My Head Is Full of Books: 2015 YA Nonfiction Finalists Announced December 18th...and I missed it.

"Outside a dog a book is man's best friend, inside a dog it is too dark to read!" -Groucho Marx========="The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid." -Jane Austen========="I don’t believe in the kind of magic in my books. But I do believe something very magical can happen when you read a good book."-JK Rowling========"I spend a lot of time reading." -Bill Gates=========“Ahhh. Bed, book, kitten, sandwich. All one needed in life, really.” -Jacqueline Kelly=========

Tuesday, January 6, 2015

2015 YA Nonfiction Finalists Announced December 18th...and I missed it.

I went on Winter Holiday December 19th and returned to work yesterday. In the meantime life went on for the rest of the world. I just wasn't paying attention, preferring to spend my time frivolously making cookies and shopping. Now that I'm back it is shocking to learn how much I missed. For example, YALSA announced the finalists for the 2015 Nonfiction Book Award. It has been a very strong year for nonfiction so these books must be spectacular to have risen to the top of the pile.

The 2015 YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction finalists are:

“Laughing at My Nightmare” written by Shane Burcaw, and published by Roaring Brook Press, an imprint of Macmillan’s Children’s Publishing Group;
“The Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion & the Fall of Imperial Russia” written by Candace Fleming, and published by Schwartz & Wade, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books;
“Ida M. Tarbell: The Woman Who Challenged Big Business—and Won!” written by Emily Arnold McCully, and Published by Clarion Books, an imprint of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books for Young Readers.
“The Port Chicago 50: Disaster, Mutiny, and the Fight for Civil Rights” written by Steve Sheinkin, and published by Roaring Brook Press, an imprint of Macmillan’ Children’s Publishing Group;
“Popular: Vintage Wisdom for a Modern Geek” written by Maya Van Wagenen, and published by Dutton, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers Group.

The winner will be announced at the American Library Association's Midwinter meeting on Feb. 2nd.

I have read The Family Romanov and The Port Chicago 50, both are very good. I hope, between those two, that Romanov wins because it is clearly written for a bit older audience. I am so tired of all the good nonfiction written for youth being directed toward middle grade students. High school students deserve quality nonfiction, too! I haven't read the other three books but want to pick up Laughing at My Nightmare, a decision based solely on the cover.

Have you read any of these nonfiction books? What are your thoughts about nonfiction and teens?