Debut Author Thanhha Lai Nabs National Book Award for YA Lit
RSSBy Debra Lau Whelan, Rocco Staino
Thanhha Lai's Inside Out & Back Again (HarperCollins), the story of a 10-year-old named Hà who flees Vietnam with her mother and three older brothers during the fall of Saigon, is this year's National Book Award winner in the category of Young People's Literature. Not surprisingly, the unprecedented snafu involving a sixth finalist being named in this category on October 12 was still fresh on everyone's minds. Author, historian, and SLJ blogger Marc Aronson, who chaired the panel of judges for the Young People's category, presented the award to Lai, saying it was a bad year for muffled phone conversations and "oral malfunctions"—first, there was a faulty phone line that might have cost the St. Louis Cardinals Game 5 of this year's World Series, Aronson said. Then, of course, there was the big screwup that led to author Lauren Myracle's withdrawal as the sixth finalist when a clerical error over the phone led to her nomination. Apparently, Myracle's Shine (Amulet) was mistaken for Franny Billingsley's Chime (Dial) when the judges transmitted the names of the finalists during a telephone conversation. Aronson thanked Harold Augenbraum, executive director of the National Book Foundation, for preserving the "integrity of the judging process" by sticking to the five nominees. Both judges and nominees in the category had high praise for Myracle, who was invited to the awards ceremony but chose not to attend. Instead the best-selling author asked the foundation to donate $5,000 to the Matthew Shepard Foundation in her name. Shepard, a student at the University of Wyoming, was tortured and murdered in 1998 because of his sexual orientation. Shine involves a vicious hate crime against a gay teen. Billingsley, who's been communicating with Myracle by email, says she felt bad about the mix up. "She handled it incredibly gracefully," Billingsley said, joking that she realizes Myracle's book sales on Amazon have surpassed her own. Young adult author Will Weaver, one of the panel of judges for the YA category, said the incident was "an isolated error" that won't be repeated. Meanwhile, Debby Dahl Edwardson, who was nominated for My Name Is Not Easy (Marshall Cavendish), called Myracle a class act. "I'm sorry about what happened. She's a wonderful person, and a talented writer." National Book Award winner Virginia Euwer Wolff will interview Lai for SLJ's January 2012 issue. Lai receives a $10,000 cash prize and a bronze sculpture. Check out our red carpet slideshow of the event.
So excited to have another writer honored who lives in Kansas! This is a mom of a kindergartener at our school. We are thrilled for her Congratulations, Thanhha! So very happy for you. A lovely book. Too bad that this article couldn't keep the focus on the
winner and her book rather than bring up the Shine/Chime issue yet
again. Well, I hadn't heard about the Shine/Chime "thing," so
some of us found it interesting. Anyway, Inside Out and
Back Again sounds like an amazing book! * = Required information
November 16, 2011
Lai (left), whose book is based on her own childhood experiences, accepted her award during a ceremony at New York City's Cipriani on Wall Street Wednesday night, telling the audience, "This is more than I could have ever expected" from a story about a time in her life.
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