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2006 Oklahoma Book Award Finalists
Children/Young Adults
Clabbernappers—Len Bailey—Tor/Starscape, New York, NY
Chess, pirates, royalty and a confident young cowboy come together in this
unusual fantasy, Bailey’s first book. Eleven-year-old Danny Ray
(“…the best rodeo cowboy in Oklahoma—Junior Division
of course!”) finds himself transported from the Cherokee County
Fair to the checkered land of Elidor, where the royal citizens are in
need of a hero. Can Danny rescue the kidnapped queen from the Sarksa
pirates in time to save the Great Chess Game? Bailey graduated from Tahlequah
High School and Trinity College in Illinois. He and his family live in
the Chicago suburbs.
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| Winner for Young Adult |
Assassin—Anna Myers—Walker & Company, New York, NY
“I am not evil. I tell this story so that you might understand and
perhaps so that I might see more clearly.” Thus begins Anna Myers’ latest
work of historical fiction. It is the story of Bella, a seamstress to Mary
Todd Lincoln, who comes under the influence of charismatic actor John Wilkes
Booth, the man who will become infamous for killing a president. Myers
has won two Oklahoma Book Awards, and her book Tulsa Burning was selected
as one of New York Public Library’s Books for the Teen Age. The author
lived many years in Chandler, but now calls Tulsa home.
Cowboy Camp—Tammi Sauer—Sterling Publishing Co., Inc., New
York, NY
In this delightful picture book, young Avery wants to be a cowboy more
than anything, but he just doesn’t fit the mold. His belt buckle
is too small, his hat is too big, his shoes are too red, he hates grits
and beans, he’s allergic to horses, and “whoever heard of a
cowboy named Avery?” Will he make the grade? Sauer spent the first
eighteen years of her life in Victoria, Kansas, population 1,208. Today
she lives in Edmond, Oklahoma, with her family.
Dancing with Elvis—Lynda Stephenson—Eerdmans Books for Young
Readers, Grand Rapids, MI
It’s 1956, and ever since she and her mother rescued Angel Musseldorf
from her abusive parents, Frankilee Baxter has been miserable. In addition
to being more pretty, popular, and talented than Frankilee, Angel moves
in, steals Frankilee’s clothing, and begins dating the boy Frankilee
likes. At the same time, Frankilee’s community is struggling with
the issue of school integration. What keeps our young heroine going is
her fantasy about Elvis Presley rescuing her from life in Clover, Texas.
Booklist calls Stephenson’s ambitious first book a debut that “won’t
easily be forgotten.” The author lives in Edmond with her husband
and a cat named Elvis.
Czar of Alaska: The Cross of Charlemagne—Richard
Trout—Pelican
Publishing Co., Gretna, LA
International bestselling author Clive Cussler says Trout writes tales
for young people the way they “should be written.” In this
fourth installment of the MacGregor Family Adventure Series, Drs. Jack
and Mavis MacGregor and their three children head to Alaska where they
encounter an unusual new threat from eco-terrorists, common anarchists,
a rogue Vatican priest, and a corrupt Polish archaeologist. Trout is an
environmental biologist, consultant, and professor at Oklahoma City Community
College. He and his wife have two grown daughters.
Pick of the Litter—Bill Wallace—Holiday House, New York, NY
Wallace is the beloved author of many books for young readers, and is known
far and wide for his middle-grade fiction. He is a two-time winner of the
Texas Bluebonnet Award and the recipient of the Arrell
Gibson Lifetime Achievement Award from the Oklahoma Center for the Book. The author’s
latest work is an honest and touching boy-and-dog story, where young Tom
learns firsthand about honor, friendship and puppy love. Wallace and his
family live in Chickasha.
Poetry
Suffer the Little Voices—Nathan Brown—Greystone Press, Edmond,
OK
In this stark, honest and challenging work, Brown tells spiritual truths
as he sees them—truths that have often been arrived at painfully.
