The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators has awarded THE BLOSSOM AND THE FIREFLY by Sherri L. Smith the 2021 Golden Kite Award for Young Adult Fiction. Smith’s historical novel was chosen by a panel of well-regarded authors from among the thousand titles submitted for the award. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers published the book on February 18, 2020.

MINOR FEELINGS by Cathy Hong Park is a finalist for the 2021 Audie Awards in the Short Stories/Collections Category. The winners will be announced at the Audie Awards Gala, which will stream live on March 22, 2021 at 9pm EST. One World published the hardcover edition of MINOR FEELINGS on February 25, 2020, and will publish the paperback on March 2, 2021.

THE PRETTIEST STAR by Carter Sickels is the winner of the 2021 Southern Book Prize in Fiction. Announced on February 14, the prize is awarded to “the best Southern book of the year” as nominated by Southern indie booksellers and voted on by their customers. Land Arnold of Letters Bookshop in Durham, North Carolina writes: “Intimate and, at times, heartbreaking, Sickels has written a powerful novel that turns the wonderful trick of creating unique characters and telling under represented stories to delve into the universal themes of family, of coming home, of what it means to simply be.” Hub City Press published the novel on May 19, 2020.

INDELICACY by Amina Cain has been shortlisted for the 2021 Rathbones Folio Prize. The prize “[identifies] works of literature in which the subjects being explored achieve their most perfect and thrilling expression.” The winner will be announced March 24, 2021. Farrar, Straus, and Giroux published the book on February 11, 2020.

WE CAST A SHADOW by Maurice Carlos Ruffin has been longlisted for the Dublin Literary Award. The book was nominated by the Chicago Public Library, who deem it "a piercing exploration of the harrowing experience of being Black in America. Ruffin uses the backdrop of a near-future Southern city where an unnamed black narrator is trying to protect his mixed-race son. This dystopian satire is sharply observed and employs unsettling humor to explore the deep scourge of racism in America." The winner of the award will be announced May 20, 2021. One World published the book on January 29, 2019.

Brian Castleberry’s NINE SHINY OBJECTS has been longlisted for the 2021 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction. They call the book a "luminous debut," and quote author Jenny Offill, who writes: “In this extraordinary novel, Castleberry brilliantly hopscotches from person to person, from era to era, while somehow making all this fancy footwork look effortless and essential.” Custom House published the book on June 30, 2020.

THE BLOSSOM AND THE FIREFLY by Sherri L. Smith is a finalist for the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators Golden Kite Award for Young Adult Fiction. Smith’s novel is among the five books chosen by a panel of well-regarded authors from the thousand titles submitted to the award. G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers published the book on February 18, 2020.

Rachel Beanland’s debut novel FLORENCE ADLER SWIMS FOREVER is the winner of the 2020 National Jewish Book Award’s Goldberg Prize, which honors a debut work of fiction each year. The novel has also been a Barnes & Noble Book Club pick, a New York Times Editors’ Choice, and a USA Today’s “Best Books of 2020.” Simon & Schuster published the hardcover edition on July 7, 2020, and will publish the paperback edition on June 1, 2021.

David S. Reynolds’ ABE: ABRAHAM LINCOLN IN HIS TIMES is a finalist for the 2021 Gilder Lehrman Lincoln Prize. The Prize has been awarded annually to a work that enhances the general public’s understanding of the Civil War era. The winner will be announced on Friday, February 12 – the 212th anniversary of President Lincoln’s birthday. Penguin Press published the book on September 29, 2020.

Amina Cain’s INDELICACY has been longlisted for the Rathbones Folio Prize. This year’s judges are the T.S. Eliot Prize-winning poet Roger Robinson, the Irish writer, editor and broadcaster Sinéad Gleeson, and novelist and short story writer Jon McGregor. The shortlist will be announced on February 10th, and the winner on March 24th. Farrar, Straus, and Giroux published the book on February 11, 2020.