The Ohioana Library has announced the 28 finalists for the 2012 Ohioana Book Awards. The Ohioana Awards were first given in 1942, with James B. “Scotty” Reston, Walter Havighurst, and Willard M. Kiplinger as the first recipients. During the past seventy-one years more than 400 books have been recognized with an Ohioana Book Award.
“This was an outstanding year for books by Ohio writers and books about Ohio and Ohioans.” said Linda Hengst, executive director of the Ohioana Library. “We receive 600-800 traditionally published books each year, which become eligible for the book awards, so the authors of the books selected as finalists this year should feel truly honored.”
The book awards are given in five categories: fiction, nonfiction, poetry, juvenile literature, and about Ohio/Ohioans. Ohioana will announce the winners in each category near the end of August, and recipients will be honored at the annual Ohioana Awards Ceremony in mid-October. The 2012 Ohioana Book Award finalists are (a brief summary of each book and short profiles of each author are attached):
2012 Ohioana Book Award finalists
* not Ohioans – note, books about Ohio or Ohioans need not be authored by an Ohioan.
Fiction
Breaking Silence by Linda Castillo – Minotaur Books
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline – Crown Publishing Group
The Paris Wife by Paula McLain - Ballantine Books
The Devil All the Time by Donald Ray Pollock – Doubleday
Doc: A Novel by Mary Doria Russell - Random House
Ziggy by Tom Wilson (II) – Andrews McMeel Publishing, LLC
Non-Fiction
History of a Suicide: My Sister’s Unfinished Life by Jill Bialosky – Atria Books
Toward a Better Life: America’s New Immigrants in Their Own Words–from Ellis Island tothe Present by Peter Morton Coan - Prometheus Books
Dance Anatomy by Jacqui Greene Haas – Human Kinetics
The Quest for the Perfect Hive: A History of Innovation in Bee Culture by Gene Kritsky -Oxford University Press
Rin Tin Tin: The Life and the Legend by Susan Orlean – Simon & Schuster
About Ohio/Ohioan
Literary Cincinnati: The Missing Chapter by Dale Patrick Brown – Ohio University Press & Swallow Press
George Szell: A Life of Music by Michael Charry - University of Illinois Press
Midnight Rising: John Brown and the Raid That Sparked the Civil War by Tony Horwitz* – Henry Holt and Co
Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President by Candice Millard* – Doubleday
Over-the-Rhine Tour Guide: Cincinnati’s Historic German District, Over-the-Rhine, and Environs by Don Heinrich Tolzmann – Little Miami Publishing
Juvenile
Roots and Blues: A Celebration by Arnold Adoff – Clarion Books
Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson - Greenwillow Books/HarperCollins
Where Do You Stay? by Andrea Cheng – Boyds Mills
Mary Mae and the Gospel Truth by Sandra Dutton – Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
So Shelly by Ty Roth – Delacorte Press
Butterfly Tree by Sandra Markle - Peachtree Publishers
Cousins of Clouds: Elephant Poems by Tracie Vaughn Zimmer – Clarion Books
Poetry
Your Father on the Train of Ghosts by John Gallaher and G.C. Waldrep* - BOA Editions
Weather by Dave Lucas – University of Georgia Press
Hotel Utopia by Robert Miltner – New Rivers Press
Mechanical Fireflies by Doug Ramspeck - Barrow Street Press
Wait by Alison Stine – University of Wisconsin Press
The mission of the Ohioana Library, established in 1929 by First Lady Martha Kinney Cooper, is to recognize and encourage the creative accomplishments of Ohioans; preserve and expand a permanent collection of books, sheet music, manuscripts, and other materials by Ohioans and about Ohio; and disseminate information about the work of Ohio writers, musicians and other artists to researchers, schools, and the general public. Individuals can visit the Library at 274 East First Avenue, Columbus, OH, or online at www.ohioana.org.
