2006 SIBA Book Award Guide--Childrens | Cooking | Fiction | Nonfiction | Poetry

Eudora Welty: A Biography
Contributor(s): Marrs, Suzanne (Author)

ISBN: 0151009147 EAN: 9780151009145
Publisher: Harcourt
US SRP: $ 28.00 US
Binding: Hardcover
Pub Date: August 2005

Annotation: In this definitive account of the life of one of the finest writers of the 20th century, Marrs restores Eudora Welty's story to human proportions, tracing Welty's history from her roots in Jackson, Mississippi, to her rise to international stature. Eudora Welty's works are treasures of American literature. When her first short-story collection was published in 1941, it heralded the arrival of a genuinely original writer who over the decades wrote hugely popular novels, novellas, essays, and a memoir, One Writer's Beginnings, that became a national bestseller. By the end of her life, Welty (who died in 2001) had been given nearly every literary award there was and was all but shrouded in admiration.

Gather at the River: Notes from the Post-Millennial South (Southern Literary Studies )
Contributor(s): Crowther, Hal (Author), Rubin, Louis Decimus, Jr. (Foreword by)

ISBN: 0807131008 EAN: 9780807131008
Publisher: Louisiana State University Press
US SRP: $ 26.95 US
Binding: Hardcover
Pub Date: September 2005

Annotation: In Gather at the River, Hal Crowther extends the wide-angle vision of southern life presented in his highly acclaimed collection Cathedrals of Kudzu. He cuts to the heart of recent political, religious, and cultural issues but pauses to appreciate the sweet things that the South has to offer, like music, baseball, great writers, and strong women. Some of these essays invite debate. Crowther gives a balanced perspective on the tragedy of the Branch Davidians at Waco. He describes an example of unique heroism in the Iraq war, a war fought by one class and promoted by another. And he recommends interracial procreation as a solution to racial conflict. In other chapters, Crowther discusses the grim portrayal of the South in early film and the triumphs of southern music. His literary essays include appreciations of William Faulkner and Wendell Berry, and a biting lampoon of exhibitionist memoirs. He profiles with pride the great, cursed baseball player Shoeless Joe Jackson; the curmudgeonly realist H. L. Mencken; and the singer Dolly Parton, whose candid artifice inspires the author's litmus test for southern authenticity. In Gather at the River, Crowther combines lyrical language with wit and frankness, and the South--with all its burdens, curiosities, and promises--comes vividly into view.

Hatteras Blues: A Story from the Edge of America
Contributor(s): Carlson, Tom (Author)

ISBN: 0807829757 EAN: 9780807829752
Publisher: University of North Carolina Press
US SRP: $ 27.50 US
Binding: Hardcover
Pub Date: October 2005

Annotation: Within the gripping story of the rise and decline of one family's livelihood, Carlson relates the history and transformation of Hatteras Village through development and the growth of the tourist trade; and the experience of blue-water sport fishing and the industry that surrounds it. Carlson tells the story of the Foster family of Hatteras Village, who gave birth to the multi-million dollar charter fishing industry on the Outer Banks and, within two generations, are facing the demise of the family business to the forces of the industry it created. Within the gripping story of the rise and decline of one family's livelihood, Carlson relates the history and transformation of Hatteras Village through development and the growth of the tourist trade; the high-adrenaline experience of blue-water sport fishing and the industry that surrounds it; and the author's personal struggle to come to terms with the illness and death of his own wife to multiple sclerosis.

The Last True Story I'll Ever Tell: An Accidental Soldier's Account of the War in Iraq
Contributor(s): Crawford, John (Author)

ISBN: 157322314X EAN: 9781573223140
Publisher: Riverhead Books
US SRP: $ 23.95 US
Binding: Hardcover - Other Formats
Pub Date: August 2005

Annotation: In a voice at once raw and immediate, the author chronicles his daily life as a young soldier in Iraq: the excitement, horror, anger, tedium, fear, camaraderie and the transformation of a group of young college students into something entirely different.

The Lost Boys of Sudan: An American Story of the Refugee Experience
Contributor(s): Bixler, Mark (Author)

ISBN: 082032499X EAN: 9780820324999
Publisher: University of Georgia Press
US SRP: $ 24.95 US
Binding: Hardcover
Pub Date: March 2005

Publisher Marketing: The tragic and inspiring story of four Sudanese refugees who make their way to the US to rebuild their lives.

