OK Center for the Book Awards FINALISTS and Honorees announced
Finalist Announced for 2010 Oklahoma Book Awards
David G. Fitzgerald is Lifetime Achievement Award Winner
Stan Hoig to be honored with Ralph Ellison Award
Thirty-three books have been chosen as finalists in the Twenty-first annual Oklahoma Book Award competition. Winners in the categories of fiction, poetry, design/illustration, children/young adult, and non-fiction will be announced at the Oklahoma Book Award banquet on Saturday, April 17, at the Edward L. Gaylord – T. Boone Pickens Oklahoma Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City. Master of ceremonies at the event will be former Miss America, journalist, and author Jane Jayroe.
Sponsored by the Oklahoma Center for the Book, the awards recognize books written the previous year by Oklahomans or about Oklahoma. This year one 115 books were entered in the competition.
In addition to the literary awards, photographer David G. Fitzgerald will be presented the Arrell Gibson Lifetime Achievement Award. The award is named for the Norman historian Arrell Gibson who served as the first president of the Oklahoma Center for the Book.
Lifelong Oklahoma resident and award-winning photographer David G. Fitzgerald’s career expands over four decades. Fitzgerald’s work began receiving national attention in the late 1970s. In 1979 the coffee-table book Oklahoma was published, the first of many to come featuring his photographs. Books that followed include Ozarks, Israel: Land of Promise, Oklahoma (the Land Run Centennial edition), Mansion Fare, Oklahoma II, Portrait of the Ozarks, Oklahoma Crossroads, Bison: Monarch of the Plains, Cherokee, Chickasaw: Unconquered and Unconquerable, Oklahoma 3, and Cherokee Trail of Tears.
Award winning author and historian Stan Hoig will be honored posthumously with the Ralph Ellison Award. Hoig began his career writing articles and books on the American West in the 1950s. His first book, The Humor of the American Cowboy was published in 1958 and remains in print today. Hoig published a wide variety of articles in magazines and professional journals such as the Chronicles of Oklahoma and Encyclopedia of the American West. Moreover, he had twenty-five books published and listed with the Library of Congress including The Sand Creek Massacre, The Battle of the Washita, Perilous Pursuit: The U.S. Calvary and the Northern Cheyennes, and The Chouteaus: First Family of the Fur Trade.
The following books which are listed in alphabetical order according to the last name of the lead author, designer or illustrator, have been selected as finalists of the 2010 awards.
Children/Young Adult
Annie Glover is Not a Tree Lover by Darleen Bailey Beard, Farrar, Straus, Giroux publisher
For a Girl Becoming by Joy Harjo, The University of Arizona Press
Paris Pan takes the Dare by Cynthea Liu, G.P. Putnam’s Sons publisher
Time of the Witches by Anna Myers, Walker & Company publisher
Chicken Dance by Tammi Sauer, Sterling Publishing Company Inc.
