The Nebraska Center for the Book selected Eleanor & Park by Rainbow
Rowell (St. Martin’s Griffin, 2013) to represent Nebraska at the
2016 National Book Festival. The book is the state’s selection for
the National Book Festival’s “Discover Great Places through Reading”
brochure and map. Each state selects one book about the state, or by
an author from the state, that is a good read for children or young
adults. The brochure and map will be distributed at the Festival on
September 24 and featured in the “Great Reads about Great Places”
links on the websites of both the National and Nebraska Centers for
the Book.
Set over the course of one school year, Eleanor & Park is the story
of two star-crossed sixteen-year-olds—outsiders that meet on the
school bus who are smart enough to know that first love almost never
lasts, but are brave enough to try. Nebraska’s “Great Reads about
Great Places” book is chosen from former Nebraska Book Award winners
and this book was awarded the 2014 Nebraska Book Award in the Young
Adult Fiction category. Entries for this year’s Nebraska Book Awards
will be accepted until June 30—see
http://centerforthebook.nebraska.gov/awards/nebookawards.html.
The National Book Festival will feature presentations by
award-winning authors, poets, and illustrators at the Walter E.
Washington Convention Center in Washington, DC. Festival goers can
meet their favorite authors, get books signed, have photos taken
with mascots and storybook characters, and participate in a variety
of learning activities. States will staff exhibit booths to promote
reading, library programs, and literary events. Find out more about
the 2016 National Book Festival (including a list of featured
authors) at
http://www.loc.gov/bookfest.
The Nebraska Center for the Book is housed at the Nebraska Library
Commission and brings together the state’s readers, writers,
booksellers, librarians, publishers, printers, educators, and
scholars to build the community of the book, supporting programs to
celebrate and stimulate public interest in books, reading, and the
written word. The Nebraska Center for the Book is supported by the
Nebraska Library Commission. As the state library agency, the
Nebraska Library Commission is an advocate for the library and
information needs of all Nebraskans. The mission of the Library
Commission is statewide promotion, development, and coordination of
library and information services, bringing together people and
information.
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The most up-to-date news releases from the Nebraska Library
Commission are always available on the Library Commission Website,
http://nlc.nebraska.gov/publications/newsreleases.