Death in the Jungle: Murder, Betrayal, and the Lost Dream of Jonestown
Winner
Award
YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults
About the award
The YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults honors the year's best nonfiction written for readers ages 12 to 18. The Young Adult Library Services Association, a division of the American Library Association, created the award and presented it for the first time in 2010.
A committee of librarians reviews nonfiction titles published for teens during the eligibility year and, in December, names a shortlist of up to five finalists. The winner is announced in January or February at the ALA Youth Media Awards. Past winners range from narrative history and biography to memoir and graphic nonfiction.
Nonfiction published for readers ages 12 to 18 in the United States during the year before the award.
Usually announced in January.
Results by year
2026
A World Without Summer: A Volcano Erupts, A Creature Awakens, and the Sun Goes Out
Finalist
White House Secrets: Medical Lies and Cover-Ups
Finalist
American Spirits: The Famous Fox Sisters and the Mysterious Fad That Haunted a Nation
Finalist
White Lies: How the South Lost the Civil War, Then Rewrote the History
Finalist
- See all 4 honored in 2026
2025
Rising from the Ashes: Los Angeles, 1992. Edward Jae Song Lee, Latasha Harlins, Rodney King, and a City on Fire
Winner
Homebody
Finalist
The Unboxing of a Black Girl
Finalist
A Greater Goal: The Epic Battle for Equal Pay in Women's Soccer—and Beyond
Finalist
Shackled: A Tale of Wronged Kids, Rogue Judges, and a Town that Looked Away
Finalist
- See all 4 honored in 2025
2024
Accountable: The True Story of a Racist Social Media Account and the Teenagers Whose Lives It Changed
Winner
America Redux: Visual Stories from Our Dynamic History
Finalist
Family Style: Memories of an American from Vietnam
Finalist
From Here
Finalist
Nearer My Freedom: The Interesting Life of Olaudah Equiano by Himself
Finalist
- See all 4 honored in 2024
2023
Victory. Stand!: Raising My Fist for Justice
Winner
Abuela, Don't Forget Me
Finalist
Unequal: A Story of America
Finalist
A Face for Picasso: Coming of Age with Crouzon Syndrome
Finalist
American Murderer: The Parasite that Haunted the South
Finalist
- See all 4 honored in 2023
2022
Ambushed!: The Assassination Plot Against President Garfield
Winner
Black Birds in the Sky: The Story and Legacy of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre
Finalist
From a Whisper to a Rallying Cry: The Killing of Vincent Chin and the Trial that Galvanized the Asian American Movement
Finalist
In the Shadow of the Fallen Towers: The Seconds, Minutes, Hours, Days, Weeks, Months and Years After the 9/11 Attacks
Finalist
The Woman All Spies Fear: Code Breaker Elizebeth Smith Friedman and Her Hidden Life
Finalist
- See all 4 honored in 2022
2021
The Rise & Fall of Charles Lindbergh
Winner
All Thirteen: The Incredible Cave Rescue of the Thai Boys’ Soccer Team
Finalist
How We Got to the Moon: The People, Technology, and Daring Feats of Science Behind Humanity's Greatest Adventure
Finalist
You Call This Democracy?: How to Fix Our Democracy and Deliver Power to the People
Finalist
The Cat I Never Named: A True Story of Love, War, and Survival
Finalist
- See all 4 honored in 2021
2020
Free Lunch
Winner
A Thousand Sisters: The Heroic Airwomen of the Soviet Union in World War II
Finalist
A Light in the Darkness: Janusz Korczak, His Orphans, and the Holocaust
Finalist
The Great Nijinsky: God of Dance
Finalist
Torpedoed: The True Story of the World War II Sinking of "The Children's Ship"
Finalist
- See all 4 honored in 2020
2019
2018
Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers
Winner
#NotYourPrincess: Voices of Native American Women
Finalist
The 57 Bus: A True Story of Two Teenagers and the Crime That Changed Their Lives
Finalist
The Whydah: A Pirate Ship Feared, Wrecked, and Found
Finalist
Eyes of the World: Robert Capa, Gerda Taro, and the Invention of Modern Photojournalism
Finalist
- See all 4 honored in 2018
2017
March: Book Three
Winner
Hillary Rodham Clinton: A Woman Living History
Finalist
In the Shadow of Liberty: The Hidden History of Slavery, Four Presidents, and Five Black Lives
Finalist
Samurai Rising: The Epic Life of Minamoto Yoshitsune
Finalist
This Land Is Our Land: A History of American Immigration
Finalist
- See all 4 honored in 2017
2016
Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War
Winner
Enchanted Air: Two Cultures, Two Wings: A Memoir
Finalist
First Flight Around the World: The Adventures of the American Fliers Who Won the Race
Finalist
Symphony for the City of the Dead: Dmitri Shostakovich and the Siege of Leningrad
Finalist
This Strange Wilderness: The Life and Art of John James Audubon
Finalist
- See all 4 honored in 2016
2015
Popular: Vintage Wisdom for a Modern Geek
Winner
Ida M. Tarbell: The Woman Who Challenged Big Business—and Won!
Finalist
Laughing at My Nightmare
Finalist
The Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion, & the Fall of Imperial Russia
Finalist
The Port Chicago 50: Disaster, Mutiny, and the Fight for Civil Rights
Finalist
- See all 4 honored in 2015
2014
The Nazi Hunters: How a Team of Spies and Survivors Captured the World's Most Notorious Nazi
Winner
Courage Has No Color: The True Story of the Triple Nickles, America's First Black Paratroopers
Finalist
Imprisoned: The Betrayal of Japanese Americans During World War II
Finalist
The President Has Been Shot!: The Assassination of John F. Kennedy
Finalist
Go: A Kidd's Guide to Graphic Design
Finalist
- See all 4 honored in 2014
2013
Bomb: The Race to Build—and Steal—the World's Most Dangerous Weapon
Winner
Steve Jobs: The Man Who Thought Different
Finalist
We've Got a Job: The 1963 Birmingham Children's March
Finalist
Moonbird: A Year on the Wind with the Great Survivor B95
Finalist
Titanic: Voices from the Disaster
Finalist
- See all 4 honored in 2013
2012
The Notorious Benedict Arnold: A True Story of Adventure, Heroism, & Treachery
Winner
Bootleg: Murder, Moonshine, and the Lawless Years of Prohibition
Finalist
Music Was IT: Young Leonard Bernstein
Finalist
Sugar Changed the World: A Story of Magic, Spice, Slavery, Freedom, and Science
Finalist
Wheels of Change: How Women Rode the Bicycle to Freedom (With a Few Flat Tires Along the Way)
Finalist
- See all 4 honored in 2012