Awards

Book Sense Book of the Year Awards Announced at ABA Celebration of Bookselling Ann Patchett

On May 7, Chuck Robinson, owner of Village Books in Bellingham, Washington, was presented with this year's Liberty Bell Award by the Whatcom County Bar Association. The award acknowledges outstanding community service to the legal system by a non-attorney, including encouraging a sense of civic responsibility and contributing to good government. A member of the Board of Directors of the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression, Robinson served on the American Booksellers Association Board and was its president from 1992 - 1994.

The Lambda Literary Foundation will announce the winners of the 15th Annual Lambda Literary Awards, honoring "the best and the brightest" in lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered publishing, at a gala banquet at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles, on May 29. An authors' reception will begin at 6:00 p.m., with dinner at 7:30 p.m.

On Friday, May 2, the Women's National Book Association (WNBA) announced the winners of this year's Lucile Micheels Pannell Awards. Dutton's Brentwood Bookstore in Los Angeles won the award for a general bookstore. The children's specialty category went to Halfway Down the Stairs Children's Book Shop in Rochester, Michigan.

The Audio Publishers Association (APA) recently announced the names of the 130 finalists for the Eighth Annual Audie Awards. This year, the Audie Awards, which honor excellence in audio publishing, will be presented in 27 categories. A panel of over 150 judges representing all areas of the audiobook world selected the finalists. All titles submitted must have been released between November 1, 2002 and October 31, 2002. The awards will be presented on Friday evening, May 30, at the Petersen Car Museum in Los Angeles, in conjunction with BookExpo America.

The Book Sense Book of the Year Awards will be announced at the Celebration of Bookselling, on Friday, May 30, during this year's BookExpo America at the Los Angeles Convention Center in California. All current ABA member bookstores can vote for the Book Sense Book of the Year. The remaining four finalists in each category will be awarded the title of Book Sense Honor Book. All nominated authors and illustrators will be invited to attend the award ceremonies and the Book Sense 76 Lunch, also to be held on Friday, May 30, at BEA.

The Book Sense Book of the Year Awards will be announced at the Celebration of Bookselling, on Friday, May 30, during this year's BookExpo America at the Los Angeles Convention Center in California. All current ABA member bookstores can vote for the Book Sense Book of the Year. The remaining four finalists in each category will be awarded the title of Book Sense Honor Book. All nominated authors and illustrators will be invited to attend the award ceremonies and the Book Sense 76 Lunch, also to be held on Friday, May 30, at BEA.

The will of individuals to prevail over monstrous obstacles links all of these Book Sense Book of the Year nonfiction finalists. Not only Captain Cook faced uncharted waters. Some spent their childhood trapped in brutal civil war or with brutalizing parents. Fighting adversaries, real or imagined, was necessary for the survival of all the authors. The Book Sense Book of the Year Awards will be announced at the Celebration of Bookselling, on Friday, May 30, during this year's BookExpo America, at the Los Angeles Convention Center in California.

The Southeast Booksellers Association has announced the winners of the association's 2003 Book Awards, which "seek to recognize the year's best books out of the South." The winners are:

This year's finalists for the Book Sense Book of the Year Award in the adult fiction category include two debut novels and stories that take place in settings as diverse as the turbulent Pacific Ocean and a placid, custom-made heaven. Plots weave through backdrops of the Civil Rights Act, acts of world war, and acts of depravity. In addition to their excellence, these five novels share youthful protagonists, all under the age of 20. The enormous range of their experiences make each book uniquely compelling.