The National Book Award Longlists have been announced! The books are broken out into five separate categories: Young People's Literature, Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, and Translated Literature. See how many of the books you can read from this list before the winners are announced on November 14. Many of these books on this list are in our library so come check one or two out!

                  

Best Fiction for Young Adults

Looking for a good new book to read? Check out the newly released Best Fiction for Young Adults list. This list was created by Mrs. Shaurette and 14 other librarians across the country who got together to nominate and discuss titles with strong literary merit that would appeal to teens. If you don't want to sort through the whole list of 78 titles, check out the Top Ten, or stop by the library to ask Mrs. Shaurette for some of her favorites.

Come and Play Reading Bingo

As a way to share books that students and faculty read over the summer, the library has created an interactive bingo board. Readers have been sharing titles that fit into categories like A Book That Made You Laugh, A Work of Historical Fiction, or A Book About Inequality.

What did you read this summer? Stop by the library and add a book you read to the board. There are still a few spaces left and we are handing out free books to all participants (while supplies last.) Or come in and see what other teachers and students read over the summer and get some book recommendations!

Walter Dean Myers: “Reading is not optional”

Author Walter Dean Myers has been named “National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature” by the Library of Congress. 

In an interview this morning on NPR, Myers spoke of the challenges he faced growing up in Harlem as a boy who loved to read but felt he had to hide his books to fit in. Rejecting the idea that reading books is simply an “adjunct” to life, a pastime that we could easily do without, Myers asserted that “to do well in life, you have to read well.” The slogan he’ll promote in his new capacity as Ambassador is “Reading Is Not Optional.” You go, Mr. Myers! 

The Imperatore Library has 20 titles available from Walter Dean Myers’s many books, including Monster (1999) and Sunrise over Fallujah (2008). Take a look in our online catalog and check out a book today!