NAIBA Legacy Award

NAIBA is proud to present the 2025 Legacy Award to Jason Reynolds

photo of Jason Reynolds, credit Adedayo Dayo Kosoko — credit Adedayo Dayo Kosoko

Jason Reynolds is a #1 New York Times bestselling author of many award-winning books, including All American Boys (with Brendan Kiely); Twenty-Four Seconds from Now...; Stuntboy, in the Meantime (illustrated by Raúl the Third); and There Was a Party for Langston (illustrated by the Pumphrey brothers). The recipient of a Newbery Honor, a Printz Honor, an NAACP Image Award, and multiple Coretta Scott King honors, Reynolds was the 2020-2022 National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature and is a 2024 MacArthur Fellow. He has appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, The Daily Show, Late Night with Seth Meyers, CBS Sunday Morning, Good Morning America, and various media outlets. He is on faculty at Lesley University, for the Writing for Young People MFA Program and lives in Washington, DC.

"It’s an honor to be recognized by the New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association. I don’t take it for granted and am grateful to be counted amongst the number of brilliant storytellers who have received this award before me. My only hope is that I can continue to live up to what this legacy award means as I continue on this journey of writing the world I want to see."

In 2004, the New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association established a Legacy Award in recognition of those individuals whose body of work contributed significantly to the realm of American arts and letters. Candidates for this award were to either reside in the region served by the New Atlantic Independent Booksellers Association, or who created work that reflected the character of the geographical area so represented, and the spirit of the independent bookselling community found therein.