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2005 Oklahoma Book Award Finalists
Children/Young Adults
We Go in a Circle—Peggy Perry Anderson—Walter
Lorraine Books/Houghton Mifflin, Boston, MA
What happens to a racehorse
that hurts its leg? In Anderson’s simple
and sensitive story, the horse finds a new mission through hippo therapy—the
use of horseback riding to assist children and adults with special needs.
Anderson is a full-time elementary school teacher and mother of three living
in Owasso, Oklahoma. She has written and illustrated several picture books
for children featuring Joe the frog.
Rabbit Goes Duck Hunting—Deborah L.
Duvall—Univ.
of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, NM
This is the fifth title in Deborah Duvall and illustrator Murv Jacob’s
series of Cherokee Grandmother Stories. In this adventure, Rabbit, whose
Cherokee name is Ji-Stu, tries to catch the mighty Chief of All the Wood
Ducks, and he will need all of his skills to escape a perilous predicament.
Duvall is the author of several other books on Cherokee history and legend.
She makes her home in Tahlequah, Oklahoma.
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| Winner for Young Adult |
Simon Says—Molly Levite Griffis—Eakin Press,
Austin, TX
Simon Says is the third title in Griffis’s World War II home
front trilogy, which began with The Rachel Resistance and continued
with The Feester Filibuster. In the final chapter, the author takes
us back to Apache, Oklahoma, to tell the poignant story of an uprooted
Jewish boy who loses his identity but holds on to his life. The Rachel
Resistance received the 2002 Oklahoma Book Award. Griffis lives with
her husband in Norman, Oklahoma.
Grand Canyon Rescue—Devon Mihesuah—Booklocker,
Bangor, ME
Fourteen-year-old Tuli Black Wolf becomes separated from her tracker mother
during a search and rescue mission in the Grand Canyon. When Tuli finds
the lost hunters, she must find a way to save them and herself in this
empowering adventure novel. The Oklahoma Writers’ Federation named Grand
Canyon Rescue a Best Young Adult Novel. Oklahoma Choctaw Devon Milhesuah
has written extensively about American Indian histories and cultures. She
is professor of Applied Indigenous Studies at Northern Arizona University
in Flagstaff, Arizona.
Hoggee—Anna Myers—Walker & Company, New
York, NY
Howard and his brother Jack work as hoggees, driving the mules that pulled
boats along the Erie Canal. Howard stays behind on the canal during the
winter in an attempt to outshine his older, more charming brother. But
when his job falls through, he finds himself in dire straits. In the middle
of his desperation, he meets a girl named Sarah, who suffers from her own
unique problem. Howard’s attempts to help Sarah will eventually reveal
how he really compares to his brother. Myers is a two-time Oklahoma Book
Award winner and a perennial finalist in the Children/Young Adult category.
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| Winner for Children |
The Gospel Cinderella—Joyce Carol Thomas—Joanna
Cotler Books/Harper Collins, New York, NY
Cinderella sings and has a voice as flavorful as licorice in this original
variation of the traditional favorite. Instead of Prince Charming, there’s
Prince Music. The evil stepmother is Crooked Foster Mother, and instead
of a ball, there’s the Great Gospel Convention! While there’s
no glass slipper to leave behind at the convention, there is an enchanted
melody for the prince to search for… and to find. Ponca City native
Joyce Carol Thomas received the Center’s Arrell Gibson Lifetime Achievement
Award in 2001. She is also an Oklahoma Book Award winner for her book of
lullabies, Hush Songs.
No Dogs Allowed!—Bill Wallace—Holiday House,
New York, NY
After losing Dandy, her family’s beloved horse, Kristine decides
that she will never get close to a pet again and go through that kind of
heartbreak. So when her father gets her a new puppy, the wiggling yellow
ball of fur is not a welcome surprise. In Bill Wallace’s latest novel,
a girl learns to love, to lose, and to take a chance and open her heart
again. Wallace’s books routinely appear on state and children’s
choice award lists. He is the Center for the Book’s Lifetime Achievement
Award Recipient for 2000. He lives in Chickasha, Oklahoma, with his wife
and daughters.
