2009 marks the tenth anniversary of the SIBA Book Awards.  For a decade southern booksellers have been honoring the books that they especially loved, the ones they most enjoyed putting into the hands of their customers with the earnest words “You’ve got to read this.”

The SIBA Book awards were created, not just to recognize great Southern books, but to give southern readers an enviable list of books to enjoy, read, buy, and give as gifts.  As of this time, the SIBA Book Award remains one of the most far-reaching and high-profile awards for Southern literature.

These fine  Finalists will be judged by a jury of SIBA booksellers. And on July, 4th – Independence Day, the Winners will be announced.  In September, in Greenville, SC, at the annual SIBA Trade Show, the winners and finalists will be recognized.

Children:

Almost Invisible:  Black Patriots of the American Revolution, Kate Salley Palmer (Warbranch Press)
If Animals Kissed Goodnight, Ann Paul, David Walker (illus) (Farrar, Straus, Giroux)
Two Bobbies, Kirby Larson & Mary Nethery (Walker & Company)

Cooking:

Bon Appetite, Y’all, Virginia Willis (Ten Speed)
Holy Smoke:  The Big Book of North Carolina Barbecue, John Shelton Reed & Dale Volberg Reed (University of North Carolina Press)
Screen Doors & Sweet Tea, Martha Hall Foose (Random House)

Fiction:

The House on Tradd Street, Karen White (Penguin)
Mudbound, Hilary Jordan (Algonquin)
Serena, Ron Rash (Ecco)

Non-Fiction:

Belle Weather, Celia Rivenbark (St. Martin’s Press)
The Prince of Frogtown, Rick Bragg (Random House)
Suck Your Stomach In & Put Some Color On, Shellie Rushing Tomlinson (Berkley Trade)

Poetry:

Beanball, Gene Fehler (Clarion Books)
Dear Darkness, Kevin Young (Knopf)
Signals, Ed Madden (University of South Carolina Press)

Young Adult:

Graceling, Kristin Cashore (Harcourt Childrens Books)
Lock & Key, Sarah Dessen (Viking)
Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey, Trenton Lee Stewart (Little, Brown)

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