|
| website = {{URL|kirkusreviews.com}}
| issn = 1948-7428 <!--0042-6598 1948-741X 1948-7428 -->
| lccn = Z477.K5 <!-- LCCN 59003520 -->
}}
'''''Kirkus Reviews''''' (or '''''Kirkus Media''''') is an American [[book review]] magazine founded in 1933 by [[Virginia Kirkus]] (1893–1980).<ref name=NYT_Rich1>{{cite news |title=End of Kirkus Reviews Brings Anguish and Relief |first=Motoko |last=Rich |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/12/books/12kirkus.html |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |issn=0362-4331 |date=December 11, 2009 |access-date=November 21, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111029120721/http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/12/books/12kirkus.html |archive-date=October 29, 2011 |url-status=live }}</ref> The magazine's publisher, '''Kirkus Media''', is headquartered in [[New York City]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Contact Us|url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/about/contact-us/|work=Kirkus Reviews|access-date=January 22, 2016}}</ref> ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual [[Kirkus Prize]] to authors of [[fiction]], [[nonfiction]], and [[Children's literature|young readers' literature]].
''Kirkus Reviews'', published on the first and 15th of each month;, previews books before their publication. ''Kirkus'' reviews over 10,000 titles per year.<ref name=NYT_Rich1/><ref name=":0" />
==History==
[[Virginia Kirkus]] was hired by [[Harper & Brothers]] to establish a [[children's book]] department in 1926. TheIn 1932, the department was eliminated as an economic measure . inHowever, 1932 (for aboutwithin a year ), soLouise Raymond, the secretary Kirkus hired, had the department running again. Kirkus, however, had left and soon established her own book review service.<ref>{{cite book |last=Marcus |first=Leonard S. |title=Minders of Make-Believe |location=Boston |publisher=Houghton Mifflin |year=2008 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/mindersofmakebel00marc/page/104 104, 111] |isbn=978-0-395-67407-9 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/mindersofmakebel00marc/page/104 }}</ref> Initially, she arranged to get [[galley proofs]] of "20 or so" books in advance of their publication; almost 80 years later, the service was receiving hundreds of books weekly and reviewing about 100.<!-- 200, twice monthly --><ref name=":0">{{cite web |url=http://www.kirkusreviews.com/about/history/ |title=Kirkus Reviews History |website=Kirkus Reviews |access-date=November 15, 2012}}</ref> ▼
Initially titled ''Bulletin'' by Kirkus' Bookshop Service from 1933 to 1954, the title was changed to ''Bulletin from Virginia Kirkus' Service'' from January 1, 1955, issue onwards, and successively shortened to ''Virginia Kirkus' Service'' with the December 15, 1964, issue, and ''Kirkus Service'' in 1967, before it attained its definitivecurrent title, ''Kirkus Reviews'', with January 1, 1969, issue. <ref>{{ citationCite web needed| title=Our History |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/about/history/ |access-date= May2023-06-29 2016|website=Kirkus Reviews |language=en}} </ref>▼▲[[Virginia Kirkus]] was hired by [[Harper & Brothers]] to establish a [[children's book]] department in 1926. The department was eliminated as an economic measure in 1932 (for about a year), so Kirkus left and soon established her own book review service.<ref>{{cite book |last=Marcus |first=Leonard S. |title=Minders of Make-Believe |location=Boston |publisher=Houghton Mifflin |year=2008 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/mindersofmakebel00marc/page/104 104, 111] |isbn=978-0-395-67407-9 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/mindersofmakebel00marc/page/104 }}</ref> Initially, she arranged to get [[galley proofs]] of "20 or so" books in advance of their publication; almost 80 years later, the service was receiving hundreds of books weekly and reviewing about 100.<!-- 200, twice monthly --><ref name=":0">{{cite web |url=http://www.kirkusreviews.com/about/history/ |title=Kirkus Reviews History |website=Kirkus Reviews |access-date=November 15, 2012}}</ref>
In 1985 , Anne Larsen was brought on as fiction editor, soon to become editor, remaining the editorial head of Kirkus until 2006 and modifying the review format and style for improved readability, concision, accuracy, and impact. ▼▲Initially titled ''Bulletin'' by Kirkus' Bookshop Service from 1933 to 1954, the title was changed to ''Bulletin from Virginia Kirkus' Service'' from January 1, 1955, issue onwards, and successively shortened to ''Virginia Kirkus' Service'' with the December 15, 1964, issue, and ''Kirkus Service'' in 1967, before it attained its definitive title, ''Kirkus Reviews'', with January 1, 1969, issue.{{citation needed|date=May 2016}}
▲In 1985 Anne Larsen was brought on as fiction editor, soon to become editor, remaining the editorial head of Kirkus until 2006 and modifying the review format and style for improved readability, concision, accuracy, and impact.
