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So how about that NBA longlist?
6 YA, 2 nebulous, and only 2 middle grade.
7 of the recognized titles already on our own initial list.
I’m pretty happy with this NBA longlist, I must say!
I’m also pleased to see the 60/40 split in favor of female authors for a nice change of pace. It’s still way whiter in terms of authors than it could be, but 20% not-white authors is better than average for recognition in awards* so that’s something?
*I need someone with real number crunching patience to chime in if I’m wrong. I’d like to be wrong on this one, and maybe last year’s Printz is the start of a larger trend of general diversity in terms of who and what is recognized, but looked at over time, I suspect the tendency has probably been white and male.
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I am also, selfishly, pleased that a few personal favorites made the list: Walk on Earth a Stranger, Bone Gap, and Simon Vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda were all high on my list of books I genuinely enjoyed, although I’m not sure Simon runs as deep as, say, Bone Gap. Most of the others I haven’t read yet, although I plan to — even the nonfiction.
Shortlist predictions? I’m going with Symphony for the City of the Dead, X, Challenger Deep, Bone Gap, and The Thing About Jellyfish, which has a stunning cover. What say you all? And — because it always makes for a good conversation — what’s not here that you wish was?
(For more about the National Book Awards, including all the fine print and also all the other categories, visit nationalbook.org)
Filed under: Books to look for
About Karyn Silverman
Karyn Silverman is the High School Librarian and Educational Technology Department Chair at LREI, Little Red School House & Elisabeth Irwin High School (say that ten times fast!). Karyn has served on YALSA’s Quick Picks and Best Books committees and was a member of the 2009 Printz committee. She has reviewed for Kirkus and School Library Journal. She has a lot of opinions about almost everything, as long as all the things are books. Said opinions do not reflect the attitudes or opinions of SLJ, LREI, YALSA or any other institutions with which she is affiliated. Find her on Twitter @InfoWitch or e-mail her at karynsilverman at gmail dot com.
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