Some pleasant things have been happening with Fobbit this month and I thought I'd share the good news with you here at the blog.
First of all, Fobbit was named an Honor Book in the Montana Book Awards which are given to books written or illustrated by someone who lives in Montana, are set in Montana, or deal with Montana themes or issues. It was founded by the Friends of the Missoula Public Library in 2001 and the awardees are selected by a committee of individuals representing areas throughout Montana. I'm already proud to be a resident of the Big Sky State, but this really puts the snow on my mountains and the wind in my prairie grass.
The top winner of this year's Montana Book Award is The Miseducation of Cameron Post by emily m. danforth, the novel which tells the coming-of-age story of a girl in Miles City, Montana struggling against prejudice as she finds her true sexuality. Curtis Sittenfeld blurbed it by saying, "If Holden Caulfield had been a gay girl from Montana, this is the story he might have told". Coincidentally, I was in Miles City (emily's hometown) this past weekend, giving a presentation called "How to Tell a War Story" as part of the Humanities Montana Speakers Bureau. I told the audience they had every right to be proud of their literary superstar.
The other Honor Books this year are The Girls of No Return by Erin Saldin, Mammals of Montana by Kerry Foresman, and The Mountain and the Fathers: Growing Up on The Big Dry by Joe Wilkins.
The other big award news (which I had to wait until this morning's official announcement to share) is that Fobbit is one of five finalists for the Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction in the 2012 Los Angeles Times Book Prizes. The winners of the 2012 Book Prizes will be awarded at a ceremony on April 19 at 7:30 pm, in the Bovard Auditorium on the campus of USC. This occasion will mark the 33rd annual presentation of the Los Angeles Times Book Prizes and will inaugurate the 18th annual Los Angeles Times Festival of Books. I'm thrilled that Fobbit was selected alongside the other finalists:
The Natural Order of Things by Kevin P. Keating
Shine Shine Shine by Lydia Netzer
Seating Arrangements by Maggie Shipstead
Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan
Click here for a complete list of nominees in all the categories.
Congratulations!!
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