As the poet invites readers to accompany him on this exploration of faith
and religion, he employs styles that range from conversational to almost
biblical, demonstrating he is comfortable and masterful writing in a variety
of voices. Nathan Brown is a musician, entertainer, recording artist, minister,
teacher, father and poet philosopher who lives in Norman, Oklahoma.
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| Winner for Poetry |
Evidence of Red—LeAnne Howe—Salt Publishing, Cambridge, UK
Howe’s collection of poetry and prose is personal and multi-layered.
It breaks out of the traditional Native American mold to create a new paradigm.
Unique imagery, the counterpoint between the historically poignant with
the cultural iconography of the present, and the unexpected humor that
pops up, add up to a thoroughly original work. Howe, an enrolled member
of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, was raised in Oklahoma City. She is
a fiction writer, playwright, journalist, scholar and poet. Her novel Shell
Shaker was a finalist for the 2003 Oklahoma Book
Award.
Everything That Is–Is Connected—Judith
Tate O’Brien—Village
Books Press, Cheyenne, OK
O’Brien’s most recent collection of poetry exposes the illusory
borders that mask true connections, revealing “a world without the
boundaries that separate people from one another, from the natural world,
from the past, and from the future, a world that could be described as
a divine milieu.” This is Judith Tate O’Brien’s third
book to be named an Oklahoma Book Award finalist. Her poetry has been widely
published and has won several prizes and a Pushcart Prize Nomination. She
has been a teacher, a nun and a family therapist. O’Brien is also
a stroke survivor. She lives in Oklahoma City with Gene, her husband of
twenty-six years.
Non-fiction
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| Winner for Non-Fiction |
The Worst Hard Time—Timothy Egan—Houghton Mifflin, New York,
NY
The dust storms that terrorized the high plains of Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas,
Colorado and other states in the darkest days of the Great Depression were
like nothing ever seen before or since. New York Times journalist and author
Timothy Egan follows a half-dozen families through the rise and fall of
the region, producing a story Walter Cronkite describes as “can’t-put-it-down
history.” Egan has written four books and has received several awards,
including the Pulitzer Prize. He lives in Seattle, Washington.
Wanderers Between Two Worlds: German Rebels
in the American West, 1830–1860
Douglas Hale—Xlibris, Philadelphia, PA
This is the true story of seven young men who launched an abortive revolution
in 1833 Germany in an attempt to bring unity and freedom to their country.
Bungling the revolt, the rebels find themselves branded as traitors and
hunted as criminals. Fleeing to the new world, the youths embrace the challenges
of the American frontier in Illinois, Missouri and Texas, while carving
out careers of distinction. Historian Douglas Hale is professor emeritus
at Oklahoma State University. This is his third book. He and his wife,
sculptor Lou Moore Hale, live in Stillwater.
The University of Oklahoma: A History, Volume
I, 1890–1917
David W. Levy—University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, OK
This is the first in a projected three-volume definitive history of the
University of Oklahoma. Levy examines the people and events surrounding
the school’s formation and development, chronicling the determined
ambition of pioneers to transform an apparently barren landscape into a
place where a worthy institution of higher education could thrive. Levy
is Irene and Julian J. Rothbaum Professor of Modern American History and
David Ross Boyd Professor at the University of Oklahoma.
Hidden Treasures of the American West: Muriel H. Wright, Angie Debo and
Alice Marriott
Patricia Loughlin—University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, NM
In the 1930s and 1940s, three Oklahoma women produced some of the most
important writings about Oklahoma, American Indians, and the American West.
But Wright, Debo and Marriott never received the attention that has been
enjoyed by other public historians who studied and wrote on the same topics.
Loughlin, assistant professor of history at the University of Central Oklahoma
in Edmond, pulls the curtain back to reveal the lives of these women, their
establishment of new methodologies, and their significant texts that have
contributed greatly to the historiography of Oklahoma and the nation.
Palace on the Prairie: The Marland Family Story—C.D.
