NEWS: National Book Awards Finalists Announced

The 20 finalists for the National Book Awards were announced yesterday in Portland's Literary Arts Center. Later, an additional nominee—Chime by Franny Billingsley—was added to the Young People's Literature category. Winners will be announced on Wednesday, November 16. The finalists are:

FICTION

Andrew Krivak (The Sojourn), Tea Obreht (The Tiger’s Wife), Julie Otsuka (The Buddha in the Attic), Edith Pearlman (Binocular Vision: New & Selected Stories), Jesmyn Ward (Salvage the Bones).


NONFICTION

Deborah Baker (The Convert: A Tale of Exile and Extremism), Mary Gabriel (Love and Capital: Karl and Jenny Marx and the Birth of a Revolution), Stephen Greenblatt (The Swerve: How the World Became Modern), Manning Marable (Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention), Lauren Redniss (Radioactive: Marie & Pierre Curie: A Tale of Love and Fallout)


POETRY

Nikky Finney (Head Off & Split), Yusef Komunyakaa (The Chameleon Couch), Carl Phillips (Double Shadow), Adrienne Rich (Tonight No Poetry Will Serve), Bruce Smith (Devotions)


YOUNG PEOPLE'S LITERATURE

Franny Billingsley (Chime), Debbie Dahl Edwardson (My Name Is Not Easy), Thanhha Lai (Inside Out and Back Again), Albert Marrin (Flesh and Blood So Cheap), Lauren Myracle (Shine), Gary D. Schmidt (Okay for Now)










So what do you think? Are there any glaring omissions or surprises? Personally, I am very surprised by Chime's nomination (though I have to admit I haven't read it yet!). In fact I haven't read any of the nominees, though there are several—The Tiger's Wife, Salvage the Bones, Radioactive, Inside Out & Back Again, Shine, and Okay for Now—that I've been looking forward to.

Have you read any of the nominees? Which titles do you want to read? For further details on the finalists and book summaries, check out the official site of the National Book Foundation.


**NOTE: The Library currently owns many of these titles; others are on order.