NEW YORK — For author Percival Everett, libraries have always been a treasure trove of knowledge, adventure, and even a taste of the unconventional.
At 13, he formed a friendship with a librarian at the University of South Carolina, who granted him access to the library’s stacks despite the rules. “I recall those formative experiences,” Everett remarked during a recent phone interview. “One of the remarkable aspects of libraries is that when you seek one particular book, you also find others nearby that might not be directly related, which is something akin to the links you find online, but in libraries, the connections are left for exploration without predetermined paths.”
Recently, the author received a notable recognition from public libraries across the nation. On Sunday, the American Library Association announced that Everett’s novel “James” earned the prestigious Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction, which comes with a $5,000 cash prize. In the nonfiction category, Kevin Fedarko’s “A Walk in the Park: The True Story of a Spectacular Misadventure in the Grand Canyon” was selected as the winner.
Everett’s reimagining of Mark Twain’s “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” told through the eyes of Jim, Huck Finn’s enslaved friend, has garnered significant acclaim, winning both the National Book Award and the Kirkus Prize, while also being a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle award. “James” has notably reached the top of The New York Times fiction hardcover list—a commendable achievement for a literary work that didn’t tie into a mainstream book club or film adaptation.
“Percival Everett has crafted a modern masterpiece, a striking and essential work that delivers a new viewpoint through the lens of an iconic character,” stated Allison Escoto, chair of the award’s selection committee. She also praised Fedarko’s narrative of his explorations in the Grand Canyon as a reflection of the victories and challenges of exploration, emphasizing the many crucial lessons we can gather from our environment.
Fedarko, a former correspondent for Time magazine whose writing has appeared in notable publications like The New York Times and Esquire, reflected on his upbringing in Pittsburgh and his fond memories of visiting Carnegie libraries. He recalls particularly visiting one in Oakmont, close to his parents’ hair salon, where he would delve into biographies of significant historical personalities, viewing libraries as essential links to a broader vista of knowledge.
Now residing in Flagstaff, Arizona, Fedarko shared that he utilized the library at Northern Arizona University for inspiration and research while writing both “A Walk in the Park” and its predecessor, “The Emerald Mile.” “The library houses an invaluable collection concerning the Grand Canyon, which laid the groundwork for both of my books,” he explained, noting that their creation would have been impossible without the resources provided by the library.
The Carnegie Medals, established in 2012 through a grant from the Carnegie Corporation of New York, have previously honored works including Donna Tartt’s “The Goldfinch,” Colson Whitehead’s “The Underground Railroad,” and Doris Kearns Goodwin’s “The Bully Pulpit.”
In this year’s roster of finalists, alongside Everett’s “James,” other fiction nominees included Jiaming Tang’s “Cinema Love” and Kavin Akbar’s “Martyr!” For nonfiction, Adam Higginbotham’s “Challenger: A True Story of Heroism and Disaster on the Edge of Space” and Emily Nussbaum’s “Cue the Sun! The Invention of Reality TV” were recognized as runners-up.
All three contenders for the fiction award were published by Penguin Random House, whereas Simon & Schuster published all three finalists in the nonfiction category.