Night Fires by George Edward Stanley, Simon & Schuster/Aladdin Imprint publisher
Design/Illustration
Lanterns on the Prairie: The Blackfeet Photographs of Walter McClintock by Eric H. Anderson and Karen Hayes-Thumann, University of Oklahoma Press
Skirvin by Carl Brune, Full Circle Press
Roots from the Cherokees, Promises for our Future: The Chronicle of Northeastern State University by Buffy Cooper, Mullerhaus Publishing Group
Willard Stone by Carol Haralson, University of Tulsa/Gilcrease Museum publisher
Sonic: The History of America’s Drive-In by Skip McKinstry, Cottonwood Publications
Where to Sleep by Kandy Radzinski, Sleeping Bear Press
Fiction
Nemesis: The Final Case of Eliot Ness by William Bernhardt, Ballantine Books publisher
Confessions of a Former Rock Queen by Kirk Bjornsgaard, 4RV Publishing
The Sky Took Him by Donis Casey, Poisoned Pen Press
The Wind Comes Sweeping by Marcia Preston, Mira Books publisher
The Yard Dog by Sheldon Russell, Minotaur Books publisher
The Sound of Honor by Jim Stovall, Hawk Publishing
Non-Fiction
Sonic: The History of America’s Drive-In by Bob L. Blackburn, Cottonwood Publications
Divided Hearts: The Presbyterian Journey through Oklahoma History by Michael Cassity and Danney Goble, University of Oklahoma Press
Indian Tribes of Oklahoma: A Guide by Blue Clark, University of Oklahoma Press
Coach Tommy Thompson and the Boys of Sequoyah by Patti Dickinson, University of Oklahoma Press
Tar Creek: A History of the Quapaw Indians, the World’s Largest Lead and Zinc Discovery, and the Tar Creek Superfund Site by Larry G. Johnson, Tate Publishing & Enterprises
Choctaw Crime and Punishment, 1884-1907 by Devon Abbott Mihesuah, University of Oklahoma Press
Skirvin by Jack Money and Steve Lackmeyer, Full Circle Press
Another Hot Oklahoma Night: A Rock and Roll Story by Jeff Moore and
Larry O’Dell, Oklahoma Historical Society publisher
Thomas Gilcrease by Randy Ramer, Carole Klein, Kimberly Roblin, Eric Singleton, Anne Morand, Gary Moore, and April Miller, University of Tulsa/Gilcrease Museum publisher
Poetry
Fault Line: Vulnerable Landscapes by Karen Coody Cooper, Soddenbank Press
Contrapuntal by Carol Hamilton, Finishing Line Press
Work is Love Made Visible: Poetry and Family Photographs by Jeanetta
Calhoun Mish, West End Press
In the Presence of the Sun: Stories and Poems, 1961-1991 by N. Scott Momaday,
University of New Mexico Press
Too Long a Solitude by James Ragan, University of Oklahoma Press
After the Aftermath by Renata Treitel, Out on a Limb Publishing
For more information on the book awards or the award ceremony or to purchase tickets to the event visit the website at www.odl.state.ok.us/ocb or contact Connie Armstrong, executive director, Oklahoma Center for the Book, Oklahoma Department of Libraries, 200 NE 18th Street, Oklahoma City, OK, 73105, or call 405-522-3383.
—–Pick your favorites and meet me back here after the Book Award ceremony and we’ll compare notes.
Another reason to support your public library, think OK not IL
We’re finding this is true in Oklahoma as well as Illinois, as people lose jobs and the ability to pay for internet services they turn to the public libraries to job hunt and fill out applications.
http://www.suntimes.com/business/2121467,recession-public-library-internet-032510.article
Recession driving Chicagoans to library — for free Internet
The recession and high unemployment are driving Chicagoans to the public library for free Internet access, with 47 percent of those responding to a survey saying they looked for employment while using library access.
The survey being released today, “Opportunity for All: How the American Public Benefits from Internet Access at U.S. Libraries,” included responses from 627 Chicago library-Internet users.
Of the 47 percent who used the Web for employment purposes, 37 percent searched for a job.
The remainder worked on their resumes, received skills training, and researched job-related information.
Respondents could select more than one answer.
The next highest use of library Internet resources in Chicago was for education, with 43 percent citing this use. Nearly three-quarters, or 73 percent, of 14- to 18-year olds who responded did their homework.
One-third of the library Web users accessed e-government services, such as applying for permits and licenses and applying for government programs and services.
Castle was lame last night, didn’t you think
I like the television series Castle, usually it has good clues, interesting storyline, sometimes the dialogue is a little lame but… Did anyone think the big clue was really lame last night. Good grief, everyone said the killer was left handed at the beginning, including Dana Delany announcing it in a loud voice, “The Killer is Left Handed”. So when they show the presumably dead killer lying on the floor with a gun by his right hand… Well Hello!
Image Credit: Richard Cartwright/ABC
Rock’n'Roll is here to stay
Two books by two Oklahoma authors that rock and roll Baby Boomers should be heading out to get.
