FOR MORE INFORMATION: Tessa Timperley 402-471-3434 800-307-2665
Books Chosen to Represent Nebraska at National Book Festival
“Quagmire Tiarello Couldn’t Be Better” and “The Antidote” chosen for the National Book Festival’s Great Reads from Great Places program.
The Nebraska Center for the Book has selected a youth book and adult book that feature Nebraska to represent the state at the 2026 National Book Festival: Quagmire Tiarello Couldn’t Be Better by Mylisa Larsen and The Antidote: A Novel by Karen Russell.
Both titles will be part of the National Center for the Book’sGreat Reads from GreatPlaces program. Great Reads from Great Places features books and authors representing the literary heritage of all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and Northern Marianas. For over 20 years this program has included a highlighted youth title from each affiliate center. In 2022, Great Reads from Great Places began including titles for adults for the first time.
This year’s National Book Festival on August 22nd will be held in-person in Washington, D.C., but will include many livestreamed and recorded virtual programs celebrating books and authors.
The Festival Near You
This year Nebraskans will have the opportunity to join in the fun with programming featuring our Youth Great Read. The Festival Near You, is a statewide initiative celebrating the 2026 National Book Festival by bringing Nebraska’s Great Reads from Great Places youth book to communities, and offers Nebraskans a chance to engage with literature close to home.
As part of the programming, schools and libraries across the state can check out a free book club kit of Quagmire Tiarello Couldn’t Be Better. The Nebraska Library Commission has 50 books available for checkout, each reservation will include discussion guides, activity prompts, and bookmarks. To further support statewide engagement the author, Mylisa Larsen, will offer eight virtual author visits to Nebraska schools and libraries who check out the book club kits. These interactive sessions give young readers the chance to ask questions, learn about the writing process, and connect directly with the author whose book represents Nebraska on the national stage. Libraries and educators can register for these visits on a first‑come, first‑served basis. Find about The Festival Near You programming and National Book Festival at https://centerforthebook.nebraska.gov/programs/nationalbookfestival.html.
About the Books
“Quagmire Tiarello Couldn’t Be Better” by Mylisa Larsen (Clarion Books, 2024)
“Quagmire Tiarello prides himself on not needing anything from anybody. Sure, his mom is skipping work again and showing signs of going into one of her full-out spins, but it’s nothing he can’t handle. He’s used to her up-and-down moods, even if this time it feels a little different. Then his mom disappears, and Quag must find shelter with an uncle he didn’t know he had. Should he come clean about his mother’s mental health challenges? Or can he use his carefully honed skills to bluff long enough to find his mom and get home? Readers will root for Quag as he finds himself rethinking his world and learning to accept help from the people who love him.”
Nebraska’s Great Reads from Great Places book is chosen from the previous year’s Nebraska Book Award winners and this book was awarded the 2025 Nebraska Book Award in the Teen Novel category.
“The Antidote: A Novel” by Karen Russell (Knopf, 2025)
“The Antidote opens on Black Sunday, as a historic dust storm ravages the fictional town of Uz, Nebraska. But Uz is already collapsing—not just under the weight of the Great Depression and the dust bowl drought but beneath its own violent histories. The Antidote follows a “Prairie Witch,” whose body serves as a bank vault for peoples’ memories and secrets; a Polish wheat farmer who learns how quickly a hoarded blessing can become a curse; his orphan niece, a basketball star and witch’s apprentice in furious flight from her grief; a voluble scarecrow; and a New Deal photographer whose time-traveling camera threatens to reveal both the town’s secrets and its fate. “
Chosen as the 2026 One Book One Nebraska selection, libraries across Nebraska and other literary and cultural organizations have participated in book discussions, activities, and events that encourage Nebraskans to read and discuss this book.
