This is a selection of the 2018 award winners in Yakima Valley Libraries’ physical and/or digital collections – and just some of the many wonderful prizes that honor literature. If you’re an OverDrive fan, we’ve compiled a list there as well, just scroll down to “2018 Award Winners.” Keep in mind, many of these awards have been around for decades, and the American Library Association announces many of their annual awards (Newbery, Caldecott, Printz, Carnegie, etc.) around the end of January – so don’t limit yourself to this year!
Please note: Not all of these titles are available in all formats, and some may be available only digitally because that is the only way they have been published.
Pulitzer Prize for Letters & Drama (Previous years)
- Fiction: Less by Andrew Sean Greer
- History: The Gulf: The Making of an American Sea by Jack E Davis
- Biography or Autobiography: Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder by Caroline Fraser
- General Nonfiction: Locking Up Our Own: Crime and Punishment in Black America by James Forman Jr
National Book Awards (Previous years)
- Fiction: The Friend by Sigrid Nunez
- Nonfiction: The New Negro: The Life of Alain Locke by Jeffrey C. Stewart
- Poetry- Indecency by Justin Phillip Reed
- Translated: The Emissary by Yoko Tawada, translated from the Japanese by Margaret Mitsutani
- Young People’s Literature: The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction (more information & previous years)
- Fiction: Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan
- Nonfiction: No medal was awarded for 2018.
Man Booker Prize: Milkman by Anna Burns (Previous years)
Man Booker International Prize (new this year): Flights by Olga Tokarczuk, translated from the Polish by Jennifer Croft
Pen/Faulkner Award: Improvement by Joan Silber
(Previous years)
PEN America Literary Awards (more information)
- PEN/Jen Stein Book Award: Whereas by Layli Long Soldier
- PEN Open Book Award: A Moonless, Starless Sky by Alexis Okeowo
- PEN Translation: Katalin Street by Magsa Szabó, translated from the Hungarian by Len Rix
- PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay: No Time to Spare: Thinking About What Matters by Ursula K. Le Guin
- PEN/Bograd Weld Prize for biography: Richard Nixon by John A Farrell
Kirkus Prize (more information)
- Fiction: Severance by Ling Ma
- Nonfiction: Call Them by Their True Names by Rebecca Solnit
- Young Readers: Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut by Gordon C. James
National Book Critics Circle Award (more information)
Fiction: Improvement by Joan Silber
General Nonfiction: The Evangelicals: The Struggle to Shape America by Frances FitzGerald
Biography: Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder by Caroline Fraser
Poetry: Whereas by Layli Long Soldier
Criticism: You Play the Girl: On Playboy Bunnies, Stepford Wives, Trainwrecks and Other Mixed Messages by Carina Chocano
John Leonard Prize: Her Body and Other Parties: Stories by Carmen Maria Machado
Women’s Prize for Fiction: Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie (This prize has previously been the Orange Prize and the Bailey’s Prize. For more information, visit their website.)
Scotiabank Giller Prize (Canadian): Washington Black by Esi Edugyan
Goodreads Choice Awards
- Best Fiction: Still Me by Jojo Moyes
- Best Mystery and Thriller: The Outsider by Stephen King
- Best Fantasy: Circe by Madeline Miller
- Best Romance: The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang
- Best Science Fiction: Vengeful by V. E. Schwab
- Best Debut Author: Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi
- Best Historical Fiction: The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah
- Best of the Best: The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
- Best Nonfiction: I’ll Be Gone In The Dark by Michelle McNamara
- Best Memoir: Educated by Tara Westover
- Best History, Biography: The Good Neighbor: The Life and Work of Fred Rogers by Maxwell King
- Best Science and Tech: The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs: A New History of a Lost World by Steve Brusatte
- Best Food and Cookbooks: Cravings: Hungry for More by Chrissy Teigen
- Best Poetry: the witch doesn’t burn in this one by Amanda Lovelace
- Best Humor: The Last Black Unicorn by Tiffany Haddish
- Best YA Fiction: Leah on the Offbeat by Becky Albertalli
- Best YA Fantasy: Kingdom of Ash by Sarah J Maas (series, book 7)
- Best Middle Grade, Children’s: The Burning Maze by Rick Riordan (series, book 3)
- Best Picture Book: I Am Enough by Grace Byers
Arab American Book Award (more information)
- Fiction: Salt Houses by Hala Alyan
BCALA Book Awards (Black Caucus of the American Library Association)
- First Novelist Award: A Kind of Freedom by Margaret Wilkerson Sexton
- Fiction: Difficult Women by Roxane Gay
The Christy Awards (more information)