Non-Fiction
Living in the Land of Death: The Choctaw Nation, 1830-1860—Donna
L. Akers—Michigan State University Press, East Lansing, MI
The “Land of Death” (the route taken by the souls of Choctaw
people after death) was the name given to Indian Territory by the Choctaws
who had made the journey from their Mississippi homelands. The people suffered
a death rate of nearly 20% along the Trail of Tears. Their first few years
in the new territory affirmed their name, as hundreds more died from disease,
floods, and starvation. Living in the Land of Death depicts the
story of Choctaw survival, and the evolution of the Choctaw people in their
new environment. Akers is assistant professor of history at Purdue University
and a tribal member of the Choctaw Nation.
A History of the Oklahoma Governor’s Mansion—Bob
Burke and Betty Crow—Oklahoma Heritage Association, Oklahoma
City, OK
This book succeeds as both a celebration of the 76-year-old Governor’s
Mansion and a history of the first families who have called it home. Bob
Burke has written more than fifty books on Oklahoma and Oklahomans. He
was born in Broken Bow, Oklahoma, and now practices law in Oklahoma City.
Betty Crow graduated from Oklahoma State University after growing up in
Tulsa. As a member of the board of Guardians of the Oklahoma Governor’s
Mansion, she undertook a massive project in 1997 to produce a series of
scrapbooks to portray the history of this special house on 23rdstreet.
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| Winner for Non-Fiction |
Ramblin’ Man: The Life and Times of Woody Guthrie—Ed
Cray—W.W. Norton & Company, New York, NY
Woody Guthrie, writer, singer, and political activist, is perhaps the
single most important figure to have influenced the tradition of American
folk music. His music honored and heartened the dispossessed and disgruntled
in an America darkened by poverty. Ed Cray is the first biographer to have
full access to the Woody Guthrie Archives. He has drawn from thousands
of letters and interviewed more than seventy people close to Guthrie to
uncover this portrait of a great Oklahoman and a great American. Cray is
a professor of journalism at the University of Southern California.
The Oregon Trail: An American Saga—David
Dary—Alfred
A. Knopf, New York, NY
A major one-volume history of the Oregon Trail, the book covers the route
from its earliest beginnings to the present. David Dary includes the romance,
colorful stories, hardship, and joys of the pioneers who made up this historic
migration. A native of Manhattan, Kansas, Dary has been a newsman and professor
of journalism. He directed the School of Journalism at the University of
Oklahoma, where he recently retired. He has received numerous awards for
his writing and the Owen Wister Award for lifetime achievement for his
books on the West.
Oklahoma: A Rich Heritage—Odie B. Faulk and William
Welge—American Historical Press,
Sun Valley, CA
Odie B. Faulk and William Welge’s book brings the state’s
history to life as Oklahoma prepares for its second century. More than
400 photographs, maps, and drawings that illuminate major events in the
story of the 46th Star accompany the text. Faulk holds a Ph.D. in history
from Texas Tech and has served as a history professor for more than 20
years. Welge earned his degrees from the University of Oklahoma and Central
State University. He has been associated with the Oklahoma Historical Society
since 1977, and has been director of research since 1990.
Washita: The U.S. Army and the Southern Cheyennes, 1867-1869—Jerome
A. Greene—University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, OK
On November 27, 1868, The U.S. Seventh Cavalry under Lt. Col. George Armstrong
Custer attacked a Southern Cheyenne village along the Washita River in
present-day Oklahoma. The subsequent U.S. victory signaled the end of the
Cheyennes’ traditional way of life and resulted in the death of Black
Kettle. Jerome Greene draws on newly available material to retell, in unprecedented
depth, the story of this watershed event in American history. Author Greene
is research historian for the National Park Service in Denver, Colorado.
