Publication year 2020
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Race, Sexual Identity, Death, Coming of Age
Tags LGBTQ+, Realistic Fiction, Magical Realism, Children`s Literature, Modern Classic Fiction
National Book Awards Winners & Finalists
Celebrating excellence in American literature, the first National Book Award for Fiction was presented to Nelson Algren for The Man with the Golden Arm in 1950. Since 1989, the National Book Foundation -- a nonprofit organization dedicated to expanding the reach of great American literature -- has overseen the awards. Award categories include fiction, nonfiction, poetry, translated literature, and young people’s literature. This collection of study guides highlights an assortment of fiction and nonfiction titles for adults, both past award winners and finalists.
King and the Dragonflies
Last Bus To Wisdom
Last Night at the Telegraph Club
Leave the World Behind
Let The Circle Be Unbroken
Let the Great World Spin
Lila
Liliana's Invincible Summer
Locking Up Our Own
Locomotion
Lotus Bloom and the Afro Revolution
Maizy Chen's Last Chance
March: Books 2 & 3
Matrix
Me (Moth)
Middle Passage
Mockingbird
Monster
Most Dangerous
My Brother Sam Is Dead
Publication year 2020
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Race, Sexual Identity, Death, Coming of Age
Tags LGBTQ+, Realistic Fiction, Magical Realism, Children`s Literature, Modern Classic Fiction
Publication year 2015
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Coming of Age, Family, Politics & Government, Place, Self Discovery, Community, Literature
Tags Historical Fiction, Coming of Age, Western, World History
Publication year 2021
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Self Discovery, Sexual Identity, Race, Gender Identity, Femininity, Masculinity, Love, Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Perseverance, Fear, Hope, Equality, Truth & Lies, Loyalty & Betrayal, Family, Friendship
Tags Historical Fiction, LGBTQ+, Romance, Coming of Age, Love & Sexuality, Women`s Studies, Modern Classic Fiction, World History
Publication year 2020
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Race, Fear, Order & Chaos
Tags Horror & Suspense, Realistic Fiction, Information Age, Race & Racism, Social Class, Black Lives Matter, American Literature, Science Fiction, Mystery & Crime Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction
Rumaan Alam’s Leave the World Behind (2020) is a work of apocalyptic fiction that examines the relationship between race and class during an unspecified disaster that cuts off all communication, forcing two families together. The book uses omniscient narration and interpersonal conflict to heighten the fear of disconnection in the Information Age, treating the apocalypse as an event that happens on a human scale. Published to great acclaim, it has been longlisted for the National... Read Leave the World Behind Summary
Publication year 1981
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Family, Perseverance, Hate & Anger, Race, Siblings, Social Class, Economics, Justice, Equality
Tags Historical Fiction, Race & Racism, Great Depression, Children`s Literature, World History, Classic Fiction
Let the Circle Be Unbroken (1981) is part of the Logan Family Saga by author Mildred D. Taylor. The series follows the fortunes of a Black farming family, the Logans, through more than one generation as they experience the tribulations of life in the South before the Civil Rights era. The saga consists of 10 novels and novellas. The award-winning novels include The Land (2001), Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry (1976), and The Road... Read Let The Circle Be Unbroken Summary
Publication year 2009
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Grief, Guilt, Appearance & Reality
Tags Modern Classic Fiction, World History, Historical Fiction
The book begins with a prologue that describes a tightrope walker crossing between the twin towers of the World Trade Center. It is set in 1974, long before the towers were destroyed on 9/11. In the first chapter, the scene shifts to Dublin, Ireland. There, two brothers, John Andrew Corrigan, called Corrigan, and Ciaran, live with their mother. Their father abandoned the family years ago. After their mother’s death, Corrigan begins studying for the priesthood. He eventually drops... Read Let the Great World Spin Summary
Publication year 2014
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Grief, Shame & Pride, Death, Love, Loneliness
Tags Historical Fiction, Relationships
Lila is a work of literary fiction by American novelist Marilynne Robinson. Originally published in 2014 by Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, the novel is set in Robinson’s fictional Gilead universe and tells the story of Reverend John Ames’s enigmatic wife, Lila Dahl. When Lila discovers that she is pregnant with the reverend’s child, she begins to reflect on her life. She is happy with John but still struggles to make sense of how much her... Read Lila Summary
Publication year 2023
Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction
Themes Siblings, Justice, Grief, Gender Identity
Tags Crime & Law, Trauma & Abuse, Gender & Feminism, Grief & Death, Latin American Literature
Publication year 2017
