2018 Nominees
CHILDREN’S BOOK
Carla “Rae” Abshire, Andi’s Perfect Toy
Illustrated by Kelsey Wilson
Janet Farrar Byington, I Don’t Wanna Wear a Crown!
Illustrated by Cheryl Riner Hodge
Dan Carlton, Ollie and the Wise Owl
Illustrated by Debbie Byrd
Sarah Cash, Squeaky and the Stinky Mouse
Illustrated by Jason Smith
Alana Dorrell, Grandpa? I Wanted to Ask…
Illustrated by Joan Coleman
Vickie McEntire, Little Bird & Myrtle Turtle
Illustrated by Christie Vergona
Sucheta Rawal, Beato Goes To Indonesia
Illustrated by Alexandra Abagiu & Oana Cocheci
DETECTIVE/MYSTERY
Marilyn Baron, The Vampire Next Door
Blue Cole, Evil Upriver
Steven Cooper, Desert Remains
Betty Jean Craige, Dam Witherston
Doug Dahlgren, The Traveler
Lee Gimenez, FBI Code Red: A J.T. Ryan Thriller
Lynn Hesse, Another Kind of Hero
Linda Hughes, Secrets of the Asylum
Roger Johns, Dark River Rising
Josh Langston, Oh Bits!
Gene Powers, You Must Be Present to Win
Larissa Reinhart, 16 Millimeters: Maizie Albright Star Detective #2Z
Linda Sands, Grand Theft Cargo
Paul Sinor, Dancing in the Dark
Paul Sinor, Fair Game
Jason B. Sheffield, Son of a Bitch
Maggie Toussaint, Dadgummit
Jaclyn Weldon White, The Witch of Ben Hill County
Bob Young, The Hand of the Wicked
FIRST NOVEL
Charlene Ball, Dark Lady: A Novel of Emilia Bassano Lanyer
Janice Bearden, Chigger Ridge
Ernie Bowling, Coal Blooded
Lindsey P. Brackett, Still Waters
Christy Breedlove, When Lightning Strikes
T.M. “Mike” Brown, Sanctuary
Christina Kelly, Good Karma: A Novel
Penny Lewis, Bearing Crosses
Peter McDade, The Weight of Sound
Matthew W. Quinn, The Thing in the Woods
Winnfred Smith, Murder Finds a Home: A John Stone Mystery
Christopher Swann, Shadow of the Lions
Mark Warren, Adobe Moon: Wyatt Earp, An American Odyssey
HISTORY/BIOGRAPHY
Mehrsa Baradaran, The Color of Money: Black Banks and the Racial Wealth Gap
Vincent Joseph Dooley, Samuel Norman Thomas, Jr., The Legion’s Fighting Bulldog: The Civil War Correspondence of William Gaston Delony, Lieutenant Colonel of Cobb’s Georgia Legion Cavalry, and Rosa Delony, 1835-1863
Frederick L. Downing, Clarence Jordan: A Radical Pilgrimage in Scorn of the Consequences
Karen Head, Disrupt This! MOOCs and the Promises of Technology
Richard Jay Hutto, The Kaiser’s Confidante: Mary Lee, the First American-Born Princess
Joel McMahon, Our Good and Faithful Servant: James Moore Wayne and Georgia Unionism
Charles McNair, Play It Again, Sam: The Notable Life of Sam Massell, Atlanta’s First Minority Mayor
Wade Padgett, From Court in the Wilderness to Court in the Metropolis: A History of the Augusta Judicial Circuit
Dawn Peterson, Indians in the Family: Adoption and the Politics of Antebellum Expansion
William Rawlings, The Strange Journey of the Confederate Constitution and Other Stories from Georgia’s Historical Past
Carol Ruckdeschel, A Natural History of Cumberland Island, Georgia
J.P. Telotte, Animating the Science Fiction Imagination
David Williams, Georgia’s Civil War: Conflict on the Home Front
INSPIRATIONAL
Chip R. Bell, Kaleidoscope: Delivering Innovative Service That Sparkles
Steven Marx Celestin, MD, Tell it to Me Straight, Doc
Children’s Advocacy Centers of Georgia, Words of Hope and Healing: Encouragement and Empowerment for Survivors of Child Abuse
Kerry Hemms, Teacher’s Field Guide
Nakita Jackson, Alphabet Motivation
Karli Land, Made to Move
