TEENS READ THE 2025 NATIONAL BOOK AWARDS – ALL GENRES

Award-winning author DANIEL NAYERI, who was born in Iran and immigrated to Oklahoma as a refugee, captivated readers with his poignant memoir Everything Sad Is Untrue (A True Story), which received a Printz Award, and the epic adventure The Many Assassinations of Samir, the Seller of Dreams, recipient of a Newbery Honor. A former publisher, editor, and pastry chef, he resides along the East Coast with his family.

EBONY LADELLE is the author of Love Radio, which was featured on the Today show and named a People’s best book of the summer, a 2023 Audie Award Finalist, 2023 Michigan Notable Book, Apple Books’ best book of 2022, and an Amazon's Editor Pick. A Baldwin fellow, she’s also the author of the young adult romance This Could Be Forever (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers) and editor of You've Got a Place Here, Too: An Anthology of Black Love Stories Set at HBCUs (Delacorte Press). Prior to becoming an author, LaDelle was a brand marketing director in book publishing and worked at Penguin Random House and HarperCollins, among others. She can be found online at www.ebonyladelle.com and followed on social media at @ebonyladelle.

HANNAH V. SAWYERR was recognized as the Youth Poet Laureate of Baltimore in 2016. Her spoken-word pieces have been featured on the BBC’s World Have Your Say program as well as the National Education Association’s “Do You Hear Us?” campaign. Her written word has been included in gal-dem, Rookie, and xoNecole. She holds a B.A. in English from Morgan State University and an MFA in creative writing from The New School. She is an English professor at Loyola Marymount University and lives in Los Angeles.

Ibi Zoboi

K. ANCRUM is the author of award-winning thrillers, notably The Wicker King and most recently Lethal Lit: Murder of Crows. She is a Chicago native passionate about diversity and representation in young adult fiction. She currently writes most of her work in the lush gardens of the Art Institute of Chicago.

MARÍA DOLORES ÁGUILA is a Chicana poet and author from San Diego. Deeply inspired by Chicano history and art, she seeks to write empowering and inclusive stories about everything she learns. She also loves drinking coffee, browsing the bookshelves at her local library, and spending time with her family. She is the author of the critically acclaimed picture book Barrio Rising, illustrated by Magdalena Mora.

MARIA VAN LIESHOUT was born and raised near Amsterdam, where she spent many weekends in a Museum Quarter row house with her artist aunt and metalsmith uncle. Drawing while her aunt painted, and pecking stories on a typewriter while her uncle soldered metals, inspired her love for creating. After high school, she studied visual communications at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. In 2000, she became an illustrator full-time. She has illustrated and written several picture books. Song of a Blackbird is her first graphic novel.