2022 Shortlists

Craig Fehrman

Nonfiction

Author in Chief: The Untold Story of Our Presidents and the Books They Wrote

James H. Madison

Nonfiction

The Ku Klux Klan in the Heartland

Michella M. Marino

Nonfiction

Roller Derby: The History of an American Sport

Ray Boomhower

Nonfiction

Richard Tregaskis: Reporting Under Fire from Gualdalcanal to Vietnam

Ruth D. Reichard

Nonfiction

Blood and Steel: Ryan White, the AIDS Crisis and Deindustrialization in Kokomo, Indiana

Steve Beaven

Nonfiction

We Will Rise: A True Story of Tragedy and Resurrection in the American Heartland

Angela Jackson-Brown

Fiction

When Stars Rain Down

D.A. Lockhart

Fiction

Breaking Right

Laird Hunt

Fiction

Zorrie

Michael Martone

Fiction

The Complete Writings of Art Smith, the Bird Boy of Fort Wayne

Susan Neville

Fiction

The Town of Whispering Dolls

Ashley C. Ford

Debut

Somebody’s Daughter

Caleb Caudell

Debut

The Neighbor

Christopher Elliott

Debut

Before the Dream: Martin Luther King’s 1963 Speech, and Civil Rights Struggles in Fort Wayne, Indiana

J.R. Jamison

Debut

Hillbilly Queer: A Memoir

Tyrone McKinley Freeman

Debut

Madam C. J. Walker’s Gospel of Giving: Black Women’s Philanthropy During Jim Crow

Joseph Lee

Genre

Forgiveness: The Story of Eva Kor, Survivor of The Auschwitz Twin Experiments

Josh Dygert

Genre

Stella

Larry D. Sweazy

Genre

Winter Seeks Out the Lonely: A Sonny Burton Novel

Paul Allor

Genre

Hollow Heart

Sofi Keren

Genre

False Starts & Artichoke Hearts

Steve Schatz

Genre

Seashell Virgin: A Nacho Mama’s Patio Cafe Novel

Adrian Matejka

Poetry

Somebody Else Sold the World

Kaveh Akbar

Poetry

Pilgrim Bell

Marianne Boruch

Poetry

Bestiary Dark

Mark Neely

Poetry

Ticker

Ross Gay

Poetry

Be Holding

Leah Johnson

Young Adult

You Should See Me in a Crown

Tamara Winfrey Harris

Young Adult

Dear Black Girl: Letters From Your Sisters on Stepping Into Your Power

Helen Frost

Middle Grade

All He Knew

John David Anderson

Middle Grade

One Last Shot

Laura Martin

Middle Grade

Glitch

Lisa Fipps

Middle Grade

Starfish

Rob Harrell

Middle Grade

Batpig: When Pigs Fly

Gabrielle Balkan

Children’s

Whose Bones? An Animal Guessing Game

Judith L. Roth

Children’s

Hiding Baby Moses

Kekla Magoon

Children’s

The Highest Tribute: Thurgood Marshall’s Life, Leadership, and Legacy

Kenneth Kraegel

Children’s

This Is a Book of Shapes

Kim Howard

Children’s

Grace and Box

Rebecca Mullin

Children’s

One Tomato: A Garden Counting Book