The finalists for the 2011 National Book Award in Young People's Literature were announced on Wednesday. The nominees are: Franny Billingsley, Chime, edited by Kathy Dawson (Dial), Debby Dahl Edwardson, My Name Is Not Easy, edited by Melanie Kroupa (Marshall Cavendish); Thanhha Lai, Inside Out and Back Again, edited by Tara Weikum (Harper); Albert Marrin, Flesh & Blood So Cheap: The Triangle Fire and Its Legacy, edited by Michelle Frey (Knopf); Lauren Myracle, Shine, edited by Susan Van Metre (Abrams/Amulet); and Gary D. Schmidt, Okay for Now, edited by Virginia Buckley (Clarion).
This year’s judges are Marc Aronson (chair), Ann Brashares, Matt de la Peña, Nikki Grimes, and Will Weaver. The finalists were announced on Oregon Public Broadcasting, in front of a live audience. Originally five nominees were announced by former NBA Medalist Virginia Euwer Wolff; a sixth title, Chime, was added a few hours later, after National Book Foundation executive director Harold Augebraum admitted there had been a “miscommunication.”
The winner will be announced on November 16 at the National Book Awards ceremony in New York City, which will be hosted by John Lithgow.
