Winner Fiction: Multicultural 2021 Best Book Awards
Finalist Fiction: Historical 2021 Best Book Awards
Pennsylvania, 1971: Graham Davidson is a young man with survivor’s guilt after the death of three siblings.
Estranged from his father and seeking a direction in his life, Graham learns about vision quests from a Crow Indian. He secures seasonal employment in Yellowstone National Park and embarks on a spiritual journey.
Wyoming Territory, 1871: Under a full moon at a sacred thermal area, Graham finds himself in Yellowstone a century earlier - one year before it was established as a national park. He joins the Hayden Expedition which was commissioned to explore the region.
Although a military escort provides protection for the explorers, the cavalry’s notorious lieutenant threatens Graham. His perilous journey through the future park is marred by a horrific tragedy in a geyser basin, a grizzly bear attack, and an encounter with hostile Blackfeet Indians.
Finalist Fiction: Multicultural 2021 Best Book Awards
Del Rio, California, a once-thriving Central Valley farm town, is now filled with run-down Dollar Stores, llanterias, carnicerias, and shabby mini-marts that sell one-way bus tickets straight to Tijuana on the Flecha Amarilla line. It’s a place you drive through with windows up and doors locked, especially at night?a place the locals call Cartel Country. While it’s no longer the California of postcards, for local District Attorney Callie McCall, her dying hometown is the perfect place to launch a political career and try to make a difference.
But when the dismembered body of a migrant teen is found in one of Del Rio’s surrounding citrus groves, Callie faces a career make-or-break case that takes her on a dangerous journey down the violent west coast of Mexico, to a tropical paradise hiding a terrible secret, and finally back home again, where her determination to find the killer pits her against the wealthiest, most politically connected, most ruthless farming family in California: her own.
Finalist Fiction: Multicultural 2021 Best Book Awards
Young Carlos grows up in a small, conservative town along the Arizona/Sonora border, the son of a successful cattleman who wants him to follow in his footsteps, but Carlos fantasizes about being a movie star. When he falls in love with the hunk schoolmate named Jesse, Carlos, and his pal Tulio struggle to understand who they really are and then dare to stand up for themselves. Letters to Young Carlos is a tender coming-of-age story set against a conservative bicultural society, a homophobic Papa, and the church’s strict teachings. Carlos navigates the fantasies of a teenager, the pain and heartbreak of first love, and the betrayal of those he trusted. Set in the 1960s, Carlos seeks to solve life's greatest mystery: to love oneself and others and be loved in return. This is a book you will want to gift to someone special in your life.
Finalist Fiction: Multicultural 2021 Best Book Awards
FOUR GIRLS. FOUR DIRECTIONS. ONE PURPOSE. The earth is gasping for breath; its only hope is the sacred Codes of Nature. But they’ve been stolen—snatched by a giant raven during a raging storm. SOPHIA ROSE, Guardian of Mother Earth, has summoned MAIA from the North to lead FALCON, AVA, and YUE, on a quest to find the Codes and save the planet. But the odds are against the young rescuers. Time is running out: the bees are dying, the oceans are filled with plastic—and a dark energy lurks in the shadows, threatening their search. Powered by the elements of earth, air, fire and water, messages from mystical dreamcatchers, guidance from the ancestors, and wisdom from the land—this fierce sisterhood must rely on courage, mythic horses, and each other if they are to succeed. Ultimately, their epic adventure takes them on a daring journey into a deeper understanding of their own unique place in the universe. The Dreamcatcher Codes builds bridges, unity, and hope, and illuminates two critical issues of our time: climate change and girls claiming their voices and vital place in the world.
Finalist Fiction: Multicultural 2021 Best Book Awards
The Eves is a multi-generational novel portraying lives lived well and lives in transition. Filled with poignancy and humor, The Eves captures the conversations we wish we had had with our parents, if we had taken the opportunity, and the lessons we would want to impart to our children, if they were ready to listen. Told through the voice of the psychologically complex Jessica Barnet, this is her story. As the primary witness in a messy trial she has been torn from the foundation of her existence—her connection to her children.
With a partially finished doctoral degree, and incomplete renovations on her Washington, DC row house, she has let go of her ambitions and her appearance, but not her vodka or her sense of loss and guilt. When Jessica meets five diverse, determined, and sometimes ditzy old women living in a sustainable community everything and everybody changes. Through plot twists and turns that cover three continents, we learn the truth of Jessica’s life and lies just as we fall in love with the vividly drawn characters and the vibrantly described settings.
Finalist Fiction: Multicultural 2021 Best Book Awards
Sequel to the award-winning book, The Rabbit Princess: The Path.
"It doesn’t take strength to wake up; it takes courage to wake up. It takes strength to live."
After the war, Annie, Pika and Naso carry on their pilgrimage to find the unicorn, Qilin, but they are pulled into a battle at a human village, compelling them to reflect on their own journeys—past and future—and forcing them to make difficult choices. Years later, a new force has arisen to overthrow the kingdom. Naso must find the others to help her and her granddaughter, Osani, fight to keep the kingdom they so love from falling apart. Along the way, they learn that no matter where their journeys lead them, the ties that bind their hearts—love, integrity and loyalty—will always bring them back together.
Finalist Fiction: Multicultural 2021 Best Book Awards
Adversity means nothing in the face of his tenacity.
People consider Diego Herrera different. Not only is he the son of undocumented Mexican immigrants, but he was also born with deaf mutism. Diego has fought all his life to find his path in the world and to change the world's opinion about him, but he is not alone in his journey. Diego has the help of his supportive mom, his little brother, and his best friend, Fernando, who are always cheering him on.
Diego’s greatest passion in life is soccer, and he seeks to prove he is just as capable as anyone else of reaching his goals. However, he must struggle to do so, as he is beset by naysayers he must prove wrong. Diego is not going to give up on his goals, and it finally seems like he has a chance to reach them.
But will Diego be able to achieve his dream, or will the world’s negativity drag him down?