Candace L. Long, The Ancient Path to Creativity and Innovation: Where Left and Right Brains Meet
Deborah Malone, Blooming in Broken Places
Dan Parker, Prisoners of Hope in Incarceration Nation: Good News to People in Bondage
C.K. Sharpe, Miracles of Jesus: A 40-Day Devotional
Nancy Vason, The Dance of the Sandpipers
Peter M. Wallace, Getting to Know Jesus (Again): Meditations for Lent
Ty Wheeler, Todd Trainer, Ken Harriss, Dawn’s Early Light
LITERARY FICTION
Nancy Brandon, Show Me a Kindness
Diane Michael Cantor, When Nighttime Shadows Fall
Michael Dew, The Land of Silence
Barbara D. Duffey, Of Grace and Courage: Thornhill Veterans Hospital
Nandita Godbole, Not For You: Family Narratives of Denial & Comfort Foods: Book One
Jeff Haws, The Solitary Apocalypse
John House, Uncommon Bond
Penny Garden Lewis, Microwave is Dead
D.B. Martin, Mother
Man Martin, The Lemon Jell-O Syndrome
Albert Norton, Jr., Rough Water Baptism
Anna Schachner, You and I and Someone Else
Katie Hart Smith, Hope Never Rests
Daren Wang, The Hidden Light of Northern Fires
MEMOIR
Jonathon Scott Barrett, Cook & Tell: Recipes and Stories from Southern Kitchens
Christopher Blake, And Half the Seed of Europe: A Genealogy of the Great War, 1914-1918
Stephen Corey, Startled at the Big Sound: Essays Personal, Cultural, and Literary
Ann Lovvorn Douglass, Snippets
Christopher Martin, This Gladdening Light: An Ecology of Fatherhood and Faith
Habiba N. Shaw, Marks behind the Stones
Susie TenEyck, Abandoned
POETRY CHAPBOOK
Joan M. Howard, Death and Empathy: My Sister Web
K.B. Kincer, After the Transplant
Ron Self, Requiem for the Unconvinced
Jane Simpson, On the Porch, Under the Eave
POETRY FULL-LENGTH BOOK
Clifford Brooks, Athena Departs: Gospel of a Man Apart
Danielle Hanson, Ambushing Water
Ron Jones, The Ill Lines of an Ill Mind
Andrea Jurjevic, Small Crimes
D.B. Martin, Y—Dark Tales & Poetry
Heidi Lynn Nilsson, For the Fire from the Straw
Anya Krugovoy Silver, Second Bloom
Kimberly J. Simms, Lindy Lee: Songs on Mill Hill
Charles Wanager, Sixteen Windows
ROMANCE
Tori Bailey, Love Made from Scratch: A Coming Home Novel, Book Three
Marilyn Baron, The Alibi
Sally Kilpatrick, Bless Her Heart
Bobbi Kornblit, Red Carpet Rivals
Jane Lewis, Love at Five Thousand Feet
SHORT STORY COLLECTION
Michael Bishop, Other Arms Reach Out to Me: Georgia Stories
Susan Lindsley, Emperor of the United American States and Other Stories
Susan Lindsley, Whitetails and Tall Tales
D.B. Martin, Terror Tales Vol. 1
Jennifer Wallace, Side By Side: A Patchwork Portrait of My Southern Family
Janie Dempsey Watts, Mothers, Sons, Beloveds, and Other Strangers
SPECIALTY BOOK
Tripp Bowden, All the Memorable Rounds: Golf Adventures and Misadventures, from Augusta National to Cypress Point and Beyond
Alice Lovejoy Carnahan, Jonathan: Wolfsong’s Last Chapter: A Story of Love and Loss
Jimmy Carter, The Craftsmanship of Jimmy Carter
Edward Gadrix, Panther Pride: The Story of Sports at Georgia State University
Cynthia Graubart, Sunday Suppers
Josh Langston, The Naked Novelist!
Rona Simmons, Jack Smith, Images from World War II: The Art of Jack Smith
Buddy Sullivan, Benjamin Galland, Sapelo: People and Place on a Georgia Sea Island
Jason Thrasher, Athens Potluck
YOUNG ADULT
Tabbatha Bella, Misha the Brave
Caroline George, The Vestige
McCall Hoyle, The Thing with Feathers
Aaron Levy, Blood Don’t Lie
Sandra Page, Island of the Lost World