Voting Opens for 2013 Indies Choice and E. B. White Read-Aloud Awards

The owners and staff at all ABA member bookstores can now cast their ballots for the 2013 Indies Choice Book Awards and the E.B. White Read-Aloud Awards. Voting is open until April 15 via an electronic ballot on BookWeb.org.

All of this year’s finalists represent the types of books that indie booksellers champion best. In addition, the E.B. White Read-Aloud finalists reflect the playful, well-paced language, the engaging themes, and the universal appeal to a wide range of ages embodied by E.B. White’s collection of beloved books.

Every bookseller at an ABA member store is encouraged to vote; one ballot per person will be accepted. One winner will be declared in each category, with the exception of the Picture Book Hall of Fame, where booksellers will choose three inductees. The winners will be announced on April 18 and will be invited to take part in ABA’s Celebration of Bookselling Author Awards Luncheon at BookExpo America 2013 in New York City on May 30.

This year’s finalists are:

BOOK OF THE YEAR – ADULT FICTION

• The Art of Hearing Heartbeats: A Novel, by Jan Philipp Sendker (Other Press)
• Beautiful Ruins: A Novel, by Jess Walter (Harper)
• Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk: A Novel, by Ben Fountain (Ecco)
• The Dog Stars: A Novel, by Peter Heller (Knopf)
• The Orphan Master’s Son: A Novel, by Adam Johnson (Random House)
• The Round House: A Novel, by Louise Erdrich (Harper)

BOOK OF THE YEAR – ADULT NONFICTION

• Elsewhere: A Memoir, by Richard Russo (Knopf)
• The End of Your Life Book Club, by Will Schwalbe (Knopf)
• Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking, by Susan Cain (Crown)
• Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power, by Jon Meacham (Random House)
• Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal?, by Jeanette Winterson (Grove Press)
• Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail, by Cheryl Strayed (Knopf)

BOOK OF THE YEAR – ADULT DEBUT

• The Age of Miracles: A Novel, by Karen Thompson Walker (Random House)
• In the Shadow of the Banyan: A Novel, by Vaddey Ratner (Simon & Schuster)
• A Land More Kind Than Home: A Novel, by Wiley Cash (William Morrow)
• The Orchardist: A Novel, by Amanda Coplin (Harper)
• The Snow Child: A Novel, by Eowyn Ivey (Little, Brown)
• The Yellow Birds: A Novel, by Kevin Powers (Little, Brown)

BOOK OF THE YEAR – YOUNG ADULT

• Cinder: Book One of the Lunar Chronicles, by Marissa Meyer (Feiwel & Friends)
• Colin Fischer, by Ashley Edward Miller and Zack Stentz (Razorbill)
• Every Day, by David Levithan (Knopf Books for Young Readers)
• The Fault in Our Stars, by John Green (Dutton Juvenile)
• Grave Mercy: His Fair Assassin, Book I, by Robin LaFevers (Houghton Mifflin Books for Children)
• Seraphina, by Rachel Hartman (Random House Books for Young Readers)

E. B. WHITE READ-ALOUD AWARD – MIDDLE READER

• The False Prince, by Jennifer A. Nielsen (Scholastic)
• The Last Dragonslayer: The Chronicles of Kazam, Book I, by Jasper Fforde (Harcourt Children’s Books)
• The One and Only Ivan, by Katherine Applegate, Patricia Castelao (Illus.) (HarperCollins)
• Same Sun Here, by Silas House and Neela Vaswani (Candlewick)
• Three Times Lucky, by Sheila Turnage (Dial Books for Young Readers)
• Wonder, by R.J. Palacio (Knopf Books for Young Readers)