The Nebraska Center for the Book is housed at the Nebraska Library Commission and brings together the state’s readers, writers, booksellers, librarians, publishers, printers, educators, and scholars to build the community of the book, supporting programs to celebrate and stimulate public interest in books, reading, and the written word. The Nebraska Center for the Book is supported by the Nebraska Library Commission. As the state library agency, the Nebraska Library Commission is an advocate for the library and information needs of all Nebraskans. The mission of the Library Commission is statewide promotion, development, and coordination of library and information services, “bringing together people and information.”
Looking for more ways to engage readers with #OneBookOneNebraska? We now have bookmarks for 2026’s selection, “The Antidote: A Novel” by Karen Russell.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: Bailee Juroshek 402-471-4002 800-307-2665
The Antidote: A Novel Proclaimed the 2026 One Book One Nebraska
On Jan. 13, 2026 Governor Jim Pillen signed a proclamation honoring the 2026 One Book One Nebraska selection The Antidote: A Novel (Knopf, 2025) by Karen Russell. Rebecca Faber, Nebraska Center for the Book (NCB) Board member spoke about the program and selection. The Antidote is a historical fiction novel set in the fictional Nebraska town of Uz during the trials of the dust bowl. Full of magical realism, Nebraska landmarks, and superb storytelling, The Antidote showcases the challenges of the time period while urging the reader to face the future. The full proclamation can be viewed on the One Book One Nebraska webpages at http://onebook.nebraska.gov. Rebecca Faber from the Nebraska Center for the Book board spoke at the proclamation ceremony, saying:
“Ms Russell made several trips to Nebraska to do extensive research as she developed her novel. During these visits she gained historical, cultural, meteorological, and geological information about Nebraska during the 1930’s. She refers to her writing process as a “deeply collaborative experience” due to the cooperation she received from Nebraskans who provided her with essential information. The One Book One Nebraska program provides a great opportunity to promote reading, personal learning and reflection, and our connection with Nebraska writers, publishers, libraries, schools, and communities.”
The Nebraska Center for the Book is housed at the Nebraska Library Commission and brings together the state’s readers, writers, booksellers, librarians, publishers, printers, educators, and scholars to build the community of the book, supporting programs to celebrate and stimulate public interest in books, reading, and the written word. The Nebraska Center for the Book is supported by the Nebraska Library Commission.
As Nebraska’s state library agency, the Nebraska Library Commission is an advocate for the library and information needs of all Nebraskans. The mission of the Library Commission is statewide promotion, development, and coordination of library and information services-“bringing together people and information.”
FOR MORE INFORMATION: Tessa Timperley 402-471-3434 800-307-2665
The Antidote: A Novel Chosen as 2026 One Book One Nebraska
People across Nebraska are encouraged to read the work set in Nebraska—and then talk about it with their friends and neighbors. The Antidote: A Novel (Knopf, 2025) by Karen Russell is the 2026 One Book One Nebraska selection.
The Antidote is a historical fiction novel during the dust bowl, set in a fictional town in rural Nebraska.
Karen Russell’s The Antidote is a haunting Dust Bowl epic that blends historical fiction with magical realism. Set in 1930s Nebraska, the novel follows Antonina Rossi—known as “the Antidote,” a prairie witch who stores memories—and the Oletsky family as they endure the devastation of Black Sunday’s dust storm and the catastrophic flooding of the Republican River. Through interwoven narratives, Russell explores themes of memory, resilience, and survival amid environmental collapse, crafting a lyrical meditation on how communities confront trauma and corruption while clinging to hope.
Karen Russell is the author of six books of fiction, including the New York Times bestsellers Swamplandia! and Vampires in the Lemon Grove. She is a MacArthur Fellow, a Guggenheim Fellow, and a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. She has received two National Magazine Awards for Fiction, the Shirley Jackson Award, the 2023 Bottari Lattes Grinzane Prize, and the 2024 Mary McCarthy Prize. The Antidote is a finalist for the National Book Award and a national bestseller. She serves on the board of Street Books, a mobile library for people living outdoors. Born and raised in Miami, Florida, she lives in Portland, Oregon, with her husband, son, and daughter.
