National Book Awards

Posted on by scott

You guys may remember that last year I was a judge for the National Book Awards. Sherman Alexie’s excellent Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian won, and you should still check it out, and the rest of that year’s nominees too.

But we have a new crop for 2008, just announced this morning, and here they are:

Of these, I’ve only read The Disreputable History of Frankie-Landau Banks, which is totally and completely amazing. By E. Lockhart, it’s about a girl at a posh boarding school who infiltrates a secret boy’s-only club, wreaking havoc on their brains. You guys may see similarities between Frankie and the chaos-making heroes of So Yesterday. But it’s less about marketing and advertising, and more about boys vs. girls and rich vs. not-rich.

Emily (which is what the “E.” stands for) also wrote two other books I loved, Fly on the Wall and Dramarama. if you’ve ever been to a summer drama camp, you simply have to read that last one.

I highly recommend Disreputable History, and I’m sure all the other books on the list are awesome too. Our pal Holly Black was among the judges, as was Daniel Handler (aka Lemony Snicket), so you know those were some interesting conversations.

Anyway, here’s what to look for in your friendly neighborhood bookstore or library:

114 thoughts on “National Book Awards”

  4. i have the lockhart book on my desk to read next…i hadn’t heard of a couple of the other nominees, and i try to stay on top of things! lots of good reading to anticipate, i guess, though i’m steering clear of the sad animal story…

  7. Hey here’s a random question that no one probably knows the answer to….

    —
    Are they gonna make a movie? Or is that not gonna happen?
    —

    I can see why it would be hard, with the Pretties and specials and extras… lol but it was be SWEET!

    ♥Hannah-la

  8. hmm…..guess i have more books to add to the never ending long list of books that i wanna read. *sigh* so many books, so little time.

    COMMENT 7!!!!! YAY!!!

    GREEN DAY!!!! <3
    I wish i could tell u,
    But the words would come out wrong.
    God, if u only knew.
    The way i felt for so long.
    Sitting in my room last night,
    Staring at the mirror.
    I couldn’t find a reason why.
    I couldn’t be near her.
    Coz u are the one that started.
    To make me feel this way.
    And every night i’m think,
    About those words u say.
    Coz u are the one that i want.

  10. comment 8!!!! ugh…. i gotta stop saying my comment number coz i never know if anyone else is commenting! ugh…9 kinds of annoying!!

  11. I’ll have to read it! ^^ So excited! So Yesterday is one of my favorite books, so if it’s good enough to be compared to that, than I’ll HAVE to read it! *squeal* I read this REALLY good book, The Last Gaurdian of Magic, by Randall Andrews, and it’s sort of off topic, but REALLY good. ^^ It’s a fantasy book, and really good… Anyone else read it?

  14. HEY!!!! want something to do???? go look at the NAME THIS BOOK comments!!! i posted some more! not as great but still good. and if u haven’t looked at my earlier posts then look at those too!!! u won’t be sorry!!

    Question: Uh…was a title already chosen for that book??? well even if it was go look! it’s fun!

    oh and POSSIBLY comment 13, but with my luck someone already posted soooo…ya.

  19. I hear ya. My Wanna-Read-List gets longer as well. My Need-To-Read list is still there. My sister keeps finding books to read and her reading list is expanding as her amount of money get smaller. *sigh* The Disreputable History looks interesting.

  20. I should read that, but I just got the Uglies Guide today, and yes it was early. Not even out yet, I feel so special lol. Plus I’m reading the first book in the Young James Bond series, and Skinned for my book report. UGH!

  22. i NEED Bogus to Bubbly….also, my english teacher found out that it’s I who’s behind to “Midnighers Craze”….as in, I’m the one who has forced six students at my school to read Midnighters….and we have to moniter what we read for english class…..so yeah…..oh, and I’m also forcing another person to read “So Yesterday”……it’s mega-funny cuz whenever one of my friends goes to talk to the teacher about what they’re reading (cuz we have to give a brief oral summery of the book that we read) the teacher just looks at me then asks them if I had forced them to read it….and they say “No. She forced me to read the first, but I was hooked from there.” It was mega-funny cuz the teacher just stared at me…..lol….

