News & Reviews

WORD: Novelists Rash, Cashore among 2009 SIBA Book Award winners
Edited Press Release

The Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance (SIBA) is pleased to announce the winners of the 2009 SIBA Book Award, celebrating the best of southern literature. Ron Rash, author of "Serena" (Ecco), took down the fiction award while Kristin Cashore won the YA category for her novel "Graceling" from Harcourt.

The 2009 SIBA Book Award winners in all six categories are as follows.

FICTION: Serena by Ron Rash, Ecco

"Ron Rash eloquently writes about something near and dear to so many of us in the south cherish , our autonomy. The takeover of our southern woodlands by the federal government is just another instance of some difficulties our southern fathers had to endure for the good of all. He tells this almost forgotten piece of history as though he were there." - Books on Main, Newberry, SC

POETRY: Dear Darkness by Kevin Young, Alfred A. Knopf

"Kevin Young's Dear Darkness is a moving reflection on love, death, family and memory. He moves nimbly from grief to joy, sex to sorrow, and though his poetry is often intensely personal, it reaches out to us all. His poems need to be read aloud to relish his gift with language. His odes, to everything from His Sex to Barbeque Sauce, always surprise, like these lines from Ode to Watermelon: I want to devour/like grief, this life/to the rind -- to leave/ not white,/only green,/ behind." - Inkwood Books, Tampa, FL

COOKBOOK: Screen Doors and Sweet Tea by Martha Hall Foose, Random House

"This cookbook exemplifies the best of Southern hospitality: it is warm and inviting and makes you feel like you and the author are the best of friends, exchanging recipes and shopping tips while lingering over the author's signature Sweet Tea Pie." - Fiction Addiction, Greenville, SC

NONFICTION: The Prince of Frogtown by Rick Bragg, Random House

"A truly gut-wrenching story of Bragg's journey from the darkness of his childhood to the lightness of fatherhood.  He bravely shows us that while fathers can control and influence our lives, in the end, we all find our own way.  Instead of succumbing to his tragedies, he overcomes them with stunning success.  We should all be this strong." - Raven Bookstore, Homer, LA

CHILDRENS: Two Bobbies by Kirby Larson & Mary Nethery, Walker & Company

"The emotional impact of "The Two Bobbies" was undiminished on the third and fourth reading. It's a great story for children and animal lovers of all ages." - Enterprise Books, DeWitt, AR

YOUNG ADULT: Graceling by Kristin Cashore, Harcourt Children’s Books

"First, I read it straight through without breathing, hooked on the fast-paced adventure.  Then I read it through again slowly, breathing deeply and enjoying each word.  I was enchanted by the characters--their depth and mystery.  Days later, I still couldn't get Graceling out of my mind." - Gottwals Books, Warner Robins, GA

Each year, hundreds of booksellers across the South vote on their favorite hand-sell books of the year. These are the Southern books they have most enjoyed convincing their customers to try; the books they have become evangelists for; the ones that they couldn't stop talking about; the ones most often pushed into a customer's hands with the words "You have got to read this!" The SIBA Book Award was created to recognize great books of Southern origin, as determined by people whose business it is to know great books - the independent booksellers of the South.

Books are nominated in six categories, including fiction, nonfiction, poetry, cooking, young adult and children's. For a book to be eligible, it must be set in the South, and it must have been published within the calendar year. Only SIBA-member booksellers can submit nominations and vote on the selection of finalists. In 2008, for the first time, winners were selected by a jury of SIBA booksellers.

For more information about the SIBA Book Awards please visit SIBA's website at www.sibaweb.com

About Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance

The Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance (SIBA) is a trade association which represents booksellers in Florida, Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Arkansas, Mississippi and Louisiana. Find a SIBA Bookstore. SIBA exists to empower, promote, and celebrate core member bookstores in a spirit of partnership. Independent, privately held, brick and mortar bookstores in our region constitutes the core members.

Included in our membership are owners, managers and employees of independent bookstores, publishers' representatives, publishers, wholesalers and producers of "sideline" bookstore goods. Librarians, book reviewers, writers and other "friends of the trade" are also represented in our membership.

SIBA was formed to unite in one organization individuals and businesses actively engaged in the writing, selling, publishing, distribution and/or promoting of books in the Southeast United States. SIBA provides a forum to discuss common problems and share ideas; offers educational programs and workshops for the benefit of its members; and strives to promote a high standard of ethics and business practices among the membership.

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