National Jewish Book Awards Announced

The Jewish Book Council has revealed the winners of the 59th Annual National Jewish Book Awards. Joseph Kertes was awarded the JJ Greenberg Memorial Award for Fiction for his novel, Gratitude. The Poetry Award went to Alicia Suskin Ostriker for The Book of Seventy. Author Kim Ablon Whitney was awarded the Children's and Young Adult Literature Award for her book, The Other Half of Life: A Novel Based on the True Story of the MS St. Louis.

For the full list of winners, click here.

Carmen Tafolla Wins Charlotte Zolotow Award

Author Carmen Tafolla has been named this year's winner of the Charlotte Zolotow Award for outstanding writing in a picture book for What Can You Do with a Paleta? (illustrated by Magaly Morales).

The award, given by the Cooperative Children's Book Center, also named three honor books: Birds, written by Kevin Henkes and illustrated by Laura Dronzek, Pouch! by David Ezra Stein, and Princess Hyacinth: The Surprising Tale of a Girl Who Floated, written by Florence Parry Heide and illustrated by Lane Smith.

The Charlotte Zolotow Award was established in 1998, to honor the work of Charlotte Zolotow, a children's book editor for 38 years and the author of more than 70 picture books.

The Storm in the Barn Wins 2010 Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction

Our congratulations go out to author Matt Phelan. His book, The Storm in the Barn, has been named winner of the 2010 Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction. It is the first time a graphic novel has won the annual award, which was established by historical fiction writer Scott O’Dell in 1982. The award is given to a distinguished work of historical fiction written for young people.

National Book Award Finalists Announced

The National Book Foundation has revealed the finalists for the 2009 National Book Awards, and (drum-roll please) the nominees are...

Genre: Fiction

Bonnie Jo Campbell, American Salvage
Colum McCann, Let the Great World Spin
Daniyal Mueenuddin, In Other Rooms, Other Wonders
Jayne Anne Phillips, Lark and Termite
Marcel Theroux, Far North

Genre: Nonfiction

David M. Carroll, Following the Water: A Hydromancer's Notebook
Sean B. Carroll, Remarkable Creatures: Epic Adventures in the Search for the Origins of Species
Greg Grandin, Fordlandia: The Rise and Fall of Henry Ford's
Forgotten Jungle City
Adrienne Mayor, The Poison King: The Life and Legend of Mithradates, Rome's Deadliest Enemy
T. J. Stiles, The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt

Genre: Poetry

Rae Armantrout, Versed
Ann Lauterbach, Or to Begin Again
Carl Phillips, Speak Low
Lyrae Van Clief-Stefanon, Open Interval
Keith Waldrop, Transcendental Studies: A Trilogy

Genre: Young People's Literature

Deborah Heiligman, Charles and Emma: The Darwins’ Leap of Faith
Phillip Hoose, Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice
David Small, Stitches
Laini Taylor, Lips Touch: Three Times
Rita Williams-Garcia, Jumped

Winners will be announced November 18th at the National Book
Foundation’s 60th anniversary celebration in New York City.

For more information, click here