First, is a fictional account of small town Oklahoma musician (Sally Moore), and her journey in search of the big dream. Confessions of a Former Rock Queen by Kirk Bjornsgaard is her story; her accomplishments, her drive to succeed, her relationships with the men in her life, and her final understanding of what’s important. Kirk shows his musical expertise throughout the writing of this book. It flows as smoothly as a good song. It’s important to me that male authors can write believable female characters, and Kirk does an excellent job; especially in his portrayal of Sally during the rapidly changing social and family roles of the sixties.
It’s a nostalgic read for us Baby Boomers; “garage bands”, Janis Joplin, the Beatles, country music v. rock, the draft and the women’s movement, and the fact that every event in our life has a song playing in the background. This book is a finalist in the 2010 Oklahoma Center for the Book, Oklahoma Book Award Fiction category. It’s also a reminder to remember our true self, and the importance of family and friends.
Next book for you rock and rollers, Rock Band Name Origins: The Stories of 240 Groups and Performers. Greg Metzer, Edmond attorney has set out to detail the origin of 240 band names from the 1960′s through today. This book has gathered interesting tidbits about each band including year the act formed, band names considered and rejected , the original members and the band’s best known hit. The bands are listed in alphabetical order and include everyone from Buffalo Springfield, Meat Loaf to Stone Temple Pilots and Alice in Chains and everyone in between. Looking for some fun rock trivia, want to remember your rock and roll past, give both these books a read.
Here’s Bam’s take on the book and a nice picture of the author.
Sunshine Week and your 1st Amendment
A reminder about Sunday on KGOU …
First Amendment Congress
Sunday, March 21, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
In recognition of Sunshine Week 2010, KGOU presents 2 hours of excerpts from the 2009 First Amendment Congress hosted by FOI (Freedom of Information) Oklahoma and recorded on October 29, 2009. This broadcast includes remarks from keynote speaker Marvin Kalb of The Kalb Report, a panel discussion on the Future of Journalism, and a presentation by Government Documents Librarian Barbara Miller on Watchdog Websites.
You can listen:
106.3 Norman 105.7 Oklahoma City/Spencer
103.1 Seminole 97.9 Ada
Karen Holp
General Manager, KGOU Radio
Just the facts: Letters About Literature
The Daily Oklahoman in the Metro/State News this morning got a few of the facts wrong concerning Letters About Literature and the ceremony to honor our winners, so to set things straight for the Center for the Books folks, here’s the actual press release:
2009-2010 Letters About Literature
Oklahoma Winners Announced
Have you ever read a book that really made an impact on your life? Perhaps you have strongly related to a particular character in a book. Students from across the state were invited to participate in Letters About Literature (LAL), a national writing contest requiring students to write a personal letter to an author describing how a book or character had made a difference in his or her life. Recently, nine Oklahoma students received notification that they had been selected as state winners in the competition.
The national competition is sponsored by the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress and Target. The state level competition also is sponsored by the Oklahoma Center for the Book and the Oklahoma Department of Libraries.
“This year over 65,000 students competed in the national competition,” said Oklahoma Center for the Book Executive Director Connie Armstrong. “Oklahoma once again had students from public, private, and home schools participating. It’s amazing how honest these young people are in expressing their own personal circumstances.”
Judges for the Oklahoma Center for the Book selected the top three essayists in the state on each of the three levels of competition: Level I for children in grades fourth through sixth; Level II for grades seventh and eighth; and Level III for grades ninth through twelfth.
Level I winners are: First-place, Grace Barrett, Owasso 6th Grade Center Literature Department, Owasso, OK, for Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren; Second-place, Caleb Kirk, Owasso 6th Grade Center Literature Department, Owasso, OK, for Airman by Eoin Colfer; and Third-place, Hannah Cook, Rush Springs Middle School, Rush Springs, OK, for A Rose for Melinda by Lurlene McDaniel.
Level II winners are: First-place, Daniel Flores, homeschooled, Cushing, OK, for Code Talker by Joseph Bruchac; Second-place, Blake Graham, Duncan Middle School, Duncan, OK, for A War Torn Sky by L.M. Elliott; and Third-place, Connor Webb, Cyril Public School, Cyril, OK, for Beastly by Alex Flinn.