Red Earth: Race and Agriculture in Oklahoma Territory—Bonnie
Lynn-Sherow—University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, KS
Bonnie Lynn-Sherow describes how a thriving ecology was ultimately reduced
by market agriculture. Drawing on a host of sources—oral histories,
letters and journals, agricultural and census records—she examines
the effects of racism, economics, and politics on prairie landscapes. In
the process, the author explores the stories of “real people who
won and lost in their gamble with the red earth.” Lynn-Sherow is
assistant professor of history at Kansas State University.
Fine Art of the West—B. Byron Price—Abbeville
Press, New York, NY
This comprehensive work celebrates the history and art of the specialized
gear of the American West—the saddles, hats, boots, spurs, and other
objects of the cowboy’s everyday life. B. Byron Price tells how these
objects took form in the Old West, as a legacy of Spanish and Mexican craftsmen,
and explains how they became the focus of innovative designers who created
a new, vigorous tradition in decorative art. Price is director of the Charles
M. Russell Center for the Study of Art in the American West at the University
of Oklahoma, and former director of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage
Museum.
Oklahoma Breeding Bird Atlas—Dan Reinking, Editor—Univ.
of Oklahoma Press, Norman, OK
During the years 1997 to 2001, more than 100 volunteer birders and professional
researchers surveyed nearly 600 locations across all regions of Oklahoma.
The result is this landmark volume on the state’s bird species and
their distributions. Illustrated with more than 200 color photos and 200
color maps, Oklahoma Breeding Bird Atlas serves both amateurs and
ornithologists with its wealth of information. Dan Reinking is a biologist
at the George M. Sutton Avian Research Center in Bartlesville. A birder
since age twelve, he is president of the Oklahoma Ornithological Society.
Who’s Rocking the Cradle? Women Pioneers of Oklahoma Politics
from Socialism to the KKK, 1900-1930—Suzanne
H. Schrems, Ph.D.—Horse Creek
Publications, Norman, OK
Senator David Boren says Who’s Rocking the Cradle? is “a
fascinating and long overdue examination of the critical role played by
women in political movements in Oklahoma.” The work covers the Women’s
Christian Temperance Union in Indian Territory, the suffrage movement of
the early 1900s, Alice Robertson’s election to the U.S. House of
Representatives (as the first, and only, Oklahoma woman to hold this office),
and a “secret sisterhood” of women who joined men as members
of the Ku Klux Klan. Dr. Suzanne H. Schrems is an independent historian
and author who lives in Norman, Oklahoma.
Hogs on 66: Best Feed and Hangouts for Roadtrips on Route 66—Michael
Wallis and Marian Clark—Council Oak Books, Tulsa, OK
Author and biker Michael Wallis is the expert on the history, legends,
and lore of U.S. Route 66. Marian Clark is the expert on all things culinary
related to the Mother Road. Hogs on 66 provides an assortment of
yarns, practical advice, useful tips, and an array of colorful photographs
to enhance the biker experience on America’s highway. As the promo
line on the back cover states: “Route 66 and motorcycles go together
like a sizzling burger and a slab of cheddar cheese.” Wallis is the
Center’s 1999 Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient. His book The
Real Wild West won the Oklahoma Book Award in 2000.
Poetry
Primer of the Obsolete—Diane Glancy—University
of Massachusetts Press, Amherst, MA
These experimental poems continue Diane Glancy’s exploration of
the conjoined cultures of Indian and European, white and Cherokee, Christian
and conjuring. Pick up a list of Oklahoma Book Award finalists for almost
any year and you’ll find Glancy’s name. She has been honored
as a finalist in the categories of poetry, fiction, and even book design.
Her novel The Mask Maker received the 2003 Book Award for fiction.
The Vanishing Point—Carol Hamilton—Main Street
Rag Publishing Company, Charlotte, NC
Carol Hamilton is a writer, storyteller, and former elementary school
teacher and university professor who lives in Midwest City. She was Poet
Laureate of Oklahoma from 1995-1997, and has won numerous honors for her
poetry and children’s books. She received the Oklahoma Book Award
in 1992 for her poetry collection Once The Dust. Her latest collection
of poetry, The Vanishing Point, celebrates art, artists, and the
life of art.
