I Support Shine
Last week, the finalists for the National Book Awards were announced, including a surprise nomination for Lauren Myracle's Shine
, a YA novel about a teen girl determined to uncover the truths about the violent hate crime committed against her gay friend. Evidently the nomination was also a surprise to the people behind the National Book Awards, because Shine wasn't the book they initially intended to put on the shortlist. Once the mistake had been noticed, they added Franny Billingsley's Chime, the book Shine replaced, and had 6 nominees for the YA category. And all should have been smooth and peaceful, except that it wasn't.
Libba Bray has a wonderfully succinct and ranty account of the whole debaucle, wherein the folks behind the National Book Awards make themselves look like sadistic morons and put Lauren Myracle through humiliation no author should have to endure, ending with a phone call from the executive director officially asking her to resign her book, because somehow this is a better option than simply running with six nominations.
Readers and writers have rallied support behind Myracle, using the #isupportshine hashtag and encouraging as many people as possible to buy or borrow and read the book, particularly since Myracle has been a class act through the whole thing.
, a YA novel about a teen girl determined to uncover the truths about the violent hate crime committed against her gay friend. Evidently the nomination was also a surprise to the people behind the National Book Awards, because Shine wasn't the book they initially intended to put on the shortlist. Once the mistake had been noticed, they added Franny Billingsley's Chime, the book Shine replaced, and had 6 nominees for the YA category. And all should have been smooth and peaceful, except that it wasn't.
Libba Bray has a wonderfully succinct and ranty account of the whole debaucle, wherein the folks behind the National Book Awards make themselves look like sadistic morons and put Lauren Myracle through humiliation no author should have to endure, ending with a phone call from the executive director officially asking her to resign her book, because somehow this is a better option than simply running with six nominations.
Readers and writers have rallied support behind Myracle, using the #isupportshine hashtag and encouraging as many people as possible to buy or borrow and read the book, particularly since Myracle has been a class act through the whole thing.