2017 Nominees
BIOGRAPHY
Patricia Bell-Scott, The Firebrand and the First Lady: Portrait of a Friendship: Pauli Murray, Eleanor Roosevelt, and the Struggle for Social Justice
Joseph P. Byrd IV, Confederate Sharpshooter Major William E. Simmons: Through the War with the 16th Georgia Infantry and the 3rd Battalion Georgia Sharpshooters
Duncan Dobie, Arthur Woody and the Legend of the Barefoot Ranger
Lee C. Dunn, Cracking the Solid South: The Life of John Fletcher Hanson, Father of Georgia Tech
Ted Geltner, Blood, Bone and Marrow: A Biography of Harry Crews
CHILDREN’S BOOK
Richard Allen Anderson, The Adventures of Diggerydoo and Taller Too, Illustrated by Amber D. Pickle Nicole Antoinette, Christmas Reindeer Food
Marcia Hawley Barnes, Tobijah, Illustrated by Doreyl Ammons Cain
Nelle Whelchel Brannen, If a Frog Had a Santa, Illustrated by Cathy Brownlee Wood
Robin Dixon, Always Love You, Illustrated by Debbie Byrd
Carol Bland Dolson, Dear Marguerite and Me, Illustrated by Elaine Hearn Rabon
Lisa Gammon, Chocolate Island: Sweet Island Dreams Series, Book One, Illustrated by Linda Cowen
Susie Gardner, 1, 2, 3 TEAM!, Illustrated by Tina Mullen
Vickie McEntire, Baby Birds, Illustrated by Alana Kipe
Cecelia Golightly Ramsey, Hopper and Amos: A Baby Bird’s First Adventure, Illustrated by Joanne Cheves Davis
Lisa Rothman-Levin, Auntie No-No, Illustrated by Andre Thomas
DETECTIVE/MYSTERY
Kris Allis, A Moving Screen
Trudy Nan Boyce, Out of the Blues
Valerie Joan Connors, A Better Truth
Marsha Cornelius, Up to No Good
Betty Jean Craige, Fairfield’s Auction: A Witherston Murder Mystery
Lee Gimenez, The Media Murders: A J.T. Ryan Thriller
Lynn Hesse, Well of Rage
Lois Lavrisa, Homocide by Hamlet
Julia McDermott, Daddy’s Girl
M.C. Quince, Angel O’Rourke
Rona Simmons, The Martyr’s Brother
Carole Townsend, Blood in the Soil
George Weinstein, Aftermath
ESSAY
Raymond L. Atkins, South of the Etowah: The View from the Wrong Side of the River
Kathy A. Bradley, Wondering Toward Center
Casey Cagle, Education Unleashed
Milam McGraw Propst and Jaclyn Weldon White, Sidetacked: Two Women, Two Cameras, and Lunches on Sherman’s Trail
Megan Volpert, 1976
FIRST NOVEL
Bonnie Adams-Little, The Aclla’s Legacy
Amber Brock, A Fine Imitation
Mary Anna Bryan, Cardinal Hill: A Novel
Leverett Butts, Guns of the Waste Land: Departure and Diversion: Volumes 1 & 2
Anne Corbitt, Rules for Lying
Sarah Domet, The Guineveres
Angie Gallion, Intoxic
Rose Chandler Johnson, My Father’s House
JD Jordan, Calamity: Being an Account of Calamity Jane and Her Gunslinging Green Man
Erika Jantzen, No Ordinary Fire
Liz Lazarus, Free of Malice
Bob Lipscomb, The Slave Daughter
Anne Lovett, Rubies from Burma
Mark Wallace Maguire, Alexandria Rising
Marcey Perry Morse, You Can’t Fly, Illustrated by Michelle Morse and Daniel Morse
Katelyne Parker, Hosanna
Ferris Robinson, Making Arrangements
Betty A. Smith, Abby’s Choice
Katie Hart Smith, Aspirations of the Heart
James Marshall Smith, Silent Source
Gray Stewart, Haylow: A Novel
Jane Suen, Children of the Future
David G. Tippens, Two Bent Trees
Paco Torch, Crippled Sunrise: Book I of The Torchini Family Chronicles
Dana Wildsmith, Jumping
Tom Woodward, Shortening Shadows
HISTORY
Dan A. Aldridge, Jr.,To Lasso the Clouds: The Beginning of Aviation in Georgia
John W. Brinsfield, Jr., Summon Only the Brave!: Commanders, Soldiers, and Chaplains at Gettysburg
Col. John M. House, US Army (Ret.), Wolfhounds and Polar Bears: The American Expeditionary Force in Siberia, 1918-1920