  28. GAH! At the moment my book list is already a mile long and a lightyear out of my budget. At this rate, I don’t think it’ll ever be truely completed.

  29. Umm…I remember the good old days when I used to complain that there were no good books to read. Now I need a new book shelf cuz there are four shelves, and enough books to fill like seven.

  30. OMG I just went on Aly Carter’s (Author) blog and she had the exact same picture of E. Lockhart’s book as scott does, and she loved it to.

  31. My book shelf is holding up…for now. Started having to clear off some other shelves to make room for my favorites. I’ll probably have to go through my old ones to make room soon, or borrow from friends. In a way there ARE no good books to read, in a lot of public/school libraries. That’s why a lot of people on here are broke, lol. Plus, most are in the same genre, which sucks because my English teacher wants us to “read a variety” even though all my “to read list” books are fantasy, scifi, or the occasional realistic fiction.

  32. I know I hate having to read “a variety” cause non fiction is so boring its like “I lived in a little house…in the big woods…and there were trees and chipmunks outside…” SNORE! Seriously don’t we get enough boring in real life? Everyone knows that kinds don’t want boring, they want fantasy and scifi to make them feel better. I don’t think I would survive without the adventure that I can only get from books.

  35. *borededness*

    because real life is boring, of course. the only coolness comes from books, and I agrees with Miranda-la, I coodn’t survive without books

    sorry, i’m in a really weird mood right now

    :mrgreen:
    😥

  37. Hmmm, Scott? It is Sherman Alexie…

    I loved The Disreputable History of Frankie-Landau Banks as well. I booktalked it like crazy in the Spring.

  39. I just finished Little Brother and it was awesome! Reminded me of uglies, esp. this line, on page 135- “…I wondered if it was better to be clear-eyed and hopeless than to live in a fool’s paradise.” Weird…

    I just started So Yesterday!!! I finally got it after like 2 weeks of being on hold for it. I’m on page 71, beginning of ch. 12. I luff it. I’m getting Peeps soon (hopefully… when the book comes into the library =P) and I already have TLD because it came in before Peeps. So I’m ready… I want HTDYF so bad, and Skinned. But I’m broke, and since they’re brand new my mom doesn’t want to buy me one of them because new books are only hardcover, for like $17 each. But they’re down to like $8 for a new one now on Amazon… Sigh. So many books, so little time and money.

    Anyone else think immediately of Miley Cyrus’s song “Fly on the Wall” when they read Scott-la’s post? And no, I don’t give a crap about how much you hate Miley, so don’t even post it in response to this -.-

  43. Emily-wa: i did think of that song!!! 🙂 and i like Miley Cyrus…she’s one of the few disney channel stars that i like and i also like her coz she dated nick jonas *gags* but now she isn’t and she’s totally better off!!! ya… I don’t like nick jonas…AT ALL!!! haha…Miley actually cheated on him…that’s why they broke up…hahaha!!! ya…ok…maybe some sick and mean humour on my part but watever.
    YAY!!!! tomorrow is FRIDAY!!!! WOOHOO!!!! i only had a 3 day week but still it was sooooo long!!!! *sigh*
    CAN’T WAIT FOR BOGUS TO BUBBLY!!!! 4 MORE DAYS!!!!

    GREEN DAY!!!! <3
    Hear the sound of the falling rain!
    Coming down like an Armagedon flame! (Hey!)
    A shame the ones who died without a name!
    Hear the dogs howling out of key!
    To hymn called “faith and misery”! (Hey!)
    And bleed the company lost the war today!
    I beg to dream and differ from the hollow lies.
    This is the dawning of the rest of our lives.
    ON HOLIDAY!!!!

  45. The dachshund on the wax seal has caught my attention.
    At least, the thing that looks like a dachshund.
    -adds to booklist-

  48. hmmm… i’m hungry and it’s like 9:00…uh…probably coz i just read about pie but watever.
    Taylor: i didn’t notice that until u said it!! weird…i usually catch those things.

    ummmm… My question still hasn’t been answered! WAS A TITLE ALREADY CHOSEN FOR THE ANALOGY THAT OTHER AUTHORS ARE DOING ON UGLIES?? oh…uh…sorry for caps lock…i just wanna know coz i’ve been posting a lot of titles for that book (go look if u wanna under July 2008!) soooo…ya…just wanted to know and i think Scott’s the only one who can answer that soo…that’d be cool if he did *cough,cough* (HINT, HINT!!)

