Special Topics Paper: Literary Awards

*My paper is way too long for this post, so I will include segments*

Literary Award Definition:

           Have you ever noticed on a book that sometimes there are little gold or silver stickers on the lower side of the book?  Usually that indicates it won a literary award.  So what exactly is a literary award?

"A literary award is an award presented in recognition of a particularly lauded literary piece or body of work. It is normally presented to an author.  Most literary awards come with a corresponding award ceremony. Many awards are structured with one organization (usually a non-profit organization) as the presenter and public face of the award, and another organization as the financial sponsor or backer, who pays the prize remuneration and the cost of the ceremony and public relations, typically a corporate sponsor who may sometimes attach their name to the award" (Literary Award, 2015).

When a book receives an award, it is a symbol meaning they have been recognized for being a really good book.  The author is recognized for creating a true work of art.  Usually a literary award is rewarded annually, unless something happens and they have to cancel.  There have been some occasions that has occurred. 

            There are all kinds of literary awards.  Mostly in genres, like Fiction, Non-Fiction, Science Fiction, etc. 

"There are also awards dedicated to works in individual languages, e.g. the Miguel de Cervantes Prize (Spanish), and the Camões Prize (Portuguese), and the Man Booker Prize, the Pulitzer Prize, and the Hugo Awards (English).  Some of the most notable literary prizes include the Nobel Prize in Literature, the Franz Kafka Prize and the Jerusalem Prize.  There are also spoof awards, such as The Literary Review Bad Sex in Fiction Award, the Bookseller/Diagram Prize for Oddest Title of the Year, and the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction and Lyttle Lytton Contests, which are both given to deliberately bad sentences" (2015).

           The truth is there are so many awards in literature.  It is hard to keep track of how many literary awards there are.  But the one thing that is very true is when a book is awarded, it is recognized for its creativity and having an impact on its readers.

Major Literary Awards: Nobel Prize in Literature

            

It is true there are so many literary awards, but there is a category of being the most major awards in literature.  Some of them include:  Booker Prize, Caldecott Medal, National Book Award, National Book Critics Circle Award, Newbery Medal, Nobel Prize for Literature, PEN/Faulkner Award, Pulitzer Prize, Commonwealth Writers’ Prize, and the EMMA Awards (Book Awards, 1997-2016). 

            The award I should talk about is the Nobel Prize for Literature.  “‘The said interest shall be divided into five equal parts, which shall be apportioned as follows: /- - -/ one part to the person who shall have produced in the field of literature the most outstanding work in an ideal direction ...’” (Nobel Prize, 2014).  This is an excerpt from the will of Alfred Nobel, whom the Nobel Award is named after.  This is considered huge if an author is awarded a Nobel Prize because they will be known as a Nobel Laureate. 

             How the nomination process works is like this:  The award is usually awarded by the Swedish Academy in Sweden.  The Nobel Committee sends out nomination notices and letters to those who qualify to nominate, usually past laureates, university professors, members of the Swedish Academy, and presidents of literature socialites.  The notices are sent out in September to about 600+ individuals and organizations.  February is when the deadline for nominations is due.  The preliminary candidates are chosen in April (around 15-20 names) and May is when the final candidates are chosen (about 5 names).  In the summer, the Academy evaluates the works, and prepares individual reports about the work.  September is when they get together and select the merits for the selected works.  In October, the Nobel Laureates are voted, chosen and announced.  On December 10 in Stockholm, Sweden, the newly Nobel Laureates receive their Nobel Medal and Diploma, and a document confirming the prize amount at the Nobel Prize Award Ceremony (Nomination and Selection of Literature Laureates, 2014). 

"At the Nobel Prize Award Ceremony in Stockholm, Sweden, on 10 December, presentation speeches extoll the Nobel Laureates and their discovery or work, after which His Majesty the King of Sweden hands each Laureate a diploma and a medal. The event is followed by the Nobel Banquet, with 1,300 guests, held at the Blue Hall of the Stockholm City Hall since 1934" (Ceremonies Archive, 2014).
Some Laureates include: Ernest Hemingway, John Steinbeck, Toni Morrison, Albert Camus, and our recent Laureate, Svetlana Alexievich.

