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.

David Goodwillie’s novel KINGS COUNTY is a finalist for the Gotham Book Prize. The annual award was created to encourage and honor writing about New York City in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Avid Reader Press published the book on July 28, 2020.

Namwali Serpell’s STRANGER FACES is a finalist for the 2020 National Book Critics Circle Award in the Criticism category. The winners will be announced on March 25, 2021. Transit Books published the book on October 20, 2020.

Cathy Park Hong’s MINOR is a finalist for the 2020 National Book Critics Circle Award in the Autobiography category. The winners will be announced on March 25, 2021. One World published the book February 25, 2020.

David Goodwillie’s second novel, KINGS COUNTY, has been short-listed for The Gotham Book Prize. The new annual award was “created to encourage and honor writing about New York City in light of the Covid-19 pandemic.” Avid Reader Press published the book on July 28, 2020.

Rachel Aviv, author of STRANGERS TO OURSELVES, is a recipient of the 2020 Whiting Creative Nonfiction Grant. The grant is awarded to writers in the process of completing a book of deeply researched and imaginatively composed nonfiction. The grant jury describes the book as a "potent and timely exploration of how psychiatry, its diagnostics, and its pharmaceuticals have woven themselves deeply into our personal and cultural lives charts completely new territory." The book will be published by Farrar, Straus, & Giroux.

THE MERCIES by Kiran Millwood Hargrave has won the Prix Rive Gauche à Paris for best foreign novel translated into French. Little, Brown, and Company published the book on February 11, 2020.