  49. I AM AWESOME!!!!!! I already have Bubbly to Bogus. It was at my school book fair! Yay me, and it was dedicated to me, and some other people too. YAY for them. but mostly for me! BE JEALOUS!

  50. oh and scott,

    you must name the anthology thingie, CAKE, an ethical dilemma or else. Please! oh and YAY for
    Frankie.

  52. Andrea-la: uh….i dunno wat “Canadian Identity” is and it doesn’t sound like i want to. huh…must be bad.
    Shaylaluna or Shayla: uh…NO he can’t name it CAKE! coz then all my creative ideas would go to waste for just one simple word!! uh…it won’t make me mad if a title is chosen that’s not mine as long as it’s longer than one word!!

    GREEN DAY!!!! <3
    Ready for a cheap escape
    On the brink of self destruction
    Widespread panic
    Broken glass inside my head
    Bleeding down these thoughts of
    Anguish… mass confusion
    Well the world is a sick machine,
    Breeding a mass of s***
    With such a desolate conclusion.
    Fill a void with i don’t care.

  53. OMG!!!! just realized that it’s an ANTHOLOGY on the Uglies series, NOT ANALOGY uh…all this time i was wrong! the words are so close in spelling and the ends are the same! now i feel dumb! uh… ok so all my comments that have ANALOGY in them, ignore that and pretend that it’s ANTHOLOGY!! uh…CAN’T BELIEVE I DID THAT!!

  55. 1. Take Care of the World and What You Do With It
    2. Radical Circumstances
    3. Nanos of Destruction (there are nanos in every book that cause destruction)
    4. The Next Time We Meet
    5. The Ugly Things About Beauty
    6. Cable Cutters (Dr. Cable’s Cutters. sounds better shorter)
    7. Beautiful Destruction (Pretties turn agains the city and the white orchid killed all the crops but it was still beautiful.)
    8. A Pretty Ugly Circumstance
    9. SUPER (Special, Ugly, Pretty, Extra, Rusties. ugh.. not my best)10. Celtic Swirl (Tally’s flash tatoo. kinda dumb and only obsessive people would get it. like me)
    11. I Had to Hurt You, But I Didn’t Want To (Tally does that to a lot of people. and let’s get this clear Tally is my favorite character but all the titles i think of have to do with her so i’m not dissing her the titles just make sense)
    12. A TYC (Tally Youngblood Circumstance. kinda plays off my name only the last word is different but it still works)
    13. How to Take Whole Cities Down
    14. Bogus, Bubbly, Icy, and Everything in Between.
    15. Double Sided Beauty (dunno if anyone said that. it sounds familiar)
    16. The Art of Betraying Your Friends (Tally does that alot)
    17. What Being Used Feels Like
    18. Beauty=Bubblehead (ok not my greatest idea)
    19. Cut Out Beauty (works with cutting and beauty)
    20. SCARS
    21. Until the Fireworks Burst (wow that felt deep. maybe coz i just read a really deep, sad, and thought provoking book)

    ha! ok…so i was tired of posting my ideas where no one was looking at them (except for a few who are very nice or… who just have time on their hands. THANK U!!) so here are all the ideas i came up with for that ANTHOLOGY book. the ones at the bottom of the list are some of the first ones i came up with and the ones at the top are the most recent. so…ya…if u think i’m being a pain about this SORRY!!! it’s just that i love thinking of titles for anything and i’m never sure if they’re good enough sooo…i just wanted to know.

  56. oh…5 more i forgot about them!! sorry!!!
    1. Smokies: Rebels or Heroes in Disguise?
    2. Keep Challenging the Gods
    3. Sayshal
    4. The True Shape of the World (Andrew Simpson Smith learns that the earth is round. and everything else plays with it)
    5. Beyond the Little Men (sounds familiar…hmmm…i dunno. kinda cool though.)

