GAYA  2023 Nominees

Children’s Book

Abby the Crabby Tabby: Discovers Gratitude by Andrea Lane, Illustrated by Heather Bousquet 

Drive-Thru Miracle by Dana Edwards

Impossible Moon by Breanna J. McDaniel, Illustrated by Tonya Engel

Gentle with Gertie by Will Pollock, Illustrated by Aljon Inertia & Nora Inertia 

The Big Yawn by Robert Kenimer, Illustrated by Stacy Jordon

Maizie's Full Heart: an Adoption Story by Kate Seng, Illustrated by Cat Kahnle

Wombat Said Come In by Carmen Agra-Deedy, Illustrated by Brian Lies

Penny, the Engineering Tail of the Fourth Pig, by Kimberly Derting & Shelli R. Johannes, Illustrated by Hannah Marks

Faith’s Freckles: A Book to Build Self-Esteem by Baylei Hinds-Perry & Shermaine Perry-Knights 

The Fairy Glen Adventure by Carol Bland Dolson, Illustrated by Elaine Hearn Rabon

Milton's Ears by Erich Worster, Illustrated by Kristine Ramsey

Nigel and the Moon by Antwan Eady, Illustrated by Gracey Zhang

Thunder the Wonder Donkey by Antwan Eady, Illustrated by Gracey Zhang

Cookbook

Cook & Celebrate: A Collection of Southern Holiday & Party Culinary Traditions by Johnathon Scott Barrett 

Eat Plants, B*tch: 91 Vegan Recipes That Will Blow Your Meat-Loving Mind by Pinky Cole 

Our Fermented Lives: A History of How Fermented Foods Have Shaped Cultures & Communities by Julia Skinner 

Fabulous Modern Cookies: Lessons in Better Baking for Next-Generation Treats by Paul Arguin & Chris Taylor

Detective/Mystery

Pay Dirt Road by Samantha Jayne Allen

The House That Wasn't There by Andrew Forrest Baker 

Such a Pretty Smile: A Novel by Kristi DeMeester

Manhattan Mayhem by A. Shane Etter 

The Devil Himself: a novel by Peter Farris 

Hush, Delilah by Angie Gallion 

Killshot: A Rachel West Thriller by Lee Gimenez 

A Face to Die For by Iris Johansen 

A Brush with Murder: A Watercolor Mystery by Gail Langer Karwoski 

Anywhere You Run: A Novel by Wanda M. Morris 

The Unreliables: When The Only One You Trust Doesn’t Exist by Katherine Nichols

Pets, Pens & Murder: A Cozy English Animal Mystery by Kathy Manos Penn

In Danger of Judgment: A Thriller by David Rabin 

Cofer Woods by Frank Reddy 

The Corporate Lies by Donald Reichardt 

Blackmail and White Lightnin' by Paul Sinor 

Never Go Home: A Novel by Christopher Swann 

Sanctuary: A Thornton Mystery by C.L. Tolbert

Essay

Sifting Artifacts: Essays by Kathy A. Bradley 

Better to See You With: Perspectives on Flannery O’Connor, Selected and New by Marshall Bruce Gentry

A Month of Sundays: The New Mexico Columns by Harry Musselwhite 

Everyday Leadership by Brian Unell

First Novel

Sudden Death: A Novel by Carolyn Newton Curry 

Wingwalkers: A Novel by Taylor Brown

A Good Mourning by Brian DeLaney 

The Maine Caper by John Frisbie

The Cicada Tree by Robert Gwaltney 

Dynasties by Anju Gattani 

A Lineage of Deception: A Southern Novel by Maryann Hopper 

Mama Tried by Kathy Des Jardins 

Salou by Morenike McFaal

Rough Draft: An Alabaster Cash Novel by Alex McRae

Tell It True: A Novel by John Pruitt

Hands of Gold: One Man’s Quest to Find the Silver Lining in Misfortune by Roni Robbins

