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.
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
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.
Refresh, refresh, refresh…
Filed under: News
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.
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
SLJ Blog Network
31 Days, 31 Lists: 2023 Math Books for Kids
Science Comics: Frogs | Review
November 2023 Election Hot Take: It was a good night for libraries, a bad night for censorship
ADVERTISEMENT
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)