  58. oh. my. gosh. i. am. so. excited. for. auditioning. for. the. school. musical.

    seriously. my audition is on wenesday. i’m listening to the song right now. it’s easy. but i have to get it PERFECT. do you hear that? PERFECT. As in PERFECT. No mistakes. wow. I’m probably gonna get all obsessive about this…

  59. Hmmm, i like 8, 14, 19, and the second 3. I will stic to my Cake however. Would you like it more if it was Cake, an ethical dilemma. Or

    Cutting The Cake
    CAKE!!!!!

    oh, and i just thought of this…. i dont even like to eat cake.

  60. Oh by the way, Taylor, its not a daschund its a basset hound. (the epicanthic folds aren’t the same) you have to read the book to understand. read the book.

  62. i thought lemony snicket was a penname … and see?

    hey emily-wa i did actually think of miley cyrus’ song fly on the wall …

    i like “the ugly things about beauty”, “a pretty ugly circumstance”, “i had to hurt you but i didnt want to” and “the art of betraying your friends”.

  63. That book looks really good. There are so many books i have to read, i think i need more time. ug… homework takes up to much time. I <3 Tally. I <3 Shay
    <3 Nicole-la

  64. hey, cool!! thanx for looking at my ideas! now i just wanna know if a title was already chosen or not! *sigh*

    CAN’T WAIT FOR BOGUS TO BUBBLY!!!

    GREEN DAY!!! <3
    Boxed up,
    All of her favourite.
    Sold the rest at a rainy yard sale.
    Big plans and leaving friends,
    ANd a westbound sign.
    Weighed out,
    Her choices on a scale.
    Prevailing nothing makes sense.
    Just transportation and a blank decision.
    She’s taking off, taking off.

  67. i have to agree that i love e. lockhart, and dramarama actually got me interested in theater.

    oh and BTW scott,

    I SAW YOU IN THE VLOGBROTHER’S NEW VIDEO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! bahhhahahaha =D

  68. (Sorry, this has ABSOLUTELY nothing to do with the previous conversation)
    Okay, so Da Vinci had a time machine, went to the time of the Pretties, took mesurements while they were sleeping some time and thats how he got the measurements for the perfect human body.
    Yay! Mathclass!

  69. nice. oh wow. my english story is now officially 3 times longer than it’s supposed to be. my english teacher is discribing it as a “bad example” for a short story….she called it my “epic novel”…yeah. My fourteen page epic novel. Nice.

  70. I wrote a short story that was fourteen pages, and my teacher was happy.
    You have a weird teacher. Whats it about?

  71. *breaths deeply before rushing through a really long explaination* Okay, so Ana kills Maria because Maria was kissing Phil and then Phil takes the blame, and goes to jail. Then Ana gets all depressed (cuz Phil is her husband who she loves) and then Jessica (Ana’s sister who she’s living with) loves Phil, so she wants to somehow kill Ana and not get blamed for it, so she tells Ana that Phil is dead, and so Ana kills herself, just as Phil escapes from prison, then Phil sees that Ana is dead, assumes that it is Jessica’s fault, so then he kills Jessica, then realises that he can’t live life without Ana, and so he kills himself *starts hyperventalating cuz that was all in one breath*

  72. my teacher says that it’s too long. probably cuz it’s only supposed to be four pages. and it’s way more than that. and i haven’t finished writing it yet. But it’s still fifteen pages, at the moment. So it’s really too long. Which means that I’m probably gonna hand it in anyways and suffer the consequences of it being too long…which would mean that i’ll lose five marks out of fifty five. Which means that I can still pass.

  73. omg, omg, omg, omg, omg………………………………………….MY FRIEND’S SISTER GOT A BOOK ORDER AND IT HAD BOGUS TO BUBBLY IN IT!!!!!!!!!!!!! I just totally freaked my friend out by going totally baserk on her…..just cuz of this…she doesn’t get it, though…..

  74. Cool story tho, even if it is too long.

    What’s with someone using my name? (Hi btw!) And what are u saying, it doesn’t make any sense!

    Sorry I just gotta rave about SOMETHING or else I shall DIE.

