*shining in the lists with sir lancelot*

[ewein2412]

 The final ballot for the Nebula Awards is up, along with that of the Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy.  The Lion Hunter has made the Norton short list.  I am just.... blown away.  And deeply grateful.  And in such shining company!

Final Ballot, Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy:

The True Meaning of Smek Day - Rex, Adam (Hyperion, Oct07)
The Lion Hunter - Wein, Elizabeth (Viking Juvenile, Jun07 (The Mark of Solomon, Book 1))
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Rowling, J. K. (Scholastic Press, Jul07)
The Shadow Speaker - Okorafor-Mbachu, Nnedi (Jump At The Sun, Sep07)
Into the Wild - Durst, Sarah Beth (Penguin Razorbill, Jun07)
Vintage: A Ghost Story - Berman, Steve (Haworth Positronic Press, Mar07)
Flora Segunda: Being the Magickal Mishaps of a Girl of Spirit, Her Glass- Gazing Sidekick, Two Ominous Butlers (One Blue), a House with Eleven Thousand Rooms, and a Red Dog - Wilce, Ysabeau S. (Harcourt, Jan07)

But actually I am even MORE blown away by The Scholastic Writing Awards team, who have just dumped on my doorstep a ream of wonderful short stories by young people (and I have to read them all by 10 March).  I am judging some of the finalists for 2008.  I really can't say how delighted I am to be judging this award, as I never ever earned one of those coveted Gold Keys myself, 25 years ago when I was a student.  It feels like I have been given a second chance.