Watertown’s Robin Wasley received a Massachusetts Book Award in the middle grade/young adult category for her novel “Dead Things Are Closer Than They Appear.” A ceremony will be at the State House in October. See details about the winners in the announcement from the Massachusetts Center for the Book, below.
The Massachusetts Center for the Book has announced the winners of the 2025 Massachusetts Book Awards, celebrating the most outstanding books published in 2024 by Massachusetts authors, artists, and poets. This year’s awards mark the inception of two new prizes: the Notable Contribution to Publishing Award, which recognizes the quality of the book as an object — including production standards, printing, and design — from a Massachusetts-based publisher, and the Graphic Novel Prize.
“The Mass Book Awards have been celebrating the talents of Bay State authors, illustrators, and creators for a quarter century now. This year’s winners inspire and challenge us, they unpack difficult historical truths, and shape our understanding of the wild, wonderful, and sometimes confusing world that surrounds us. This year’s awards reflect the creativity and vitality of the Massachusetts literary community,” says Courtney Andree, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Center for the Book.
Robin Wasley of Watertown MA’s novel Dead Things Are Closer Than They Appear, in which a painfully average teen’s life is upended by a magical apocalypse, won the prize for middle grade/YA. The two honor titles are Better Must Come, by Desmond Hall, and Kingdom of Dust, by Lisa Stringfellow.
“Growing up, I never saw myself represented in the stories I loved, the ones about small town superpowered teens saving the world. It didn’t occur to me I could write an Asian American main character until I was an adult, which was the first time I saw one on a young adult book cover. I’m so honored that my book featuring the experience of a Korean American adoptee has been recognized for this award. There isn’t one single story that can convey what it means to be Asian American, but every time we tell another, we get to add to our multitudes. At its core, Dead Things Are Closer Than They Appear is about empathy, how people grow with every person they meet, and how they change each other in some way. It’s not one girl who saves her town — everyone saves someone, and thus, all of them. In both my worlds, the fantastical written version and the equally terrifying real one we live in, empathy is what saves us. That is why I wrote this book, and why it means everything to me that it’s resonating with readers, ” says Wasley.
Jedidiah Berry of Easthampton, MA received the prize for fiction for his novel The Naming Song, the story of an unnamed courier searching for the truth of the past in a world where words have disappeared. The two honor titles are The Road from Belhaven, by Margot Livesey and River East, River West, by Aube Rey Lescure.
“I write to make sense of the world, and sometimes this leads me to strange places. I’m grateful that people are connecting with a book about a woman whose closest companions include a ghost, a monster, and a nameless beast. It took me over a decade to finish The Naming Song, but I wouldn’t have managed a word without the friends and visionary fantasists who emboldened me to tell the story of a broken world repaired by art and language. I’m honored to have this work recognized by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts,” says Berry.
Kellie Carter Jackson of Sherborn, MA won the prize for nonfiction for her book We Refuse: A Forceful History of Black Resistance, an unflinching examination of the breadth of Black responses to white oppression, particularly those pioneered by Black women. The two honor titles are Freeman‘s Challenge: The Murder That Shook America‘s Original Prison for Profit, by Robin Bernstein, and Exit Wounds: How America‘s Guns Fuel Violence Across the Border, by Ieva Jusionyte.
“This award means so much to me, we are living during times where refusal is needed now more than ever. Massachusetts has been a vanguard state when it comes to refusal. I think of the abolitionist movement and the courageous politicians and people that make this state progressive. I’m honored to write for the moment and encourage readers to keep refusing,” says Jackson.
Heather Treseler of Newton, MA secured the prize for poetry for her collection Auguries & Divinations, which tells of a young woman reaching adulthood, attuned to the unspoken rules (and liabilities) of women’s lives, the suburban underworld, and the energies of eros. The two honor titles are Glitter Road, by January Gill O’Neil, and Each Knuckle with Sugar, by Sarah Levine.
