150 Award Genres
Children
- Children - Action
- Children - Adventure
- Children - Animals
- Children - Audiobook
- Children - Christian
- Children - Coming of Age
- Children - Concept
- Children - Educational
- Children - Fable
- Children - Fantasy/Sci-Fi
- Children - General
- Children - Grade 4th-6th
- Children - Grade K-3rd
- Children - Mystery
- Children - Mythology/Fairy Tale
- Children - Non-Fiction
- Children - Picture Book
- Children - Preschool
- Children - Preteen
- Children - Religious Theme
- Children - Social Issues
Christian
- Christian - Amish
- Christian - Biblical Counseling
- Christian - Devotion/Study
- Christian - Fantasy/Sci-Fi
- Christian - Fiction
- Christian - General
- Christian - Historical Fiction
- Christian - Living
- Christian - Non-Fiction
- Christian - Romance - Contemporary
- Christian - Romance - General
- Christian - Romance - Historical
- Christian - Thriller
Fiction
- Fiction - Action
- Fiction - Adventure
- Fiction - Animals
- Fiction - Anthology
- Fiction - Audiobook
- Fiction - Chick Lit
- Fiction - Crime
- Fiction - Cultural
- Fiction - Drama
- Fiction - Dystopia
- Fiction - Fantasy - Epic
- Fiction - Fantasy - General
- Fiction - Fantasy - Urban
- Fiction - General
- Fiction - Graphic Novel/Comic
- Fiction - Historical - Event/Era
- Fiction - Historical - Personage
- Fiction - Holiday
- Fiction - Horror
- Fiction - Humor/Comedy
- Fiction - Inspirational
- Fiction - Intrigue
- Fiction - LGBTQ
- Fiction - Literary
- Fiction - Magic/Wizardry
- Fiction - Military
- Fiction - Mystery - General
- Fiction - Mystery - Historical
- Fiction - Mystery - Legal
- Fiction - Mystery - Murder
- Fiction - Mystery - Sleuth
- Fiction - Mythology
- Fiction - New Adult
- Fiction - Paranormal
- Fiction - Realistic
- Fiction - Religious Theme
- Fiction - Science Fiction
- Fiction - Short Story/Novela
- Fiction - Social Issues
- Fiction - Southern
- Fiction - Sports
- Fiction - Supernatural
- Fiction - Suspense
- Fiction - Tall Tale
- Fiction - Thriller - Conspiracy
- Fiction - Thriller - Environmental
- Fiction - Thriller - Espionage
- Fiction - Thriller - General
- Fiction - Thriller - Legal
- Fiction - Thriller - Medical
- Fiction - Thriller - Political
- Fiction - Thriller - Psychological
- Fiction - Thriller - Terrorist
- Fiction - Time Travel
- Fiction - Urban
- Fiction - Visionary
- Fiction - Western
- Fiction - Womens
Non-Fiction
- Non-Fiction - Adventure
- Non-Fiction - Animals
- Non-Fiction - Anthology
- Non-Fiction - Art/Photography
- Non-Fiction - Audiobook
- Non-Fiction - Autobiography
- Non-Fiction - Biography
- Non-Fiction - Business/Finance
- Non-Fiction - Cooking/Food
- Non-Fiction - Cultural
- Non-Fiction - Drama
- Non-Fiction - Education
- Non-Fiction - Environment
- Non-Fiction - Genealogy
- Non-Fiction - General
- Non-Fiction - Gov/Politics
- Non-Fiction - Grief/Hardship
- Non-Fiction - Health - Fitness
- Non-Fiction - Health - Medical
- Non-Fiction - Historical
- Non-Fiction - Hobby
- Non-Fiction - Home/Crafts
- Non-Fiction - Humor/Comedy
- Non-Fiction - Inspirational
- Non-Fiction - LGBTQ
- Non-Fiction - Marketing
- Non-Fiction - Memoir
- Non-Fiction - Military
- Non-Fiction - Motivational
- Non-Fiction - Music/Entertainment
- Non-Fiction - New Age
- Non-Fiction - Occupational
- Non-Fiction - Parenting
- Non-Fiction - Relationships
- Non-Fiction - Religion/Philosophy
- Non-Fiction - Retirement
- Non-Fiction - Self Help
- Non-Fiction - Short Story/Novela
- Non-Fiction - Social Issues
- Non-Fiction - Spiritual/Supernatural
- Non-Fiction - Sports
- Non-Fiction - Travel
- Non-Fiction - True Crime
- Non-Fiction - Womens
- Non-Fiction - Writing/Publishing
Poetry
Romance
Young Adult
- Young Adult - Action
- Young Adult - Adventure
- Young Adult - Coming of Age
- Young Adult - Fantasy - Epic
- Young Adult - Fantasy - General
- Young Adult - Fantasy - Urban
- Young Adult - General
- Young Adult - Horror
- Young Adult - Mystery
- Young Adult - Mythology/Fairy Tale
- Young Adult - Non-Fiction
- Young Adult - Paranormal
- Young Adult - Religious Theme
- Young Adult - Romance
- Young Adult - Sci-Fi
- Young Adult - Social Issues
- Young Adult - Thriller
Illustration Award
Recommend this book:
Zephyr the West Wind
Chaos Chronicles: Book 1: A Tale of the Passion & Adventure Within Us All
R. J. Tolson
2015 Honorable Mention
386 Pages
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Young Adult - Adventure
Zephyr the West Wind by R.J. Tolson is the first book in the young adult fantasy series, Chaos Chronicles. Zephyr has the gift of understanding other people’s emotions, but he never managed to understand its use while growing up alone, isolated and hated by the other villagers on the small island of Dentro. Years ago, his mother had broken the village law by having a child with an outsider. Zephyr’s father had disappeared before his birth and his mother had died when he was young so the entire village's rage and disgust for his parents was aimed at Zephyr. Only the old village chief had the kindness to look after him. Now at seventeen years of age, Zephyr is ready to take his Trial of Adulthood which will get him off the island towards new lands in the world of Tye and, hopefully, towards some friendship. That is, if he survives it. The first and foremost task is to be selected by one of the five crystals: Sea, Ouranos, Void, Balance, or Dream which unlocks unknown powers within each individual.
