National Book Awards Finalists

One of my obsessions that has developed in the past few years is reading every one of the National Book Award Nominations for Young People’s Literature before the Award is announced.

Those who are unfamiliar with the NBA can check out their website.

Very briefly: judges who are authors select a shortlist of finalists, announced in October; the winner is announced at the gala in November. This year’s Young People’s Literature Judges: Susan Cooper, Daniel Ehrenhaft, Judith Ortiz Cofer, Gary D. Schmidt, Marly Youmans

This year’s Finalists (information from the NBA website):

William Alexander, Goblin Secrets (Margaret K. McElderry Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing)

Carrie Arcos, Out of Reach (Simon Pulse, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing)

Patricia McCormick, Never Fall Down (Balzer+Bray, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers)

Eliot Schrefer, Endangered (Scholastic)

Steve Sheinkin, Bomb: The Race to Build—and Steal—the World’s Most Dangerous Weapon (Flash Point, an imprint of Roaring Brook Press)

Notice anything? Yep, I haven’t read any of them yet!

When is the winner announced? Wednesday, November 14, 2012

So, if I’m going to be tracking down copies of the books, reading them, and reviewing them by then, I better get busy!

If you’re looking for either motivation to read the books, or a bit of an extra having read them, check out SLJ Speaks to National Book Award Finalists.

How many of the books have you read? Do you plan on reading them all before the winner is announced? What do you think of this year’s finalists?

Filed under: Reviews