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by GoPride.com News Staff

New York City — "Shine," a book about a gay teenager who is the victim of a hate crime, was named a National Book Award finalist, taken off the list, put back on the list and then taken off again over the past week.

The National Book Foundation said that Lauren Myracle's "Shine" was mixed up with another book, "Chime." The problem occurred because judges call in their choices instead of communicating by paper or email, to avoid leaks.

Myracle's "Shine" chronicles the story of Patrick Truman, 17, who is beaten and left for dead outside the convenience store where he works, because he is gay.

Last Wednesday, the National Book Foundation announced "Shine" was a finalist for its annual award.

Then, the judges realized their mistake and dumped it. Then, realizing this was tacky, they added "Shine" back to the list. But on Friday, they asked Myracle to withdraw her name herself.

The controversy has pushed the book up Amazon's bestseller list to #230 as of Monday night.

Myracle said in a statement on Monday that she plans to donate $5,000 to a foundation set up in honor of Matthew Shepard, the young gay man who was found beaten to death in Wyoming in 1998.

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