The book is written in first person, following Zephyr’s perspective although there are a couple of chapters later on, written from another character’s perspective, also in first person. In the world of Tye, the king or chief is the strongest warrior of the people he is leading. Despite this apparently violent culture, there are those who do not think that brute force is the key to solving every conflict and they offer a moral balance over the entertaining and clean fighting scenes. R.J. has done an awesome job in creating a vivid world with amazing artifacts, giant lizard carriages, and flavored energy crystals which awaken one’s aura in different ways, thus enabling anime-like effects during fights. The plot twists are the best parts alongside the discovery of Zephyr’s powers, identity, and the use of his gift. There are bits of wisdom and introspection here and there which give depth to all the struggle and pain. I recommend Zephyr the West Wind to both young adults and adults since it is a great journey of self discovery in an exciting world.
Recommend this book:
Deviation
The Sophisticates
Christine Manzari
2015 Bronze Medal
436 Pages
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Young Adult - Adventure
Deviation by Christine Manzari is about a group of teenagers who are genetically programmed from the foetus stage to become the experiments of a program. The story is told through the eyes of a teenage girl named Clementine Dracone, or Cleo as she likes to be called. She struggles to cope with the fact that she has never known her birth parents and, when her anger becomes too much, she begins to display a rather scary characteristic. It is because of this that she is moved to St Ignatius where she makes new friends and a lot of enemies. As the story unfolds, her hidden anger makes her able to do things that she can't explain and the world in which she lives is far from what she thought it was.
Christine Manzari shows much promise with her novel Deviation. It hosts a wonderful plot which changes from page to page and I especially liked the connection between Cleo and Ozzy. I would describe it as on par with The Hunger Games and although it may greatly appeal to the younger generation, I, for one, can confirm that the older generation will also enjoy the story. Each individual character was well developed and the structure of the plot was cleverly done. The concept of the characters being modified from birth is fascinating and each special ability has been well thought out and researched. There are some fantastic twists that I was not expecting and which were a welcome surprise. I am excited for book two in this series. I therefore recommend this book to all as Deviation is such an exhilarating read.
Recommend this book:
Elixir
Ted Galdi
2015 Silver Medal
353 Pages
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Young Adult - Adventure
Elixir by Ted Galdi introduces us to 14-year-old Sean Malone. Sean is special; he is incredibly smart with an IQ of over 200, and he has already earned a full ride to a top university. Not only that, but he has been on Jeopardy and has won over a million dollars from that streak. With these great things at his finger tips, Sean's only wish is that he was just normal. There is a down side to being as smart as he is - the biggest part being the US government using him to break codes. This leads to a great deal of change in his life, including personal security and a move to Rome.
This is a true coming of age story with a twist. Most of the coming of age books I read do not involve super smart teenage boys. I cannot imagine Sean's crazy life and I certainly found myself feeling for him. He just wants a normal life, but everything that he keeps getting pushed into is about as far from normal as you can possibly get. Ted Galdi keeps the pace going throughout this book and the pages truly seem to fly by. I felt there was a lot of content and it was a great read. I personally read this one twice just to make sure that I got everything. If you truly want a different and enjoyable coming of age story, this is one I would recommend. It is perfect for adults and young teens alike.
Recommend this book:
Libellus de Numeros
Magicae Mathematica Book 1
Jim West
2015 Gold Medal
301 Pages
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Young Adult - Adventure
There is nothing like learning you can perform magic to make learning math more fun! That’s exactly what Alexandria Grate discovers after falling out of a storage closet in school into a strange, new world and becoming a student of Archimedes in Libellus de Numeros: Magicae Mathematica Book 1 by Jim West. As a self-reliant young girl just getting ready to start middle school, Alex is used to thinking and doing for herself. Unfortunately, her head-strong nature does not fit in with this new world where a Council rules harshly to maintain their power. Together with her teacher, Archimedes, and several other students, Alex must learn all she can as quickly as possible to hold off an attack by two evil wizards who are intent on overthrowing the Council. Through her bond with her new mentor, she accepts being ‘lost’ in this seemingly ancient world and does everything possible to solve the problems that may lead to her returning home. Along the way, Alex learns much more about herself and getting along with other people, but will she be able to come up with enough magic to save the day?
Libellus de Numeros: Magicae Mathematica Book 1 by Jim West relates the adventures of Alex, Archimedes and the other inhabitants of a mystical land in an exciting and engaging tale. This story is excellent on many levels: terrific writing, great story line, smooth infusion of the love of learning math and Latin, and a heartwarming look at relationships between friends and family members. There is plenty of action, humor and soul searching as many of the characters realize there is more than one way to look at any issue, but that they don’t have to accept everything exactly as it is – thinking for yourself is just as important as following rules.