Gene Luen Yang's American Born Chinese, published by First Second/Holtzbrinck, has been named a finalist for a prestigious National Book Award in the 'Young People's Literature' category.  This is the first time that a graphic novel has been nominated for a National Book Award and represents a considerable achievement not just for Gene Yang, but also for Mark Siegal's First Second, a graphic novel-only imprint that published its first books earlier this year (see 'New Graphic Novel Publisher Debuts This Spring').

The National Book Awards have considerable cachet with the literary audience and retailers may want to set a display advertising American Born Chinese as a National Book Award finalist as an outreach effort.