Northcutt, William
C. Ziegenhain, and Bob Burke
Oklahoma Heritage Association, Oklahoma
City, OK
The story of the E. W. Marland family of Ponca City is one of the most
intriguing sagas in Oklahoma history. It is the story of big oil, great
wealth, politics, and generous philanthropy. It is also the story of a
great love, a mysterious disappearance, and the building of an incredible
mansion home. Northcutt was Lydie Marland’s legal advisor and friend;
Ziegenhain has done major research on the Marland family history; and Burke,
2006 Lifetime Achievement Award recipient, has written and co-written
more than sixty books about Oklahoma and its people.
On the Wild Edge: In Search of a Natural Life—David
Petersen—Henry
Holt and Co., New York, NY
Petersen reflects on his twenty-five years of life in the Colorado wilderness.
In the past we listened to Henry David Thoreau or Aldo Leopold: today it
is Petersen’s turn. His observations are lyrical, scientific, and
from the heart. Petersen was born and raised in Oklahoma and attended the
University of Oklahoma. He was a pilot in the U.S. Marines, the managing
editor of a national motorcycle magazine, a two-time college graduate,
a mailman, a beach bum, and the western editor of Mother
Earth News. On
the Wild Edge is his “lucky thirteenth” book.
The Chuck Wagon Cookbook—B. Byron
Price—University of Oklahoma
Press, Norman, OK
Price offers a fascinating history of ranch and range cooking, tracing
its evolution from nineteenth-century ranchers to today’s working
cowboys. Chock full of recipes to try at home, the book is also enhanced
by folklore, abundant photographs, and letters from cowboys in order to
do full justice to the rich and vital legacy of Western cooking. Price
is director of the Charles M. Russell Center for the Study of the American
West at the University of Oklahoma, and former director of the National
Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City.
Night Draws Near: Iraq’s People in the Shadow of America’s
War
Anthony Shadid—Henry Holt and Co., New York, NY
Washington Post reporter Anthony Shadid received the Pulitzer Prize for
his reporting from Iraq. Fluent in Arabic, a veteran observer of the Middle
East, he hoped to explain the complexities of post–9/11 Arab identity
and to tell the human story of the American invasion’s impact on
Iraqi lives. Night Draws Near reveals the hidden faces of a nation and
a conflict that will resonate around the world for generations to come.
An Arab-American of Lebanese descent, Shadid was born and raised in Oklahoma
City, and now lives in Washington and Baghdad.
The Oklahoma Aviation Story—Keith Tolman, Kim
Jones, Carl Gregory,
and Bill Moore
Oklahoma Heritage Association, Oklahoma City, OK
The adventure of flight in Oklahoma is told from its simple beginnings
of the balloon era through the golden age into military and the jet age.
The names, the dates and the places are all here in one book for the very
first time. All of the authors have a fascination with Sooner State aviation:
Tolman has written extensively about Oklahoma aerospace history; Jones
is curator of the Tulsa Air and Space Museum; Gregory has written a book
on Tulsa aviation history; and Moore has written articles on Oklahoma aviation
and has produced two aviation documentaries for OETA.
Design and Illustration
Images of History: The Oklahoman Collection—
Design by Jim
Argo,
Bob Blackburn, and Scott Horton—Oklahoma Historical Society,
Oklahoma City, OK
Since 1903, the Oklahoma Publishing Company has documented events in the
state, one day at a time, in words and images. This book celebrates the
photographic images of The Oklahoman and companion newspapers during the
past century. Together, the images reveal the progress of a state and its
people. Blackburn is executive director of the Oklahoma Historical Society.
Argo retired as The Oklahoman photo editor in 2003. Horton is creative
director of NewsOK.com. Argo and Horton received the
Oklahoma Book Award for design in 2004 for Family Album: A Centennial
Pictorial of the Oklahoma Publishing Company.