            The Nobel Prize in Literature is a major literary award, usually awarded to the authors rather than the books.  The authors are recognized for their courage in writing, mastery in art and narratives, and mastery in creating works of pure genius. 

Crime/Mystery/Thriller Awards: The Edgar Award
             Some awards in this category include: Agatha Award, Edgar Award, Macavity Award, and the Shamus Award (Book Award, 1997-2016).  I’ll focus on the Edgar Award since this may be an award not very many people have heard of before.

            The Edgar Award, in honor of Edgar Allan Poe, is presented by The Mystery Writers of America to the best in mystery fiction and nonfiction produced the previous year. Awards are made in various categories, including Best novel, Best first novel by an American author, Best fact crime and Best short story. The first Edgar was awarded in 1954 (The Edgar Award, 2016).

           This sounds like an interesting award since Edgar Allen Poe is one of the darkest writers in the Literature world.  So what are the guidelines for this award?

"All books, short stories and television shows in the mystery, crime, suspense, and intrigue fields are eligible for Edgar Awards in their respective category if they were published or produced for the first time in the U.S. during the 2016 calendar year. Books from non-U.S. publishers are eligible if they are widely distributed in the U.S. and are readily available on the shelves in brick-and-mortar stores for the first time during 2016" (“Special order” titles would not qualify) (Edgar Award Category Information, 2016).

            Unfortunately, there is not a lot of information about the process and when these awards are awarded, but they are awarded annually.  Past winners include William Bayer for Peregrine, James Lee Burke for Cimarron Rose, and last year’s winner, Stephen King for Mr. Mercedes.  I admit I am not a big fan of this category, but there are a lot of people who like Mystery Thrillers.  This award is one I have never heard of before, and it is amazing there is such an award in honor of Edgar Allen Poe.  Plus, the Edgar Head Trophy looks really interesting.  I have never heard of an award in the shape of a head before.

Fiction/Poetry Awards: Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction

            Awards listed in this category include: American Book Awards, Audie Awards, Black Caucus of the ALA Literary Awards, Booker Prize, Bread Loaf Bakeless Prize, Costa Book Awards, Governor General's Literary Awards, Guardian First Book Award, International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, Kiriyama Pacific Rim Book Prize, Lambda Literary Awards, Lannan Literary Awards, Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize, Minnesota Book Awards, National Book Award, National Book Critics Circle Award, Scott O'Dell Historical Fiction Award, PEN/Faulkner Award, PEN/Hemingway Award, Pulitzer Prize, Reference and User Services Association Awards, Thurber Prize, Betty Trask Award, and the Walt Whitman Award (Book Award, 1997-2016).  The award I will talk about is not listed: the Baileys Women’s Prize.  "Launched in 1996, the Prize is awarded annually and celebrates excellence, originality and accessibility in women’s writing from throughout the world. The winner receives a cheque for £30,000 and a limited edition bronze known as a ‘Bessie’, created by the artist Grizel Niven. Both are anonymously endowed". (Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction, 2015).  [Over 33,000 dollars]

             It is great to see there is an award that strictly goes to females.  It is quite rare.  Here is how the judging works:

"Every June, a panel of five women, all passionate readers and at the top of their respective professions, choose the winner of the BAILEYS Women’s Prize for Fiction.  The whole process starts early autumn of the previous year. Booktrust — the Prize administrators — invites UK publishers to submit eligible books, while the Prize Director (Harriet Hastings) approaches potential judges.  Judges are appointed by the end of the year and plunge immediately into reading their allotted books, before meeting to decide the longlist, the shortlist and — shortly before the Award Ceremony — the winner.  The judges are given the key criteria for the Prize – accessibility, originality and excellence in writing by women. They are asked to forget about reviews, publicity spends, an author’s previous reputation, the sense of ‘who deserves it’ and choose simply on the basis of novels that inspire them, move them, make them think – and that they admire and enjoy" (Judging, 2015)!

