Announcing the 2008 Book Sense Book of the Year Winners

Posted Thursday, Mar 20, 2008

The winners of the 2008 Book Sense Book of the Year Awards as voted by the owners and staff of American Booksellers Association member bookstores are:

  • Fiction: A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini (Riverhead/Penguin)

  • Nonfiction: Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver, with Steven L. Hopp and Camille Kingsolver (HarperCollins)

  • Children's Literature: The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick (Scholastic Press)

  • Children's Illustrated: Knuffle Bunny Too: A Case of Mistaken Identity by Mo Willems (Hyperion Books for Children)

The awards, which recognize the titles independent booksellers most enjoyed handselling during 2007, will be presented at ABA's annual Celebration of Bookselling on Thursday, May 29, at Hotel ABA (the Renaissance Hollywood).

"We hope the entire industry will join us at Hotel ABA to honor this year's Book Sense Book of the Year Award winners," said ABA CEO Avin Mark Domnitz. "Each is an indie favorite that has been handsold to customers at ABA member stores during 2007. We look forward to applauding these winning authors and illustrators for their unique contributions to the diversity of titles sold at independent bookstores nationwide."

Fiction Honor Books

  • The Yiddish Policemen's Union: A Novel by Michael Chabon (HarperCollins)
  • Bridge of Sighs by Richard Russo (Knopf/Random House)
  • Away: A Novel by Amy Bloom (Random House)
  • Run: A Novel by Ann Patchett (HarperCollins)

Nonfiction Honor Books

  • The World Without Us by Alan Weisman (Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin's)
  • Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life by Steve Martin (Scribner/S&S)
  • The Coldest Winter: America and the Korean War by David Halberstam (Hyperion)
  • The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible by A.J. Jacobs (Simon & Schuster)

Children's Literature Honor Books

  • The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie (Little, Brown Young Readers)
  • Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer (Little, Brown Young Readers)
  • Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney (Abrams Books for Young Readers)
  • The Arrival by Shaun Tan (Arthur A. Levine Books/Scholastic)

Children's Illustrated Honor Books

  • Fancy Nancy and the Posh Puppy by Jane O'Connor, Robin Preiss-Glasser (Illus.) (HarperCollins)
  • Pirates Don't Change Diapers by Melinda Long, David Shannon (Illus.) (Harcourt Children's Books)
  • The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain by Peter Sis (Frances Foster Books/FSG)
  • Llama Llama Mad at Mama by Anna Dewdney (Viking Juvenile/Penguin Young Readers Group)

The Book Sense Book of the Year winners and honor books were selected by ABA members from titles most often nominated for the Book Sense Picks lists in 2007. Booksellers were also able to write in titles on the ballot. Only books published in 2007 were eligible. This year's winners will receive prizes provided by Book Sense partner Levenger, Inc., a catalog and Internet seller of high-quality tools for reading and writing.

In addition to being honored at the Celebration of Bookselling, the Book of the Year winners and honor book recipients are being invited to ABA's Book Sense Author Luncheon on Friday, May 30, at the Los Angeles Convention Center. The luncheon, open exclusively to stores with Book Sense, is a festive gathering of booksellers and dozens of authors whose books they have made past or present Book Sense Picks. Reservations are limited to two people per bookstore. Since seating is limited, booksellers are urged to make their reservations as soon as possible via an electronic form on BookWeb.org. Questions regarding the luncheon should be addressed to ABA Senior Director of Publisher Initiatives Mark Nichols at mark@bookweb.org. --Rosemary Hawkins

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