    I shall get Bogus to Bubbly at some point (probably later than everyone …)

  76. I finished So Yesterday this afternoon! Yay!! It was really fawesome Scott-la. I wouldn’t say your best work, but very nice. For some reason, something near the end reminded me of Uglies. Hmm.

    I gotta go now, I actually should have gotten off twnty minutes ago… Bai!

  78. I was extremely happy today! Why? I go to Books-A-Million, look at the Scott Westerfeld books in hope that maybe the Uglies guide is out and guess what? IT IS!!! I was hoping but not suspecting. I can only say thank you Scott and all those people who he thanked as well. You have made my weekend. I know this probably isn’t the right post to post this on but excitment makes you crazy.

  82. Ohhh! I just got Bogus to Bubly. It is so awesome! I like the part about all the devices that tally uses in the books. (I what a hover board!!!!!!!!!)

  83. I saw Disreputable History today at a bookstore. Didn’t get it since I only came back from the bookstore before reading this. Ah, well. *scribbles iton my to read list and continues reading Julia Child*

  84. *inset excited loud screeching noise here* I GOT BOGUS TO BUBBLY!!!! *insert another loud screeching noise* YAY!!!! I did a happy dance in the middle of the bookstore!!!! Everyone was staring at me as if i was insane!!! *insert yet another loud screeching noise* I’ve already read half of it and it’s AMAZING!!! YAY!!!! I. Am. So. Happy.

  87. HOLY CRAP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! How did u get Bogus to Bubbly already!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i still have to wait 3 more days!!!!!!

    PS the Twilight movie comes out in 33 days 3 hours and 25 minutes (screams for several minutes)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  89. i just finished reading Bogus to Bubbly. It was amazing. So many fun things. Yeah. Now I’m gonna go back to work on my audition for the school musical. which will basically suck. especially since we have to audition in front of people. and i don’t like people. yeah.

  91. the bookstore that i went to got it early…..which was why i started freaking out (yes, hyperventalating and all) in the middle of the bookstore, than did a happy dance to the jazzish music that was playing…people thought that i was weird…lol…..nah…i was just over-excited…

  93. Scott-la you’re so full of evil. Since when was the effin release date for books OPTIONAL?! OMG I’m so… not happyful! Aughrah~!

    …Next time I go to a bookstore, if Bogus to Bubbly isn’t there (if tis’ before the official release date, which I doubt will be) I will probably scream.

  95. lol….emily-wa, if it is there, wont you scream with excitment? either way, you shall do damage to your throat. which i am realising now is NOT a good idea.

  96. now i have so many books on my TO READ list!!!! i’ve seen Disreputable History in bookstores and i’ve been really close to getting it every time but i already have 3 or 4 books and i’m not allowed to get more cuz i have a TON at home.

    See ya!!!! :mrgreen:

  104. There is some tricky Midnighter business going on in my town. All the power it going out at exactly midnight for “system updating”.

  107. OMG Dess went and bought Bogus to Bubbly! I loathe her! Mwahahahahahahahahaha! I also dragged Melissa to the dance last night. Dess was home and Jonathen and Rex were “convienantly out of the country” for the day.

  108. I just finished reading Bogus to Bubbly, it is so awesome and icy i’m still all hyper, plus it has a preview of Leviathan in the back!!!

  109. he dedicated the book to all the people that commented on some of the certain posts, he listed the names so my name is written in the book (how cool is that)

  110. O_O this is what i get for not coming in in ages …
    bogus to bubbly betta get its butt into my library soon! COS IT’S STILL NOT THERE!

    Sonja-la u totally went and stole ma name. Until now I didn’t know anyone else with my name … 🙂

  112. I checked out Frankie-Landau Banks from the library, then checked out Peeps about three days later and forgot to read the first book(i’m an idiot for doing that…), so we took it back. And now, a few months later, I remember being stupid like that while reading YOUR blog. This is super ironic. XD

  113. I recently read The Disreputable History and it is absolutely AMAZING! I’m just mad I actually have to return it…. Anyway, some of the ways Frankie talks in the book are a bit addicing. I was totally mersed in the story. (And if you want to have a guess at what ‘merse’ means, read it.)

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