          An award designed for women, judged by women, and awarded to women is unlike anything I have ever heard of before.  Plus, the award is called a “Bessie.”  Winners include: Kate Grenville for The Idea of Perfection, Tea Obreht for The Tiger’s Wife, and last year’s winner, Ali Smith for How to Be Both.

"The inspiration was the Booker Prize of 1991 when none of the six shortlisted books was by a woman, despite some 60% of novels published that year being by female authors.  A group of women and men working in the industry – authors, publishers, agents, booksellers, librarians, journalists – therefore met to discuss the issue.  Research showed that women’s literary achievements were often not acknowledged by the major literary prizes.  The idea for the Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction – previously the Orange Prize for Fiction – was born" (FAQ, 2015).

Book Sales: Up or Down?

         So with all of these awards and medals given to the author and their works, does that have a big significant sales increase or does it stay the same?  I have always wondered when a book gets recognized, do people become more aware of its existence?  Or is it just for a while the book becomes known and then it dies down once more books become known? 

        Sometimes when a book is recognized, there could be some who go on television to do interviews about the book, like the Oprah Winfrey show where she sometimes talks about her favorite books in the Oprah Book Club.  There could also be posts online about the specific book and to encourage people to purchase it, which could lead to spikes in book sales.  According to Smith (2009), that is what happened to Christopher Curtis, whose book Bud, Not Buddy won both the Newbery Medal and the Coretta Scott Key Author Award in 2000. 

"After Mr. Curtis, who lives in Windsor, Ontario, won this week, the book jumped from 5,400th to fifth on the Amazon.com best-seller list. ‘It was above all the Harry Potter books,’ said the author with amazement in his voice as he sat over lunch at the Millennium Broadway Hotel in New York. Mr. Curtis said he never set out to write a young adults' book. All that has ever mattered to him, he said, was to tell a story" (p. B9).

That is incredible.  Going from 5,400 to 5 just after he won.  That shows how big a book can go on a list just after winning a major award, or in this case, two major awards.  Now what about another award?  In Vicky Smith (2013), “The ‘Caldecott Effect,’” it states:

"While it is now a given that Caldecott Medal and honor books experience a rush immediately following the announcement of the winners, sometimes occasioning an embarrassing delay in acquisition for those libraries that did not have the foresight to correctly predict and order them, it is also true that sales tail off over time. Some individual titles have become perennial favorites and continue to perform strongly, but as a whole, the older a Caldecott winner is, the more subdued its sales are" (p. 10-11).

This does make sense.  When a book is honored, there is a rush in book sales and libraries are sometimes asked to put holds on specific books.  Just how big is the book sales?  In 2012, Nielsen BookScan did a scan on book sales, and this is what they discovered to Fiction writer Louise Erdrich: 

"Fiction winner Louise Erdrich's The Round House (Harper) sold 30,000 of its 47,000 copies since its victory, according to Nielsen BookScan. In its first week after winning, the book saw a 143% increase at outlets tracked by BookScan, going from 2,000 copies sold to 5,000 copies sold. Since its win, Erdrich's novel has steadily kept increasing in weekly sales, moving 9,000 copies for the week ending December 9" (Measuring the National Book Award Sales Effect, 2012).

            This just shows how huge a spike in book sales and go.  When a book has a stamp of approval, people become more aware and they would want to read it too.  There have been times when I have heard of a book winning some kind of award and I would try to find it at my public library or if I was brave enough, I would buy it at a book store.  Most of the time, it has turned out that I made a good decision.  According to Ewart (2011), “Book Awards – do they stimulate sales?”, she stated “The increased sales for a prize winning title may rest on which part of the book’s sales cycle it is in when it receives the award, Geoff [Walker] believes. ‘If it has been on the market for 18 months when it receives a prize, the sales may not lift much’” (Ewart, 2011).  I would have never thought of that because the longer the book is displayed, the bigger chance the book will downside in sales.  “In essence, winning prizes enhances the reputation of a book and brings it to wider public attention. But sales will only reflect the wider appeal of any prize winning fiction or nonfiction title” (2011).  I guess it all depends on what the book is and what it is about that will determine if it will sell or not, despite winning a major award, or any kind of award in that matter.

