The American Library Association has revealed the longlists for its Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction, with 23 books in each category nominated for the prizes that recognize outstanding adult books published in the U.S.
Percival Everett made the fiction longlist for James, his Adventures of Huckleberry Finn retelling that won the Kirkus Prize and is shortlisted for the National Book Award. Two other National Book Award finalists, Kaveh Akbar’s Martyr! and Hisham Matar’s My Friends, also made the longlist.
Other books nominated for the fiction medal include Danzy Senna’s Colored Television, Sarah Perry’s Enlightenment, Diane Oliver’s Neighbors, and Joseph Earl Thomas’ God Bless You, Otis Spunkmeyer.
Adam Higginbotham made the nonfiction longlist for his Kirkus Prize–winning Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space, alongside Tessa Hulls’ Feeding Ghosts: A Graphic Memoir, a Kirkus Prize finalist.
Also nominated in the nonfiction category were Hanif Abdurraqib’s There’s Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension, SJ Kim’s This Part Is Silent: A Life Between Cultures, Sasha taqʷšəblu LaPointe’s Thunder Song, and Emily Nussbaum’s Cue the Sun! The Invention of Reality TV.
The Andrew Carnegie Medals were established in 2012. Previous winners include Donna Tartt for The Goldfinch, Colson Whitehead for The Underground Railroad, and Kiese Laymon for Heavy.
The shortlists for this year’s medals will be revealed on Nov. 12, with the winners announced on Jan. 26, 2025. The full longlists are available on the ALA website.
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
