The Writers’ League of Texas has announced the winners and finalists of the 2016 Writers’ League of Texas Book Awards, recognizing outstanding books of 2016, written by Texas authors, in five categories. The titles reviewed by me for Lone Star Literary Lifeare hyperlinked below. Here is the full list of 2016 honors.
FICTION
Winner: News of the World by Paulette Jiles
Finalists:
The Last Painting of Sara de Vos by Dominic Smith
The Association of Small Bombs by Karan Mahajan
The Regional Office is Under Attack by Manuel Gonzales
Pull Me Under by Kelly Luce
Discovery Prize Winner: The Tombstone Race by José Skinner
NONFICTION
Winner: The Midnight Assassin: Panic, Scandal, and the Hunt for America's First Serial Killer by Skip Hollandsworth
Finalists:
The Association of Small Bombs by Karan Mahajan
The Regional Office is Under Attack by Manuel Gonzales
Pull Me Under by Kelly Luce
Discovery Prize Winner: The Tombstone Race by José Skinner
NONFICTION
Winner: The Midnight Assassin: Panic, Scandal, and the Hunt for America's First Serial Killer by Skip Hollandsworth
Finalists:
The General vs. the President: MacArthur and Truman at the Brink of Nuclear War by H.W. Brands
Who Killed These Girls? Cold Case: The Yogurt Shop Murders by Beverly Lowry
The Glamor of Strangeness: Artists and the Last Age of the Exotic by Jamie James
Eccentric Orbits: The Iridium Story by John Bloom
Discovery Prize Winner: Amado Muro and Me: A Tale of Honesty and Deception by Robert L. Seltzer
POETRY
Winner: Hammer is the Prayer by Christian Wiman
Finalists:
Who Killed These Girls? Cold Case: The Yogurt Shop Murders by Beverly Lowry
The Glamor of Strangeness: Artists and the Last Age of the Exotic by Jamie James
Eccentric Orbits: The Iridium Story by John Bloom
Discovery Prize Winner: Amado Muro and Me: A Tale of Honesty and Deception by Robert L. Seltzer
POETRY
Winner: Hammer is the Prayer by Christian Wiman
Finalists:
Plenty by Corinne Lee
Her, Infinite by Sawnie Morris
Ultra-Cabin by Kimberly Lambright
Discovery Prize Winner: Take to the Highway: Arabesques for Travelers by Bryce Milligan
PICTURE BOOK
Winner: Step Right Up: How Doc and Jim Key Taught the World About Kindness by Donna Janell Bowman
Finalists:
Whoosh!: Lonnie Johnson's Super-Soaking Stream of Inventions by Chris Barton
Lucy by Randy Cecil
Be the Change: A Grandfather Gandhi Story by Arun Gandhi and Bethany Hegedus
Bears Make the Best Reading Buddies by Carmen Oliver
Discovery Prize Winner: The Tale of Lucky the Dog by Lynn G. Abrams
MIDDLE GRADE / YOUNG ADULT
Winner: Somewhere Among by Annie Donwerth-Chikamatsu
Finalists:
Her, Infinite by Sawnie Morris
Ultra-Cabin by Kimberly Lambright
Discovery Prize Winner: Take to the Highway: Arabesques for Travelers by Bryce Milligan
PICTURE BOOK
Winner: Step Right Up: How Doc and Jim Key Taught the World About Kindness by Donna Janell Bowman
Finalists:
Whoosh!: Lonnie Johnson's Super-Soaking Stream of Inventions by Chris Barton
Lucy by Randy Cecil
Be the Change: A Grandfather Gandhi Story by Arun Gandhi and Bethany Hegedus
Bears Make the Best Reading Buddies by Carmen Oliver
Discovery Prize Winner: The Tale of Lucky the Dog by Lynn G. Abrams
MIDDLE GRADE / YOUNG ADULT
Winner: Somewhere Among by Annie Donwerth-Chikamatsu
Finalists:
A Fierce and Subtle Poison by Samantha Mabry
The Radiant Road by Katherine Catmull
Hillary Rodham Clinton: A Woman Living History by Karen Blumenthal
Time Zero by Carolyn Cohagan
Maybe a Fox by Kathi Appelt and Alison McGhee
Discovery Prize Winner: Bloodline by Joe Jiménez
The Radiant Road by Katherine Catmull
Hillary Rodham Clinton: A Woman Living History by Karen Blumenthal
Time Zero by Carolyn Cohagan
Maybe a Fox by Kathi Appelt and Alison McGhee
Discovery Prize Winner: Bloodline by Joe Jiménez