Kansas Notable Books recognizes 15 outstanding titles either written by Kansans or about a Kansas-related topic. Kansas Notable Books highlight our contemporary writing community and encourages readers to enjoy some of the best writing of the authors among us.
A committee of librarians, library staff, academics and authors identify and review titles from among those published the previous year. The State Librarian then makes the final selection of fifteen books. A medal awards ceremony honors the books and their authors in conjunction with the Kansas Book Festival.
The State Library of Kansas, with Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) funds offers a non-competitive grant opportunity for libraries in Kansas to purchase some or all the current year’s Kansas Notable Books.
Throughout the award year, the State Library encourages promotion of all current Kansas Notable Books at literary events, among libraries and local, independent booksellers.
Abolitionist of the Most Dangerous Kind: James Montgomery and His War on Slavery, by Todd Mildfelt and David Schafer, University of Oklahoma Press
Daughter of Chaos, by Sarah Edgerton, Elizabeth Hawk Publishing
Doomed by Blooms, by Anna St. John, Level Best Books
Grief Said "Have a Seat", by Amanda G. Elsbury, Elite Publications
Henry, Like Always, by Jenn Bailey, Chronicle Books
I've Been Fighting This War Within Myself, by Antonio Sanchez-Day and edited by Brian Daldorph, Meadowlark Poetry Press
Into the Sunset: Emmett Dalton and the End of the Dalton Gang, by Ian Shaw, University Press of Kansas
The Jayhawk: The Story of the University of Kansas’s Beloved Mascot, by Rebecca Ozier Schulte, University Press of Kansas
Kansas City's Montgall Avenue: Black Leaders and the Street They Called Home, by Margie Carr, University Press of Kansas
Orion O'Brien and the Spirit of Quindaro, by Fran Borin, Mission Point Press
Proclaiming the Good News: Mennonite Women’s Voices, 1972-2006, by Lois Y. Barrett and Dorothy Nickel Friesen, Institute of Mennonite Studies
Red Rabbit, by Alex Grecian, Tor Nightfire
Roadside Geology of Kansas, by James S Aber, Susan E. W. Aber, and Michael J. Everhart, Mountain Press
We're Safe When We're Alone, by Nghiem Tran, Coffee House Press
Without Warning: The Tornado of Udall, Kansas, by Jim Minick, Bison Books