Level III winners are: First-place, Melissa J. Frye, Oklahoma Union High School, South Coffeyville, OK, for A Child Called It by David Pelzer; Second-place, Victoria Jones, Southmoore High School, Moore, OK, for Equus by Peter Shaffer; and Third-place, Sara Panther, Oklahoma Union High School, South Coffeyville, OK, for The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton.
State winners will receive cash prizes and a $50 gift card from Target. The awards ceremony will be held in the Blue Room of the State Capitol on March 31, 2010, at 10:30 am to noon. Lieutenant Governor Jari Askins will serve as the event’s emcee.
“We are also inviting members of the state legislature from the winner’s home district, as well as their family members, friends, educators, and local home town news media,” said Armstrong. “This is a wonderful program, and a great opportunity to highlight some of Oklahoma’s best students.”
Moreover, state winners will advance to the national level judging. Judges for The Center for the Book in the Library of Congress will select six National Winners (two per level of competition), and twelve National Honorable Mention Winners (four per level of competition). The National Winners will receive a $500 Target gift card, plus each will win a $10,000 LAL Reading Promotion Grant for their community or school library so that others can experience personal relationships with authors and the stories they tell. Additionally, the National Honorable Mention Winners will each receive a $100 Target GiftCard and a $1,000 LAL Reading Promotion Grant for the community or school library of their choice.
For more information, contact Connie Armstrong at 405/522-3383 or carmstrong at oltn.odl.state.ok.us.
This is a great program, sponsored by Target, and supported through the Oklahoma Center for the Book. So if you want to see some very cool kids get awards for their reading and writing skills come by the State Capitol Blue Room on March 31st at 10:30 and applaud their accomplishments.
Ten Reasons to Love the Girl
Young Bill Young here. I cut my adult reading teeth in junior high on Agatha Christie mysteries. With a few exceptions, I left the genre behind once I entered high school and college. My sister, however, remains a big mystery fan, and when she told me she had just finished one of the best mystery novels she’s ever read, I was intrigued. Especially since the book was The Girl with the Dragon Tatto. This book had already been on my radar screen because it has sold like hotcakes and received excellent reviews. The story of author Stieg Larsson, who submitted the first three of ten planned “girl” novels before his untimely death, has only added to the mystique of the book.
Well, I just finished reading it. And, yes, I loved it. Here are my top ten reasons for loving the girl:
1. Protagonist Lisbeth Salander has to be the strangest heroine to ever grace the pages of a whodunit.
2. Protagonist Mikael Blomkvist is a journalist with principles. This is especially refreshing in an age where talking heads and dueling propaganda masquerade as news.
3. It’s a mystery wrapped in a riddle inside an enigma. (I was never really sure what that saying meant, but I think I have a better understanding since reading this book.)
4. It’s not just a “murder” mystery, it’s also a financial thriller. And a good one.
5. It’s a parable for our times. Every Wall Street speculator who fueled the Great Recession should have to read this book and then give a “class report” to the nation about what they learned.
6. It gives new meaning to the term “dysfunctional family.”
7. It takes us to far off places. Not only will you get to knock around Sweden with Lisbeth and Mikael, you will also travel to Australia and Switzerland.
8. It takes you into the underground world of hackers.
9. It reveals that misogyny is alive and well in progressive Sweden.
10. It’s a love story.
The popularity of the book has led to a movie in Sweden. It will probably be making the foreign film circles in America soon, and I suspect it’s just a matter of time before an English or American movie is made. But don’t wait for the cinematic adaptation. We all know the book is always better than the movie. And this is a good book, indeed!
Mish Wins Wrangler Award
Oklahoma Poet Jeanetta Calhoun Mish Wins Wrangler Award
ALBUQUERQUE: —West End Press author Jeanetta Calhoun Mish has won the 50th annual Western Heritage Award for her book of poetry Work Is Love Made Visible. Mish will be honored at a gala event April 17 at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City.