“It’s a great honor to receive the Massachusetts Book Award in poetry for Auguries & Divinations, a book that explores the pleasures and perils of coming-of-age as a young woman and celebrates the largesse of love in its many forms,” says Treseler.
Linda Booth Sweeney of Concord, MA claimed the prize for picture book for The Noisy Puddle, illustrated by Miki Sato, which invites children to connect with nature’s cycles and its unusual characters.
“Why write a book about a puddle that disappears? I got that question a lot, or at least I saw it in people’s faces when I told them what I was working on. But what I discovered is that the so-called puddle — a vernal pool — is a hidden hero. These pop-up wetlands may be small and short-lived, but they play a big role: filtering water, preventing floods, and giving animals like wood frogs and salamanders a place to breed. Before I started this book, I was like most people — I didn’t even know vernal pools existed. That’s why I wrote The Noisy Puddle, to invite kids into this magical, hidden world right under our noses. Through story and rigorous science, I hope young readers fall in love with these pools, share their wonders, and grow up wanting to protect them,” says Sweeney.
The inaugural Notable Contribution to Publishing Prize went to Boston-based Beacon Press’ Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz‘s Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States, a new graphic adaptation of the influential New York Times bestseller that exposed the brutality of this nation’s founding and its legacy of settler-colonialism and genocide, centering the perspective of the peoples displaced by Europeans and their white descendants to trace Indigenous perseverance over four centuries against policies intended to obliterate them.
“We believe every reader deserves access to honest, nuanced accounts of the complex history of the United States. That’s why we’re proud to publish this visually stunning adaptation, illustrated by the gifted Paul Peart-Smith. Through vivid imagery and compelling storytelling, Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz‘s Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States: A Graphic Interpretation honors the enduring legacy of Indigenous resilience and amplifies voices too often left out of the national narrative. We’re thrilled and deeply grateful to see this work recognized with the inaugural Notable Contribution to Publishing prize from the Massachusetts Book Awards—a testament to its power and importance,” says Gayatri Patnaik, Director of Beacon Press.
Sunshine, by Jarrett Krosoczka of Florence, MA, received the first-ever graphic novel prize. This autobiographical work tells the story of hope and determination found during his time as a summer teen counselor at a camp for seriously ill kids and their families.
“I am without words (or pictures) to adequately express how meaningful it is to have my book Sunshine receive the inaugural Graphic Novel Prize in the Massachusetts Book Awards. Growing up in Worcester, MA, comics found at That’s Entertainment made me a reader — and classes taken at the Worcester Art Museum taught me that making comics could be a career. Sunshine: How One Camp Taught Me About Life, Death, and Hope is a memoir that recounts my time working at a camp for children diagnosed with pediatric cancer. Through the transformative power of comics, I recount this life-changing experience I had as a teenager. Utilizing panels, word balloons, and page-turns, I can communicate a heady story in such a way that prose alone would be unable to adequately convey. As a lifelong citizen of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, I am so very proud that my state continues to lead the revolution — the graphic novel is a book format worthy of praise and celebration, ” says Jarrett Krosoczka
The Massachusetts Book Awards Ceremony will be held on October 7th at the Massachusetts State House. This ceremony marks twenty-five years of the Massachusetts Book Awards.
About Massachusetts Center for the Book
Massachusetts Center for the Book (MCB) is a nonprofit dedicated to inspiring a love of reading, honoring the rich literary culture of the Commonwealth, promoting unrestricted access to books and libraries, and fostering literacy and learning. Founded in 2000, MCB is charged with developing, supporting, and promoting cultural programming to advance the cause of books, libraries, and reading inMassachusetts. As the designated Commonwealth affiliate of the Library of Congress, the Center runs youth and family literacy programs, like the Reading Challenge and Letters About Literature; represents Massachusetts at the National Book Festival; operates the Massachusetts Book Awards and Mass Kids Lit Fest; and partners with community organizations on literary initiatives and events, big and small, across the state.