The Saturday Post: NBA madness, Teens Top Ten & More

* The National Book Awards fell under the general scorn from the YA and publishing community as a whole this week, after an egregious error on their part forced Lauren Myracle to withdraw her book Shine from nomination:

It turns out there will be only five nominations in the Young People Literature category of the National Book Awards. After receiving a request from the National Book Festival that she withdrawn her book from nomination, Lauren Myracle consented, a move that dropped Shine from the list. Last week, Chime by Franny Billingsley was added as a sixth nominee to the category, and Harold Augenbraum, NBF executive director, confirmed Monday that NBF staff had originally misheard Shine for Chime when the list of nominees was read by the judges over the phone. The mistake was not caught until the judges heard the announcement on last Wednesday’s radio broadcast. The YPL judge’s panel is chaired by author Marc Aronson.

A disappointed Myracle issued a statement through her publisher, Amulet Books, saying, “I was over the moon last week after receiving the call telling me that Shine was a finalist for the award. I was later informed that Shine had been included in error, but would remain on the list based on its merits. However, on Friday I was asked to withdraw by the National Book Foundation to preserve the integrity of the award and the judges’ work, and I have agreed to do so.”

See more on Publisher’s Weekly. You can also see Lauren’s class act response in Vanity Fair.

* In happier news, the ALA revealed the Teens’ Top Ten list for 2011, and some of our favorite books made the cut:

1. The Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare (Simon & Schuster)
2. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins (Scholastic)
3. Crescendo by Becca Fitzpatrick (Simon & Schuster)
4. I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore (HarperCollins)
5. The Iron King by Julie Kagawa (Harlequin)
6. Matched by Ally Condie (Penguin)
7. Angel: A Maximum Ride Novel by James Patterson (Little, Brown & Company)
8. Paranormalcy by Kiersten White (HarperCollins)
9. Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver (HarperCollins)
10. Nightshade by Andrea Cremer (Penguin)

Congrats to all!

* The topic of “elusive guy readers” is discussed over at Boys Don’t Read in a great interview with Jonathan Auxier, author of Peter Nimble & His Fantastic Eyes. Don’t miss this one! Funny, smart & very insightful.

* Did you see it? Check out the awesome book trailer for Matched by Ally Condie, the upcoming sequel to Crossed:

* And in case you missed it, here’s the gorgeous cover for Masque of the Red Death by Bethany Griffin (see more about the book here).

For the comments: Anything we missed? Share your news bits in the comments below!