The National Book Award for Nonfiction (2024)

"For seven years, anthropologist Jason De León embedded himself within a group of human smugglers—or coyotes— hired by migrants to cross from Central America and Mexico into the United States in Soldiers and Kings: Survival and Hope in the World of Human Smuggling. In this rare, in-depth look at the lives of informants, gang leaders, and guides, De León documents the intergenerational trauma, cycles of violence, and scarcity of economic opportunities that fuel the mass movement of undocumented immigrants north in search of the American Dream."

"In his memoir, Salman Rushdie candidly recounts the 2022 attack on his life, its immediate aftermath, and his ongoing journey of physical rehabilitation and healing. Knife: Meditations After an Attempted Murder is a deeply intimate account, at once corporeal and metaphysical, that wrestles with artmaking, community, and the power of literature to make sense of the unimaginable."

"Drawing on deep reporting, Eliza Griswold examines the progressive Christian church, Circle of Hope—from its founding in 1996, its expansion in the 2010s into four Northeastern congregations, and the fissures that emerged when the COVID-19 pandemic made it impossible to gather for in-person worship. Told through profiles of four young pastors, Circle of Hope: A Reckoning with Love, Power, and Justice in an American Church chronicles the church’s anti-racist politics and members’ biases; the rise in social activism movements across the country; and what it means to build an equitable future rooted in faith."

"Born on the California Yuma reservation and raised in Navajo territory in New Mexico by parents determined to assimilate, Deborah Jackson Taffa explores her family’s history of displacement within the United States and considers how she came to understand and claim her mixed-tribe Native identity. Whiskey Tender traces Taffa’s adolescence on and off the reservation in a moving excavation of her family’s history; the long legacy of erasure, violence, and injustice faced by Native peoples; and finding a balance between two cultural landscapes."

"Blending lived experience with meticulous research, Unshrinking: How to Face Fatphobia asserts that weight stigma and discrimination play a part in all aspects of society, including healthcare, education, and employment. Kate Manne argues that fatphobia harms not just individuals, but entire communities and cultures, and coins the term 'body reflexivity'—a new politics that reexamines and deconstructs why bodies exist in the first place and seeks to build a world that is welcoming for people of all sizes."

"Science journalist Rebecca Boyle illuminates how the Moon has shaped life on Earth—from its essential role in the development of science and religion, continued influence on biological and cultural evolution, and inevitable exploitation by governments and individuals intent on profiting off of its natural resources. Our Moon introduces readers to the important scientific figures, early civilizations, modern scientists, and everyday people that have relied on the Moon—its histories, myths, and teachings—to discover the essence of Earth’s closest companion."

"In her essay collection, Vanessa Angélica Villarreal grapples with her role as the eldest daughter of immigrant parents, the search for her grandmother’s story in her native Mexico, and how she continuously builds and re-builds the world around her. Magical/Realism: Essays on Music, Memory, Fantasy, and Borders intermingles personal essays with insightful criticism, and turns to fantasy and pop culture—from Game of Thrones to Beyoncé—to uncover the truth and magic of a fractured reality."

"In There's Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension, Hanif Abdurraqib reflects on his lifelong love of basketball and what it means to “make it.” Weaving together memories from his childhood, sports history, and cultural criticism, Abdurraqib offers a vulnerable meditation on grief, success, and the people and places that shape our individual and collective histories."

"Historian and cultural critic Richard Slotkin outlines five foundational mythologies that have shaped US identity, using history as a lens to interpret the present-day bifurcated political landscape. In A Great Disorder: National Myth and the Battle for America, Slotkin deploys the country’s troubled history of frontierism to help readers understand today’s culture wars and the rise of bipartisanship and radicalization in the US."

"Journalist Ernest Scheyder explores the domestic and international struggles over the mining of lithium, copper, gold, and other vital minerals whose production and processing play a crucial role in combating climate change and powers the world’s most critical technologies. The War Below: Lithium, Copper, and the Global Battle to Power Our Lives chronicles how corporations work with—and at times, undermine—the concerns of environmental activists and Indigenous peoples, regulatory agencies and government workers, and locals rightfully concerned about the far-reaching consequences of mining in their communities."