We Became Mexican American
Honorable mention
2015 Amsterdam Book Festival

Author: Carlos B. Gil Learn what it’s like to emigrate from Mexico to the United States; about the culture shock, the inner-family conflicts associated with assimilation and immigrant poverty. Find out from one of the children, in this family biography, what it takes to become a Mexican American.

Never Cross A Warlock
Honorable mention
2015 San Francisco Book Festival

Author: Marilyn Vix Can two warlocks be too many? Yes, if one happens to be your ex-husband trying to kill you for a witch divorce. The other, a sexy Aussie that makes you forget everything else. She’ll have to choose. No one knows a witch better than herself. Unless, she falls in love.

Institutional Freedom: A Collection of African American Studies Essays
Honorable mention
2015 San Francisco Book Festival

Author: Joy Elan Joy Elan is from Oakland and Berkeley, CA. She received her undergraduate degree in African American Studies at UC Berkeley and her graduate degree in Education at Stanford University.

Silence Is Not Always Golden
Honorable mention
2014 San Francisco Book Festival

Author: Joy Elan Silence Is Not Always Golden Book Blurb: Instead of writing what people want to hear, I wrote what people need to hear. The truth! Sometimes the truth can be beautiful and sometimes it can be ugly. My words and my voice are my weapons and I have to speak up on my…

Just Mercy
Honorable mention
2015 San Francisco Book Festival

Author: Dorothy Van Soest What would you do if your child was murdered? What lengths would you go to for justice? These are the questions at the heart of this a heart-wrenching and ultimately redemptive family drama of forgiveness, destiny, and the true nature of justice.

The Smoking Contest
Honorable Mention
2014 New York Book Festival

Author: Norman Keifetz Love story between an American man who can’t stand smoking and French woman who refuses to give up cigarettes.

Mis Pláticas Contigo
Honorable mention
2015 Amsterdam Book Festival

Author: Issamary Simmons Benavides Talk,ah yes, conversations remembered that bring rhymes to the page and the joy of recall- The laughter and love and sadness. Pláticas, ah esas conversaciones cuyos recuerdos de alegrías, tristezas y amores son los protagonistas. Sin ellos no habría poesía.

Backseat
Honorable mention
2015 Amsterdam Book Festival

Author:Tom Wascoe Michael’s freshman year is not going well. In 1969 failure from college means Vietnam. He thinks pledging a fraternity can change his life. The last hurdle is a 1800km hitchhiking trip over a weekend. The people he meets,the rides he gets do change his life-in an unexpected way.

Walk in Bethel
Honorable mention
2015 Amsterdam Book Festival

Author: Rose Mary Stiffin Walk in Bethel, Rose Mary Stiffin’s first novel, is a testimony to her southern roots. She deftly weaves three families together for five generations and tells their stories with intimacy but unfailing honesty. This novel is worthy of a place in the annals of great literature, because it is.

My Extraordinary Life
Honorable mention
2015 Amsterdam Book Festival

Author: Monica Sucha Vickers Story of my life as a congenitaltriple amputee growing up in an able-bodied world.Mine was an ordinary life growing up in thenMidwest, yet the more I wrote about my life, themore I realized the challenges I faced andovercame. Many have called my life extraordinary.