The press release adds:

This was Doctorow’s first nomination for a Prometheus award. Little Brotheris a powerful cautionary tale about a high-school student and his friends who are rounded up in the hysteria following a terrorist attack. Doctorow focuses on the consequences and costs of the repression by government agencies in the aftermath of the attack. Marcus Yallow and some of his friends are rounded up and imprisoned in a general sweep, and Marcus’ attempt to assert his rights earns him harsh treatment. After they are released, he works to undermine the terrorist state and build tools that make it possible for private citizens to communicate privately and to organize out of the government’s sight. The emphasis is on how people find the courage to respond to oppression.

The Lord of the Rings has been nominated several times in the past. Tolkien’s novel evokes the struggle between freedom and absolute tyranny and the dangerous temptations of power over others. His heroes (the hobbits) are everymen, but they rise above their humble station and struggle to ensure that their world will not be dominated by an absolute dictator. This classic work has delighted many readers of all ages for several decades, and has become the standard model for a quest novel. The struggle to escape oppression is central to the action, though it’s taken for granted by the protagonists who just want to be left alone, but willingly shoulder the burden so others can be free.