"While an initial Caldecott bump in sales comes from two sources - libraries and consumers - with the exception of those perennial favorites, when older Caldecott titles sell, it is primarily to libraries. Nielsen BookScan data reveal negligible retail sales of most older titles, but many of the librarians surveyed express either a personal or institutional determination to keep their Caldecott winners in their collections" (Smith, 2013, 10).

Conclusions:
           
             As it turns out, there are so many literary awards, I could not find a specific number.  But what I did find was the literary awards are usually divided into different categories, ranging from genres, language, and even spoofs.  I noticed there are a couple of genres where the same awards are listed, so that could mean they fall into many other categories besides just one.  The process of deciding who wins can take many months and there are usually a step-by-step process of how to determine those winners.  It is usually a yearly process and each medal is given at different days.  There is usually an award ceremony where they are presented with their medals and give speeches about their works. I like that most authors receive a medal and some kind of money reward.  Some just get a statue and public awareness, or there could be a chance they just get awareness and a magnum of champagne (which is better than nothing). 

"It has long been understood that the Randolph Caldecott Medal is one of the two brass rings of the children's literature world. The lucky illustrator who grabs it wins both literary immortality and a better-than-average royalty check for the foreseeable future. Less immediately, he or she joins a continuum of excellence that rewards the creation of excellent narrative art for an audience historically undervalued by society as a whole" (Smith, 2013, 9). 

           Authors work very hard to create books people would want to enjoy reading.  They spend many months working on something worthwhile and there comes that once-in-a-lifetime chance where one of their works is recognized and they are rewarded for that hard work.  Each medal is different and there are all kinds of literary awards, but the one thing that is definitely true for all of the literary awards is each author is accepted into a class where authors before them have been where they have been. 

·         As mentioned before, there are hundreds of literary awards.  For a full list (though not complete) of American awards, as well as awards in other countries and languages can be found on Wikipedia at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_literary_awards

Resources:
Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction.  (2015).  Retrieved February 25, 2016 from http://www.womensprizeforfiction.co.uk/
Book Awards.  (1997-2016).  Retrieved February 25, 2016 from http://www.bookspot.com/awards/
Ceremonies Archive.  (2014).  Retrieved February 25, 2016 from http://www.nobelprize.org/ceremonies/archive/Edgar Award Category Information.  (2016).  Retrieved February 25, 2016 from http://mysterywriters.org/edgars/edgar-award-category-information/

Ewart, J.  (2011).  Book Awards - do they stimulate sales?  Retrieved February 25, 2016 from http://www.booksellers.co.nz/book-news/trade-news/book-awards-%E2%80%93-do-they-stimulate-sales

FAQ.  Retrieved February 25, 2016 from http://www.womensprizeforfiction.co.uk/about/faq

Judging.  Retrieved February 25, 2016 from http://www.womensprizeforfiction.co.uk/about/judging

Literary Awards.  (2015).  Retrieved February 25, 2016 from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Literary_award

Measuring the National Book  Award Sales Effect.  Retrieved February 25, 2016 from http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/publisher-news/article/55139-measuring-the-national-book-award-sales-effect.html

Nobel Prize.  (2014).  Retrieved February 25, 2016 from http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/

Nomination and Selection of Literature Laureates.  (2014).  Retrieved February 25, 2016 from http://www.nobelprize.org/nomination/literature/

Smith, D.  (2000).  "From Assembly Line to Book Awards."  New York Times, 149(51275), B9.

Smith, V.  (2013).  "The 'Caldecott Effect.'"  Children & Libraries: The Journal of the Association for Library Service to Children,  11(1), 9-13. 

