Books about war, poverty among finalists for Lukas awards

The Lukas Prize nominees were announced Thursday for three categories: The $10,000 J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize, the $10,000 Mark Lynton History Prize and the J. Anthony Lukas Work-in-Progress Awards, for which two winners receive $25,000 each to help complete their books.

The finalists for the Lukas Book Prize are Andrea Elliott's "Invisible Child: Poverty, Survival & Hope in an American City," Scott Ellsworth's "The Ground Breaking: An American City and Its Search for Justice," Patrick Radden Keefe's "Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty," Jessica Nordell's "The End of Bias: A Beginning: The Science and Practice of Overcoming Unconscious Bias" and Joshua Prager's "The Family Roe: An American Story."

For the Lynton award, nominees are Katie Booth's "The Invention of Miracles: Language, Power, and Alexander Graham Bell's Quest to End Deafness," Noah Feldman's "The Broken Constitution: Lincoln, Slavery, and the Refounding of America," Amanda Frost's "You Are Not American: Citizenship Stripping from Dred Scott to the Dreamers," Tiya Miles' "All That She Carried: The Journey of Ashley's Sack, a Black Family Keepsake" and Jane Rogoyska's "Surviving Katy Stalin's Polish Massacre and the Search for Truth."

The work-in-progress finalists are Roxanna Asgarian's "We Were Once a Family: The Hart Murder-Suicide and the System Failing Our Kids," Robert Fieseler's "American Scare: A Cold War in the Sunshine State," Benjamin Herold's "Disillusioned: How the Suburbs and Their Schools Undermine the American Dream," May Jeong's "The Life: Sex, Work, and Love in America" and Suki Kim's "The Prince and the Revolutionary: Children of War."

Winners will be announced March 16. Past recipients include Robert Caro, Jill Lepore and Isabel Wilkerson.