National Book Award Nominees: Young People's Lit

The week of literary prizes rolls on. Today the finalists for the 2006 National Book Awards were announced. I'll let you click over to the National Book Foundation for all the scoop on the adult books, but here are the nominees in the Young People's Literature category.

M.T.Anderson, The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Vol. 1: The Pox Party (Candlewick Press)
Martine Leavitt, Keturah and Lord  Death (Front Street Books/Boyds Mills Press)
Patricia McCormick, Sold  (Hyperion Books for Children)
Nancy Werlin, The Rules of Survival  (Dial/Penguin)
Gene Luen Yang, American Born Chinese (First Second/Roaring Brook Press/Holtzbrinck)    

Comments

[Pooja]

I am hoping American Born Chinese takes it!

And I just posted the following on Fuse #8, but thought I might post it here as well...

I *just* finished SOLD yesterday and thought it was an important novel. The writing was beautiful and near perfect in parts, although the ending was unsatisfying.

An unsigned review for Children's Literature had the following to say: "...The book brings the reader to an understanding that is certainly deeper than the superficiality of Gloria Whelan's comparable Homeless Bird, which also addresses a social issue of the subcontinent, the plight of child widows... The narrator's voice wavers during descriptions of customs and festivals, context descriptions that convey the particular fascinations of a visitor rather than the familiarity of one speaking from within... The ultimate resolution of Lakshmi's escape being made possible by Americans feels disappointing. It seems to run counter to the heartfelt tale in the afterword about Nepali women, some of them survivors of brothel life, working to fight this sinister trade. Still, this is a story of courage, which is precisely what it takes to plant one's literary work in unfamiliar soil."

I could have written that review (I didn't); I feel EXACTLY the same way.

[Susan]

Clearly I have some catching up to do. I've not read any of the nominees. Hmmm, could be a future post in there...