Mumbai'sslums, the Iraq war and the fall of Colonel Gaddafi are among the subjectscovered by the five titles up for the 2012 Guardian FirstBook Award.Aberdeen's sink estates and American college baseballalso feature in this year's shortlist.
Now in its 14th year, the £10,000 prize crosses allgenres and is open to all first-time authors that write in, or have beentranslated into, English.
The winner will be unveiled at a London ceremony on29 November.
This year's judges - who selected the shortlist incollaboration with five Waterstones reading groups from around the UK - includethe authors Jeanette Winterson, historian William Dalrymple and the journalistKatharine Viner.
Guardian journalist Lisa Allardice, chair of thejudging panel, said the nominated titles "range across the globe andconfront some of the most urgent issues of recent years".
Previous recipients of the Guardian First Book Award- won last year by Siddhartha Mukherjee's The Emperor of All Maladies - includeZadie Smith and Jonathan Safran Foer.
The five titles - some named more eclectically thanothers - are as follows:
• The Yellow Birds by Kevin Powers (Sceptre),described as "an unforgettable depiction of the psychological impact ofwar, by a young Iraq veteran and poet";
• The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach (FourthEstate), a novel about young men who play baseball at a fictional US college;
• Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death and Hopein a Mumbai Slum by Katherine Boo (Portobello Books Ltd);
• Sandstorm by Lindsey Hilsum (Faber & Faber),described as "the inside story of Gaddafi's regime";
• Tony Hogan Bought Me An Ice Cream Float Before HeStole My Ma by Kerry Hudson (Chatto & Windus), about a childhood spent in1980s Aberdeen.
Source: BBC
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