The Center for Fiction has announced the five finalists for the $10,000 Center for Fiction First Novel Prize.

The prize--once known as the John Sargent Sr. First Novel Prize--went to Hannah Tinti last year for her novel, "The Good Thief." The Center was founded in 1820 as the Mercantile Library (pictured). The 2009 finalists are: "American Rust" by Philipp Meyer from Spiegel & Grau; "The Cradle" by Patrick Somerville from Little, Brown and Co.; "Tinkers" by Paul Harding from Bellevue Literary Press; "The Vagrants" by Yiyun Lin from Random House; and "Woodsburner" by John Pipkin from Doubleday/Nan A. Talese.

Here's more from the release: "Librarians, staff, and members of The Center first read submissions and the recommendations of these Common Readers, as they are called, are then forwarded to a committee of distinguished American writers. This committee selects the novels on the short list and the winner."