celebrating the wisdom of the 2012 National Book Award jurors

Sometimes book juries convene and read and talk and get things right, and this year the National Book Award judges cited three books that I loved for special recognition. 

I am eager to read all the books on all the lists this year.  But for now I want to celebrate the honoring of Patricia McCormick for her smart, powerful, daring Never Fall Down (my interview with Patty will soon run on Publishing Perspectives) and Eliot Schrefer for his important Endangered. 

In nonfiction, the remarkable House of Stone by Anthony Shadid is a most-deserving nominee.  I have highlighted (in this entry) my own thoughts about these books, from posts produced earlier this year.