On Hearing Thunder—Terry Hauptman—North Star
Press of St. Cloud, Inc., St. Cloud, MN
Epic in its breadth, Terry Hauptman’s collection warns of the coming
storms—those close to home and of the thunder abroad: war, hunger,
poverty and violence—and celebrates the creative muses that sustain
us. She is the author of two previous poetry collections, Masquerading
in Clover: Fantasy of the Leafy Fool and Rattle. Hauptman has
lived and written poetry in Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Ohio. Today, she
lives in Minnesota and Vermont with her family.
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| Winner for Poetry |
Still Dancing—Francine Leffler Ringold—Coman & Associates,
Tulsa, OK
Francine Leffler Ringold is Poet Laureate of Oklahoma and a 2003 winner
of the “Writers Who Make a Difference “ Award from The Writer
Magazine. Her collection of poems, The Trouble With Voices,
received the Oklahoma Book Award in 1996. Her name is also synonymous in
the minds of many with Nimrod, the international literary journal
she has edited and championed for almost 40 years. Still Dancing interweaves
two dozen new poems with original poetry from four previous volumes.
Design/Illustration
Hogs on 66: Best Feed and Hangouts for Roadtrips on Route 66—Designed by Margaret
Copeland and Jennifer Unruh—Council Oak Books,
Tulsa
Margaret Copeland and Jennifer Unruh take all the ingredients supplied
by writers Michael Wallis and Marian Clark, and add their own graphic arts
creativity to serve up this delightful dish of a book. Turning the pages
is like rounding the bend on old Route 66: the reader never knows what
surprise may be waiting for him.
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| Winner for Design/ Illustration |
A History of the Oklahoma Governor’s Mansion—Designed by Carol
Haralson—Oklahoma Heritage Association, Oklahoma
City, OK
Carol Haralson skillfully combines historic and present-day photos, graphics,
and Bob Burke and Betty Crow’s narrative to help tell the story of
Oklahoma’s main house. Haralson is a multiple winner in this category.
A former Tulsan, she now makes her home in Sedona, Arizona.
Rabbit and the Bears and Rabbit Goes Duck Hunting—Drawings
by Murv Jacob—University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque,
NM
With these two titles, Tahlequah, Oklahoma, artist Murv Jacob continues
his collaboration with author Deborah Duvall on The Grandmother Stories,
bringing traditional Cherokee tales to a new generation of children—and to
children of all ages. His unique drawing style captured an Oklahoma Book
Award in this category in 2003 for the first title in the Grandmother Stories
series: The Great Ball Game of the Birds and Animals.
Oklahoma 24/7—Designed by Rick Smolan and David
Elliot Cohen—DK Publishing, New
York, NY
Rick Smolan and David Elliot Cohen worked with 34 Oklahoma photographers
to capture a week in the life of Oklahomans. The 557 images presented in Oklahoma
24/7, both expansive and intimate, add up to a panoramic glimpse of
life-in-progress in the Sooner State.
Palacio De Gobierno: Capitol of Chihuahua—Design and
Photography by Bill Williams—Government of the State of Chihuahua,
and Graphic Arts Books, Portland, OR
A graduate of the University of Tulsa, Bill Williams was director of publications
for the University of Oklahoma for 24 years. His photographs are featured
in six Mexican guidebooks. His participation in this book as designer and
photographer offers a look at an extraordinary building, the Chihuahua
State Capitol. Williams travels worldwide, taking photographs and painting.
He operates a photography and graphic arts studio in Norman, Oklahoma.
Fiction
Hate Crime—William Bernhardt—Ballentine Books,
New York, NY
This is William Bernhardt’s 13th novel to feature popular Tulsa
defense attorney Ben Kincaid. When frat boy Johnny Christensen is accused
of killing a gay man outside a Chicago Bar, Christensen’s mother
appeals to Kincaid to take the case. Kincaid declines for reasons that
remain secret to his partner Christina McCall. When McCall decides to take
the case, Kincaid finds himself drawn in against his will. Bernhardt, a
two-time Oklahoma Book Award winner, is known as a master of the legal
thriller.
