December 14th, 2024

Percival Everett, Louise Erdrich and Jason Reynolds among finalists for $50,000 Kirkus Prizes

By Hillel Italie, The Associated Press on August 28, 2024.

NEW YORK (AP) – Percival Everett’s “James,” a reworking of Mark Twain’s “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” from the enslaved Jim’s perspective, is among the fiction finalists for the 11th annual Kirkus Prize.

Kirkus Reviews, a leading book review publication, announced finalists Wednesday in fiction, nonfiction and young reader’s literature, with winners in each category receiving $50,000. Other nominees range from new novels by Richard Powers and Louise Erdrich, to nonfiction works on abortion rights, the Iraq War and the space shuttle Challenger tragedy, to a picture book by Jason Reynolds.

Besides “James,” fiction finalists include Erdrich’s “The Mighty Red,” Powers’ “Playground,” Jennine Capó Crucet’s “Say Hello to My Little Friend,” Paul Lynch’s “Prophet Song” and Rufi Thorpe’s “Margo’s Got Money Troubles.”

Steve Coll’s “The Achilles Trap: Saddam Hussein, the CIA, and the Origins of America’s Invasion of Iraq” and Adam Higginbotham’s “Challenger: A True Story of Heroism And Disaster on the Edge of Space” are nonfiction nominees, along with Tessa Hull’s “Feeding Ghosts: A Graphic Memoir,” Olivia Laing’s “The Garden Against Time: In Search of a Common Paradise,” Shefali Luthra’s “Undue Burden: Life and Death Decisions in Post-Roe America” and Carvell Wallace’s “Another Word for Love: A Memoir.”

Among the finalists for young reader’s literature were two picture books: Joanna Ho’s “We Who Produce Pearls,” illustrated by Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya; and Reynolds’ Langston Hughes tribute, “There Was a Party,” illustrated by brothers Jerome and Jarrett Pumphrey. Nominees also include two middle grade books, Hiba Noor Khan’s “Safiyyah’s War” and Sherri Winston’s “Shark Teeth,” and two young adult releases, Kenneth M. Cadow’s “Gather” and Safia Elhillo’s “Bright Red Fruit.”

Winners will be announced Oct. 16 during a ceremony in Manhattan.

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