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Themes Race, Social Class, Nation, Politics & Government, Justice
Tags Race & Racism, US History, Politics & Government, Social Justice, Incarceration, Mystery & Crime Fiction, Sociology, World History
Locking Up Our Own: Crime and Punishment in Black America is a work of nonfiction by James Forman Jr., an American lawyer and legal scholar specializing in racial inequities in criminal justice. Published in 2017, this critically acclaimed book examines the complex role Black leaders played in advancing tough-on-crime policies that ultimately contributed to the mass incarceration of Black people in the United States. Drawing on his experience as a public defender and his extensive... Read Locking Up Our Own Summary
Publication year 2003
Genre Novel/Book in Verse, Fiction
Themes Family, Race, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Perseverance, Grief, Hope, Memory, Childhood & Youth, Animals, Friendship, Mothers, Siblings, Self Discovery, Social Class, Community, Education, Beauty, Literature, Order & Chaos, Religion & Spirituality, Trust & Doubt
Tags Realistic Fiction, African American Literature, Children`s Literature, Arts & Culture
Locomotion, Jacqueline Woodson’s 2003 novel in verse, follows the perspective of Lonnie Collins Motion, nicknamed Locomotion. After his parents die in a fire and his sister is adopted, Lonnie grieves and navigates life, first in a group home and then with Miss Edna, his foster mother. Through poetry, he slowly finds joy in life again, highlighting the themes of The Search for Identity and Belonging, The Healing Power of Writing, and The Enduring Support of... Read Locomotion Summary
Publication year 2022
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Race, Community, Justice, Self Discovery, Music, Shame & Pride, Equality, Beauty
Tags Realistic Fiction, Children`s Literature, Music
Publication year 2022
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Family
Tags Historical Fiction, Realistic Fiction, Children`s Literature, Modern Classic Fiction, World History
Publication year 2016
Genre Graphic Memoir , Nonfiction
Themes Race, Politics & Government, Justice, Equality
Tags Civil Rights & Jim Crow South, US History, Race & Racism, Social Justice, World History, Politics & Government, Biography
Publication year 2021
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Religion & Spirituality, Sexual Identity, Gender Identity, Femininity
Tags Historical Fiction, LGBTQ+, Medieval, Gender & Feminism, World History, Religion & Spirituality
Publication year 2021
Genre Novel/Book in Verse, Fiction
Themes Mental Health, Grief, Love, Childhood & Youth, Coming of Age, Death, Friendship
Tags Fantasy, Coming of Age, Romance
Publication year 1990
Genre Novel, Fiction
Tags Historical Fiction
Charles S. Johnson’s Middle Passage, winner of the National Book Award for fiction, was published in 1990. Set in New Orleans and on the Atlantic Ocean, the historical novel centers on the disastrous voyage of the slave ship Republic.In 1830, Rutherford Calhoun, an ex-slave from Illinois, stows away on the Republic to avoid debts he owes to underworld boss Papa Zeringue or marriage to Isadora Bailey, who has offered to pay off those debts. Once... Read Middle Passage Summary
Publication year 2010
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Family, Grief, Coming of Age, Disability
Tags Realistic Fiction, Disability, Mental Illness, Grief & Death, Children`s Literature, Modern Classic Fiction
Publication year 1999
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Race, Justice, Community, Art, Truth & Lies
Tags Mystery & Crime Fiction, Race & Racism, Education, Education, Realistic Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction
Monster, a YA novel about a Black New York teenager accused of murder, quickly became one of Walter Dean Myers's most acclaimed works when it was published in 1999, winning the Coretta Scott King Award, receiving the Prime Excellence Award of the American Library Association, named a National Book Award Finalist. The completion and release of the novel occurred during the arc of the conviction and eventual exoneration of the Central Park 5, Black teenagers... Read Monster Summary
Publication year 2015
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Themes Self Discovery, War, Justice
Tags US History, Military & War, Politics & Government, Vietnam War, Children`s Literature, World History, Biography
Publication year 1974
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Family, War, Loyalty & Betrayal
Tags Historical Fiction, American Revolution, Military & War, Children`s Literature, Education, Education, World History, Classic Fiction
My Brother Sam Is Dead tells the story of the Tim Meeker and his family during the years of the American Revolutionary War. Published in 1974, the novel won many awards, including a Newbery Honor, an American Library Association Notable Children’s Book designation, and National Book Award nomination. James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier, the authors, are brothers who together wrote a series of historical novels for young adults. James, a journalist, wrote most of... Read My Brother Sam Is Dead Summary