==Ownership==
It was sold to ''[[The New York Review of Books]]'' in 1970 and subsequently sold by the ''Review'' to Barbara Bader and Josh Rubins, who served also as the publication's editors. In 1985, magazine consultant James B. Kobak acquired ''Kirkus Reviews''.<ref name=NYT_Doughrty>{{cite news|last=Dougherty |first=Philip H. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/04/04/business/advertising-consultant-acquires-kirkus-reviews.html |title=Consultant Acquires Kirkus Reviews |newspaper=[[The New York Times ]]|date=April 4, 1985 |access-date=November 12, 2012}}</ref> David LeBreton bought ''Kirkus'' from Kobak in 1993.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-13249757/kirkus-reviews-being-acquired.html |title=Kirkus Reviews being acquired |work=Publishers Weekly |date=August 23, 1993 |access-date=November 12, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130521224028/http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-13249757/kirkus-reviews-being-acquired.html |archive-date=May 21, 2013 }}</ref> [[Billboard (magazine)|BPI Communications]], owned by Dutch publisher [[Nielsen Company|VNU]], bought ''Kirkus'' from LeBreton in 1999.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA156022.html |title=Kirkus Reviews Acquired By Publisher of Billboard |website=Libraryjournal.com |date=August 2, 1999 |access-date=November 12, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/2013.01.27-18554220130127185542/http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA156022.html |archive-date=January 27, 2013 }}</ref> At the end of 2009, the company announced the end of operations for ''Kirkus''.<ref name=NYT_Rich1/>
The journal was purchased from VNU (by then renamed [[The Nielsen Company]], or Nielson N.V.) on February 10, 2010, by businessman [[Herbert Simon (real estate)|Herbert Simon]]. Terms were not disclosed. ItThe company was thereafter renamed ''Kirkus Media'', and book industry veteran Marc Winkelman was made publisher.<ref>{{cite news |last=Rich |first=Motoko |date=February 10, 2010 |url=http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/10/kirkus-gets-a-new-owner-from-the-nba/?scp=1&sq=kirkus&st=cse |title=Kirkus Gets a New Owner – From the N.B.A. |newspaper=[[The New York Times ]]|access-date=March 22, 2012}}</ref>
== Reviewing ==
== Kirkus Prize ==
{{main|Kirkus Prize}}
In 2014, ''Kirkus Reviews'' started the [[Kirkus Prize]], bestowing $50,000 prizes annually to authors of fiction, nonfiction, and young readers’readers' literature.<ref>{{cite web|author=Colin Dwyer |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2014/09/30/352696150/book-news-first-ever-kirkus-prize-picks-18-finalists |title=First-Ever Kirkus Prize Picks 18 Finalists : The Two-Way |publisher=[[NPR]] |date=September 30, 2014 |access-date=November 23, 2015}}</ref>
===Winners===
{| class="wikitable" width=95%
! Year
! Award
! Title
! Author
! Publisher
|-
|rowspan=3 | 2014<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bustle.com/articles/46422-2014-kirkus-prize-winners-circle-is-a-victory-for-women-writers-and-readers|title=Women Take Home All Three 2014 Kirkus Prizes|last=White|first=Caitlin|work=Bustle|access-date=September 26, 2018|language=en}}</ref>|| Fiction || ''Euphoria'' ||[[Lily King]] ||[[Grove Atlantic|Atlantic Monthly]]
|-
| Nonfiction || ''[[Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant?]]'' ||[[Roz Chast]] || Bloomsbury
|-
| Young Readers || ''Aviary Wonders Inc.: Spring Catalog and Instruction Manual'' ||[[Kate Samworth]] ||[[Clarion Books]]
|-
|rowspan=3 |2015<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/prize/2015/finalists/|title=2015 Finalists {{!}} Kirkus Reviews|website=Kirkus Reviews|language=en-us|access-date=September 26, 2018}}</ref>|| Fiction || ''[[A Little Life]]'' ||[[Hanya Yanagihara]] ||[[Pan Macmillan]]
|-
| Nonfiction ||''[[Between the World and Me|Between the World and Me: Notes on the First 150 Years in America]]'' ||[[Ta-Nehisi Coates]] ||[[Random House]]
|-
| Young Readers || ''Echo'' ||[[Pam Muñoz Ryan]] ||[[Scholastic Press]]
|-
