Susan Campbell Bartoletti: Good evening. I am speaking for the entire panel of judges for the Young People's Literature Award when I say that it has been an honor to participate in this year's National Book Awards judging process. I'd like to express our deep gratitude to Neil Baldwin, and his hardworking staff and to the National Book Foundation for their service and dedication.

I'd also like to thank my fellow judges, Lulu Delacré, Jean Craighead George, Barbara Harrison and Margaret Tice. I could not have asked for a better panel. Their keen insights and passion brought clarity and positive energy to the discussion of each book. If someone were to ask me what it's like to judge the National Book Awards, I'd have to say that it felt as though we were stealing fire from the gods. It felt as though we were fire bringers.

Tonight it's a pleasure to see so many fire bringers, so many people who light the way for literacy in one room. Fire bringing is an act of courage because it's an act of truth, passion and hope. One of the foremost fire bringers in the field of literature for young people, Newbery Award Winner, Katherine Patterson, once said that she doesn't have two sets of truths, one for adults and one for children. I'd like to add to that by saying that the quality and diversity of this year's entries revealed that writers of literature for young people don't have two sets of truths, nor do they have two sets of standards, one for adults and one for children.

The excellence of this year's entries honors this act of fire bringing. The books reveal that there are few or no subject boundaries left between books for young people and books for adults. The authors are as diverse as their subject matter. They are established writers and emerging writers. They tell old stories in fresh ways; they tell new stories in timeless ways. They tell stories that are familiar and stories that break forms and conventions.

During each conference call, our committee rejoiced over each new story. We discussed and debated and celebrated. We agonized and, yes, we mourned as we winnowed our list. We talked about those elements of craft and technique that make a story distinct but as much as we could quantify certain elements, there was always that inexplicable something that made a story burn with truth, passion and hope in our hearts. You see, it always comes back to fire.

What does this say about the state of young people's literature? It's about how much fire a writer has the courage to steal from the gods and bring to the story. It's about how much truth and how much passion, for these are the elements that light the way for hope.

The winner of the National Book Award for Young People's Literature in 2003 is such a fire bringer. The winner is The Canning Season by Polly Horvath.