The 2011 National Book Award Finalists have been announced for this year, and we are fans of all of them. In case you hadn’t heard them yet, they were:
Chime
Briony often flees to the swamp to hide from her family and her guilt. After all, she is a witch, and everyone knows that witches deserve to be punished with death. Then, she meets Eldric, and she begins to doubt the truths of her world.
My Name Is Not Easy
Luke and his brothers are sent hundreds of miles away from their traditional Arctic village to a boarding school where any language other than English is forbidden. As the different children’s stories come together, they learn more about one another than they would have expected.
Inside Out & Back Again
After Saigon falls during the Vietnam War, HA and her family are forced to flee aboard a ship headed to Alabama. There she encounters an entirely different world that requires a lot of adjustment.
Flesh & Blood So Cheap
In 1911, one of the worst industrial accidents in history left 146 people dead after the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory caught fire and the locked in workers were unable to escape the flames.
Shine
Cat refuses to let her town’s secret hatreds lie after her best friend becomes the victim of a vicious hate-crime. Despite the lack of support and direct threats by some in the town, Cat is determined to learn the truth.
Okay For Now
Doug is stuck in a new town with no friends, a horrible older brother, and a new reputation as a “skinny-thug.” It’s not until he finds his new friend, Lil, and the local library that his life can finally be himself.
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