Greenbeard the Pirate Pig
Honorable Mention
2016 Animals, Animals, Animals Book Festival

Andrea Torrey Balsara Greenbeard is a guinea pig with a nose for adventure! At first, Greenbeard is content to farm his garden of lettuce and carrots, until one day a salt breeze swirls in from the ocean, up the hill, through his garden, and up his nose. He changes his garden gear into pirate garb,…

The Velvet Thorn – A Novel
Honorable Mention
2016 Southern California Book Festival

Olivia Villa-Real The Velvet Thorn” is a riveting story that poignantly captures the desperate struggle of two lovers against the unforgiving shackles of tradition and religious belief, epitomizing the unparalleled capacity of the heart to endure excruciating pain in the name of love.

Escape Points: A Memoir
Winner
2016 Great Midwest Book Festival

Michele Weldon Award-winning journalist Michele Weldon provides a potent antidote to the harried single mom stereotype in this beguiling memoir of raising three sons alone in the face of cancer, anam bitious career and the shadow of her ex. By turns humorous and heartbreaking, Weldon describes facing her fears honestly, guided by the belief in…

Mary Bernadette: Secrets of a Dallas Moon
Honorable Mention
2016 Great Midwest Book Festival

John F. Bronzo A multi-cultural character driven action tale of love and intrigue about the personal journey of two lovers thrust together during a CIA mission to Vietnam to capture JFK’s second assassin, then a Russian adviser to the Vietcong. Mary Bernadette, a Vietnamese orphan killed in the operation, speaks from the grave.

Mabel Normand: The Life and Career of a Hollywood Madcap
Winner
2016 Southern California Book Festival

Timothy Lefler American silent film star Mabel Normand (1892-1930) appeared in a string of popular movies opposite the likes of Charlie Chaplin and Fatty Arbuckle during the 1910s and 1920s, before dying of tuberculosis at age 37. Her brief but remarkable career, which included director and writer credits as well as heading her own studio…

Birds of Dewey-Humboldt, Arizona
Winner
2016 Animals, Animals, Animals Book Festival

Garry Rogers This book describes the birds seen around the author’s home in the center of Dewey-Humboldt, a small Arizona town. A desert stream, the Agua Fria River, passes through the town and across land owned by the author. At the confluence of two small tributaries, the river flood plain supports a 20-acre willow-cottonwood forest….

A Crowded Heart
Honorable Mention
2016 Great Midwest Book Festival

Andrea McKenzie Raine Willis Hancocks is a bright, ambitious young man who wants to break out of his small-town existence and make a difference in the world. When WWII breaks out, he rushes to enlist,despite his parents’ disapproval. As the world falls apart, Willis finds a way to forge through and finds solace in an…

The Girl Who Could Read Hearts
Honorable Mention
2016 Great Midwest Book Festival

Sherry Maysonave Brimming with inspiration and daring, a precocious 6-year old, Kate, encounters the earthly dangers of her extraordinary intuition coupled with her uncanny ability to read human hearts. “Insightful, Riveting, Spiritual.” “A wonderful, uplifting read.” “Intriguing, suspenseful story.” Readers’ Favorite 5-Stars.

Wisconsin Logging Camp, 1921
Honorable Mention
2016 Great Midwest Book Festival

James Bastian The narrative entwines the fictional story of an immigrant German boy within the period’s rich historical context. The story meticulously incorporates the history of logging in Wisconsin, the flu pandemic, Prohibition, World War I, and post-war American culture specific to that time and place.

The Book of Hours
Honorable Mention
2016 Southern California Book Festival

Maria Elena Alonso-Sierra THE PAST IS CATCHING UP: For artist Gabriela Martinez, psychopaths do hit twice. A book, a secret, and only a few hours to live.