Linda S. McCardle, A Just and Holy Cause?: The Civil War Letters of Marcus Bethune Ely and Martha Frances Ely
Kaye Lanning Minchew, A President in Our Midst: Franklin Delano Roosevelt in Georgia
Dorothy Padgett, Jimmy Carter: Elected President with Pocket Change and Peanuts
William Rawlings, The Second Coming of the Invisible Empire: The Ku Klux Klan of the 1920s
Lisa Russell, Lost Towns of North Georgia
Andrew Young, Harvey Newman, and Andrea Young, Andrew Young and the Making of Modern Atlanta
INSPIRATIONAL—RELIGIOUS
Nicholas Cappas, Heaven Breaks In
R. Kirby Godsey, The God Particle: God-Talk in a “Big Bang” World
J. Steve Miller, Faith That’s Not Blind
Sarah Rowan, Unspeakable Joy: Devotions for the Slumbering Believer
Ulysses Tuff, Anchored in Him: Rock of Our Salvation
INSPIRATIONAL—SECULAR
Jane K. Ashley, Cancer: The Light at the End of the Tunnel
Lee Ellis, Engage with Honor: Building a Culture of Courageous Accountability
Julienne Levy Marks, Many Pebbles to Make a Difference: Inspiring Ways You Can Improve Children’s Lives by Making Connections: Multiculturalism and Peace
Barry Pencek, The Millennial’s Guide to Wealth: Learn About Saving, Investing, Spending, and Living While Drinking Beer
David Ryback, Transforming Communication in Leadership and Teamwork, Co-Author Renate Motschnig
LITERARY FICTION
Lucas Carpenter, Mind and Body: And Other Stories
Brandon Daily, The Valley
Julia Franks, Over the Plain Houses
Angie Gallion, Purgus
Kathi Harper Hill, Bensy and Me
George Hirthler, The Idealist: The Story of Baron Pierre de Coubertin
Ann Hite, Sleeping Above Chaos: A Black Mountain Novel
JR Ingrisano, Alicia in the Ruins: A Story of Survival
Terry Kay, The King Who Made Paper Flowers
June Hall McCash, Marguerite’s Landing
William Timothy Murray, A Distant Light: The Year of the Red Door, Volume 3
Doris Reidy, Every Last Stitch
MEMOIR
Mark Beaver, Suburban Gospel
Molly Brodak, Bandit
Charles E. Cox, A Place Called Gresston
Slater Davis, 349 Days
Betty Louise Saxon Hopkins, Roadsters and Roosters: A Depression Era Love Story
Brad Hulsey, 60 Cents: Secrets and Tales in a Small Town
John Lewis, co-author: Andrew Aydin, and illustrator: Nate Powell, March: Book Three
Susan Lindsley, Possum Cops, Poachers and the Counterfeit Game Warden
Charlotte Ashurst McDaniel, Girdled and Gloved: From Radio to YouTube
David Valdez, Hallelujah Dave
POETRY FULL-LENGTH BOOK
Richard Allen Anderson, Potholes in Memory Lane
R.Cary Bynum: Night Streetcars, City Poems and Beyond
James Davis May, Unquiet Things
Sandra Meek, An Ecology of Elsewhere
Sally Stewart Mohney, Low County, High Water
Lynn Pedersen, The Nomenclature of Small Things
Lindsay Tigue, System of Ghosts
ROMANCE
Marilyn Baron, Stumble Stones: A Novel
Susan Carlisle, Married for the Boss’s Baby
Susan Carlisle, White Wedding for a Southern Belle
Susan Carlisle, The Doctor’s Sleigh Bell Proposal
Dac Crossley, The Hand of Lou Diamond
J.G. Jakes, The River’s End
Sandra McGregor, Emma Rose
Susan Sands, Love, Alabama
SPECIALTY BOOK
Cynthia Graubart, Chicken: A Savor the South Cookbook
Josh Langston, The Naked Truth!
Judson Mitcham, Michael David Murphy, and Karen L. Paty, Inspired Georgia
Sonny Seals and George S. Hart, Historic Rural Churches of Georgia
Jill Stuckey, Evan Kutzler, Ossabaw Island: A Sense of Place
Kay Moore, Before the Bridge: A Memoir of Hilton Head Island
YOUNG ADULT
Michael Bishop, Joel-Brock the Brave and the Valorous Smalls
Gelia Dolcimascolo, Aurelia and the Library of the Soul
Marsha Mathews, Growing Up with Pigtails
Pamela Bauer Mueller, The Dancing Delilahs