Following the Harvest—Fred Harris—University
of Oklahoma Press, Norman, OK
In this coming of age story, sixteen-year-old Will Haley leaves his hometown
of Vernon, Oklahoma, to join his father’s wheat harvesting crew.
As the crew moves north, Will battles field fires and deadly weather, makes
an unexpected visit to a house of ill repute, takes a wild ride at a Frontier
Days rodeo, and deals with his hard-drinking dad. Fred Harris is a former
U.S. Senator from Oklahoma and a professor of political science at the
University of New Mexico. Beginning at the age of twelve, Harris followed
the wheat harvest himself for nine summers in a row, all the way from his
Oklahoma hometown of Walters to Rhame, North Dakota.
Homer’s Place—Harlan G. Koch—John M. Hardy
Publishing, Houston, TX
This novel of Oklahoma during the Great Depression focuses on young Tom
Cable and his father, Homer, who is haunted by the memory of a car wreck
that took the life of his wife. Homer’s relationship with his son
ranges from loving to demonic, fueled by Homer’s binge drinking.
As the Cable family drama unfolds, readers are treated to a cast of characters
who stayed and struggled together through the Dust Bowl years. Harlan G.
Koch was raised in Waynoka, Oklahoma. He is a graduate of United States
Military Academy at West Point, and served as an officer in Southeast Asia
and the Middle East. He lives in San Francisco with his wife.
Shoot the Moon—Billie Letts—Warner Books, New
York, NY
Two-time Oklahoma Book Award winner Billie Letts returns with this tale
of a small Oklahoma town and the mystery that has haunted its residents
for years. In 1972, the town of DeClare, Oklahoma, was consumed by the
terrifying murder of Gaylene Harjo and the disappearance of her baby, Nicky
Jack. Thirty years later, Nicky Jack returns, and his reappearance stuns
the town and stirs up long-buried emotions and memories. Billie Letts’s
second novel, The Honk and Holler Opening Soon, was the first selection
in the statewide reading and discussion program Oklahoma Reads Oklahoma.
She lives in Tulsa with her husband, Dennis.
Sweet Dreams at the Goodnight Motel—Curtiss
Ann Matlock—MIRA Books, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada
Heroine Claire Wilder has wasted too much time waiting for a man to return,
and she knows life will pass her by if she doesn’t get moving again.
So she quits her job, packs her bags, and ends up in her father’s
hometown of Valentine, Oklahoma. Forces beyond her control keep her in
the town longer than she planned, but she may just find what she’s
looking for in this small hamlet. Curtiss Ann Matlock’s books have
received rave reviews, been optioned for films, and have won numerous awards.
She lives in Minco, Oklahoma.
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| Winner for Fiction |
Some Danger Involved—Will Thomas—Simon and Schuster,
New York, NY
Modeled after the adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Will Thomas’s debut
novel is set in the gritty streets of Victorian London. The work introduces
detective Cyrus Barker and his apprentice Thomas Llewelyn, as they work
to solve the gruesome murder of a young scholar. Thomas is a librarian
for the Tulsa City-County Library System. He has done extensive research
on the Victorian novel. His writings have appeared in Ellery Queen’s
Mystery Magazine and other publications. He lives in Broken Arrow,
Oklahoma with his family.
The Oklahoma Center for the Book, sponsor of the Oklahoma Book Award competition, is a non-profit, 501-c-3 organization located in the Oklahoma Department of Libraries. Established in 1986 as an outreach program of the Library of Congress, the Oklahoma Center was the fourth such state center formed. It is governed by a volunteer board of directors from across the state.
The mission of the Oklahoma Center for
the Book is
to
promote the work of Oklahoma authors,
to promote the
literary heritage of the state, and
to encourage reading
for pleasure by Oklahomans of all ages.
For more information about the Oklahoma Center for the Book or the Oklahoma Book Award program, contact Connie Armstrong, 200 N.E. 18th Street, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, 73105; or call 1-800-522-8116 toll free, statewide; in the Oklahoma City metropolitan area, call 522-3383.
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