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| Winner for Illustration |
Mother, Mother, I Want Another—Illustrated by Jon
Goodell—Alfred
A. Knopf, New York, NY
Critically acclaimed artist Jon Goodell illustrates this new edition of
Maria Polushkin Robbins’s delightful comedy of errors. When Mother
Mouse tucks Baby Mouse into bed, she gives her baby a kiss. “I want
another, Mother,” Baby Mouse says. And so Mother Mouse is on the
hunt for another Mother to help put Baby to bed! Goodell earned a degree
in fine arts from the University of Oklahoma and finds illustrating books
for young readers the most rewarding work he can imagine. He lives in Norman
with his family and cooks in his spare time.
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| Winner for Design |
Home: Native People in the Southwest—Designed by Carol
Haralson—Heard
Museum, Phoenix, AZ
Miami, Oklahoma, native Carol Haralson designed this book as a companion
to an exhibit at the Heard Museum. The exhibit explored artistic expressions
of Native Peoples on the meanings of home. Haralson worked professionally
in Oklahoma for many years and continues to work with Oklahoma institutions
and individuals on a variety of book design projects from her studio in
Arizona. Her efforts have earned her more Oklahoma
Book Award medals than any other OBA honoree.
The Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art at the University of Oklahoma: Selected
Works
Designed by John Hubbard—University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, OK
This beautifully illustrated catalogue highlights 101 works of art from
the museum. Combining full-color reproductions with explanatory text, the
catalogue presents significant examples of Asian, European, American, American
Indian, and contemporary art from the museum’s permanent collection.
The pages offer a tour of the museum’s exceptional paintings, sculptures,
works on paper, and photographs. Book designer John Hubbard lives in Seattle.
Charles Faudree’s Country French Living—Photography by Jenifer
Jordan,
book design by Charles Faudree and M.J.
Van Deventer—Gibbs
Smith, Salt Lake City, UT
One of America’s top one hundred designers, Tulsa’s Charles
Faudree is recognized as a master of the Country French style. Interior
photographer Jennifer Jordan beautifully captures the essence of Faudree’s
design sensibility. Faudree and M.J. Van Deventer grew up together in Muskogee,
and have collaborated on writing and designing a previous title, Charles
Faudree’s French Country Signature. Van Deventer is editor of Persimmon
Hill magazine, and current president of the Friends of the Oklahoma Center
for the Book.
A Western Legacy: The National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum
Photography by Ed Muno, design by John Hubbard—The University of
Oklahoma Press, Norman, OK
This volume commemorates the fiftieth anniversary of the museum that sits
on Oklahoma City’s Persimmon Hill, offering both an institutional
history and a pictorial overview of its extensive holdings. Although western
fine art has long been its primary focus, the museum today collects a broad
array of materials that reflects the variety of peoples, cultures, and
historical currents found in the West. The museum’s curator of art,
Ed Muno, demonstrates his virtuoso ability behind the lens of a camera,
and book designer John Hubbard of Seattle puts it all together.
I is for Idea: An Inventions Alphabet—
Illustrated by Kandy Radzinski—Sleeping Bear Press, Chelsea, MI
This children’s book celebrates the men and women from around the
world who made incredible contributions to everyday life through their
inventions. Radzinski has illustrated children’s books, posters,
greeting cards, and even a six-foot penguin (for Tulsa Zoo’s Penguins
on Parade project). She is a two-time Oklahoma Book
Award winner for her
illustrations for The Twelve Cats of Christmas and S
is for Sooner. The
artist lives in Tulsa with two Scottie dogs, Miss Moe and Kirby, a son
named Ian, and a husband named Mark.
