Changes Afoot at the National Book Awards
The National Book Awards are a wholly different award animal than, say, the Newbery Medal. Whereas the Newbery is selected by a 15 person panel of librarians, the Young People’s Literature category of the National Book Awards is decided by a small group of five authors. It’s always interesting to see which books come out on top from these disparate groups. *Update* As Monica from Educating Alice points out in the comments below, this year the NBA judges won’t be limited to authors, but other experts as well.
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This year, for the first time ever, the NBAs will announce a 10 title longlist in advance of the shortlist of five finalists (announced Oct. 16). The longlists will be announced on The Daily Beast beginning Monday. The category you and I are interested in, Young People’s Literature, is up first. September 16 at 9 a.m. EST – see you there.
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About Travis Jonker
Travis Jonker is an elementary school librarian in Michigan. He writes reviews (and the occasional article or two) for School Library Journal and is a member of the 2014 Caldecott committee. You can email Travis at scopenotes@gmail.com, or follow him on Twitter: @100scopenotes.
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In addition to the new longlists the judge panels , “….will no longer be limited to writers, but now may also include other experts in the field including literary critics, librarians, and booksellers.”* This year’s Young People’s Literature panel consists of three writers (Deb Caletti, Cecil Castellucci, and E. Lockhart), a librarian (Lisa Von Drasek), and a bookseller ( Peter Glassman).
*http://www.nationalbook.org/2013_01_15_nba_changes.html#.UjQqkWSc4fk
Thanks, Monica – I didn’t notice that change, so thanks for mentioning it!
Also, there is another BIG difference between the NBA and the ALSC awards: the publishers submit and pay an entry fee ($125 each) for a book of theirs to be considered for the NBA. (http://www.nationalbook.org/nbaentry.html#.UjWAWGSc4fk)