National Book Awards Finalists Announced...

The National Book Foundation recently announced this year's finalists for the National Book Awards. Here is the five titles up for the Young People's Literature award chosen from among 274 nominees:

Laurie Halse Anderson, Chains (Simon & Schuster)
Kathi Appelt, The Underneath (Atheneum)
Judy Blundell, What I Saw and How I Lied (Scholastic)
E. Lockhart, The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks (Hyperion)
Tim Tharp, The Spectacular Now (Alfred A. Knopf)


The judges for young lit include Daniel Handler (chair), Holly Black, Angela Johnson, Carolyn Mackler and Cynthia Voigt. (And yikes--I haven't read any of these yet--I better get on the stick. I like to make predictions)

Follow this link to see the nominees in all categories. And note the covers of the fiction and nonfiction titles. Is it just me or are they collectively dark and depressing looking? They all look like a terribly dreary day. And the titles of the nonfiction picks make me feel like curling up in the fetal position under my covers and not leaving bed for a few days.