Debut Novel Among National Book Award Finalists

A debut novelist has received quite the honor, named as one of five finalists for the 2025 National Book Award in fiction. Ethan Rutherford's North Sun: Or, the Voyage of the Whaleship Esther stands in contention alongside works by Karen Russell, Bryan Washington, Megha Majumdar, and Rabih Alameddine, all of whom have been previously recognized by the National Book Foundation in some way, reports the New York Times. The annual awards, handed out in November, honor the best titles across five categories: fiction, nonfiction, young people's literature, poetry, and translated literature. The five finalists in the first three categories, revealed Tuesday:

Fiction:

1. The True True Story of Raja the Gullible (and His Mother) by Rabih Alameddine
2. A Guardian and a Thief by Megha Majumdar
3. The Antidote by Karen Russell
4. North Sun: Or, the Voyage of the Whaleship Esther by Ethan Rutherford
5. Palaver by Bryan Washington

Nonfiction:

1. One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by Omar El Akkad
2. Motherland: A Feminist History of Modern Russia, From Revolution to Autocracy by Julia Ioffe
3. Things in Nature Merely Grow by Yiyun Li
4. Wards of the State: The Long Shadow of American Foster Care by Claudia Rowe
5. When It All Burns: Fighting Fire in a Transformed World by Jordan Thomas

Young People's Literature:

1. A World Worth Saving by Kyle Lukoff
2. The Leaving Room by Amber McBride
3. The Teacher of Nomad Land: A World War II Story by Daniel Nayeri
4. Truth Is by Hannah V. Sawyerr
5. (S)Kin by Ibi Zoboi

See more of the finalists here, or check out the most-banned books in US schools this year.