Theodore—Paintings by Mike Wimmer—Simon & Schuster Books
for Young Readers, New York, NY
This children’s introduction to Theodore Roosevelt is Wimmer’s
second collaboration with former Governor Frank Keating. Their first work,
Will Rogers, was awarded the 2003 Spur Award by the Western Writers Association
of America. Wimmer’s illustrations for All the
Places to Love received
the 1995 Oklahoma Book Award, and his two collaborations with author Robert
Burliegh have also received recognition—Flight:
The Journey of Charles Lindbergh won an Orbis Pictus Award for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children,
while Home Run: The Story of Babe Ruth was named an ALA Notable Children‘s
Book. Wimmer is a native of Muskogee. He lives with his family in Norman,
Oklahoma.
Fiction
Fields of Gold—Marie Bostwick—Kensington Books, New York,
NY
In 1922 Oklahoma, young Evangeline Glennon assumes her life in the agricultural
community of Dillon will be as predictable and flat as the miles of wheat
that stretch toward the horizon. But when a dashing young aviator lands
in her family’s field, Eva’s life is changed forever. In addition
to being an Oklahoma Book Award finalist, this debut novel has also been
honored by Romantic Times Book Club magazine as a finalist for Best Historical
Saga. Bostwick lives in Connecticut with her husband and three sons.
The Old Buzzard Had It Coming—Donis
Casey—Poisoned Pen Press,
Scottsdale, AZ
Alafair Tucker, her husband Shaw, and their nine children live a busy and
happy life on their farm in Oklahoma at the turn of the twentieth century.
When her daughter becomes involved in the murder of the meanest man in
Muskogee County, she vows to move heaven and earth to protect her child,
and incidentally, find out who killed the old buzzard. Casey was born and
raised in Tulsa, and worked many years as an academic librarian at the
University of Oklahoma and Arizona State University. She and her husband
live in Tempe, Arizona.
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| Winner for Fiction |
The Black Jack Conspiracy—David Kent—Pocket Books, New York,
NY
Kent’s novel Department Thirty was one of the best selling e-books
of 2003. It was also the start of a series revolving around the mysterious
Department Thirty, a secret agency that erases the identities of top-level
criminals in exchange for the kind of information people would kill for.
In this third installment, Department case officer Faith Kelly uncovers
a vast conspiracy that has its roots in a notorious frontier massacre in
Oklahoma Territory. David Kent is the pen name of Kent Anderson. Anderson
grew up in Madill. He has three sons and lives in Oklahoma City.
The Hot Kid—Elmore Leonard—William Morrow, New York, NY
Carl Webster, the hot kid of the marshals service, works out of the Tulsa
Federal Courthouse during the 1930s, the period of America’s most
notorious bank robbers. Carl wants to be America’s most famous lawman.
Meanwhile, Jack Belmont wants to rob banks and become public enemy number
one. The stage is set for the fortieth novel of Elmore Leonard’s
incomparable career. He has been named a Grand Master by the Mystery Writers
of America, and many of his books have been made into movies, including
Get Shorty and Out of Sight. Leonard lives with his wife in Michigan.
Tales of the Wide-A-Wake Café—Curt
Munson—Author-House,
Bloomington, IN
Inspired by a photograph of waitresses taken during 1940, Munson has recreated
the world of a small café on Route 66 during America’s coming
of age. This is the story of Janice, Tina, Cynthia, Clara and the rest
of the women of this greatest generation; the story of what they did and
how they lived and loved when war changed everything in their lives. Munson,
an award-winning writer and public speaker, served in the U.S. Marine Corps.
He currently makes his home in Edmond, Oklahoma.
To Kingdom Come—Will Thomas—Touchstone, New York, NY
Victorian enquiry agent Cyrus Barker and his young assistant Thomas Llewelyn,
first introduced in the 2005 Oklahoma Book Award-winner Some
Danger Involved,
return in this new adventure. Barker and Llewelyn set out to infiltrate
a secret cell of the Irish Republican Brotherhood known as the Invisibles,
a cell that is bent on bringing London to its knees and ending the monarchy
forever. Thomas’s writing has appeared in Ellery
Queen’s Mystery
Magazine and in publications of various Sherlock Holmes societies. He lives
with his wife in Broken Arrow.
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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