NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� Three books that explore and celebrate the diversity of American culture were awarded Kirkus Prizes on Wednesday night, with each winner receiving $50,000.
James McBride's 鈥淭he Heaven & Earth Grocery Store,鈥� a novel set in an eclectic Pennsylvania town in the 1930s, won in the fiction category. H茅ctor Tobar's 鈥淥ur Migrant Souls: A Meditation on Race and the Meanings and Myths of 鈥楲atino鈥欌�� received the nonfiction award, and Ariel Aberg-Riger's 鈥滱merica Redux: Visual Stories From Our Dynamic History" won for young reader's literature.
The awards were presented by the trade publication Kirkus Reviews.
鈥淗istory and community emerged as central themes in the most outstanding works of literature published this year. We see these ideas come to life in wildly different ways in all three of this year鈥檚 winners, each one compelling from beginning to end, begging to be celebrated, discussed, and shared,鈥� Meg Kuehn, publisher of Kirkus Reviews, said in a statement.
Previous winners of the Kirkus Prize, established in 2014, include Hanya Yanagihara's 鈥淎 Little Life,鈥� Jason Reynolds' 鈥淎s Brave as You" and Susan Faludi's 鈥淚n the Darkroom.鈥�
The Associated Press
