The 42nd annual Los Angeles Times Book Prizes were awarded on April 22nd. The best books of 2021 were recognized in 12 categories, along with the winners of the Robert Kirsch and Innovator’s awards.

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2021 Winners

Robert Kirsch Award
Luis J. Rodriguez

Innovator's Award
Reginald Dwayne Betts/Freedom Reads

The Christopher Isherwood Prize for Autobiographical Prose
REAL ESTATE: A Living Autobiography, by Deborah Levy

Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction
BROOD by Jackie Polzin

Biography
BURNING BOY: The Life and Work of Stephen Crane, by Paul Auster

Current Interest
MIDNIGHT IN WASHINGTON: How We Almost Lost Our Democracy and Still Could, by Adam Schiff

Fiction
IN THE COMPANY OF MEN by Véronique Tadjo

Graphic Novel/Comics
NO ONE ELSE by R. Kikuo Johnson

History
CUBA: An American History, by Ada Ferrer

Mystery/Thriller
THE TURNOUT by Megan Abbott

Poetry
FRANK: Sonnets, by Diane Seuss

Science & Technology
THE DISORDERED COSMOS: A Journey Into Dark Matter, Spacetime, and Dreams Deferred, by Chanda Prescod-Weinstein

The Ray Bradbury Prize for Science Fiction, Fantasy & Speculative Fiction
SPIRITS ABROAD by Zen Cho

Young Adult Literature
A SITTING IN ST. JAMES by Rita Williams-Garcia
 

2021 Finalists

Robert Kirsch Award

• Luis J. Rodriguez

Innovator's Award

• Reginald Dwayne Betts/Freedom Reads

The Christopher Isherwood Prize for Autobiographical Prose

• REAL ESTATE: A Living Autobiography, by Deborah Levy

Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction

• WHEN WE CEASE TO UNDERSTAND THE WORLD by Benjamín Labatut, translated by Adrian Nathan West
• BROOD by Jackie Polzin
• MY MONTICELLO by Jocelyn Nicole Johnson
• ASSEMBLY by Natasha Brown
• THE RECENT EAST by Thomas Grattan

Biography

• THE REASON FOR THE DARKNESS OF THE NIGHT: Edgar Allan Poe and the Forging of American Science, by John Tresch
• MIKE NICHOLS: A Life, by Mark Harris
• COMPETING WITH IDIOTS: Herman and Joe Mankiewicz, A Dual Portrait, by Nick Davis
• BURNING BOY: The Life and Work of Stephen Crane, by Paul Auster
• ALL THE FREQUENT TROUBLES OF OUR DAYS: The True Story of the American Woman at the Heart of the German Resistance to Hitler, by Rebecca Donner

Current Interest

• INVISIBLE CHILD: Poverty, Survival and Hope in an American City, by Andrea Elliott
• THE SUM OF US: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together, by Heather McGhee
• HALFWAY HOME: Race, Punishment, and the Afterlife of Mass Incarceration, by Reuben Jonathan Miller
• WILDLAND: The Making of America’s Fury, by Evan Osnos
• MIDNIGHT IN WASHINGTON: How We Almost Lost Our Democracy and Still Could, by Adam Schiff

Fiction

• I LOVE YOU BUT I'VE CHOSEN DARKNESS by Claire Vaye Watkins
• HARROW by Joy Williams
• THE DANGERS OF SMOKING IN BED by Mariana Enriquez, translated by Megan McDowell
• AMERICAN ESTRANGEMENT by Saïd Sayrafiezadeh
• IN THE COMPANY OF MEN by Véronique Tadjo

Graphic Novel/Comics

• SHADOW LIFE by Ann Xu and Hiromi Goto
• THE WAITING by Keum Suk Gendry-Kim, translated by Janet Hong
• STONE FRUIT by Lee Lai
• HEAVEN NO HELL by Michael DeForge
• NO ONE ELSE by R. Kikuo Johnson

History

• CUBA: An American History, by Ada Ferrer
• I'VE BEEN HERE ALL THE WHILE: Black Freedom on Native Land, by Alaina E. Roberts
• THE CHINESE QUESTION: The Gold Rushes and Global Politics, by Mae Ngai
• TRAVELING BLACK: A Story of Race and Resistance, by Mia Bay
• AFRICAN EUROPEANS: An Untold History, by Olivette Otele

Mystery/Thriller

• THE COLLECTIVE by Alison Gaylin
• THE TURNOUT by Megan Abbott
• THE DARK HOURS by Michael Connelly
• RAZORBLADE TEARS by S.A. Cosby
• VELVET WAS THE NIGHT by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Poetry

• MASTER SUFFERING by CM Burroughs
• FRANK: Sonnets, by Diane Seuss
• YELLOW RAIN by Mai Der Vang
• FLOATERS by Martín Espada
• PLAYLIST FOR THE APOCALYPSE by Rita Dove

Science & Technology

• THE DISORDERED COSMOS: A Journey Into Dark Matter, Spacetime, and Dreams Deferred, by Chanda Prescod-Weinstein
• WILD SOULS: Freedom and Flourishing in the Non-Human World, by Emma Marris
• SAVING US: A Climate Scientist’s Case for Hope and Healing in a Divided World, by Katharine Hayhoe
• GOD, HUMAN, ANIMAL, MACHINE: Technology, Metaphor and the Search for Meaning, by Meghan O’Gieblyn
• A WORLD ON THE WING: The Global Odyssey of Migratory Birds, by Scott Weidensaul

The Ray Bradbury Prize for Science Fiction, Fantasy & Speculative Fiction

• THE DANGERS OF SMOKING IN BED by Mariana Enriquez, translated by Megan McDowell
• THE WORLD GIVES WAY by Marissa Levien
• SORROWLAND by Rivers Solomon
• LIGHT FROM UNCOMMON STARS by Ryka Aoki
• SPIRITS ABROAD by Zen Cho

Young Adult Literature

• A SNAKE FALLS TO EARTH by Darcie Little Badger
• REVOLUTION IN OUR TIME: The Black Panther’s Promise to the People, by Kekla Magoon
• LAST NIGHT AT THE TELEGRAPH CLUB by Malinda Lo
• FROM A WHISPER TO A RALLYING CRY: The Killing of Vincent Chin and the Trial That Galvanized the Asian American Movement, by Paula Yoo
• A SITTING IN ST. JAMES by Rita Williams-Garcia