Kirkus Prize Shortlist

Dorling Kindersley/Getty Images/Dorling Kindersley RF

The Kirkus Prize Shortlist has been announced!  For those not in the know, the Kirkus Prize works as follows (from the Kirkus website):

Books reviewed by Kirkus Reviews that earned the Kirkus Star and that have original publication dates between Nov. 1, 2015, and Oct. 31, 2016, are automatically nominated for the 2016 Kirkus Prize. Children’s and teen books are frequently dependent on finished art and design to have their full effect. In order to ensure that judges have access to finished copies of all titles under consideration, the eligibility dates for the 2016 Kirkus Prize for Young Readers’ Literature are Oct. 1, 2015, through Sep. 30, 2016. Both traditionally published and self-published books reviewed by Kirkus that earn the Star are eligible. In the Young Readers’ Literature category, the finalists will include two picture books, two middle-grade books and two teen books.

So, here is the 2016 Young Readers' Literature Shortlist:

• Thunder Boy Jr. (Sherman Alexie & Yuyi Morales) 
• Freedom Over Me: Eleven Slaves, Their Lives and Dreams Brought to Life (Ashley Bryan)
•  We Will Not Be Silent: The White Rose Student Resistance Movement that Defied Adolf Hitler (Russell Freedman) 
• As Brave as You (Jason Reynolds)
•  The Reader (Traci Chee) 
• Burn Baby Burn (Meg Medina) 

For more information about the Kirkus Prize or to read reviews of the Shortlist books, check out the Kirkus website, HERE.