Carnegie Medal Shortlist

After a very productive ILA Conference Committee Meeting all day in Champaign, IL yesterday, I am spending today catching up on everything else that got left behind back at home, including one of my semi-monthly [and highly enjoyable] volunteering stints in the elementary school library.

But first, I will have a couple of quick posts of things I need to pass on.

First, yesterday the ALA released the shortlist for the Carnegie Medal in Adult Fiction and Nonfiction. For the full release, click here. But below is the list of books:

Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction ShortlistOn Paper: The Everything of Its Two-Thousand Year History, by Nicholas A. Basbanes. Published by Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House, Inc.
Combining crisp technical explanations with vivid historical and contemporary profiles, Basbanes unfolds the two-thousand-year story of paper, revealing in the process that paper is nothing less than an embodiment of humanity. 

Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital, by Sheri Fink. Published by Crown Publishers, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc.
As the floodwaters rose after Hurricane Katrina, patients, staff, and families who sheltered in New Orleans’ Memorial Hospital faced a crisis far worse than the storm itself. Fink’s breathtaking account of the storm and what happened at Memorial offers a fascinating look at how people behave in times of crisis. 

The Bully Pulpit: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and the Golden Age of Journalism, by Doris Kearns Goodwin. Published by Simon & Schuster
This masterful study examines the complex relationship between two presidents, Roosevelt and Taft, who played major roles in the Progressive movement of the early twentieth century. Acclaimed historian Goodwin offers a superb re-creation of a period when many politicians, journalists, and citizens of differing political affiliations viewed government as a force for public good. 

Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction ShortlistAmericanah, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Published by Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House, Inc.
To the women in the hair-braiding salon, Ifemelu seems to have everything a Nigerian immigrant in America could desire, but the culture shock, hardships, and racism she’s endured have left her feeling like she has “cement in her soul.” Americanahis a courageous novel of independence, integrity, community, and love. 

Claire of the Sea Light, by Edwidge Danticat. Published by Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House, Inc.
In interlocking stories moving back and forth in time, Danticat weaves a beautifully rendered portrait of longing in the small fishing town of Ville Rose in Haiti. The stories flow seamlessly one into another and are distinguished by Danticat’s luminous prose. 

The Goldfinch, by Donna Tartt. Published by Little, Brown and Company, a division of Hachette Book Group, Inc.
In the wake of his nefarious father’s abandonment, Theo, a smart, 13-year-old Manhattanite, is extremely close to his vivacious mother—until an act of terrorism catapults him into a dizzying world bereft of gravity, certainty, or love. Tartt writes from Theo’s point of view with fierce exactitude and magnetic emotion. 

The awards, established in 2012, recognize the best fiction and nonfiction books for adult readers published in the U.S. in the previous year and serve as a guide to help adults select quality reading material. They are the first single-book awards for adult books given by the American Library Association and reflect the expert judgment and insight of library professionals who work closely with adult readers. Nancy Pearl, librarian, literature expert, NPR commentator, and best-selling author ofBook Lust, serves as chair of the awards’ selection committee.

For more info on the medal, including the details about the announcement of the winners at ALA Annual, go to the full press release.  For my photo coverage of the award reception last year, click here.