Libraries across Nebraska will join other literary and cultural organizations in planning book discussions, activities, and events that will encourage Nebraskans to read and discuss this book. Support materials to assist with local reading/discussion activities will be available after January 1, 2026 at http://onebook.nebraska.gov. Updates and activity listings will be posted on the One Book One Nebraska Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/onebookonenebraska.
2026 will mark the twenty-second year of the One Book One Nebraska reading program, sponsored by the Nebraska Center for the Book. It encourages Nebraskans across the state to read and discuss one book, chosen from books written by Nebraska authors or that have a Nebraska theme or setting. The Nebraska Center for the Book invites recommendations for One Book One Nebraska book selection year-round at http://centerforthebook.nebraska.gov/obon-nomination.asp.
One Book One Nebraska is sponsored by Nebraska Center for the Book, Humanities Nebraska, and Nebraska Library Commission. The Nebraska Center for the Book brings together the state’s readers, writers, booksellers, librarians, publishers, printers, educators, and scholars to build the community of the book, supporting programs to celebrate and stimulate public interest in books, reading, and the written word. The Nebraska Center for the Book is housed at and supported by the Nebraska Library Commission.
As the state library agency, the Nebraska Library Commission is an advocate for the library and information needs of all Nebraskans. The mission of the Library Commission is statewide promotion, development, and coordination of library and information services, “bringing together people and information.”
I’m breaking with tradition and using my Friday Reads post to talk about the three books on the short list for the 2026 One Book One Nebraska selection. We wanted to give a short overview of each book, some author information, and include comments by the readers on the selection committee. The winner will be announced Saturday, November 15th at the Nebraska Celebration of Books literary festival’s awards ceremony. Let us know which book you would pick to be the next One Book One Nebraska read, or nominate a book to be considered for 2027.
Our Souls at Night, Kent Haruf. Vintage Books/Penguin Random House, 2015. Genre: Fiction
Set in contemporary Colorado, Haruf has crafted a love story between a widow and her widower neighbor. Life has given them a second chance to find happiness despite the nosiness of the townsfolk and a lack of support from family members. Readers found it consistent with Haruf’s previous novels. One evaluator described this love story as “genuine.”
Haruf authored six novels. He previously lived in Lincoln while teaching at Nebraska Wesleyan. He was a finalist for the National Book Award, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and the New Yorker Book Award. He died in 2014. The book was published posthumously and was adapted into a film.
Lisa Kelly previously reviewed this title for Friday Reads, and you can read that review here.
The Antidote, Karen Russell. Knopf, 2025. Genre: Fiction
Set in western Nebraska in the 1930’s, Russell’s novel includes two actual events—the Black Sunday dust storm and the flooding of the Republican River. The main character is the Antidote who magically handles memories. The novel includes a variety of interesting characters whose lives intersect in dramatic ways. One evaluator noted that the book “has lots of good topics for discussion.”
Russell has authored six books of fiction. She was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 2012 for her novel Swamplandia! She also received the Shirley Jackson Award and the 2024 Mary McCarthy Prize. The Antidote is on the long list for the 2025 National Book Award for Fiction. Russell lives in Portland, Oregon.
Rod Wagner previously reviewed this title for Friday Reads, and you can read that review here.
Nebraska: Under a Big Red Sky, Joel Sartore. Nebraska Book Publishing, 1999. Genre: Photography/Nonfiction
This is Joel Sartore’s second book. It contains photographs of Nebraska from every section of the state. Compiled early in his career, it was prompted by his desire to show others the full range of his home state. Photos range from Sandhill cranes to the Sower to small town sports to rodeos to Carhenge to Memorial Stadium–to mention just a few. One committee member liked both the photos and Sartore’s humor, adding “I think there could be some good discussions about living in Nebraska.”
Joel Sartore lives in Lincoln, Nebraska and has been a contributor to National Geographic as well Audubon Magazine, Time, Lif
