2007 National Book Awards in Young People’s Literature Finalists
Categories: In the News , Award Winners , Children's Books
The finalists for the 2007 National Book Awards in Young People’s Literature have been announced. What a great slate of candidates, including some of my absolute favorites for the year so far!
In his first book written for teens, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, bestselling author Sherman Alexie tells the story of Junior, a budding cartoonist growing up on the Spokane Indian Reservation. Soon after the start of his freshman year, Junior leaves the troubled school on the reservation, boldly transferring to a school in a tiny town 22 miles away, where the only other Indian is the school mascot. It is a funny and poignant look at one adolescent’s attempt to break away and make his own future.
Using a challenging dual-narrative format, Kathleen Duey tells a complex story in Skin Hunger: A Resurrection of Magic, Book One. Sadima is born into a world where magic has all but disappeared. Yet, she has always been able to understand animals and communicate with animals. In her brother's eyes, that makes her crazy. She’s terrified to tell her father. When a young man named Franklin appears, he not only understands her, but also offers her the guidance of a burgeoning scholar, Somiss, who is working to resurrect real magic in the world. In the parallel narrative, Hahp's father has decided to rid himself of his second son by shipping him off to be trained as a magician. Not much is known about the wizard school, except that it is hidden deep within a maze of caves and few who enter its doors ever graduate...or live. As Hahp begins lessons with the kind-hearted, ancient Franklin and terrifying, white-haired Somiss, he is forced to examine his humanity, his motives, and, surprisingly, his remarkable talent. Separated by generations, some painful connections between the two narratives emerge, though key details-and the fates of Sadima and Hahp-wait for the sequel.
"The best way to avoid being picked on by high school bullies is to kill someone." So begins M. Sindy Felin’s first novel Touching Snow. Karina is the middle child of a Haitian-American immigrant family who has moved to upstate New York. On the surface, they are living the American dream: hardworking, upwardly mobile, with grand aspirations for the next generation. However, behind closed doors, Karina's abusive stepfather Gaston terrorizes her and her siblings. She lives a life of abuse and neglect. When her stepfather is only temporarily removed from their home as a result of the violence, Karina realizes the problems her family tried to escape by immigrating from Haiti simply followed them to upstate New York. If anything is going to change for her family, it is going to be up to Karina and her sisters to make it happen. It’s a chilling story of revenge for mature teen or adult readers.
Joan discussed Brian Selznick’s The Invention of Hugo Cabret back in April. I found it to be as wonderful as she described. The book also boasts a great website.
Deanna was 13 when her father caught her and 17-year-old Tommy having sex. Three years later, she is still struggling with the repercussions: how Tommy jokingly made her into the school slut; how the story became legend in her small town; how her father looked at her then--and now doesn't look at her at all, how her mother seems a numb version of her former self. Sara Zarr’s Story of a Girl explores how a single event can define a person as Deanna faces the emotional struggle to put her life back together.
