The 2017 National Book Award longlist of nominees was announced this week, and the Young People’s Literature list is exciting!

• Elana K. Arnold, What Girls Are Made Of (Carolrhoda Lab / Lerner Publishing Group)
• Robin Benway, Far from the Tree (HarperTeen / HarperCollins Publishers)
• Samantha Mabry, All the Wind in the World (Algonquin Young Readers / Workman Publishing Company)
• Mitali Perkins,You Bring the Distant Near (Farrar, Straus and Giroux Books for Young Readers / Macmillan Publishers)
• Jason Reynolds, Long Way Down (Atheneum / Caitlyn Dlouhy Books / Simon & Schuster)
• Erika L. Sánchez, I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter
  (Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers / Penguin Random House)
• Laurel Snyder, Orphan Island (Walden Pond Press / HarperCollins Publishers)
• Angie Thomas, The Hate U Give (Balzer + Bray / HarperCollins Publishers)
• Rita Williams-Garcia, Clayton Byrd Goes Underground (Amistad / HarperCollins Publishers)
• Ibi Zoboi, American Street (Balzer + Bray / HarperCollins Publishers)

So, what do we think about these titles and their Newbery chances?

We’ll be talking about Orphan Island, The Hate U Give, and Clayton Byrd Goes Underground in the coming weeks, so you’ll hear our thoughts on those soon, and we’re excited to hear yours.

Some we are waiting to read. Far From the Tree, All the Wind in the World, You Bring the Distant Near, and I am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter all come up in the next few weeks.  Have any of you read them?  What do you think?  Worthy of Newbery consideration?

The National Book Award Finalists are announced on October 4th, and it’ll certainly be interesting to see which of these titles make the cut!