E. B. WHITE READ-ALOUD AWARD – PICTURE BOOK

• Creepy Carrots!, by Aaron Reynolds, Peter Brown (Illus.) (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers)
• Bear Has a Story to Tell, by Philip C. Stead, Erin Stead (Illus.) (Roaring Brook Press)
• Extra Yarn, by Mac Barnett, Jon Klassen (Illus.) (Balzer + Bray)
• Oh, No!, by Candace Fleming, Eric Rohmann (Illus.) (Schwartz & Wade)
• Too Tall Houses, by Gianna Marino (Viking Juvenile)
• Z Is for Moose, by Kelly Bingham, Paul O. Zelinsky (Illus.) (Greenwillow Books)

PICTURE BOOK HALL OF FAME

• Bread and Jam for Frances, by Russell Hoban, Lillian Hoban (Illus.) (HarperCollins)
• Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See?, by Bill Martin, Jr. and Eric Carle (Henry Holt & Co.)
• Caps for Sale, by Esphyr Slobokina (HarperCollins)
• Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, by Bill Martin, Jr. and John Archambault, Lois Ehlert (Illus.) (Beach Lane Books)
• Goodnight Gorilla, by Peggy Rathmann (Putnam Juvenile)
• Harold and the Purple Crayon, by Crockett Johnson (HarperCollins)
• If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, Laura Numeroff (HarperCollins)
• Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse, by Kevin Henkes (Greenwillow)
• The Napping House, by Audrey Wood (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
• Stellaluna, by Janelle Cannon (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
• Strega Nona, by Tomie dePaola (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers/Aladdin)
• The True Story of the Three Little Pigs, by Jon Scieszka, Lane Smith (Illus.) (Viking Juvenile/Puffin)

INDIE CHAMPION AWARD (formerly Most Engaging Author)

• Tom Angleberger
• Geraldine Brooks
• Jonathan Evison
• John Green
• Jon Scieszka
• Terry Tempest Williams

The finalists in the Indies Choice Book Awards categories of Adult Fiction, Adult Nonfiction, and Adult Debut were chosen by a jury of six ABA member booksellers from titles appearing on the Indie Next Lists in 2012.

A Children’s jury, composed of six members of the ABC Children’s Group at ABA, chose the finalists for the Indies Choice Book Award in the Young Adult category and for the E. B. White Read-Aloud Middle Reader and Picture Book Awards. Finalists were chosen from titles appearing on the Kids’ Indie Next Lists in 2012, with additional titles for the E. B. White awards nominated by ABC Group members.

To better reflect the intent of the award, beginning this year the category formerly called Most Engaging Author has been changed to the Indie Champion Award. All of the 2013 bookseller jury members agreed that the new name more clearly describes the award that is presented to the author or illustrator who booksellers feel has the best sense of the importance of independent bookstores to their communities at large and the strongest personal commitment to foster and support the mission and passion of independent booksellers. Finalists for the Indie Champion award were chosen by both the Adult and Children’s juries.

There is no restriction on publication date for nominees for induction into the Picture Book Hall of Fame, and once again this year, the award will recognize three outstanding backlist titles.

To help booksellers promote the finalists in newsletters and other marketing materials, ABA has made the Indies Choice Awards logo available for download here.

Members of this year’s Indies Choice Book Awards Adult jury are Sarah Bagby, Watermark Books, Wichita, Kansas (chair); Andrea Avantaggio, Maria’s Bookshop, Durango, Colorado; Bill Cusumano, Nicola’s Books, Ann Arbor, Michigan; Stan Hynds, Northshire Bookstore, Manchester Center, Vermont; Annie Philbrick, Bank Square Books, Mystic, Connecticut; and Robert Sindelar, Third Place Books, Lake Forest Park, Washington.

The 2013 Children’s jury members are Valerie Koehler, Blue Willow Bookshop, Houston, Texas (chair); Kenny Brechner, Devaney, Doak & Garrett, Farmington, Maine; Heather Hebert, Children’s Book World, Haverford, Pennsylvania; Rene Kirkpatrick, Eagle Harbor Book Company, Bainbridge Island, Washington; Carol Moyer, Quail Ridge Books & Music, Raleigh, North Carolina; and Lauren Savage, The Reading Bug, San Carlos, California.

Cast your ballot now. Then reserve a seat at the Celebration luncheon.