Marley & Me: Life and Love with the World's Worst Dog
Contributor(s): Grogan, John (Author)

ISBN: 0060817089 EAN: 9780060817084

Publisher: William Morrow & Company

US SRP: $ 21.95 US

Binding: Hardcover - Other Formats

Pub Date: November 2005

Annotation: In this funny and poignant memoir about a wildly neurotic Labrador retriever named Marley, an unsuspecting young couple come to understand what really matters. Marley had no brakes on his loyalty, exuberance, or passion. John and Jenny were just beginning their life together. They were young and in love, with a perfect little house and not a care in the world. Then they brought home Marley, a wiggly yellow furball of a puppy. Life would never be the same.

Marley quickly grew into a barreling, ninety-seven-pound streamroller of a Labrador retriever, a dog like no other. He crashed through screen doors, gouged through drywall, flung drool on guests, stole women's undergarments, and ate nearly everything he could get his mouth around, including couches and fine jewelry. Obedience school did no good— Marley was expelled. Neither did the tranquilizers the veterinarian prescribed for him with the admonishment, "Don't hesitate to use these."

And yet Marley's heart was pure. Just as he joyfully refused any limits on his behavior, his love and loyalty were boundless, too. Marley shared the couple's joy at their first pregnancy, and their heartbreak over the miscarriage. He was there when babies finally arrived and when the screams of a seventeen-year-old stabbing victim pierced the night. Marley shut down a public beach and managed to land a role in a feature-length movie, always winning hearts as he made a mess of things. Through it all, he remained steadfast, a model of devotion, even when his family was at its wit's end. Unconditional love, they would learn, comes in many forms.

Is it possible for humans to discover the key to happiness through a bigger-than-life, bad-boy dog? Just ask the Grogans.

Marsh Mission: Capturing the Vanishing Wetlands
Contributor(s): Lockwood, C C (Author), Gary, Rhea (Author)

ISBN: 0807130966 EAN: 9780807130964
Publisher: Louisiana State University Press
US SRP: $ 39.95 US
Binding: Hardcover
Pub Date: September 2005

Annotation: Nature photographer Lockwood and painter Gary joined forces for this photographic and oil-painting chronicle of the endangered Louisiana coastal wetlands, which are quickly disappearing.

Louisiana is in a desperate battle to save what remains of its coastal wetlands, which are disappearing at the rate of a football field-size area every 38 minutes. Most people are unaware of the devastating transformation of this remote region, though the effects are detrimental for the entire country economically, culturally, and environmentally. Hoping that art will inspire concern where statistics have not, and focusing on the marshlands' beauty rather than their destruction, nature photographer C. C. Lockwood and painter Rhea Gary have joined together in Marsh Mission to show that a picture is worth at least a thousand words. Their rapturous photographs and paintings may well leave one speechless. For an entire year, C.C. immersed himself in the wetlands, living on a houseboat--the Wetland Wanderer--covering more than 5,000 miles and documenting everything from oil rigs to egrets and vivid setting suns. Rhea sometimes joined him and other times ventured out in her own bateau, designed to hold an easel for making oil-on-paper sketches. She produced the final oil paintings on canvas in her studio. In breathtaking detail, C.C. captures the quiet, hidden activity of the wetlands in all their paradisaical aspects. Rhea conveys her emotional response to the light, color, and mood of the landscape with bold impressionistic strokes in raspberry, tangerine, lime, fuchsia, azure, and yellow. Together, the two impart an aesthetic experience that explains better than any map or scientific data the irreplaceable treasure being lost.

