Announcing the 2026 Southern Book Prize Finalists
#southernbookprize #SBP26
The Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance (SIBA) and Southern indie booksellers are pleased to announce the 2026 Southern Book Prize finalists, selected by Southern independent booksellers and representing bookseller favorites from 2025 that are Southern in nature—either about the South or by a Southern writer.
Since its inception in 1999, the Southern Book Prize (formerly the SIBA Book Award) has stood as a testament to the love of indie booksellers for great storytelling. All books nominated for the Southern Book Prize have been submitted by bookseller members of the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance (SIBA) and have received enthusiastic reviews from Southern booksellers. The 18 finalists, six in each category, received the highest number of nominations and rave reviews, making these books a collection of the most beloved “handsells” of the year in fiction, nonfiction, and literature for young readers.
The finalists make up the 2026 Southern Book Prize ballot. Voting is open now and will run through February 1, 2026. All readers who love Southern literature and Southern independent bookstores can vote for their favorites:
The 2026 Southern Book Prize Ballot
The Finalists:
Fiction
Happy Land by Dolen Perkins-Valdez [Berkley]
Hellions: Stories by Julia Elliott [Tin House Books]
King of Ashes by S. A. Cosby [Flatiron Books]
Run for the Hills by Kevin Wilson [Ecco]
Stop Me If You’ve Heard This One by Kristen Arnett [Riverhead Books]
The Summer We Ran by Audrey Ingram [Zibby Publishing]
Nonfiction
All These Ghosts by Silas House [Blair]
Black in Blues: How a Color Tells the Story of My People by Imani Perry [Ecco]
Food for Thought: Essays and Ruminations by Alton Brown [Gallery Books]
The Harder I Fight the More I Love You: A Memoir by Neko Case [Grand Central Publishing]
The New Book: Poems, Letters, Blurbs, and Things by Nikki Giovanni [William Morrow]
Written in the Waters: A Memoir of History, Home, and Belonging by Tara Roberts [National Geographic]
Young Readers
Millie Fleur Saves the Night by Christy Mandin, Christy Mandin (Illus.) [Orchard Books]
The Incredibly Human Henson Blayze by Derrick Barnes [Viking Books for Young Readers]
J vs. K
by Kwame Alexander, Jerry Craft, Jerry Craft (Illus.) [Little, Brown Books for Young Readers]
On Again, Awkward Again by Erin Entrada Kelly, Kwame Mbalia [Amulet Books]
Ripening Time by Patrice Gopo, Carlos Vélez Aguilera (Illus.) [WorthyKids]
Witchkiller by Ashlee Latimer [Scholastic]
Read more the 2026 Southern Book Prize Finalists, with links to Southern indie bookseller reviews
See Past Southern Book Prize Winners
See Past Southern Book Prize Finalists
SIBA launched the Southern Book Prize public ballot in 2019 to encourage stores to engage their customers in the important question of what books deserve to be called “the best Southern book of the year.” Participating bookstores promote the ballot to their customers, and submitted ballots are entered into a raffle to win a set of the finalist titles. Winners in each category will be chosen by popular vote. Southern Book Prize winners will be announced on February 14, Valentine’s Day.
For more information, visit the home of the Southern Book Prize at The Southern Bookseller Review or contact Linda-Marie Barrett, Executive Director, Southern Booksellers Alliance at lindamarie@sibaweb.com.