Jacqueline Woodson, winner of the 2014 National Book Award in Young People’s Literature, will host the National Book Awards Teen press conference this year. She will be the first National Book Award Winner ever to emcee the event.
At the event, 600 middle- and high-school students from New York City will turn into reporters, lobbing questions at the five finalists for the National Book Award in Young People’s Literature. The nominees for the award include: Ali Benjamin, Laura Ruby, Steve Sheinkin, Neal Shusterman and Noelle Stevenson. The event will be streamed live online, so that students across the nation can watch.
“I’ve wanted to be a writer since I was seven, but I didn’t grow up in family where people aspired to live as writers,” said Woodson in a statement. “I wrote all the time and I had teachers who encouraged it. If someone has something they’re really passionate about, that’s their brilliance, and my big question is how do we grow that passion/brilliance and/or help them grow.”
The press conference will take place at the 92nd Street Y on Nov. 17 at 10 a.m.