- Book of the Year: True to You by Becky Wade
- Contemporary Romance: True to You by Becky Wade
- General Fiction: Life After by Katie Ganshert
- Historical Romance: The Lacemaker by Laura Frantz
- Short Form: 12 Days at Bleakly Manor: Once Upon a Dickens Christmas by Michelle Griep
- Visionary: The Man He Never Was by James Rubart
Lambda Literary Awards (More information and previous years)
- Lesbian Fiction: Her Body and Other Parties: Stories by Carmen Maria MachadoGay
- Fiction: After the Blue Hour by John Rechy
- Bisexual Nonfiction: Hunger by Roxane Gay
- Lesbian Memoir/Biography: The Fact of a Body by Alexandria Marzano-Lesnevich
- Lesbian Romance: Tailor-Made by Yolanda Wallace
- Gay Romance: Love and Other Hot Beverages by Laurie Loft
- LGBTQ Children’s/Young Adult: Like Water by Rebecca Podos
- LGBTQ Graphic Novels: My Favorite Thing is Monsters by Emil Ferris
- LGBTQ SF/F/Horror: Autonomous by Annalee Newitz
National Jewish Book Award Winners (more information)
- Jewish Book of the Year: Lioness: Golda Meir and the Nation of Israel by Francine Klagsbrun
- Biography, AutoBiography, Memoir (The Kraus Family Award in Memory of Simon and Shulamith ‘Sofi’ Goldberg): The Choice: Embrace the Possible by Dr. Edith Eva Eger
- Book Club Award (The Miller Family Award in Memory of Helen Dunn Weinstein and June Keit Mller): The Weight of Ink by Rachel Kadish
- Fiction (JJ Greenberg Memorial Award): A Horse Walks into a Bar by David Grossman
- Holocaust (In Memory of Ernest W. Michel): The Book Smugglers: Partisans, poets and the race to save Jewish Treasures from the Nazis by David Fishman
Audie Awards (more information about this award for audiobooks; note, links below are specifically to audio versions of these titles in our catalog)
- Audiobook of the Year: Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders
- Autobiography/Memoir: Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen
- Best Female Narrator: The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas (Narrated by Bahni Turpin)
- Best Male Narrator: Born A Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah (narrator)
- Fantasy: The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter by Theodora Goss
- Fiction: Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
- Inspirational/Faith-Based Fiction: Catching the Wind by Melanie Dobson
- Inspirational/Faith-Based Non-Fiction: Fire Road: The Napalm Girl’s Journey through the Horrors of War to Faith, Forgiveness, and Peace by Kim Phuc Phan Thi
- Literary Fiction & Classics: House of Names by Colm Tóibin
- Middle Grade: See You in the Cosmos by Jack Cheng
- Mystery: The Girl Who Takes An Eye for an Eye by David Lagercrantz
- Narration by the Author or Authors: Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman
- Non-Fiction: American Wolf: A True Story of Survival and Obsession in the West by Nate Blakeslee
- Romance: The Duchess Deal by Tessa Dare
- Science Fiction: Provenance by Ann Leckie
- Young Adult: The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
Edgar Awards, presented by Mystery Writers of America (more information)
- Best Novel: Bluebird, Bluebird by Attica Locke
- First Novel: She Rides Shotgun by Jordan Harper
- Paperback Original: The Unseeing by Anna Mazzola
- Fact Crime: Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann
- Juvenile: Vanished! by James Ponti
- YA: Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds
Eisner Awards (Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards for creative achievement in American comic books)
- Best Continuing Series: Monstress, Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda
- Best Limited Series: Black Panther: World of Wakanda, Roxane Gay, Ta-Nehisi Coates, and Alitha E. Martinez
- Best New Series: Black Bolt, by Saladin Ahmed and Christian Ward
- Best Publication for Early Readers: Good Night, Planet, by Liniers
- Best Publication for Kids: The Tea Dragon Society, by Katie O’Neill
- Best Publication for Teens: Monstress, Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda
- Best Reality-Based Work: Spinning, by Tillie Walden
- Best Graphic Album—New: My Favorite Thing is Monsters by Emil Ferris
- Best Adaptation from Another Medium: Kindred, by Octavia Butler, adapted by Damian Duffy and John Jennings
- Best U.S. Edition of International Material—Asia: My Brother’s Husband, vol. 1, by Gengoroh Tagame, translated by Anne Ishii
Hugo Awards for science fiction (and fantasy) (previous years)
- Best Novel: The Stone Sky by N. K. Jemisin
- Best Novella: All Systems Red by Martha Wells
- Best Related Work: No Time to Spare: Thinking about What Matters by Ursula K. Le Guin
- Best Graphic Story: Monstress, Vol. 2: The Blood by Marjorie M. Liu, ills by Sana Takeda
Locus Awards, presented by the science fiction and fantasy magazine Locus. Often presented in Seattle.