|rowspan=3 |2016<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bookweb.org/news/2016-kirkus-prize-winners-announced-34910|title=2016 Kirkus Prize Winners Announced|date=November 3, 2016|work=the American Booksellers Association|access-date=September 26, 2018}}</ref>|| Fiction || ''[[The Sport of Kings (novel)|The Sport of Kings]]'' ||[[C. E. Morgan|C.E. Morgan]] ||[[Farrar, Straus and Giroux|Farrar Straus & Giroux]]
|-
| Nonfiction || ''[[In the Darkroom]]'' ||[[Susan Faludi]] ||[[HarperCollins]]
|-
| Young Readers || ''As Brave as You'' ||[[Jason Reynolds]] ||[[Atheneum Press|Atheneum]]
|-
|rowspan=3 |2017<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/the-winners-of-the-2017-kirkus-prize_us_5a020eb3e4b0230facb840c7|title=The Winners Of The 2017 Kirkus Prize|last=Reviews|first=Kirkus|date=November 7, 2017|website=Huffington Post|language=en-US|access-date=September 26, 2018}}</ref>|| Fiction || ''What It Means When A Man Falls From The Sky'' ||[[Lesley Nneka Arimah]] ||[[Farafina Books]]
|-
| Nonfiction || ''The Gulf: The Making of an American Sea'' ||[[Jack E. Davis]] || Norton
|-
| Young Readers || ''The Marrow Thieves'' ||[[Cherie Dimaline]] || [[Dancing Cat Books]]
|-
|rowspan=3 | 2018<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/prize/2018/finalists/|title=2018 Finalists {{!}} Kirkus Reviews|website=Kirkus Reviews|language=en-us|access-date=October 30, 2018}}</ref> || Fiction || ''Severance'' || [[Ling Ma]] || [[Farrar, Straus and Giroux|Farrar Straus & Giroux]]
|-
| Nonfiction || ''Call Them By Their True Names: American Crises'' || [[Rebecca Solnit]] || [[Haymarket Books]]
|-
| Young Readers || ''[[Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut]]'' || [[Derrick Barnes (author)|Derrick Barnes]], illustrated by Gordon C. James || Bolden/Agate
|-
| rowspan="3" |2019<ref>{{Cite web|title=Kirkus Prize: 2019 Winners|url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/prize/2019/|access-date=September 20, 2020|website=Kirkus Reviews|language=en}}</ref>
|Fiction
|''[[The Nickel Boys]]''
|[[Colson Whitehead]]
|Doubleday
|-
|Nonfiction
|''[[How We Fight for Our Lives|How We Fight For Our Lives]]''
|[[Saeed Jones]]
|Simon & Schuster
|-
|Young Readers
|''[[New Kid]]''
|[[Jerry Craft]] and Jim Callahan
|HarperCollins
|-
| rowspan="3" |2020<ref>{{Cite web|title=Winners of the 2020 Kirkus Prize Announced|url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/news-and-features/articles/winners-of-the-2020-kirkus-prize-announced/|access-date=November 10, 2020|website=Kirkus Reviews|language=en}}</ref>
|Fiction
|''[[Luster (novel)|Luster]]''
|[[Raven Leilani]]
|Farrar, Straus and Giroux
|-
|Nonfiction
|''Stakes Is High: Life After the American Dream''
|[[Mychal Denzel Smith]]
|Bold Type Books
|-
|Young Readers
|''I Am Every Good Thing.''
|[[Derrick Barnes (author)|Derrick Barnes]], illustrated by Gordon C. James
|Nancy Paulsen Books
|-
| rowspan="3" |2021<ref>{{Cite web|title=Winners of the 2021 Kirkus Prize Announced|url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/prize/2021/|access-date=January 25, 2022|website=Kirkus Reviews|language=en}}</ref>
|Fiction
|''[[Harrow (novel)|Harrow]]''
|[[Joy Williams (American writer)|Joy Williams]]
|[[Alfred A. Knopf]]
|-
|Nonfiction
|''Punch Me Up to the Gods: A Memoir''
|Brian Broome
|Mariner Books
|-
|Young Readers
|''[[All Thirteen|All Thirteen: The Incredible Cave Rescue of the Thai Boys' Soccer Team]]''
|[[Christina Soontornvat]]
|[[Candlewick Press]]
|}
== References ==
== External links ==
* {{Official website|http://www.kirkusreviews.com/}}
*{{Commons-inline}}
* [https://issuu.com/kirkus-reviews Online archive] at [[Issuu]] (February 1, 2011 – present)
* {{LCAuth|n85160215|Kirkus Service|4|}}
* {{LCAuth|nr94005545|Virginia Kirkus|7|}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kirkus Reviews}}
[[Category:Book review magazines]]
[[Category:Magazines established in 1933]]
[[Category:English-language magazines]]
[[Category:Magazines published in New York City]]
[[Category:Journalists from Pennsylvania]]
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