Golden Poppy Book Awards 2025
California indie booksellers select the best books by California creators!
The California Independent Booksellers Alliance (CALIBA) presents the 2025 Golden Poppy Awards in recognition of the most distinguished books written and illustrated by creators who have made California their home.
Committees for each category are made up of booksellers throughout the state tasked with developing a final ballot that will be voted upon by CALIBA's bookstore membership and their employees.
Our goal is to elevate California voices and recognize the unique and diverse talents within our state as voted upon by the booksellers who know them best.
Fiction
Big Chief by Jon Hickey (Simon & Schuster)
Harriet Tubman: Live in Concert by Bob the Drag Queen (Gallery Books)
My Name is Emilia del Valle by Isabel Allende (Ballantine Books)
Other People’s Kids by Kim Culbertson (Sibylline Press)
Too Soon by Betty Shamieh (Avid Reader Press)
Nonfiction
Dirty Kitchen: A Memoir of Food and Family by Jill Damatac (Atria/One Signal Publishers)
Poppy State: A Labyrinth of Plants and a Story of Beginnings by Myriam Gurba (Timber Press)
Red Flag Warning: Mutual Aid and Survival in California’s Fire Country edited by Dani Burlison and Margaret Elysia Garcia (AK Press)
Stitching Freedom: A True Story of Injustice, Defiance, and Hope in Angola Prison by Gary Tyler with Ellen Bravo (Atria/One Signal Publishers)
Too Poor to Die: The Hidden Realities of Dying in the Margins by Amy Shea (Rutgers University Press)
Mystery
The Confessions by Paul Bradley Carr (Atria Books)
Count My Lies by Sophie Stava (Gallery/Scout Press)
The Ghostwriter by Julie Clark (Sourcebooks Landmark)
A Murder in Zion by Nicole Maggi (Oceanview Publishing)
Proof by Jon Cowan (Gallery Books)
Poetry
For This and Other Cruelties by Youna Kwak (University of Iowa Press)
Girl in a Forest by Elline Lipkin (Trio House Press)
Regaining Unconsciousness by Harryette Mullen (Graywolf Press)
Scream/Queen by CD Eskilson (Acre Books)
Which Walks by Laura Moriarty (Nightboat Books)
Octavia E. Butler Award (Science Fiction/Fantasy/Horror)
Automatic Noodle by Annalee Newitz (Tordotcom)
Kill the Beast by Serra Swift (Tor Books)
The Knight and the Moth by Rachel Gillig (Orbit)
Notes from a Regicide by Isaac Fellman (Tor Books)
Red City by Marie Lu (Tor Books)
Romance
If Not for My Baby by Kate Golden (Berkley)
Left of Forever by Tarah DeWitt (St. Martin's Griffin)
No Ordinary Love by Myah Ariel (Berkley)
Nothing To Write Home About by Becca Erin Title (Retitled)
Run Away with Me by Brian Selznick (Scholastic Press)
Martin Cruz Smith Award: Emerging Diverse Voices
(juried prize)
Birds at Night by Ibe Liebenberg (Texas Tech University Press)
Black California Gold by Wendy M. Thompson (Bucknell University Press)
The Cost of Being Undocumented: One Woman’s Reckoning with America’s Inhumane Math by Alix Dick and Antero Garcia (Beacon Press)
Girls Girls Girls by Shoshana von Blanckensee (GP Putnam’s Sons)
Too Soon by Betty Shamieh (Avid Reader Press)
Glenn Goldman: California Lifestyle
Cruising J-Town: Japanese American Car Culture in Los Angeles by Oliver Wang (Angel City Press at Los Angeles Public Library)
The Enduring Wild: A Journey Into California's Public Lands by Josh Jackson (Heyday)
The Grateful Dead by Jim Marshall: Photos and Stories from the Formative Years, 1966–1977 by Jim Marshall, Amelia Davis, and David Gans; with Afterword by John Mayer (Chronicle Books)
Olle Lundberg: An Architecture of Craft by Olle Lundberg (Princeton Architectural Press)
Richard Misrach: Cargo photographs by Richard Misrach, text by Rebecca Solnit, and designed by Masumi Shibata (Aperture)
Glenn Goldman: Cooking
Cook Like a King: Recipes from My California Chinese Kitchen by Melissa King with JJ Goode (Ten Speed Press)
Feasts on the Farm: Over 60 Seasonal Recipes and Stories of Sustainable Farming from Tomales Farmstead Creamery by Tamara Jo Hicks and Jessica Lynn MacLeod (Chronicle Books)
The Korean Vegan: Homemade Recipes and Stories from My Kitchen by Joanne Lee Molinaro (Avery)
On Meat: Modern Recipes for the Home Kitchen by Jeremy Fox, Rachael Sheridan, and Contributions by Paul Bertolli (Phaidon Press)
Seasons of Greens: A Collection of New Recipes from the Iconic San Francisco Restaurant by Katie Reicher (Weldon Owen)
Picture Book
Don't Trust Fish by Neil Sharpson and Illustrated by Dan Santat (Dial Books)
Elsa’s Chessboard by Jenny Andrus and Illustrated by Julie Downing (Neal Porter Books)
Let's Be Bees Shawn Harris (Neal Porter Books)
Popo the Xolo by Paloma Angelina Lopez and Illustrated by Abraham Matias (Charlesbridge)
Wheetle: A Little Wagon with a Big Heart by Cindy Derby (Roaring Brook Press)
Middle Grade
Finding Lost by Holly Goldberg Sloan (Rocky Pond Books)
A Little Too Haunted by Justine Pucella Winans (Bloomsbury Children’s Books)
The Peach Thief by Linda Joan Smith (Candlewick)
The Queen Bees of Tybee County by Kyle Casey Chu (Quill Tree Books)
Spark by Chris Baron (Fewer & Friends)
Young Adult
All the Tomorrows After by Joanne Yi (Atheneum Books for Young Readers)
A Cruel Thirst by Angela Montoya (Joy Revolution)
The Education of Kia Greer by Alanna Bennett (Knopf Books for Young Readers)
Grave Flowers by Autumn Krause (Peachtree Teen)
Run Away with Me by Brian Selznick (Scholastic Press)
Children's Nonfiction
Forests by Nell Cross Beckerman and Illustrated by Kalen Chock (Orchard Books)
JIM! Six True Stories about One Great Artist: James Marshall by Jerrold Connors (Dial Books)
Love Is Hard Work: The Art and Heart of Corita Kent by Dan Paley and Illustrated by Victoria Tentler-Krylov (Candlewick)
Trans History: A Graphic Novel: From Ancient Times to the Present Day by Alex L. Combs and Andrew Eakett (Candlewick)
Vanished: Seven Women Magicians Who Simply Disappeared by Anna Hays and Illustrated by Mary Kate McDevitt (Bright Matter Books
Mirrors & Windows: Excellence in Children's Literature
(juried prize)
Almost Sunset by Wahab Algarmi (HarperAlley)
The History of We by Nikkolas Smith (Kokila)
Popo the Xolo by Paloma Angelina Lopez and Illustrated by Abraham Matias (Charlesbridge)
The Queen Bees of Tybee County by Kyle Casey Chu (Quill Tree Books)
A Very Asian Guide to Taiwanese Food by Nancy Jeng and Illustrated by Felicia Liang (Gloo Books)