The Edgar Award.  Retrieved February 25, 2016 from http://www.bookprizeinfo.com/showprize.php?prize=22

 

Book Controversies: Fake Memoirs

When it comes to books, there are some that create controversies.  Book challenging is when people believe a book should be removed from public places.  Multiple books have been challenged, like George Orwell's Animal Farm and Jack London's Call of the Wild.  Book censorship is when people believe a book to be objectionable or offensive, like J.D. Salinger's Catcher in the Rye and John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath.  Banned books are books that have been prohibited by law, like Dr. Seuss's Green Eggs and Ham in China and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein in South Africa (Wikipedia, 2016).  What is amazing is most of these books have been read in school.

Many controversies can come from novels, but I am going to focus on Fake Memoirs.  "Fake memoirs form a category of literary forgery in which a wholly or partially fabricated autobiography, memoir, or journal of an individual is presented as fact. In some cases, the purported author of the work is also a fabrication" (Wikipedia, 2016).  Usually these are books that seem like they actually happen, but there have been reports of actual fakeness within these books.  Some of them have even been awarded or appeared on television shows before they were proven to be forged.  One fake memoir I can recall is James Frey's A Million Little Pieces, which tells about "his" drug addiction and recovery.  I can remember it being shown on Oprah's show and being included in her book club as well as Oprah questioning him about its authenticity on her live show.  "The Washington Post's Richard Cohen was so impressed by the confrontation that he crowned Winfrey "Mensch of the Year" (2016).  [Mensch means "'a person of integrity and honor'" (Wikipedia, 2015).] 

Another fake memoir is Helen Darville's (or Helen Demidenko) The Hand That Signed the Paper, which "was presented as a supposedly autobiographical story of a student’s discovery of her family's bleak wartime history as peasants in Ukraine under Stalinism and their 'liberation' by the Nazi invasion" but the truth was she had no Ukrainian ancestors or family members (2016).  It was seen as really great book by the Australian people, at least until its revelation. "The deception was revealed by the Australian media when the novel won the Miles Franklin Award; it later won the 1995 Australian Literary Society Gold Medal" (2016).

It is amazing how such great books can turn out to be fictionalized.  This is just my opinion, but if you are going to fake a memoir, do not claim it is real and lie about it because sooner or later, the truth will be revealed and you will be hit hard by readers and fans.  There is nothing wrong with stating your work is fiction or that it contains some personal experiences.  James Frey faked his book and he was criticized on Oprah's show and Helen Darville was criticized when she won the Miles Franklin Award.  "As a result of the recent series of best selling memoirs having been outed for falsification, there have been calls for stronger vetting and fact checking of an author's material" (2016).  This is a good thing because no one wants to read a great book and later find out it was a work of fiction.  No one wants to be deceived by a book.

References:
Fake Memoirs.  Wikipedia.  Retrieved February 24, 2016 from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fake_memoirs
List of books banned by governments.  Wikipedia.  Retrieved February 24, 2016 from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_books_banned_by_governments
Mensch.  Wikipedia.  Retrieved February 24, 2016 from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mensch

Week 6 Prompt

A passive programming/book display our library can use is based off of a website I found (http://www.peaceporridge.com/the-blog/category/displays).  It is called Book Crush.  How this works is the library sets up a ballot box where people can write on paper hearts their favorite Romance books.  They can write what they like about it and it can be totally anonymous.  (It can work on any genres, but we will use Romance for this one).  When the staff has enough hearts, they can pull out the books mentioned and stick them on the books on display so everyone can see what other people enjoy reading.  It is a great way to display what patrons enjoy reading as well as convincing others to read that particular book from that particular genre.

