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National Book Awards Announced
By Alicia Waters | October 15, 2014
In the New York Times, Alexandra Alter wrote “The National Book Foundation announced finalists for the 2014 National Book Awards today.” Talking Books Plus has the following books from this list.
FICTION
An Unnecessary Woman by Rabih Alameddine DB78325
Beirut. Seventy-two-year-old Aaliya spends her days translating books from English and French into Arabic for her private amusement. Divorced, childless, and godless in the eyes of society, she is shunned. She reflects on the literature that has touched her life and helped her survive the Lebanese Civil War. 2013.
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr DB79182
When Paris is invaded by the Nazis, Marie-Laure LeBlanc’s father evacuates her to St. Malo to stay with her great-uncle. Blind since the age of six, Marie-Laure must learn the town by the scale model her father has left. Then, the Germans arrive. Violence and some descriptions of sex. Bestseller. 2014.
Redeployment by Phil Klay DB78988
Twelve stories about soldiers at war in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the personal wars they fight reintegrating into society at home. In the title story, a soldier who had to shoot dogs on the battlefield must readjust to life in suburban America. Violence. 2014.
YOUNG PEOPLE’S LITERATURE
The Port Chicago 50: Disaster, Mutiny and the Fight for Civil Rights DB78386
Recounts the July 17, 1944, explosion on the segregated Navy base at Port Chicago, California, that killed more than three hundred sailors. Discusses the response of survivors who refused to return to the dangerous work–an act the Navy considered a mutiny. For grades 6-9. 2014.
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