I received this gorgeous package and posted the unwrap on Twitter.  

In the winter of 1946 four individuals are brought together by forces beyond their control. Each carries his/her own secrets and pain. Each struggles to escape both a harrowing past and a fear filled future.

Joana  "Guilt is a hunter."

• "War had rearranged my priorities. I now clung to memories more than goals or material things."
• "The hole in the ice spread farther, sending a deep crack running directly toward me."
• ​"Four years rose to the surface. And I started to cry."

Florian ​"Fate is a hunter."

• ​"There was something else I couldn't deny. Time was running out."
• "The Gustloff was my only hope, as well."
• "The fear never disappeared, but with each year it retreated slightly, a tide of memory sliding back out to sea."

Emilia "Shame is a hunter."

• "'Per aspera ad astra, Papa, ' I whispered. Through hardships to the stars."
• "Two warring nations gripped Poland like girls fighting over a doll. One held the leg, the other the arm. They pulled so hard that one day, the head popped off."
• "The Wilhelm Gustloff was pregnant with lost souls conceived of war. They would crowd her belly and she would give birth to their freedom."

Alfred "​Fear is a hunter."

• "I will finally be at sea, traversing the waterways into the ocean..."
• "I imagined myself home in Heidelberg when the war was over. Crowds of women and children would flock around me while I doled out oranges from burlap sacks."
• "I pity the man who cannot overcome his cowardice, who cannot step on the neck of his own weakness...Death, it seems, has a mind of its own."

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