The National Book Foundation has introduced the 5 finalists for the 2022 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature: Kelly Barnhill for The Ogress and the Orphans (Algonquin); Sonora Reyes for The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School (HarperCollins/Balzer + Bray); Tommie Smith, Derrick Barnes, and Dawud Anyabwile for Victory. Stand!: Raising My Fist for Justice (Norton Young Readers); Sabaa Tahir for All My Rage (Razorbill); and Lisa Yee for Maizy Chen’s Last Chance (Random House). All 5 of this 12 months’s finalists are NBA first-timers. They had been drawn from a longlist that was once introduced on September 14.
The annual National Book Awards Finalists Reading, in which the entire finalists will learn from their paintings, will likely be hosted through the New School in-person and on-line at the night of November 15; this tournament will likely be unfastened and open to the general public. The annual National Book Awards Teen Press Conference, hosted through Rita Williams-Garcia, will happen that morning.
The winners will likely be introduced on Wednesday, November 16, on the NBA’s invitation-only 73rd awards rite at Cipriani Wall Street in New York City; the awards may also be broadcast reside.
Read on for PW’s opinions of the books through all 5 finalists.
The Ogress and the Orphans through Kelly Barnhill
“Employing a benevolent, omniscient narrator… and a slowly unfurling, deliberately paced telling, Newbery Medalist Barnhill incorporates ancient stories, crow linguistics, and a history of dragonkind into an ambitious, fantastical sociopolitical allegory that asks keen questions about the nature of time, the import of community care, and what makes a neighbor.” The e-book gained a starred overview from PW.
The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School through Sonora Reyes
“Reyes’s hopeful debut excels in its honest depiction of family dynamics, highlighting Yami’s sense of responsibility for Cesar and her loving but tense relationship with her mother. As the narrative vulnerably tackles difficult subjects such as intolerant religious institutions and living with mental illness, Yami’s sardonic voice adds levity and heart.”
Victory. Stand!: Raising My Fist for Justice through Tommie Smith and Derrick Barnes, illus. through Dawud Anyabwile
“With collaborators Barnes and Anyabwile, Smith details his childhood leading up to his historic Olympic protest—and its aftermath—in this compelling graphic memoir… Anyabwile’s grayscale art features kinetically illustrated athletic competition, tense racial dynamics, and a large, intricately detailed Black family. Smith’s timely story, whose nonlinear timeline highlights both prominent events during the civil rights movement and Smith’s interpersonal struggles, is a powerful celebration of resistance.” The e-book gained a starred overview from PW.
All My Rage through Sabaa Tahir
“Tahir explores heavy themes, including grief, racism, financial need, trauma, and substance abuse, in a far-reaching novel that follows a working-class Pakistani American family across two generations…. this powerful, viscerally told novel unfolds across the past and present, painting solidly multidimensional characters alongside vividly wrought connections and pressure.” The e-book gained a starred overview from PW.
Maizy Chen’s Last Chance through Lisa Yee
“In this fast-paced narrative, Chinese American only child Maizy Chen travels with her food stylist single mother from Los Angeles to her mom’s hometown of Last Chance, Minn., to care for Maizy’s ailing grandfather. Yee’s full house of endearing characters and assured voice prevail in a humorous, sincere story emphasizing the taut thread between past and present, and the imperative to aid others.”