Sherrie Young: Standing at the Crossroads of Literacy and Literature

Sherrie Young promotes books, authors, the National Book Awards, and BookUp, the National Book Foundation's national literacy program

National Book Foundation Director of Marketing and Special Projects, Sherrie Young, joins What's The 411 Book Editor Luvon Roberson in a conversation about books, literacy, the National Book Foundation's National Book Awards and its literacy program, BookUp, geared towards middle school children.

BookUp serves over 300 students annually and is designed to create a new generation of readers and a new generation of confident and engaged citizens. Since its inception in 2007, BookUp through its network of independent bookstores has provided its students with over 25,000 books free of charge.

As the discussion moved to the upcoming National Book Awards scheduled for November 18, 2015, Luvon brought up the names of well-known authors that are among the 40 authors on the NBA long list. The authors included: Hanya Yanagihara, Ta-Nehisi Coates, and Ilyasah Shabazz.