From Sept. 10 to 13, the National Book Award Foundation announced its longlists of 10 books that could win the National Book Award for each category: Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, Translated Literature and Young People’s Literature. This year marks the 75th anniversary of the awards. 

The National Book Awards are considered one of “the world’s most prestigious literary awards” by the New York Times. The winning books are determined by a panel of judges, and winners are regarded as the best books from the past year written by Americans (excluding the Translated Literature category). 

Five finalists for each category will be announced Oct. 1, and the winners will be announced Nov. 20. 

I read four books on the longlist for Young People’s Literature, all of which are great picks for high schoolers. The longlist features young adult (YA) and middle grade books across genres and includes both fiction and nonfiction. Four of the books are in verse, five are in prose and one is an autobiographical poetry collection. 

I read “Ariel Crashes a Train” by Olivia A. Cole, “Mid-Air” by Alicia D. Williams, “Wild Dreamers” by Margarita Engle and “The Unboxing of a Black Girl” by Angela Shanté. Other young adult titles on the list include “The Great Cool Ranch Dorito in the Sky” by Josh Galarza and “Everything We Never Had” by Randy Ribay. 

The four qualifiers I read address transition from childhood to adolescence or from adolescence to young adulthood. The protagonists grow into their identities, as defined and challenged by grief, mental illness and social expectations. 

In “The Unboxing of a Black Girl,” Shanté depicts her transition out of childhood and explores how society’s boxes for Black girls lead to a premature loss of girlhood. Musical and literary references and definitions join poetry to honor Shanté’s younger self, her ancestors, and a future of joy, self-care and progress. My favorite poem was “Girls and Women for Oil.” I only wish the collection had been longer and gone deeper in some places. I rated the book 3.75 out of five stars. 

“Wild Dreamers” by Margarita Engle is a layered novel in verse following Cuban-American Ana, Leandro and Leandro’s magical service dog who is trying to get Ana and Leandro together. They meet by chance in a beautiful California forest, the first of many ethereal descriptions of nature in the book. They then begin an environmental conservation group and heal from their pasts together. The writing gives the story a mystical feel, while still wholeheartedly portraying the effects death, anxiety, homelessness and environmental degradation have on teenagers. I gave the book 3.5 out of five stars. 

“Ariel Crashes a Train” had been on my radar before the longlist, and it matches most closely with the contemporary LGBTQ+ young adult books I typically read. In a verse format that depicts the doubt and spiral that Ariel’s OCD pulls her into, the protagonist navigates her worsening mental health over one summer. The story is well-rounded in Ariel’s perception of how her abusive family and society’s messaging about womanhood impact her identity. The ending could have been more expansive, though. The book was 4.5 out of five stars. 

I was most impressed by “Mid-Air” in terms of how effectively and appropriately it handled issues that 14-year-olds should not have to encounter. This book was the only one to make me cry, although “Ariel” was close. Readers follow Isaiah as he grows dramatically over the summer before high school. When his best friend dies, he must consider what life he would like to lead and how he will survive the grief. As a Black boy, Isaiah faces pressures from his classmates and family on how to be a Black man in a racist society. There is so much contained in these 300 pages; I loved it. The novel was 4.5 out of five stars. 

I always say I am growing apart from the YA genre after growing up on it, but that is yet to happen. It is books like these, capturing the bittersweet taste of finding yourself and how you fit into the world, that pull me back. All four books elevate their characters in their exploration of themselves in relation to the societal attitudes they resist or adopt. 

I predict “Ariel Crashes a Train”, and “Mid-Air” will advance to the finalists list.