National Book Award Shortlist

The National Book Award organization has culled down their lists in preparation for November 15th when the winners will be announced.

YOUNG PEOPLE'S LITERATURE

FINALISTS:

• Kate DiCamillo, Raymie Nightingale (Candlewick Press)
• John Lewis, Andrew Aydin & Nate Powell (Artist), March: Book Three (Top Shelf Productions / IDW Publishing)
• Grace Lin, When the Sea Turned to Silver (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers)
• Jason Reynolds, Ghost (Atheneum Books for Young Readers/Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing)
• Nicola Yoon, The Sun Is Also a Star (Delacorte Press/Penguin Random House)

LONGLIST:

• Kwame Alexander, Booked (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
• Anna-Marie McLemore, When the Moon Was Ours (Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin’s Press)
• Meg Medina, Burn Baby Burn (Candlewick Press)
• Sara Pennypacker & Jon Klassen (Illustrator), Pax (Balzer & Bray/HarperCollins)
• Caren Stelson, Sachiko: A Nagasaki Bomb Survivor’s Story (Carolrhoda Books/Lerner Publishing Group)

Unbelievably for me I have only read one of the books on the lists, Burn Baby Burn.  Many of the books are aimed at a younger population of readers or middle grade readers. Of all  the books on the list I really want to read March Three, the third book in a series about the life of John Lewis, a Civil Rights activist and American hero. There is usually very little crossover with National Book Award and the Printz Award so I am not too worried that I am missing some book I should be thinking about for the Printz. We'll see. Watch this space on November 15th for the announcement of the winner. As soon as I know something I will announce it.