2025 Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction

The 2025 Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction went to Kim Johnson for The Color of a Lie, published by Random House Books for Young Readers. Set in 1955, during the years of white flight to the suburbs, the novel follows Calvin, whose family chooses to live as white people in a segregated neighborhood after a loss at home. The award names one winner each year, with no honor books. A selection committee chaired by Uma Nori, head of youth services at the Thomas Ford Memorial Library in Western Springs, Illinois, made the choice, and Kent State University's Reinberger Children's Library Center announced it on January 29, 2025.