It’s been an exciting week here at Scholastic as we anxiously wait for the National Book
Awards Young People’s Literature winner to be announced. This year we have TWO Scholastic books in the running for this prestigious award, Revolution by Deborah Wiles and Threatened by Eliot Schrefer.
Revolution
By Deborah Wiles
Revolution, from award-winning author Deborah Wiles, is the second installment in the critically acclaimed The Sixties Trilogy.This “documentary novel” features stunning photographs, news clippings, and popular song lyrics from the Civil Rights era and also draws upon the author’s experiences during her childhood summers spent in Mississippi.
It is 1964, and Sunny's town, Greenwood, Mississippi, is being invaded. So is her home. Her daddy got married last summer, and her house filled up with a new stepmother, Annabelle, a new brother, Gillette, and a new sister, Audrey. Sunny's new family has been growing together, but when Gillette tattles to her father, things grow chilly between them. Greenwood has been tense and chilly too, but that's because students and “agitators” from up north have driven down in buses for a Freedom Summer, to help register citizens in the town to vote. Everyone in the town has been choosing sides, and Sunny suddenly understands how scary it can be to help people out, even when you know you're doing the right thing.
Threatened
By Eliot Schrefer
From Eliot Schrefer, author of Endangered, a 2012 National Book Award Finalist in Young People’s Literature comes a gripping journey into the world of chimpanzees and the life of an African boy whose fate becomes entwined with them when he finds himself alone in the forest.
An African boy living on the streets escapes his jailer by heading into the forest with a scientist who is not entirely what he seems. They’ve come to study chimpanzees, but when the scientist disappears, the boy must fend for himself—and then join forces with the chimps to save their habitat from unwelcome intruders.
Leading up to tonight’s announcement of 
the National Book Awards Young People’s Literature winner, both Wiles and Schrefer have been attending numerous events throughout the week to continue to promote their books. Books of Wonder, a New York City local independent bookstore, kicked off the week’s festivities on Monday, November 17th by inviting all National Book Awards finalists to participate in a reading for their local New York City fans. On Tuesday, November 18th both authors participated in the Teen Press Conference hosted by Rachel Fershleiser, director of publishing outreach at Tumblr at St. Francis College in Brooklyn, NY. Each of the finalists were interviewed by students. On Tuesday evening with a National Book Awards finalist reading hosted by The National Book Foundation at The New School.
It’s been a whirlwind of a week and we are so excited to watch the National Book Awards live tonight at 7:40 p.m. ET. Click here to watch the awards and cheer on our Scholastic authors!
Group Photo: National Book Award Young People’s Finalists and host, Rachel F. from Tumblr smile for the camera before finalist signed books for students who attended the Teen Press Conference. (Left to Right: Jacqueline Woodson, Deborah Wiles, Rachel F, Eliot Schrefer, Steve Sheinkin, John Corey Whaley)