The Official Guide to Christmas in the South: Or, If You Can't Fry It, Spraypaint It Gold
Contributor(s): Barnette, David C (Author)

ISBN: 0060850531 EAN: 9780060850531
Publisher: William Morrow & Company
US SRP: $ 14.95 US
Binding: Hardcover - Other Formats
Pub Date: November 2005

Annotation: Over the top, tongue-in-cheek, but dead-on accurate, this illustrated handbook brilliantly spoofs how to celebrate Christmas--Southern style. Two-color illustrations. "No place celebrates Christmas like Dixie, and with this charming, humorous guide, anyone can learn how to deck the halls, Southern style

It's the one time of the year when both the divine and debutantes take center stage in a perfect storm of hot glue and cheese grits: Christmas. But successfully navigating through the holiday season can be more complex than Santa's midnight journey. There are pitfalls hotter than any chimney -- and social situations more slippery than any roof! But now "The Official Guide to Christmas in the South has arrived to reveal the finer and sometimes unspoken details of Dixie etiquette.

Perfect for a true Southerner's coffee table or an imposter's survival guide, "The Official Guide to Christmas in the South is the gift that will keep on regifting season after season.

Our Endangered Values: America's Moral Crisis
Contributor(s): Carter, Jimmy (Author)

ISBN: 0743284577 EAN: 9780743284578
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
US SRP: $ 25.00 US
Binding: Hardcover - Other Formats
Pub Date: October 2005

President Carter has written importantly about his spiritual life and faith. In "Living Faith," a huge bestseller, he recounted the values and experiences that shaped his personal and political life. In his companion book "Sources of Strength," also a bestseller, he meditated on fifty-two of the favorite Bible lessons he has taught.

In "Our Endangered Values," Carter offers a personal consideration of "moral values" as they relate to the important issues of the day. He puts forward a passionate defense of separation of church and state, and a strong warning of where the country is heading as the lines between politics and rigid religious fundamentalism are blurred.

Now, he describes his own involvement and reactions to some disturbing societal trends that have taken place during the last few years. These changes involve both the religious and the political worlds as they have increasingly become intertwined, and include some of the most crucial and controversial issues of the day -- frequently encapsulated under "moral values."

Many of these matters are under fierce debate. They include preemptive war, women's rights, terrorism, civil liberties, homosexuality, abortion, the death penalty, science and religion, environmental degradation, nuclear arsenals, America's global image, fundamentalism, and the melding of religion and politics.

Sustained by his lifelong faith, Jimmy Carter assesses these issues in a forceful and unequivocal but balanced and courageous way. "Our Endangered Values" is a book that his millions of readers have eagerly awaited.

Solo: My Adventures in the Air
Contributor(s): Edgerton, Clyde (Author)

ISBN: 156512426X EAN: 9781565124264
Publisher: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill
US SRP: $ 23.95 US
Binding: Hardcover
Pub Date: September 2005

Annotation: "Solo" is a story told with empathy and humor--and with searing honesty that will resonate with every pilot who remembers the first take off, the first landing, the first solo. For those who always choose the window seat, it's a thrilling story to experience vicariously. When Clyde Edgerton was four years old, his mother took him to a local airport to see the airplanes. Eighteen years later, she would take him to the same airport to catch a plane to Texas for Air Force pilot training. She’ d been his first passenger when he got his aviator’ s license. She’ d supported his decision to join the Air Force. All the same, she wished he’ d kept up his piano lessons instead.
But Truma Edgerton’ s only son had fallen in love with flying, and had fallen hard. His plan was to pilot the newest, sleekest, fastest aircraft available. The first time he soloed in a jet, he felt “ a strange pride and power.” By then, the only access to the cockpits of fighter jets was via the war in Vietnam. So he spent a year flying combat reconnaissance over the Ho Chi Minh Trail, and he won the Distinguished Flying Cross.
Back at home, he took up another passion— writing. By and by, he bought himself his own airplane, a Piper Super Cruiser that he named Annabelle. Now, thirty years after Vietnam, Clyde Edgerton looks back at his youthful passion for flying, at the joy he took in mastering it, at the exhilaration— and lingering anguish— of combat flight.
Solo is a story told with empathy and humor— and with searing honesty that will resonate with every pilot who remembers the first take off, the first landing, the first solo. For those of us who always choose the window seat, it’ s a thrilling story to experience vicariously.

