Sherman Alexie Wins National Book Award
November 15th, 2007 by Carole Levine
Time to celebrate!! Sherman Alexie has won the 2007 National Book Award in Young People’s Literature for his novel, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian, a largely autobiographical story about a Native teen who transfers to an all-white school. This ain’t chopped liver, folks. Past winners include William Faukner, Tom Wolfe, Ralph Ellison, and the recently deceased Norman Mailer—hell, Ernest Hemingway and Truman Capote are among the losers. Yep, fine company indeed for Native America’s writer extraordinaire.
Other nominees in this year’s Young People's Literature category were Skin Hunger: A Resurrection of Magic, Book One by Kathleen Duey; Touching Snow by M. Sindy Felin; The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick; and Story of a Girl by Sara Zarr. All National Book Award honorees receive a $10,000 prize and priceless credibility. For the complete list of winners, go to: http://www.nationalbook.org
"The number of brown-skinned teenagers who have embraced the book is so great," Alexie said last night. "One kid told me, 'This is like Catcher in the Rye for minorities,' and this award makes it feel like that's true."
It is, Sherman, it is…
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Check out the recent video clip of Alexie at a panel discussion where he reads a passage from The Absolutely True Story of a Part-time Indian and you'll get the depth and flavor of why this book is far beyond ordinary "kiddie lit."
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For more, read our recent features: Sherman Alexie: Rez…Urb…Radical and The Absolutely Best Review of “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian”
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