Florida Publishers Association Presents 2008 President’s Book Awards

On September 13, the Florida Publishers Association (FPA) presented its 2008 President’s Book Awards to members whose books were chosen as the best in 16 different categories and one special category. Judges for content categories were Florida librarians (three in each category), and an award-winning, national book design firm provided judges for cover and interior design categories.

The following winners were selected by the competition’s 35 judges (32 librarians from across Florida and 3 members of a nationally recognized book design firm):

• Best Adult Nonfiction:
  The Mollusks: A Guide to Their Study, Collection, and Preservation edited by C. F. Sturm, T. A. Pearce, and A. Valdés (ISBN-10: 158112930-0, Universal Publishers)
• Best Adult Fiction:
  Two Lives, One Love by Jay Dickinson (ISBN-10: 0-9745098-4-1, Pioneer River Press)
• Best Interior Design:
  Markawasi: Peru’s Inexplicable Stone Forest by Kathy Doore (ISBN-13:978-0-9791713-5-2, Kathleen Doore, Inc.)
• Best Cover Design:
  How to Open a Financially Successful Pizza & Sub Restaurant by Shri L. Henkel & Douglas R. Brown(ISBN-13: 978-0-910627-80-1, Atlantic Publishing Group)
• Best Business Book:
  The Complete Guide to Currency Trading & Investing: Howto Earn High Rates of Return Safely and Take Control of Your Investments by Jamaine Burrell (ISBN-13: 978-1-60138-119-4, Atlantic Publishing Group)
• Best Florida Book for Adults:
  The Florida Handbook 2007–2008 compiled by Allen Morris and Joan Perry Morris (ISBN-13: 978-9765846-2-9, The Peninsular Publishing Company)
• Best Florida Book for Children:
  The Adventures of Ali Alligator by Rita T. Geringswald, illustrations by Bill Kitchen (ISBN-13: 978-0-9797566-1-0, R&D Publishing)
• Best Children’s Picture Book:
  Little Skink’s Tailby Janet Halfmann, illustrated by Laurie Allen Klein (ISBN-13: 978-0-9768823-8-1, Sylvan Dell Publishing)
• Best Children’s Fiction:
  Cry of the Cheetah by Bob Wallace (ISBN-13: 978-6024722-5-9, Tate Out Loud)
• Best Children’s Nonfiction:
  Chicken Soup for the Soul: Kids in the Kitchen: Tasty Recipes and Fun Activities for Budding Chefs by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, and Chef Antonio Frontera (ISBN-13: 978-0-7573-0579-5, Health Communications, Inc.)
• Best Young Adult Nonfiction:
  Excursions in Geography by James W. Lett, Ph.D. (ISBN-13: 978-0-9745098-6-0, Pioneer River Press)
• Best Young Adult Fiction:
  Emmy’s Question by Jeannine Auth (ISBN-13: 978-0-9790395-2-2, Morningtide Press)
• Best Writing/Writers:
  The Writer Within You: A Step-by-Step Guide to Writing and Publishing In Your Retirement Years by Charles Jacobs (ISBN-13: 978-0-9793636-0-3, Caros Books)
• Best Coffee Table Book:
  Markawasi: Peru’s Inexplicable Stone Forest by Kathy Doore (ISBN-13:978-0-9791713-5-2, Kathleen Doore, Inc.)
• Biography/Autobiography:
  Mama:Root, Hog, or Die by Barbara Oehlbeck (ISBN-10: 0-912451-59-9, Crabtree Press/Florida Classics Library)
• The Best Overall Book, determined by the judges’scores, was the children’s picture book, Little Skink’s Tail written by Janet Halfmann and illustrated by Laurie Allen Klein (ISBN-13: 978-0-9768823-8-1, Sylvan Dell Publishing).
• Selected as President’s Pick by FPA President Frank Gromling was A Chance to Live by Pieter Kohnstam (ISBN-10: 0-9778199-1-4, Bardolf & Co.).