The Sweet Potato Queens' Wedding Planner/Divorce Guide
Contributor(s): Browne, Jill Conner (Author)

ISBN: 1400049695 EAN: 9781400049691
Publisher: Crown Publishers
US SRP: $ 22.95 US
Binding: Hardcover - Other Formats
Pub Date: December 2005

Annotation: The hilarious sequel to "The Sweet Potato Queen's Field Guide to Men" is a handy flip book. One side helps readers plan a truly regal wedding, and the other side gives tips on surviving even the nastiest divorce while maintaining queenly composure.

You are cordially invited to attend...
The Sweet Potato Queens are bona fide experts at planning a marvelous marriage (and ending one--flip this book right on over if you're looking for advice on dumping a deadweight hubby!), so who better to provide this handy wedding planner? And even if you're not planning your own nuptials, surely you have dreamt about your perfect day, regardless of whether you've met Mr. Right yet! In this essential manual, you'll learn:
- How to plan a truly regal wedding
- What to wear (and what not to wear) to your own wedding, or to anyone else's
- How to organize the sassiest games and sauciest entertainment for the occasion
- How to plan and prepare the greasiest, tastiest wedding vittles for your big-ass guests

You are hereby summoned to appear . . .
The Sweet Potato Queens know a thing or two about ending a marriage (and beginning one--flip this book on over if you're planning on attaching yourself to the ol' ball and chain!), so who better to provide this crucial divorce guide? Besides, whether you're getting your own personal divorce or not, chances are you'll be calling Mr. Right Mr. I-Don't-Think-So sometime in the future! In this practical handbook, you'll learn:
- How to survive even the nastiest divorce while maintaining your queenly composure
- Why it's appropriate--and necessary!--to throw divorce showers and send out divorce announcements
- Why love is even better the second, third, or fourth time around

The Story of Sea Island Cotton
Contributor(s): Porcher, Richard Dwight (Author), Fick, Sarah (Author)

ISBN: 0941711730 EAN: 9780941711739
Publisher: Wyrick and Company
US SRP: $ 39.95 US
Binding: Hardcover
Pub Date: September 2005

Publisher Marketing: The cultivation, harvesting, and sale of sea island cotton was one of the most important economic forces in the southeastern United States from 1790 to just before the Civil War and, to a lesser extent, in the early twentieth century. This impressively researched book traces the journey of the Gossypium barbadense seed from the Andes to the Caribbean and thence to suitable growing conditions found on the barrier islands from North Carolina to Florida. The story of sea island cotton encompasses the planting, cultivation, harvesting, ginning, and market preparation of this highly profitable plant, along with the reasons for its demise as an important agricultural and economic force in the region. The Story of Sea Island Cotton also presents descriptions of the plantations and plantation architecture that were found primarily in the lowcountry of South Carolina, with photographs of the buildings and extensive biographical information about the owners.

Traveling Literary America: A Complete Guide to Literary Landmarks
Contributor(s): Welborn, B J (Author)

ISBN: 0971897425 EAN: 9780971897427
Publisher: Jefferson Press
US SRP: $ 19.95 US
Binding: Paperback
Pub Date: September 2005

Readers and travelers are guided to more than 200 homes and historic sites of America's greatest writers--from the Jack London Ranch in northern California to William Faulkner's home in Oxford, Mississippi. Clear driving directions and visitor instructions are combined with unique tidbits about each site and author, such as the story of Jack London's custom-made furniture and the roll top desk and Dictaphone on display in his study. Literary enthusiasts are guided to the site of Thoreau's bean field, where they can poke around an exact replica of his cabin. They can drop in on Margaret Mitchell's recently restored Atlanta apartment or visit John Steinbeck's haunts in the cozy California seaside town of Pacific Grove. This family-oriented, user-friendly guide teaches literary folk about writers' work, their philosophies, and the forces that compelled them to write. All 50 states are represented, and the literary sites are divided by geographic regions.