Romance Annotation

Romance Annotation: A Walk to Remember

Author: Nicholas Sparks
Title: A Walk to Remember
Genre: Romance (realistic fiction)
Publication Date: 2001
Publisher: Grand Central Pub. (New York)
Number of Pages: 240 pages
Geographic Setting: Beaufort, North Carolina
Time Period: 1958 (modern)
Series (if applicable): None
Plot Summary:  A story about a teenage boy, Landon, who decides to take minister’s daughter, Jamie, to the homecoming dance, and the start of their relationship, as well as Landon’s growth to realize the power and beauty of love, the joy in giving others, and how to have faith when things get tough for Jamie who reveals she has a terminal illness.
Subject Headings: First loves, teenagers, North Carolina
Appeal: Those who enjoy reading about teenage love and how to face difficult time as well as learning how to trust in God’s plans.  Ages 13 and up.
3 Terms that describe book: bittersweet, spiritual, and moving
Similar Works and Authors:
The Carousel – Richard Paul Evans:  This is the third installment of the Locket Trilogy that talks about the unfinished story of two lovers.
The Smoke Jumper – Nicholas Evans:  This is about a young boy who tries to win the heart of a woman he knows he cannot have and her decision will leave a mark on everyone she cares.
Sam’s Letters to Jennifer – James Patterson:  A tale of a woman who returns to her hometown to seek a new life after a tragedy.
Personal Thoughts: This was the first time I have ever read a Nicholas Spark novel, and I have to say I was impressed.  Teenage love is always great to read, but this one left a mark on me because it was a story of a boy’s sudden love for a girl who was seen as plain and a little odd. 
"As these images were going through my head, my breathing suddenly went still.  I looked at Jamie, then up to the ceiling and around the room, doing my best to keep my composure, then back to Jamie again.  She smiled at me and I smiled at her and all I could do was wonder how I'd  ever fallen in love with a girl like Jamie Sullivan" (Sparks, 2001, 154).
It also dealt with something a lot of teens are not ready to face: terminal illnesses. This really hit me because I had a family relative years ago who also had a terminal illness and it was hard to see her so frail and weak whenever I got to see her.
“Certainly we may feel an emotional involvement with the characters in books in other genres, but here the reader’s participation in the story is essential” (Saricks, 2009, 132).  Emotions are important in Romance novels, and Nicholas Sparks has achieved that in A Walk to Remember.
References:
Saricks, J.  (2009).  The Readers’ Advisory Guide to Genre Fiction.  2nd Ed.  Chicago: American Library Association.
Sparks, N.  (2001).  A Walk to Remember.  New York: Grand Central Publishing.

Week 5 Prompt

I have always liked reading book reviews because once I see a title that looks appealing, I look to the synopsis and book reviews to see if it is something I would like to read sometime in the future.  To my experience, the best kind of book reviews are the ones that are short, sweet, and to the point.  I do not like to read ones that pretty much give away the book.  Reviews, like  the Kirkus Review, and Library Journal are ones I look at, as well as reading off of Goodreads and Amazon. 

There are times when one book gets so many reviews and others don't and I think that is a little unfair because in my experience, the ones who do not get many reviews are some of the really good books.  It is understandable why one book gets so many reviews, usually that is when it is turned into a motion picture.  It can affect the library collection too because the ones who are the most talked about are the ones patrons would want to read and that can lead to waiting lists and interlibrary loans.  Also, if there is a book that is not popular, it can mean the library staff can weed out that book and replace it with new books that are popular to patrons as well as newly published books.

There are some websites who will not print negative comments.  In a way, it is to make sure people do not disregard them.  I personally think people should have a right to read negative comments because if it is really a bad book, then people can look for something else.  It all depends on the person because there are some who like certain genres.  We all have different reading styles and we should have a right to see whether there are people who like or dislike a certain book.

 

Kirkus Review

The Wedding Bees: A Novel of Honey, Love & Manners
By: Sarah-Kate Lynch
Ages: 14 and up

Cherie-Lynn (Sugar) Wallace is a woman who travels with her prized honeybees to wherever they decide.  When they decide to live in New York, she plans to live her life with her bees and making new friends with her neighbors: cranky Mrs. Keschl and Old McNally; Ruby Portman, a young anorexic woman; Lola, the balloon store owner and her baby son, Ethan; Nate, an aspiring chef; and George, the new doorman.  The last thing she expects is to fall in love with Theo Fitzgerald, a sweet Scotsman who one day crosses her path and falls in love with her at first sight.  When she does fall in love with him, a memory from her past keeps her from making that leap and it will be up to her new neighbors and her bees to teach her to forgive herself and not to be afraid of falling in love again.  Lynch creates a character of strong independence and politeness and she will learn how to find sweetness other than from her honeybees as well as learning what it means to call a place home.  Lynch also crafts quirky characters with different backgrounds as well as troubles of their own and how Sugar changes their lives with her caring heart and her honey.  Also, her prized honeybee queen, Queen Elizabeth the Sixth, will also help Sugar realize what she really needs is right in front of her and to trust her own instincts and not from Queen Elizabeth.  Sarah-Kate Lynch, an international bestselling author, creates a charming, sweet, and entertaining novel for anyone who loves a good book for pure pleasure as well as for those who love reading about finding forgiveness within oneself and finding love when you least expect it. (Woman’s Fiction)

