filipino American author of young adult fiction. His novel Patron Saints of Nothing was a Finalist for the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Young Adult Novel. Randy was also a contributor to the Printz Award–winning anthology The Collectors, edited by A. S. King. His other works include An Infinite Number of Parallel Universes , After the Shot Drops, and Chronicles of the Avatar: The Reckoning of Roku . Born in the Philippines and raised in the Midwest, Randy currently lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife, son, and cat-like dog.

Shifa Saltagi Safadi is the author of Kareem Between and several picture books, including The Gift of Eid. She has a bachelor’s degree in English Literature, teaches English Language Arts at a local middle school, and reviews Muslim books on her blog, Muslim Mommy Blog. Shifa was born in Syria and immigrated to the US with her parents as a young girl. She lives near Chicago with her husband and four children.

Angela Shanté is a former K-12 classroom teacher who started her writing career as a poet/spoken word artist. Angela received her MSE from Fordham University and MFA from the City College of New York where she grew up. These days, this native New Yorker isn’t sticking to one coast/industry (or box) and divides her time as an educator and creative in Los Angeles and her home borough of the Boogie Down Bronx.

Ali Terese writes funny and heartfelt middle grade and YA stories. Free Period is her debut novel. Her next middle grade comedy Votes for G.O.A.T.S. is forthcoming.

Alicia D. Williams is the author of Genesis Begins Again , which received a Newbery Honor, was a finalist for the Kirkus Prize for Young Readers’ Literature and the William C. Morris YA Debut Award, and which won the John Steptoe Award for New Talent. She is also author of the picture books Jump at the Sun and The Talk, which was a Coretta Scott King Honor book. An oral storyteller in the African American tradition, she lives in Charlotte, North Carolina.

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The mission of theNational Book Foundation, presenter of the National Book Awards, is to celebrate the best literature in America, expand its audience, and ensure that books have a prominent place in American culture. The Foundation approaches this work from four programmatic angles: Awards & Honors recognize exceptional authors, advocates, literature, and literary programs; Education & Access initiatives foster a lifelong passion for books in young and adult readers; Public Programs bring acclaimed authors to communities nationwide to engage in conversations about books and showcase the power of literature as a tool for understanding our world; and Service to the Literary Field , provides support to the national literary ecosystem. Information on all of the Foundation’s programs can be found online at nationalbook.org .

TheNational Book Awards, established in 1950, is one of the nation's most prestigious literary prizes and has a stellar record of identifying and rewarding quality writing. Many previous Winners of the National Book Awards are now firmly established in the canon of American literature, including Elizabeth Acevedo, Robert A. Caro, Ralph Ellison, Louise Erdrich, Nikky Finney, Ibram X. Kendi, Adrienne Rich, Arthur Sze, Maurice Sendak, and Jesmyn Ward.