Winners & Shortlists

View the current All Iowa Reads winners and shortlists as well as winners and shortlists from the past five years.

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2026 Winners & Shortlists

All Iowa Reads: 
THE QUIET LIBRARIAN by Allen Eskers

Adult Runners Up

  • Where They Last Saw Her by Marcie R. Rendon
  • The River We Remember by William Kent Krueger
  • Barons: Money, Power, and the Corruption of America’s Food Industry 
    by Austin Frerick
  • Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club by J. Ryan Stradal
  • Windfall: The Prairie Woman Who Lost Her Way and the Great-granddaughter Who Found Her by Erika Bolstad
     

Teen All Iowa Reads: 
STRONG LIKE YOU by T.L. Simpson

Teen Runners Up

  • The Color of a Lie by Kim Johnson
  • I Hope This Doesn't Find You by Ann Liang
  • Don't Let the Forest In by C.G. Drews
  • Brownstone by Samuel Teer and Mar Julia
  • Daniel: Deconstructed by James Ramos

Kids All Iowa Reads: 
THE TROUBLE WITH HEROES by Kate Messner

Kids Runners Up

  • Speechless by Aron Nels Steinke
  • South of Somewhere by Kalena Miller
  • Right Back At You by Carolyn Mackler
  • Please Pay Attention by Jamie Sumner
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Previous Years Winners and Shortlists

Click on a year below to expand the section and see that year's All Iowa Reads selected title(s) as well as the runners up. 

For winners beyond the previous five years, contact Helen.Dagley@iowa.gov (adult program) or Janee.Jackson-Doering@iowa.gov (teen and kids programs).

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