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New Book by Marina Budhos Wins Literary Award

Watched, the latest young adult book by Marina Budhos, professor of English, has been named a Walter Dean Myers Honor Book for 2017. The prize is administered by the We Need Diverse Books Foundation, which recognizes outstanding children’s literature that addresses diversity in a meaningful way. Budhos was honored during a ceremony at the Library of Congress in Washington, DC.

Watched takes on the topic of Muslim surveillance in New York City through the eyes of Naeem, a Bangladeshi immigrant and high school senior who agrees to be a paid informant for the NYPD’s controversial Muslim spying operation in exchange for a clean record.

The Walter Dean Myers Award is named for the late prolific children’s/young adult author, a champion of diversity in youth literature. “It’s incredibly thrilling to receive this honor,” says Budhos. “At such a difficult moment in our nation’s history, this award gives Watched national visibility to combat the rising tide of Islamophobia and anti-immigrant bigotry through empathy and art. What more could a novelist ask for?”

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