(I hate it when I read books faster than the library can send me new ones. I've spent this week feeding my inner-geek by reading Twist of Faith, the Star Trek: Deep Space 9 omnibus of the first four re-launch novels. Technically I've read three and a half books this week...but they're all in that one omnibus so I feel like it's taking ages to finish the book! So instead of a new review today, check out some of the awards coming out this year)
With the end of the year rapidly approaching, lots of award lists are going up, either announcing the best of the year or listing the finalists before the actual best-of lists happen.
Here are links to some of the awards I follow most closely - I might even make some additional posts where I link to my reviews of the nominees/winners to keep track of everything around here!
Best Books for Young Adults This is the award list that put me on my current reading path, so now I draw most of my reading from the nominations list and look forward to what makes the final list! It seems to me that this year has a preponderance of stories dealing with the death of a family member - haven't had a chance to do any real analysis, but it sure FEELS like every other nominee includes a death in the annotation. Is it just me?
Amelia Bloomer Project I LOVE THIS LIST. Any and all feminist-themed titles end up here (or so it seems). Categories range from children's picture books through young adults, so you can find feminist-friendly titles for children of any age.
William C. Morris Debut Award This is an actual award, rather than a list like the first two awards. Goes to the "a previously unpublished author, or authors, who have made a strong literary debut in writing for young adult readers."
National Book Award this one's already been given out (Claudette Colvin: Twice Towards Justice won for young people's literature) but it still deserves a highlight. The National Book Award is a prestigious prize, but at the same time one shrouded in secrecy: the guidelines for the award aren't as clear as others, which leads to a book like Stitches, considered by many to be an adult title, to receive a nomination in young people's literature.
YALSA award for excellence in non-fiction for young adults New award starting this year! The name kind of explains it all. This has been a great year for non-fiction in YA, so it'll be interesting to see what takes home the prize!