Work Is Love Made Visible is a book of poems and family photographs that explores the realities of Plains life. An Oklahoma native, Mish returned home after twenty years of traveling to revisit her working class roots. The result was a collection of heartfelt, determined poems that make up Work Is Love Made Visible.
“I am honored that Work Is Love Made Visible was awarded the Wrangler, and I think it may have appealed to the judges because it tells the western stories not often heard, of sharecroppers and truck drivers, Native Americans and poor Scots Irish, women and men whose personal histories are too complex to romanticize.” Mish, a resident of Norman, Oklahoma, holds a Ph.D. in American literature from the University of Oklahoma. She is a founding member of the Woody Guthrie Poets at the Woody Guthrie Free Folk Festival in Okemah, Oklahoma, and she has been a featured reader at events across the country. Recently, she has published in Labor: Studies in Working Class History of the Americas, Oklahoma Today, Crosstimbers, and World Literature Today.
The Western Heritage Awards honor the “legacy of those whose works in literature, music, film and television reflect the significant stories of the American West.” Awardees receive “The Wrangler,” which is an impressive bronze statue by famed Western artist John D. Free of Pawhuska, Oklahoma. Along with the category winners, inductees into the Hall of Great Western Performers and the Hall of Great Westerners will be honored at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, one of the world’s largest museums of western heritage and art. Past Wrangler winners include John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, John Ford, and Louis L’Amour. Work Is Love Made Visible is Volume 3 in the New Series from West End Press and is available from booksellers or from UNM Press, distributor for West End press. To order, please call 800-249-7737.
MORE INFO @:
· Wrangler Award Press Release: http://www.nationalcowboymuseum.org/info/MediaRelease.aspx?ID=266
· Jeanetta Calhoun Mish: —http://www.tonguetiedwoman.com/
Yum, what’s to read about food
This weekend husband and I watched Julie and Julia. I loved Meryl Streep as Julia Child. I still remember the clip from some forgotten tv show where she and Dick Butkus carved a turkey. If anyone finds it on the internet let me know. It was one of the funniest TV cooking moments ever.
I agree with my boss and thought Amy Adams (as Julie Powell) was a little too whiney. In real life she had to be more awesome. I was so envious though that her blog took off. Food is a great comment motivator. Everyone has an opinion about it.
I thought I’d point out some references to the cookbooks and people. (I’m a librarian it’s what I do.)
First, Julia’s famous cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Covers have changed throughout the years. To the right is the First edition cover . 
Did Simone Beck peak your interest, in that you’ve never heard her name before? Read the interesting article in gourmet.com by David Tamarkin.
For another discussion on the collaboration between the three and a taste testing of the recipes, go to Slashfood.
So how about Julia herself. Here’s a great summary of her books from Eat me Daily. This site is worth a second or third look in the Yum department.
Nora Ephron wrote the screenplay for Julie & Julia.
Almost forgot the Joy of Cooking, not complemented by the characters but remember it was the competition. I think it’s another must have for your cookbook collection along with Julia, of course.
Julie Powell wrote Julie & Julia. Here’s the Julie/Julia project, http://blogs.salon.com/0001399/2002/08/25.html
Visit Julie at her blog, http://juliepowell.blogspot.com/
And support this innovative writer and blogger by buying a copy of her book, (don’t just see the movie) , you can do both.
Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen 
Richard Russo wants to spend an evening with you.
The Oklahoma Center for Poets and Writers cordially invites you to An Evening with Pulitzer Winner Richard Russo, Tuesday, April 13, 7 p.m., in the OSU-Tulsa auditorium. Reading from his work. Answering your questions. Autographing your books.
“There is a big, wry heart beating at the center of Russo’s fiction” — The New Yorker
Ticket Information:
Tickets are $10 and may be purchased in person at Steve’s Books, 2612 S. Harvard in Tulsa. You can also order tickets by mailing a check, payable to Poets and Writers, to the address below:
Oklahoma Center for Poets and Writers
OSU-Tulsa
700 N. Greenwood
Tulsa, OK 74106
Patron Members of the Center receive two free tickets as part of their membership.
For more information call (918) 594-8215