- Science Fiction Novel: The Collapsing Empire by John Scalzi
- Fantasy: The Stone Sky by N. K. Jemisin
- First Novel: The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter by Theodora Goss
- Novella: All Systems Red by Martha Wells
- Anthology: The Book of Swords, edited by Gardner Dozsois
Nebula Awards, presented by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (more information)
- Novel: The Stone Sky by N. K. Jemisin
- Novella: All Systems Red by Martha Wells
- Andre Norton Award for Outstanding Young Adult Science Fiction or Fantasy: The Art of Starving by Sam J. Miller
Rita Awards, presented by Romance Writers of America (more information)
- Contemporary Romance: Long Winner: Falling Hard by Lexi Ryan
- Contemporary Romance: Short Winner: Second Chance Summer by Kait Nolan
- Erotic Romance Winner: Wicked Dirty by J. Kenner
- Historical Romance: Long Winner: Between the Devil and the Duke by Kelly Bowen
- Historical Romance: Short Winner: Waltzing with the Earl by Catherine Tinley
- Mainstream Fiction with a Central Romance Winner: Now that You Mention It by Kristan Higgins
- Paranormal Romance Winner: Hunt the Darkness by Stephanie Rowe
Spur Awards, presented by the Western Writers of America (more information)
- Mass-Market Paperback: Hell Hath No Fury: A John Hawk Western by Charles G. West
- Traditional Novel: Silver City: A Novel of the American West by Jeff Guinn
- Historical Nonfiction: Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann
- Juvenile Fiction: Stranded: A Story of Frontier Survival by Matthew P. Mayo
Bram Stoker Awards, presented by the Horror Writers Association (more information)
- Novel: Ararat by Christopher Golden
- Long Fiction: Mapping the Interior by Stephen Graham Jones
- Fiction Collection: Strange Weather by Joe Hill
- Young Adult Novel: The Last Harvest by Kim Liggett
- Non-Fiction: Paperbacks from Hell: The Twisted History of ‘70s and ‘80s Horror Fiction by Grady Hendrix
Alex Awards (books recognized as having been written for adults that have special appeal for teens)
- Malagash by Joey Comeau
- She Rides Shotgun by Jordan Harper
- An Unkindness of Magicians by Kat Howard
- Things We Have in Common by Tasha Kavanagh
- Down Among the Sticks and Bones by Seanan McGuire
- All Systems Red by Martha Wells
- The Clockwork Dynasty by Daniel H Wilson
Michael L. Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature (previous years): We Are Okay by Nina LaCour
William C. Morris YA Debut Award (previous years): The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
John Newbery Medal (children’s literature; previous years): Hello, Universe by Erin Entrada Kelly
Caldecott Medal (to the artist of “the most distinguished American picture book for children”; previous years): Wolf in the Snow written & illustrated by Matthew Cordell
American Indian Youth Literature Awards (awarded every two years)
- 2018 Best Young Adult Book: #Not Your Princess: Voices of Native American Women, edited by Lisa Charleyboy (Tsilhqot’in) and Mary Beth Leatherdale.
Pura Belpré Award (previous years)
- Author: Lucky Broken Girl by Ruth Behar
- Illustrator: La Princesa and the Pea illustrated by Juana Martinez-Neal, written by Susan Middleton Elya
Coretta Scott King Awards (previous years)
- Author: Piecing Me Together by Renée Watson
- Illustrator: Out of Wonder: Poems Celebrating Poets by Kwame Alexander, illustrated by Ekua Holmes
Schneider Family Book Award (“honors an author of illustrator for a book that embodies an artistic expression of the disability experience for child and adolescent audiences”)
- Teen Book: You’re Welcome, Universe by Whitney Gardner
- Middle School Book: Macy McMillan and the Rainbow Goddess by Shari Green
- Young Children’s Book: Silent Days, Silent Dreams by Allen Say