Only two winners are picked from a shortlist of six titles, from the previous year’s  Booklist  Editors’ Choice and RUSA CODES Notable Books list.
Here’s how
- Use social media, websites, newsletters, and other communication channels
- Tweet using #ala_carnegie and join the conversation.
- Include the link ala.org/carnegieadult  for more information on the award.
- Show us your #shelfie! Invite readers to Tweet a shelfie (self + shelf = shelfie) with one of the fiction shortlist titles (pictured below) with #ala_carnegie hashtag! Be sure to track the #ala_carnegie to keep up with current announcements about this year’s awards!
Create Displays
- Use the free downloadable poster, bookmark it in the “Resources†tab and use the annotations for each title as listed below and quotes from the Booklist reviews.
- Awards seals are available from the ALA online store.
- See the links to the publishers’ websites (often including reading guides) with detailed information, discussion questions, and insights on each title.
And The 2014 Finalists Are . . . A Drum Roll Please . . . Â Â
Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction Finalists:
The Goldfinch, by Donna Tartt
Published by Little, Brown and Company, a division of Hachette Book Group, Inc.
In the wake of his nefarious father’s abandonment, Theo, a smart,13-year-old Manhattanite, is extremely close to his vivacious mother—until an act of terrorism catapults him into a dizzying world bereft of gravity, certainty, or love. Tartt writes from Theo’s point of view with fierce exactitude and magnetic emotion. More information about the author/book. Read the Booklist review.
Claire of the Sea Light, by Edwidge Danticat
Published by Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House, Inc.
In interlocking stories moving back and forth in time, Danticat weaves a beautifully rendered portrait of longing in the small fishing town of Ville Rose in Haiti. The stories flow seamlessly one into another and are distinguished by Danticat’s luminous prose. More information about the author/book. Read the Booklist review.
Americanah, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Published by Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House, Inc.
To the women in the hair-braiding salon, Ifemelu seems to have everything a Nigerian immigrant in America could desire, but the culture shock, hardships, and racism she’s endured have left her feeling like she has “cement in her
soul.†Americanah is a courageous novel of independence, integrity, community, and love.
More information about the author/book, a Reader’s Guide and an author Q&A. Read the Booklist review.
Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction Finalists:
The Bully Pulpit: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and the Golden Age of Journalism, by Doris Kearns Goodwin, published by Simon & Schuster.
This masterful study examines the complex relationship between two presidents, Roosevelt and Taft, who played major roles in the Progressive movement of the early twentieth century. Acclaimed historian Goodwin offers a superb re-creation of a period when many politicians, journalists, and citizens of differing political affiliations viewed government as a force for public good. More information about the author/book. Read the Booklist review.
On Paper: The Everything of Its Two-Thousand Year History, by Nicholas A. Basbanes, published by Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House, Inc.
Combining crisp technical explanations with vivid historical and contemporary profiles, Basbanes unfolds the two-thousand-year story of paper, revealing in the process that paper is nothing less than an embodiment of humanity.
More information about the author/book Read the Booklist review.
Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital, by Sheri Fink, published by Crown Publishers, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group,a division of Random House, Inc.
As the floodwaters rose after Hurricane Katrina, patients, staff, and families who sheltered in New Orleans’ Memorial Hospital faced a crisis far worse than the storm itself. Fink’s breathtaking account of the storm and what happened at
Memorial offers a fascinating look at how people behave in times of crisis. More information about the author/book. Read the Booklist review.
For more Information on the Andrew Carnegie Medals and How you can Showcase them, click here.
About Booklist
Booklist is the book review magazine of the American Library Association, considered an essential collection development and readers’ advisory tool by thousands of librarians for more than 100 years. Booklist Online includes a growing archive of 160,000+ reviews available to subscribers as well as a wealth of free content offering the latest news and views on books and media.
About the Awards
These awards were established in 2012 to recognize the best fiction and nonfiction books for adult readers published in the U.S. the previous year, and are ALA’s first single-book awards for adult trade fiction and nonfiction. The finalists and eventual winners reflect the expert judgment and insight of the seven-member selection committee of library professionals who work closely with adult readers.
The awards are co-sponsored by Booklist and RUSA (Reference and User Services Association,) who provide the longlists of selected titles from the previous year’s RUSA CODES Notable Books and Booklist’s Editors’ Choice. The awards are funded through a grant from Carnegie Corporation of New York in recognition of Andrew Carnegie’s deep belief in the power of books and learning to change the world.