 

Pub. Date: Jan. 28, 2013

Publisher: William Morrow (HarperCollins)

ISBN: 978-0-06-225269-9

Page Count: 368

Adventure Annotation

Adventure Annotation: Into Thin Air

Author: Jon Krakauer                                   
Title: Into Thin Air
Genre: Adventure (nonfiction)
Publication Date: 1997
Publisher: Villard (New York)
Number of Pages: 337 pages
Geographic Setting: Mt. Everest, Nepal
Time Period: Modern 1996
Series (if applicable): None
Plot Summary:  Jon Krakauer is given the opportunity of a lifetime: to climb to the top of Mt. Everest in 1996.  Along the way, he meets numerous people, like Rob Hall and Andy Harris, and they each set out to make history.  But along the way, they come across below freezing temperatures, frostbites, hypothermia, and many numerous harmful encounters, but the deadliest encounter is a huge snow blizzard that claims the lives of nine climbers.  Krakauer survives and he lives to tell his tale of his adventurous and emotional journey of over 29.000 feet to reach Mt. Everest.
Subject Headings: Mt. Everest, Jon Krakauer, mountaineering disaster, expedition
Appeal: For those who like nonfictional adventures, as well as reading about personal experiences from someone who went through the 1996 Mt. Everest disaster. I would say for ages 12 and up due to some foul language and death scenes.
3 Terms that describe book: Slow paced, emotional, truthful
Similar Works and Authors:
K2: Life and Death on the World's Most Dangerous Mountain - Ed Viesturs and David Roberts: This tells the true story of climbers climbing the second tallest mountain, K2; considered the world’s most difficult and unpredictable mountain.
Dark Summit: The True Story of Everest's Most Controversial Season - Nick Heil: This tells a true story of the 2006 deadliest season on Everest since 1996.
Forever on the Mountain: The Truth Behind One of Mountaineering's Most Controversial and Mysterious Disasters - James M. Tabor: This tells a true story of a group of men who went missing on the world’s starkest and stormiest mountain, and how there was no investigation.
Personal Thoughts: I did enjoy this book, even if it was a little slow paced.  It was very emotional to hear from a person who went through one of the deadliest disasters on Mt. Everest.  I cannot imagine what Jon Krakauer went through.  
"People who don’t climb mountains – the great majority of humankind, that is to say – tend to assume that the sport is a reckless, Dionysian pursuit of ever escalating thrills.  But the notion that climbers are merely adrenaline junkies chasing a righteous fix is a fallacy, at least in the case of Everest.  What I was doing up there had almost nothing in common with bungee jumping or skydiving or riding a motorcycle at 120 miles per hour" (Krakauer, 1997, 135-6).
There are a lot of people, so it was great they included a list of people who went on this trip as well as including pictures to make a clear picture of where they climbed and what everyone looked like. 
“Novels in the Adventure genre appeal to our wanderlust and to our desire to test our limits and explore the boundaries of our universe.  Adventure takes us from the confines of our ordinary lives to traverse the known world and beyond” (Saricks, 2009, 33).  Adventure is not one of my strongest genres, but reading this gave me an idea of what adventure novels are like. 

  References:
Krakauer, J.  (1997).  Into Thin Air.  New York: Villard.
Saricks, J.  (2009).  The Readers’ Advisory Guide to Genre Fiction.  2^nd Ed.  Chicago: American Library Association.