YA Literature encompasses a wide range of genres and formats. This is evident in the list of finalists for The National Book Award for Young People's Literature. Let's take a look. Included in the list are examples of realistic fiction, magical realism, first person accounts, historical nonfiction, fantasy, and one graphic novel format.  Isn't it terrific to see such variety in YA Lit?

I On September 14, 2015 The National Book Foundation released the longlist for Young People's Literature.
Very Pleasant Surprise! Three titles (Symphony for the City of the Dead, This Side of Wild, and Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War) are nonfiction.  X: A Novel is historical fiction, based on the life of Malcolm X.
There has recently been a flowering of innovative nonfiction picture books, The prominance of nonfiction on this prestigous award's longlist offers evidence to the recognition of quality nonfiction. It is exciting to see excellent nonfiction for young readers getting some serious  recognition. 
Outstanding reading selections for young people can be found in a variety of genre and formats, as evidenced by this year's longlist.  A recent Someday My Printz Will Come has some interesting observations about the composition of the list.
I have read seven of the nonimated titles (three are waiting on my TBR stack). From my viewpoint, there is a lot of brilliant writing to be had this year. Congratulations to these authors. 

This is a stunning list. Kudos to the judges 

My Diary from the Edge of the World by Jodi Lynn Anderson

Stacy Dillon, school librarian. Columnist for School Library Journal. Discussion leader Bank Street 2015 Book Festival. 2012 Newbery Award committee member, 2017 Caldecott Award committee member. Blogs at Welcome to My Tweendom 

Barbara Moon, retired librarian. Member of 2009-2011 Great Graphic Novels for Teens selection committee, 2012 Odyssey Award committee, 2014 Margaret A Edwards Award committee. Currently serving on the 2016 YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction Award committee. Blogs at Reading Style.

​It all started last July with Stacy's poolside Twitter post. That's when Stacy and I discovered that we both were reading Jodi Lynn Anderson's My Diary from the Edge of the World.  We started sharing comments and traded our observations during and after reading this thought-provoking book.
Here's what we thought.

Barbara:  Gracie Lockwood's voice immediately drew me into the story. She keeps a careful record of the family's journey in her diary, a gift from her mother. It is lovingly inscribed with these words, To Gracie, May this diary be big enough to contain your restless heart.  Gracie is a girl with strong opinions, stating from the outset that her purpose in keeping a written record is to "prove that I knew it first." Her friend Oliver's observation, "You're kind of fiery" is an understatement. In addition to Gracie's fire, readers witness her gradually evolving realization that the world is much more complex than she initially imagined it to be.  She begins to temper her original strong judgments. "I've realized I may have been completely wrong about my dad."  "I wondered about the word 'beast.' I wondered if sometimes, the way everything looks - who's the beast and who isn't - depends on where you're standing."  I love this statement of self-realization:  "Every year I realize how dumb I was the year before." 

One of this book’s striking aspects is the comparisons I made to Homer’s The Odyssey.  The book’s 416 pages is itself a reading odyssey.  It requires an investment of time, attention to storyline, and a commitment to the characters. Reading Gracie's diary becomes a personal journey for the reader.

The travelogue aspect is certainly an integral part of this family's epic saga. We follow Gracie and her family on an extended journey to known and unknown places, several described in vivid detail. The mode of travel is symbolic. The family first travels via Winnebago, a name reflecting a Native American Tribe who excel in oral storytelling. Later they board the Weeping Alexa.  Alexa is a reference to Alexander the Great, the “protector”. These modes of transportation give added meaning to the family’s quest. 

​The major characters read like the cast from a Greek drama.
We meet good guys, bad guys, both real and mythical. Sea monsters and mermaids inhabit the waters. Dragons and unicorns take flight through the skies. 
Homer’s motifs take the form of the individuals the family encounters on their journey:  an oracle (Grandma), sirens (Luck City), Penelope’s suitors (Captain Bill).
Not since the Coen brothers’ O Brother, Where Art Thou? have I encountered such an imaginative homage to Homer’s epic classic.

Without question, the theme which resonated with me and continues to haunt my thinking is the concept of fate. This also reflects the Greek concept of The Fates: goddesses who controlled the life of every mortal from birth to death and watched that the fate assigned to every being proceeded without obstruction.
Fate plays a huge role in the unfolding story. Huge.
​
Gracie sums it up. "That's what we've been given, and we can only do our best with what we've got." 