Lakewood by William Walsh 

Summer Solstice by Lynn Weathington 

The Freedom Chronicles by John Yow

First Novel

Sudden Death: A Novel by Carolyn Newton Curry 

Wingwalkers: A Novel by Taylor Brown

A Good Mourning by Brian DeLaney 

The Maine Caper by John Frisbie

The Cicada Tree by Robert Gwaltney 

Dynasties by Anju Gattani 

A Lineage of Deception: A Southern Novel by Maryann Hopper 

Mama Tried by Kathy Des Jardins 

Salou by Morenike McFaal

Rough Draft: An Alabaster Cash Novel by Alex McRae

Tell It True: A Novel by John Pruitt

Hands of Gold: One Man’s Quest to Find the Silver Lining in Misfortune by Roni Robbins

Lakewood by William Walsh 

Summer Solstice by Lynn Weathington 

The Freedom Chronicles by John Yow

History

Ghosts of Athens and Beyond: History and Haunting of North Georgia by Tracy L. Adkins

Shakespeare's Sceptered Isle: Finding English National Identity in the Plays by Brian Carroll

A Road Running Southward: Following John Muir's Journey through an Endangered Land by Dan Chapman

Twenty-Two Cents an Hour: Disability Rights and the Fight to End Subminimum Wages by Doug Crandell

The Pursuit of the Atlanta Child Killer: Facts, Fibers, and Forensics by Joseph Drolet

Legacy of Honor: The Patriarch by Larry Freeland

The Three Death Sentences of Clarence Henderson: A Battle for Racial Justice at the Dawn of the Civil Rights Era by Chris Joyner

Against All Odds: A True Story of Ultimate Courage and Survival in World War II by Alex Kershaw

The North of the South: The Natural World and the National Imaginary in the Literature of the Upper South by Barbara Ladd

Oceans of Grain: How American Wheat Remade the World by Scott Reynolds Nelson

The Long Haul: Solving the Puzzle of the Pandemic's Long Haulers and How They Are Changing Healthcare Forever by Ryan Prior

The Colombus Stocking Strangler by William Rawlings

Proving Pregnancy: Gender, Law, and Medical Knowledge in Nineteenth-Century America by Felicity M. Turner

Inspirational

Be Unexpected: Resetting Routines to Revolutionize the Future of Work by Marva Bailer

The Self Delusion: The New Neuroscience of How We Invent—and Reinvent—Our Identities by Gregory Berns

Thank You Bodie!: Diversity, Equity & Inclusion In Spaces Beyond Workplaces by Tracey Fisher

You're Only Human: How Your Limits Reflect God's Design and Why That's Good News by Kelly M. Kapic

The Simple Guide to a Successful You: Navigating Your Career After Life Gets Messy by Sarah Lebel

Bloom Where You Are by Deborah Malone

Develop Skills to Effectively Manage Money: A Practical Guide to Financial Self-Development by Myke Marshall

Daily Inspirations from the Unflappable Substitute by Susan May

Hometown Victory: A Coach's Story of Football, Fate, and Coming Home by Keanon Lowe with Justin Spizman

Do the Best You Can't! by Bud Stumbaugh

Awakening Dignity: A Guide to Living a Life of Deep Fulfillment by Phakchok Rinpoche and Sophie Wu

Literary Fiction

The Gospel of Rot by Gregory Ariail

The Lost Book of Eleanor Dare by Kimberly Brock

Obsidian Mirth by Thom Brucie

A Fair In August by Mandy L Cantrell

The Hollow Kind: A Novel by Andy Davidson

The Best Version of Alice by Merrill J. Davies

The Lottery Winner's Greatest Ride: A Millionaire, A Young Reporter . . . And A Journey To Find What Matters Most by Skip Johnson

Wildwood Flower: A Novel by Anne Lovett

The Truth Keepers: A Novel by June Hall McCash

Songs By Honeybird by Peter McDade

By Way of Moonlight by Elizabeth Musser

The Editor: How the Brewster Gazette Became the World’s First Metaphysical Newspaper by Thomas A. Williams PhD

Sister Mother Warrior: A Novel by Vanessa Riley

Return to Hardscrabble Road by George Weinstein

Memoir

Seeing Eye Girl: A Memoir of Madness, Resilience, and Hope by Beverly J. Armento

Odyssey: Young Charles Darwin, The Beagle, and The Voyage that Changed the World by Tom Chaffin

