Today, I am passing along exciting book news to those of you who may not read the YA sites out there. If you are interested in YA book news, then I strongly recommend Publisher’s Weekly Children’s Bookshelf, which is a free e-newsletter subscription. See below for news about the National Book Award, another installment in The Giver series, Matt Dembicki, a former Daily Campus writer and illustrator, and The Hunger Games official trailer.

NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNER

Thanhha Lai won the 2011 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature  for INSIDE OUT AND BACK AGAIN. Written in verse, the novel is about a 10-year-old girl who flees Vietnam with her mother and three older brothers. She eventually lands in Alabama, where she is safe but subjected to cruel rejection. Click here to read more about her acceptance of the award from Publisher’s Weekly.

ANOTHER ‘GIVER’ INSTALLMENT

Directly from Publisher’s Weekly: Margaret Raymo at Houghton Mifflin Books for Children bought world rights to SON, the fourth title in Lois Lowry’s GIVER Quartet. The first book in the series, THE GIVER, which won the 1994 Newbery Medal, follows an 11-year-old named Jonas living in a futuristic utopian society that evolves into a more dystopian world. Gabriel, a central character from the series, who also appeared in that first book, is the subject of SON, which introduces readers to his mother, and is scheduled for fall 2012.

My friend Stacy and I were talking about this just the other day. She didn’t know there were other books beyond THE GIVER. I would bet that not all GIVER readers know that GATHERING BLUE and MESSENGER are follow-up books that carry on the original story. GATHERING BLUE is not a sequel. The novel has new characters who live in a new world. MESSENGER, then, has characters from THE GIVER and GATHERING BLUE. Readers discover what happens to Jonas and Gabriel in MESSENGER. THE GIVER’s vague ending leaves readers to wonder about their fate, which was a great teaching moment for me and my students when I taught the book in 7th grade.

If you are a YA lover or English teacher, I think reading THE GIVER is a must. It’s a YA classic, in my humble opinion, and serves as a gateway to titles like 1984, which students may read in high school or college. Plus, more recent YA dystopian novels  seem to have been influenced by Lois Lowry.

DEMBICKI WINS THE AESOP PRIZE

Attention Daily Campers!! I recently discovered that Matt Dembicki has published a couple of children’s books since his UConn/Daily Campus years. Recently, he won the Aesop Prize for Trickster: Native American Tales: A Graphic Collection. Be sure to click on the links and check it out! Congratulations to Matt!

HUNGER GAMES OFFICIAL TRAILER

Awww, yeah! Amazing series. If you haven’t read the  books yet, you should. I hope the movies are as good. Can’t wait. Click on the link below to check it out!

Hunger Games Official Trailer