A Slip of the Lip

The National Book Award finalists were announced yesterday (I told you it was award season). But for the first time in 62 years, there will be 21 nominees instead of 20.

In a live broadcast, the announcer said that the book Shine by Laura Myracle would be a nominee in the Young People's Literature category. However, the book that was supposed to be announced was Chime by Franny Billingsley. Oops.
In a classy move by the the National Book Foundation, however, both books are going to included as finalists in that category. Good choice.
There are some terrific books in each of the four categories, but there is no way I'll be able to read them all before the Nov. 16 awards dinner in New York. At the very least, I'm going to get Radioactive by Lauren Redniss. It's the story of Marie and Pierre Curie (and yes, Aana, you will get a copy).
Here is the full list of nominees in case you want to read them all in the next month:

Fiction
The Sojourn, by Andrew Krivak
The Tiger's Wife, by Tea Obreht
The Buddha in the Attic, by Julie Otsuka
Binocular Vision, by Edith Pearlman
Salvage the Bones, by Jesmyn Ward

Non-Fiction
The Convert: A Tale of Exile and Extremism, by Deborah Baker
Love and Capital: Karl and Jenny Marx and the Birth of a Revolution, by Mary Gabriel
The Swerve: How the World Became Modern, by Stephen Greenblatt
Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention, by Manning Marable
Radioactive: Marie & Pierre Curie, by Lauren Redniss

Poetry
Head Off & Split, Nikky Finney
The Chameleon Couch, Yusef Komunyakaa
Double Shadow, by Carl Phillips
Tonight No Poetry Will Serve, by Adrienne Rich
Devotions, by Bruce Smith

Young People's Literature
Chime, by Franny Billingsley
My Name Is Not Easy, by Debby Dahl Edwardson
Inside Out and Back Again, by Thanhha Lai
Flesh and Blood So Cheap, by Albert Marrin
Shine, by Lauren Myracle
Okay for Now, by Gary D. Schmidt