National Book Festival
The 2025 National Book Festival will be held in the nation’s capital at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center on Saturday, September 6. A selection of programs will be livestreamed online and videos of all programs will be available shortly after the Festival.
Each year, one children’s book and one adult title are chosen to represent Nebraska at the National Book Festival's Great Reads from Great Places exhibit. Representatives from NCB and the Nebraska Library Commission attend the festival and staff Nebraska's booth in the exhibit hall. Bookmarks, maps, coloring pages, and book lists are given out to thousands of visitors each year spreading the word about our state's great literary traditions.
The Festival Near You
Even if you can’t make the trip to DC, you can still join in the fun right here in Nebraska!
Author Talks
Carla Ketner, author of "Ted Kooser: More Than a Local Wonder" will be giving four in-person visits across the state during August to celebrate her book's participation in the National Book Festival. She will also be speaking on her role at the National Book Festival and her book on Nebraska Library Commission's NCompass Live weekly webinar series.- NCompass Live Webinar - August 6th - Watch the Recording Here
- Grand Island Public Library - August 7th at 4:00pm
- Papillion Public Library - August 26th at 6:00pm
- Beatrice Public Library - August 27th at 6:00pm
- Cozad Elementary School - August 28th at 2:00pm
Community Bookwalks
In the month of August, there will be twenty Bookwalks or Storywalks© in communities across the state featuring Nebraska's Great Reads from Great Places children's book selection, "Ted Kooser: More Than a Local Wonder." Free and open to the public, a "book walk" is an educational activity where community members, often children, engage with a story by physically "walking" through it. This involves viewing the book's pages displayed on signs or panels along a path, allowing them to experience the story visually and perhaps even interact with the illustrations. You can find the list of communities participating on the map. This project was made possible with grant funding from COSLA and funds from the Nebraska Center for the Book. You can find all of the participating Bookwalks on the interactive map below.
Stream the Festival
Viewers are able to live stream some author talks and programming, all programming is available to stream after the festival. Search the line up of world class authors and illustrators to find the speakers and programs you're most interested in!
Great Reads from Great Places
Children's Book
Nebraska's 2025 Great Reads from
Great Places children’s book is "Ted Kooser: More Than a Local
Wonder" (University of Nebraska Press, 2023) written by Carla Ketner, illustrated by Paula Wallace.
Long before he became United States Poet Laureate and an award-winning author of books for adults and children, Ted Kooser was an unathletic
Iowa child who yearned to fit in. Young Teddy Kooser found solace, purpose and his voice in stories. As a child and later while working in the
insurance industry, Ted honed his craft and unique style as he wrote about the people and places of the rural Midwest. Ted’s life is an affirmation
of pursuing one’s passions and finding oneself through words. “Ted Kooser: More Than a Local Wonder” is a 2024 Nebraska Book Award winner in the Children’s Picture Book category.
Carla Ketner is the former owner of Chapters Books & Gifts in Seward, Nebraska. She is a former elementary school teacher and instructor of college-level children’s literature courses. Ted Kooser: More Than a Local Wonder is her first picture book. When not reading, writing, or connecting readers with books, she is likely to be walking her grand-dog, looking up the names of local wildflowers, baking anything that lists chocolate as an ingredient, or traveling with friends and family. She and her husband have two grown sons.
https://www.carlaketner.com/
Adult Book
Nebraska's 2025 Great Reads from Great Places adult book is "The Long March Home: A World War II Novel of the Pacific”
(Revell, 2023) by Marcus Brotherton and Tosca Lee.
The Long March Home is a historical fiction novel inspired by true stories of friendship, sacrifice, and hope on the Bataan Death March. Inspired by true stories, it is a gripping coming-of-age tale of friendship, sacrifice, and the power of unrelenting hope. It is the 2025 One Book One Nebraska selection a reading program that 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.
Tosca Lee is a New York Times bestselling author of eleven novels, including
The Line Between, The Progeny, The Legend of Sheba, and
Iscariot. Her work has been called
“superior storytelling” by Publishers Weekly, translated into seventeen languages, and optioned for TV and film. Her commendations include two International Book Awards,
Killer Nashville’s Silver Falchion, and ECPA Fiction Book of the Year. To learn more, please visit toscalee.com.
Marcus Brotherton is a New York Times bestselling author and coauthor dedicated to writing books that inspire heroics, promote empathy, and encourage noble living.
His commendations include the Christopher Award for literature “that affirms the highest values of the human spirit.” Notable works include
A Bright and Blinding Sun,
Blaze of Light, Shifty's War, and The Long March Home, with Tosca Lee. For more information, visit marcusbrotherton.com.
For more information contact Tessa Timperley, 402-471-3434 or 800-307-2665, or visit the Facebook pages of the Nebraska Center for the Book, Nebraska Library Commission, and One Book One Nebraska.
Related Links
- National Book Festival — Washington, DC