Among the worthy nominees in the Children/Young Adults category is local author Jana Hausburg, whose It Wasn’t Much: Ten True Tales of Oklahoma Heroes is a really interesting and informative read for adults, too.  Ms. Hausburg is a Cataloger for the Metropolitan Library System, and she’s currently working on a new book about Oklahoma outlaws and lawmen.

Another nominee in the Children/Young Adults category is Tim Tharp’s The Spectacular Now.  I’ve already raved at length about this excellent novel that chronicles the high school senior year of a troubled Southside Oklahoma City kid, and Tharp’s previous two books are also well worth checking out.

Congratulations also to Jim Chastain, whose Antidotes & Home Remedies is a finalist in the Poetry category.  Jim describes his book as “a collection of health related poems and other ‘greatest hits’ poems from my journal.”  The special newsok.com site “Life Is Real” is a really remarkable effort by Jim to relate his ongoing battle with cancer, and it features blog posts, poetry, and video from this terrific Oklahoma writer.