The Way of Ignorance: And Other Essays
Contributor(s): Berry, Wendell (Author), Kemmis, Daniel (Contribution by), White, Courtney (Contribution by)

ISBN: 1593760779 EAN: 9781593760779
Publisher: Shoemaker & Hoard
US SRP: $ 24.00 US
Binding: Hardcover
Pub Date: October 2005

Annotation: Setting aside abstraction in favor of clarity, coherence, and passion, this new book provides a setting of immediate danger and profound hope. The core of this collection offers an exhilarating sense of purpose and a clear call to action. In a democratic commonwealth, what are the costs and consequences of rugged individualism?
What, in the fullest sense, is involved in our National Security?
When considering Weapons of Mass Destruction, does our inventory include soil loss, climate change, and ground water poisoning? And should we add Economic Weapons of Mass Destruction to our list of targets?
Whose freedom are we considering when we speak of the "free market" or "free enterprise"?
What is the price of ownership without affection?
These and several other questions lie at the heart of Wendell Berry's latest collection of essays, writing "motivated by fear of our violence to one another and to the world, and my hope that we might do better." Setting aside abstraction in favor of clarity, coherence, and passion, this new book provides a setting of immediate danger and profound hope. The core of this collection -- "Imagination in Place," "The Way of Ignorance," "Quantity and Form," "The Purpose of a Coherent Community," "Compromise, Hell!" -- consists of some of the finest essays of Wendell Berry's long career, and the whole offers an exhilarating sense of purpose and a clear call to action.

Why New Orleans Matters
Contributor(s): Piazza, Tom (Author)

ISBN: 0061124834 EAN: 9780061124839
Publisher: ReganBooks
US SRP: $ 14.95 US
Binding: Hardcover - Other Formats
Pub Date: December 2005

Every place has its history. But what is it about New Orleans that makes it more than just the sum of the events that have happened there? What is it about the spirit of the people who live there that could produce a music, a cuisine, an architecture, a total environment, the mere mention of which can bring a smile to the face of someone who has never even set foot there?

What is the meaning of a place like that, and what is lost if it is lost?

The winds of Hurricane Katrina, and the national disaster that followed, brought with them a moment of shared cultural awareness: Thousands were killed and many more displaced; promises were made, forgotten, and renewed; the city of New Orleans was engulfed by floodwaters of biblical proportions -- all in a wrenching drama that captured international attention.

Yet the passing of that moment has left too many questions. What will become of New Orleans in the months and years to come? What of its people, who fled the city on a rising tide of panic, trading all they knew and loved for a dim hope of shelter and rest? And, ultimately, what do those people and their city mean to America and the world?

In "Why New Orleans Matters, award-winning author and New Orleans resident Tom Piazza illuminates the storied culture and uncertain future of this great and most neglected of American cities. With wisdom and affection, he explores the hidden contours of familiar traditions like Mardi Gras and Jazz Fest, and evokes the sensory rapture of the city that gave us jazz music and Creole cooking. He writes, too, of the city's deep undercurrents of corruption, racism, and injustice, and of how its people endure and transcend those conditions.And, perhaps most important, he asks us all to consider the spirit of this place and all the things it has shared with the world -- grace and beauty, resilience and soul. "That spirit is in terrible jeopardy right now," he writes. "If it dies, something precious and profound will go out of the world forever."

"Why New Orleans Matters is a gift from one of our most talented writers to the beloved and important city he calls home -- and to a nation to whom that city's survival has been entrusted.

Year of the Comets: A Journey from Sadness to the Stars
Contributor(s): DeBlieu, Jan (Author)

ISBN: 1593760701 EAN: 9781593760700
Publisher: Shoemaker & Hoard
US SRP: $ 23.00 US
Binding: Hardcover
Pub Date: May 2005

On the clearest nights, in the darkest rural areas, it's possible to see as many as 2,000 stars. On what kind of scaffolding are they hung? Every moment thousands of neurons fire in our brains, giving rise to our thoughts and emotions. Is it possible for us to map and understand the complex internal cosmos that makes us who we are? These two disparate questions became of immense importance to award-winning writer Jan DeBlieu in the spring of 1996, with the appearance of the Comet Hyakutake, the first of two great comets to visit Earth within a year. That spring, her husband, Jeff, began a long slide into a clinical depression. One night, unable to sleep, she stepped outside and found herself face-to-face with Hyakutake. Her encounter with Hyakutake sparked a desire to learn all she could about the stars, comets, and the makeup of the universe. Through her family's story, DeBlieu describes the pain of watching her husband suffer, as well as his healing-indeed, their healing as a couple. She brings the Year of the Comets full circle with the appearance of Hale-Bopp in 1997, which coincided with Jeff's recovery.