Postcards from No Man's Land
Postcards from No Man's Land is a young-adult novel by Aidan Chambers, published by Bodley Head in 1999. Two stories are set in Amsterdam during 1994 and 1944. One features 17-year-old visitor Jacob Todd during the 50-year commemoration of the Battle of Arnhem, in which his grandfather fought; the other features 19-year-old Geertrui late in the German occupation of the Netherlands.[2][3] It was the fifth of six novels in the series Chambers calls "The Dance Sequence", which he inaugurated in 1978 with Breaktime.[4]
Chambers won the annual Carnegie Medal, from the Library Association, recognising the year's best children's book by a British subject.[3] In 2001 The Guardian named it one of ten books recommended for teenage boys, and called it a "seriously good and compulsively readable novel that spans 50 years and two interwoven stories of love, betrayal and self-discovery".[5]
Postcards from No Man's Land was first published in the U.S. by Dutton in 2002.[1] There it won the Michael L. Printz Award from the American Library Association recognising the year's best book for young adults.[6][a]
WorldCat reports that Postcards is the work by Chambers most widely held in participating libraries, by a wide margin.[citation needed]
One library catalogue record recommends Postcards for American "senior high school" students and the British librarians call it a "sophisticated book for older teenagers. Issues of euthanasia and sexual identity are raised. This is an emotionally and intellectually challenging book and one that lingers in the mind."[3]
Notes
- ^ The Printz Award, inaugurated for 1999 publications, is the premier ALA award for young adult literature. Unlike the Newbery Medal for children's books, it is open to non-U.S. authors and to "old" books newly published in the U.S.
References
- ^ a b "Postcards from no man's land" (first U.S. edition). Library of Congress Catalog Record. Retrieved 2012-09-05.
- ^ Paula Rohrlick (May 2002). "Chambers, Aidan. Postcard from No Man's Land - Book Review". Kliatt.
- ^ a b c Carnegie Winner 1999. Living Archive: Celebrating the Carnegie and Greenaway Winners. CILIP. Retrieved 2018-02-28.
- ^ "The Dance Sequence", Aidan Chambers, Aidan Chambers. Retrieved 2012-07-28.
- ^ "10 reads for the teenage bloke". The Guardian, 9 October 2001.
- ^ "Michael L. Printz Winners and Honor Books". Young Adult Library Services Association. ALA. Retrieved 2012-09-05.
External links
- Postcards from No Man's Land in libraries (WorldCat catalog) —immediately, first US edition
- Reviews of Postcards from No Man's Land reprinted by the author
Awards | ||
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Preceded by Skellig | Carnegie Medal recipient 1999 | Succeeded by |
- v
- t
- e
- 2000: Myers – Monster
- 2001: Almond – Kit's Wilderness
- 2002: Na – A Step From Heaven
- 2003: Chambers – Postcards from No Man's Land
- 2004: Johnson – The First Part Last
- 2005: Rosoff – How I Live Now
- 2006: Green – Looking for Alaska
- 2007: Yang – American Born Chinese
- 2008: McCaughrean – The White Darkness
- 2009: Marchetta – On the Jellicoe Road
- 2010: Bray – Going Bovine
- 2011: Bacigalupi – Ship Breaker
- 2012: Whaley – Where Things Come Back
- 2013: Lake – In Darkness
- 2014: Sedgwick – Midwinterblood
- 2015: Nelson – I'll Give You the Sun
- 2016: Ruby – Bone Gap
- 2017: Lewis, Aydin, and Powell – March: Book Three
- 2018: LaCour – We Are Okay
- 2019: Acevedo – The Poet X
- 2020: King – Dig
- 2021: Nayeri – Everything Sad Is Untrue
- 2022: Boulley – Firekeeper's Daughter