Excellence in Nonfiction Award

The finalists of the YALSA's Excellence in Nonfiction Award were announced in December 2025.

2026 Winner:

Death in the Jungle: Murder, Betrayal, and the Lost Dream of Jonestown by Candace Fleming. Random/Anne Schwartz. ISBN 9780593480069.
 Gr 8 Up–Fleming tackles the harrowing story of the Jonestown massacre, at which over 900 people, one-third of whom were children, died in a mass murder-suicide at the direction of Peoples Temple cult leader Jim Jones in Guyana in 1978. She covers how by preaching racial equality and faith healing, Jones, a white, charismatic Pentecostal preacher, founded his church in a poor, segregated section of 1950s Indianapolis. His ministry quickly became popular, particularly among African Americans. Fearing nuclear attack, in 1965, he moved his church and followers to northern California, where he started a communal living compound. He soon expanded, amassing a few thousand followers who signed over everything from their property to even guardianship of their children. Some members became disillusioned, and a few managed to leave, but overall numbers grew. By the early 1970s, Jones renounced all religion, was an avowed socialist, and lived a drug-addicted, paranoid life, controlling every aspect of his followers’ lives. In 1978, reports of financial misconduct and physical abuse led to a Congressional visit and the murder of visiting officials, the antecedent to Jones’s order for “revolutionary suicide.” Fleming’s writing is riveting as she adeptly chronicles Jones’s motivations, appeal, and downward spiral of his mental state while compassionately portraying the heartbreaking account of many victims. Extensive documentation shows her detailed research, including interviews with survivors interested in seeing their story told as a cautionary tale for young people. VERDICT Gripping and wrenching. A must for all libraries.-Karen T. Bilton

Finalists:

American Spirits: The Famous Fox Sisters and the Mysterious Fad that Haunted a Nation by Barb Rosenstock. Astra/Calkins Creek. ISBN 9781635928051.
Gr 7 Up–A detailed and engaging account of the Fox sisters, who started the 19th-century Spiritualist movement. In 1847, in rural upstate New York, the Fox family was plagued by mysterious, nighttime rapping sounds, to the point that they asked neighbors for help. People speculated it was the spirit of a man killed on the property. Soon enough, Maggie, 14, and Kate, 11, were interpreting the strange sounds and communicating with the dead. News of the sisters’ abilities spread, and they quickly became local celebrities, holding seances for people eager to speak with deceased loved ones. With older sister Leah as their manager, the family was soon able to afford a house in upscale Rochester and later Manhattan as their popularity exploded. The Spiritualist movement grew exponentially, with many others working as mediums; newspapers and organizations also emerged with the Fox sisters at the center of it all. Much detail is given to Maggie’s turbulent romance with famed arctic explorer Elisha Kane while Rosenstock also covers the lives of Leah, who had multiple marriages, and Kate, the quiet workhorse who kept the money coming in. Late in life, Maggie proclaimed it was all fake, that they made the sounds by cracking their joints, but she later recanted when she found she had no other way to make money; however, the Spiritualist community rejected her. Pages turn quickly with short chapters and Rosenstock’s intriguing ghost story–writing style. Extensive documentation is provided, including source notes, bibliography, and index. VERDICT A great choice for teens who enjoy ghost stories and those interested in con artists or history. Recommended for all libraries.-Karen T. Bilton

White House Secrets: Medical Lies and Cover-Ups by Gail Jarrow. Astra/Calkins Creek. (Medical Fiascoes). ISBN 9781662681035. 
Gr 7 Up–Jarrow is back with her fourth installment of the award-winning “Medical Fiasco” series. This time, she focuses on nine presidents who hid a medical crisis from the American public. Each president (from James A. Garfield to Joe Biden) gets his own chapter, which begins with a brief biographical sketch of the president, followed by an overview of their medical issues, and how (and why) those around him kept it a secret. Each chapter includes historical photographs and illustrations to add context to the events. The content is engaging and easy to follow, even when multiple figures are introduced. The epilogue encourages readers to consider the impact of an ailing president on the country and the role the media plays in the conversation, prompting young readers to think about media literacy. Extensive back matter gives curious readers more to explore. VERDICT History lovers and budding political enthusiasts will enjoy this behind-the-scenes look at presidential history.-Laura Nan Hargrove

White Lies: How the South Lost the Civil War, Then Rewrote the History by Ann Bausum. Roaring Brook. ISBN 9781250816573.
Gr 9 Up–An insightful and complex volume reviewing 20 foundational lies used by white supremacists to justify the enslavement and post–Civil War subjugation of African Americans. Broken down into four historical periods, from the antebellum period through current day, the work outlines five lies from each time frame, each with an in-depth chapter that discusses prominent individuals and organizations along with their actions to perpetuate these lies. She highlights how these lies are interjected into popular literature and the cinema, academia, the military, and the more well-known governmental laws and regulations of Jim Crow. Throughout, Bausum points out the careful use of vocabulary to frame society and nostalgia for the past, both used to whitewash the horrors of slavery and racism. She discusses the decades-long use of Confederate monuments to instill fear and the use of the false equivalency that their preservation is needed to teach history. Each chapter also contains profiles of Confederate monuments, noting when they were built, how they were paid for, and in some cases, when they were dismantled. While always engaging and informative, the amount of evidence presented can be overwhelming but perhaps that is to be expected given the staggering efforts behind the mirage of white supremacy and the pervasiveness of these lies throughout U.S. history. It all makes for necessary reading. Detailed research is evident with extensive back matter including a time line, source notes, and bibliography (index not seen). VERDICT An important and compelling work that belongs in all high school and public libraries.-Karen T. Bilton

A World Without Summer: A Volcano Erupts, A Creature Awakens, and the Sun Goes Out by Nicholas Day. illus. by Yas Imamura. Random House Studio. ISBN 9780593643877. 
Gr 5-8–In April, 1815, the Tambora volcano eruption on Sumbawa Island in what is now Indonesia pulverized 5,000 feet of the mountain’s slope, launching a plume of ash 27 miles into the sky. The death toll, though uncertain, may have reached over 100,000, taking into account starvation and disease. But the long-term effects were much greater and farther reaching. Worldwide climate disruption from airborne ash caused drought in some areas and flooding in others, frigid temperatures in New England’s summer, and starvation leading to food riots across Europe. It was during this climate shift that 16-year-old Mary Godwin scandalously eloped to Switzerland with the already married Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. Forced to remain inside due to incessant cold rain, the author, now Mary Shelley, conceived the idea for her novel Frankenstein as part of a horror story contest with her husband and also fellow poet Lord Byron. Day makes the case that many references and themes in the novel are drawn directly from her experiences that year and that the story itself constitutes a climate change novel, drawing parallels and contrasts with our own current climate emergency. The volume concludes with an eight-page bibliography and extensive source notes. The writing assumes a tone that seems intended to be colloquial and informal, but too often tilts into a high style that can feel glib and pedantic. VERDICT This is a meticulously wrought book and there is an audience for it, but it will require some direct marketing.-Bob Hassett