What's playing on my phone? 
Today it's a full cast audio production of Neil Gaiman's The Sleeper and the Spindle.
However, I must confess I miss hearing Gaiman's voice. He has a wonderful way with words, both in crafting a story in print and then recreating it in audio format. (See: M is for Magic​)
Achieving excellence in both formats is a difficult task.
I have been thinking about authors who can successfully narrate their own books. Here are three books which have been recognized both for excellence in writing and in narration.  Kudos to these multitalented author/narrators.

From the very first page, I was hooked on the bravado of two New York City teens who take a friendly basketball competition to new heights. Each tries to outperformer the other with increasingly difficult shots.
The stakes are raised as the game  moves far beyond the court,  around the world and eventually  into outer space.
The trash-talking duo, keep upping the ante. I couldn't wait to turn the page and find out what amazing  mind-blowing shot was coming next.
This book's premise is attitude and swagger to the max.

​Myers is both the author, and illustrator for the print edition. His art is vibrant and captures the essence of the city. It compliments the back-and forth showmanship of the two basketball players and makes this book shine.

It was love at first sight when I saw this cover.
What's not to love about an award sash that doubles as a bandolier, replacing bullets with tubes of lipstick?
When a plane filled with beauty pageant contestants crashes on a remote island the young women must use survival skills, while preparing for pageant competition AND dealing with a ruthless corporation involved in an arms deal.
The cast of characters is huge, each brought vividly to life by Bray.  She excels at tell the tale from multiple, yes multiple, points of view.
Here's a book that will make you smirk, laugh-out-loud and cause you to think. It doesn't get better than Beauty Queens.

It's obvious from the cover that thirteen-year-old Nate Foster is Broadway Bound, hoping to audition for a musical version of “E.T.”
The book offers a glimpse inside the world of show business, a taste of the intoxicating thrill of performing, and a sample of the wonders of New York City.
At it's heart, its a story about a boy who doesn't think he fits in. It's about finding out about who you are and how to create your own happy ending.
The book is chock full of clever lines and hilarious scenes that beg to be shared with a friend. There are tender moments that will tug at your heart and leave you with a desire to follow your own dream.
That's a lot for one weekend!
But stay tuned for the follow up book Five, Six, Seven, Nate.

​   With perfect timing, Federle's  narration coaxes out the spot-on nuances of this star-struck character. ​

Much of the discussion surrounding Katherine Howe’s The Appearance of Annie Van Sinderen http://www.katherinehowe.com/  focuses on the "non-ghost" ghost.  The "ghost story which never uses the word ghost"  unfolds in alternating voices of Wes, a film student currently enrolled in an NYU summer filmmaking workshop, and Annatje Van Sinderen, daughter an important member of the 1820 New York Canal Corporation. Wes and Annie are in search of  a physical object that exists in both of their worlds. 
The subject of ghosts is intriguing, but the element which fascinated me was the depiction of time. Time has a fluid quality that weaves in and out, forward and back, throughout the narrative.

"I've been having trouble with time lately."
Wes begins his narrative talking about time. His problem is not with the conventional measurements of minutes and hours. Rather it is the evidence of another time period appearing in his current existence. that is another time coexisting  in his "now".

This fluid concept of time is brilliantly illustrated in Shuttered Eyes, an art film created by his fellow workshop classmate Tyler.  Wes describes his thoughts when viewing Tyler's film.
The images tumble together in a way that makes me uncomfortable, but which manages to be beautiful. It's like a kaleidoscope, only it's telling a story... There's a woman winding on her turban, then me falling...then back to the woman winding her turban. Time seems to move both forward and back and it's dizzying, but it's rhythmic and magical."
Later he defends Tyler's movie to students in the workshop. 
"So," I start, "one of the things I really admired about it was its use of time?" I wait, wondering if I'm going to say anything else. Then I continue, "It managed to use non-narrative image structures to convey a simultaneous passage of time forward and backward."

The tale is in part Legend of Sleepy Hollow but I am also reminded of  movies such as Back to the Future and Groundhog Day. It brings to mind several questions:  What is the past? What is the future? Where do they intersect? Can knowledge of the future change events from the past?  
Where is here? What is now?
“I am here. I am here, right now."

​How fitting that the final sentence of the book leaves readers with another reflection of one’s perception of time. I have found this statement true for me.
"But a minute can be an eternity, sometimes."