Bodies Out of Place: Theorizing Anti-blackness in U.S. Society by Barbara Harris Combs

Making It Home: I Set Out to See the World and Made It All the Way to Cleveland by R. Mark Giuliano

Justice in the Age of Judgment: From Amanda Knox to Kyle Rittenhouse and the Battle for Due Process in the Digital Age by Anne Bremner JD and Doug Bremner MD

Ocean of Stars and Dreams by Maday Martinez de Osaba

Samuel Elbert and the Age of Revolution in Georgia, 1740-1788 by Clay Ouzts

Feathers at my Feet by Barbara Pearson

Operation Tailwind: Memoirs of a Secret Battle in a Secret War by Barry Pencek

Be Home by Dark: How I Earned my Dime Store MBA by Dale K. Phenicie

The Flight by Cammie Wolf Rice

Poetry Full - Length Collections

unbridled by Shay Alexi

The Woman Who Lives Without Money by Rebecca Baggett

Face Cut Out for Locket by Jenn Blair

Straw Hat Stanzas by Mark Bromberg

Mother Medusa by Lucas Carpenter

Thrash by Michael Diebert

Black Swim by Nicholas Goodly

The Lost Thing: Poems by Sarah Gordon

The Color of Truth  by  Laura Anella Johnson

A Girl / Woman / Teacher / Poet by Candice Kelsey

Palabras que respiran / Words that Breathe by Cecilia Lee

Magicicada & Other Marvels by Kathleen Brewin Lewis

A Woman Somehow Dead by Amy Locklin

All the Blood Involved in Love by Maya Marshall

Call it in the Air by Ed Pavlić

Climbing an Unnamed Mountain by Michael Walls

Eden's Last Horizon: Poems for the Earth by Philip Lee Williams

Poetry Chapbook

Poem at the Edge of the World by Julia Caroline Knowlton

Some Kind Of Black by Amber Moss

Amo e Canto by JC Reilly

It Felt Like Mississippi: Poems by Monica Lee Weatherly

Romance

The Case of the Missing Botticelli by Marilyn Baron

Fire Magic & Ice Cream by Lauren Connolly

Stealing Ares by Kim Conrey

Eloping with the Laird by Jeanine Englert 

Hyde and Zeke: Cutie and the Beast by Josh Langston

Racing to You by Susan May

Short Story Collection

Haints on Black Mountain: A Haunted Short Story Collection by Ann Hite

We'll Talk Some More: A Collection Of Southern Short Stories by Ed Nichols

Tower: Stories by Andy Plattner

Shadows in the South by Caroline Smith 

The Westering Trail Travesties: Five little-known tales of the Old West that probably ought to a' stayed that way by Mark Warren

Specialty Collection

Ghostland America Stories and Photographs by James Calemine

Frankie Welch's Americana: Fashion, Scarves, and Politics by Ashley Callahan

Following the Tabby Trail: Where Coastal History Is Captured in Unique Oyster-Shell Structures by Jingle Davis, photographer Benjamin Galland 

Bigger Than Bravery: Black Resilience and Reclamation in a Time of Pandemic Edited by Valerie Boyd; Contributors: Alice Walker, Kiese Laymon, Deesha Philyaw, Jason Reynolds, Imani Perry, Emily Bernard, Destiny O. Birdsong, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, Alexis Pauline Gumbs, Karen Good Marable, Honorée Fanonne Jeffers, Khadijah Queen

Coach: The Greatest Teachers in Sports and Their Lessons for Us All by Justin Spizman

Perfume (Object Lessons) by Megan Volpert

The Conversation Turns to Wide-Mouth Jars by Beth Gylys, Cathy Carlisi, and Jennifer Wheelock

The Encyclopedia of Self-Publishing by Thomas Williams

Young Adult

The Summer We Forgot by Caroline George

Does My Body Offend You? by Mayra Cuevas and Marie Marquardt

Omar Rising by Aisha Saeed

A Tale Twice Told by Mark Warren

Black Dove by Crystal Wilkins