On October 15th the announcements for the National Book Award Finalists were made. The "Young People's Literature" category was added back in 1996, and there have been interesting choices and winners ever since. The winners will be announced on November 19th. Think I can read any of these before then?
This year's finalists are:
Chains (Laurie Halse Anderson) I have an ARC waiting on my coffee table, and I love Anderson's work.
The Underneath (Kathi Appelt) Got it from the library but couldn't bring my self to read it, I'm not a big anthropormorphism fan AT ALL (usually hate 'em, actually), so even though this is slated to win numerous awards ths year, I'll be a reluctant reader.
WINNER! What I Saw and How I Lied (Judy Blundell) This is a WWII historical fiction - and Judy Bludell is writing 39 Clues Book #4! Know nothing about her yet, though...and the book won't be published until November 1st!
The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks (E. Lockhart) I've read three Lockhart's in the last month, but not this one, darn. At least the library has it.
The Spectacular Now (Tim Tharp) Male protagonist. Sounds really interesting, maybe even Stargirlish? Another not-yet-published book, this one we have to wait until Novemer 11th to buy. The library will take FOREVER!
The judges are: Daniel Handler (Lemony Snicket!), chair, Holly Black, Angela Johnson, Carolyn Mackler, and Cynthia Voigt.
And, just because I WANT to be an adult and read adult books (but never have the time), I'll include the five fiction finalists for the National Book Award:
The Lazarus Project (Aleksandar Hemon)
Telex from Cuba (Rachel Kushner)
Shadow Country (Peter Matthiessen)
WINNER!Home (Marilyn Robinson)
The End (Salvatore Scibona)
The National Book Award Winners will be announced on November 18th. You can check the titles out at their website, but I'll detail the kid's nominations here:
