Colorlines: On January 27, the American Library Association awarded “Heavy: An American Memoir”, a story by Kiese Laymon about growing up in Mississippi, with its Andrew Carnegie Medal of Excellence in Nonfiction. On Twitter, the professor and author announced that he would donate $5,000 to youth in his state. Kiese Laymon’s tweet can be found here. The ALA stated in a news release that the awards (Rebecca Makka was the winner of the fiction award) are meant to guide adults in choosing quality reading.