LA Times Names 2008 Book Prize Finalists

Award season continues with the recent announcement of the Los Angles Times 2008 Book Prize finalists.

Established in 1980, the awards come with a $1,000 cash prize and are given in nine categories: young adult literature, biography; current interest; fiction; Art Seidenbaum Award for first fiction; history; mystery/thriller; poetry; science/technology; and the 2008 Robert Kirsch Award.

Finalists are selected by confidential three-member committees, composed primarily of published authors. The awards will be presented on April 24, 2009 in conjunction with the LA Times Festival of Books.

The finalists in the Young Adult Literature are as follows:

The Lincolns: A Scrapbook Look at Abraham and Mary (Schwartz & Wade/Random) by Candace Fleming. Fleming presents side-by-side portraits of the famous first couple, combining telling anecdotes and large and small details to reveal aspects of the Lincolns’ personalities and temperaments. Primary sources and high-quality archival photos and reproductions add significantly to this impressive American scrapbook.

The Graveyard Book (HarperCollins) by Neil Gaiman. Somewhere in contemporary Britain, "the man Jack" uses his razor-sharp knife to murder a family, but the youngest, a toddler, slips away. The boy ends up in a graveyard, where the ghostly inhabitants adopt him to keep him safe.

 Dark Dude (Atheneum/S & S)by Oscar Hijuelos. Rico Fuentes, 15, hasn't had an easy life. He spent part of his childhood in a hospital, his mother blames him for her misery, his loving father is a drunk, and, because of his light Cuban skin, he's hassled by peers. With escalating problems at his 1960s New York City school and his friend Jimmy spiraling dangerously out of control because of drugs, Rico decides to run away, taking Jimmy with him.

Swallow Me Whole (Top Shelf Productions) by Nate Powell. Powell has created a complex tale of two adolescent step-siblings struggling through the usual angst and discovery that occur during the teenage years. However, for Ruth and Perry, mental illness makes this time even more difficult. Ruth, who is at the center of the story, suffers from obsessive-compulsive disorder and patterns of schizophrenia. Perry fights his own demon as he tries to rid himself of a small wizard who persistently appears and makes him draw.

Nation (HarperCollins) by Terry Pratchett. A tsunami has hit Mau’s island home and washed away everyone he has known. Daphne is from the other side of the globe and is the sole survivor (or so she thinks) of a shipwreck on the island. The two come together and each of them brings wisdom, intelligence, and a sense of humanity to the dire situation.