National Book Award: Winners, Finalists, and Longlisted Titles
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The mission of the National Book Foundation is to celebrate the best of American literature, to expand its audience, and to enhance the cultural value of great writing in America. National Book Awards are given in five categories: Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, Translated Literature, and Young People’s Literature.
Here we highlight the winners of African descent. The first African-American writer to win a National Book Award was Ralph Ellison, in 1953, for Invisible Man.
One Book Honored by the National Book Foundation in 1974
Finalist – Children’s Books
A Hero Ain’t Nothin But a Sandwich
List Price: $7.99
Puffin Books (Feb 01, 2000)
Young Adult, Fiction, Mass Market Paperback, 128 pages
ISBN: 9780698118546Publisher: Penguin Random House
Book Description:
Benjie can stop using heroin anytime he wants to. He just doesn t want to yet. Why would he want to give up something that makes him feel so good, so relaxed, so tuned-out? As Benjie sees it, there s nothing much to tune in for. School is a waste of time, and home life isn t much better. All Benjie wants is for someone to believe in him, for someone to believe that he s more than a thirteen-year-old junkie. Told from the perspectives of the people in his life-including his mother, stepfather, teachers, drug dealer, and best friend-this powerful story will draw you into Benjie s troubled world and force you to confront the uncertainty of his future.
Benjie can stop using heroin anytime he wants to. He just doesn t want to yet. Why would he want to give up something that makes him feel so good, so relaxed, so tuned-out? As Benjie sees it, there s nothing much to tune in for. School is a waste of time, and home life isn t much better. All Benjie wants is for someone to believe in him, for someone to believe that he s more than a thirteen-year-old junkie. Told from the perspectives of the people in his life-including his mother, stepfather, teachers, drug dealer, and best friend-this powerful story will draw you into Benjie s troubled world and force you to confront the uncertainty of his future.