Pasifika Adult Fiction Winner:
Extinction Capital of the World written by Mariah Rigg, and published by Ecco, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. 9780063419971.
A collection of ten stories illuminating some of the diverse voices of Hawai’i, deftly weaving together the vast and varied cultural and environmental histories of those who call it home. Mariah Rigg’s Extinction Capital of the World captivates with its melancholy prose, exploring a complex, vibrant place that contrasts beauty with harsh realities, and resilience with vulnerability.
Asian American Adult Fiction Winner:
Awake in the Floating City written by Susanna Kwan, and published by Pantheon, an imprint of Penguin Random House, LLC, New York. 9780593701409.
Bo, an artist tethered to a deserted and flooded San Francisco where her mother disappeared, works as a caretaker for Mia, her supercentenarian neighbor. In this post-climate catastrophe near future, Susanna Kwan captures the depth of human bonds that push us through loss and toward hope. Awake in the Floating City is an emotionally charged, yet contemplative, character-driven novel that explores how memory is preserved through history, art, and community, and connects people through time and place.
Asian American Adult Fiction Honor:
Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng written by Kylie Lee Baker, and published by MIRA Books, an imprint of Harlequin Enterprises. 9780778368458.
Asian American Adult Fiction Honor:
Indian Country written by Shobha Rao, and published by Crown, an imprint of Penguin Random House, LLC, New York. 9780593798959.
Adult Non-Fiction Winner:
Pieces You’ll Never Get Back: A Memoir of Unlikely Survival written by Samina Ali, and published by Catapult, an imprint of Penguin Random House, LLC, New York. 9781646222612.
Samina Ali’s harrowing memoir recounts her traumatic journey giving birth to her first child, leaving her without memory and movement, only able to speak her native language, Urdu. Written in a style that parallels how she had to put the pieces of her life back together, she seamlessly weaves in her Islamic upbringing while she learns to walk, talk, write, and redeem herself again.
Adult Non-Fiction Honor:
The Wanderer’s Curse written by Jennifer Hope Choi, and published by WW Norton & Company. 9781324035510.
Adult Non-Fiction Honor:
Brown Women Have Everything: Essays on (Dis)comfort and Delight written by Sayantani Dasgupta, and published by The University of North Carolina Press. 9781469681771.
Pasifika Poetry Winner:
Mele written by Kalehua Kim, and published by Trio House Press. 9781949487367.
Borrowing from the rich traditions of Hawaiian song structure and interweaving English, ‘Ōlelo Hawai‘i, and Hawaiian Creole English, Mele is a luminous collection that explores themes of ancestral memory, grief, family, and love in all its forms. Rooted deeply in land, body, and relationship, this work speaks with intimate specificity while offering a universal emotional resonance. Innovative, purposeful, and profoundly lyrical, it is a collection that doesn’t just speak—it sings.
Asian American Poetry Winner:
Becoming Ghost written by Cathy Linh Che, and published by Washington Square Press, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. 9781668088920.
In Becoming Ghost, Cathy Linh Che tells the story of her parents—Vietnamese refugees who escaped war only to find themselves reliving it as extras on the set of Apocalypse Now, their real experiences reduced to a Hollywood backdrop. Through intimate persona poems and the golden shovel form, Che brings her parents’ voices to the center, honoring stories that both history and film had pushed aside. But telling these stories comes with a cost of family estrangement for Che as she wrestles with sharing others’ trauma with the world.
Asian American Poetry Honor:
Water Guest written by Caroline M. Mar, and published by University of Wisconsin Press. 9780299352646.
Asian American Poetry Honor:
Cold Thief Place written by Esther Lin, and published by Alice James Books. 9781949944709.
Young Adult Winner:
The Red Car to Hollywood written by Jennie Liu, and published by Carolrhoda Lab, an imprint of Lerner Publishing Group. 9781728493213.
With a meticulously researched and tightly paced plot set in 1924, Los Angeles’s Chinatown comes to life around sixteen-year-old Ruby Chan’s and rising star Anna May Wong’s friendship. This novel blends suspense with emotional depth while navigating intricate themes of self-determination, familial expectations, and assimilation amidst systemic racism and sexism.
Young Adult Honor:
Tall Water written by SJ Sindu, illustrated by Dion MBD, and published by HarperAlley, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. 9780063090156.
Children’s Winner:
Hungry Bones written by Louise Hung, and published by Scholastic, Inc. 9781338832587.
Trapped in a house for over 100 years and unable to move on to the afterlife, Jade is resigned to a ghostly eternity of hunger, barely surviving off the crumbs that people leave. That is, until a Chinese family finally moves in, and one of them can see Jade. For the first time that she can remember, Jade believes that with the help of Molly, the curse that has trapped her could be broken! Alternating between Jade and Molly’s points of view, this haunting tale blends culture and mystery, resulting in a powerful story of family, history, and what it means to remember and honor the pain of the past, even as we move forward into a brighter future.
Children’s Honor:
The Queen Bees of Tybee County written by Kyle Casey Chu, and published by Quill Tree Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. 9780063326958.
Children’s Honor:
Fresh Start written and illustrated by Gale Galligan, and published by Scholastic, Inc. 9781338045840.
Pasifika Picture Book Winner:
Kaho’olawe: The True Story of an Island and Her People written by Kamalani Hurley, illustrated by Harinani Orme, and published by Millbrook Press, an imprint of Lerner Publishing Group. 9798765605011.
Coinciding with the 50th anniversary of its fight for reclamation, Kahoʻolawe: The True Story of an Island and Her People tells the story of Kaho’olawe’s importance in historical Pasifika migration to Hawaiʻi, her near devastation by American militarism, and her position as the inspiration for the Hawaiian Sovereignty movement and Renaissance.
Pasifika Picture Book Honor:
Filo’s Butterflies written by Litea Fuata, illustrated by Myo Yim, and published by Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing, an imprint of Hardie Grant Publishing. 9781761212697.
Pasifika Picture Book Honor:
White Sunday written by Litea Fuata, illustrated by Myo Yim, and published by Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing, an imprint of Hardie Grant Publishing. 9781760509873.
Asian American Picture Book Winner:
Many Things at Once written by Veera Hiranandani, illustrated by Nadia Alam, and published by Random House Studio, an imprint of Penguin Random House, LLC, New York. 9780593643907.
Drawing on her own family background, Veera Hiranandani beautifully conveys the complex experience of being biracial and from an interfaith family. Pencil and digital illustrations show the narrator’s evolving sense of self while evoking the feel of a scrapbook in scenes depicting her grandparents’ history in India and Poland.
Asian American Picture Book Honor:
Every Peach Is a Story written by David Mas Masumoto and Nikiko Masumoto, illustrated by Lauren Tamaki, and published by Abrams Books for Young Readers, an imprint of ABRAMS. 9781949480290.
Asian American Picture Book Honor:
A Vaisakhi to Remember written by Simran Jeet Singh, illustrated by Japneet Kaur, and published by Kokila, an imprint of Penguin Random House, LLC, New York. 9780593859087.