The winners of the 2002 National Book Awards were announced on November 20, 2002, at a ceremony at the New York Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City. Awarded annually since 1950, The National Book Awards are given in the genres of fiction, nonfiction, poetry and young people's literature.

This year's winners by category were:

• FICTION:
  Julia Glass, Three Junes (Pantheon Books) -- a Book Sense 76 pick
• NONFICTION:
  Robert A. Caro, Master of the Senate: The Years of Lyndon Johnson (Alfred A. Knopf)
• POETRY:
  Ruth Stone, In the Next Galaxy (Copper Canyon Press)
• YOUNG PEOPLE'S LITERATURE:
  Nancy Farmer, The House of the Scorpion (A Richard Jackson Book/Atheneum Books for Young Readers) -- a Winter 2002-2003 Children's Book Sense 76 Top Ten Pick