It’s that time of year again! Time for the Whitney Awards!! Last year was simply fabulous. The evening of the awards ceremony was a delight to be part of. I hope everyone can make it to the banquet this year. If not, we’ll hopefully have live blogging for the event like we did last year.

Rob Wells is the mastermind behind the awards, realizing that LDS authors have a lot to offer the reading community.

“Seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom; seek learning, even by study and also by faith.” — D&C 88:118

Orson Whitney was quoted as saying, “We will yet have Miltons and Shakespeares of our own.” when speaking of the LDS people. And so it is that the Whitney award was born. This is an award that honors LDS authors for the literature they bring to the world.

The 2008 Whitney Award Finalists (listed in Alphabetical order by genre)

ROMANCE:

• Seeking Persephone, by Sarah Eden,
• Servant to a King, by Sariah Wilson,
• The Sound of Rain, by Anita Stansfield,
• Spare Change, by Aubrey Mace,
• Taking Chances, by Shannon Guymon

MYSTERY/SUSPENSE:

• Above and Beyond, by Betsy Brannon Green
• Do No Harm, by Gregg Luke
• Fool Me Twice, by Stephanie Black
• Freefall, by Traci Hunter Abramson
• Royal Target, by Traci Hunter Abramson

YOUTH FICTION:

• The 13th Reality, by James Dashner
• Alcatraz vs. The Scrivner’s Bones, by Brandon Sanderson
• Fablehaven: Grip of the Shadow Plague (Book 3), by Brandon Mull
• Far World: Water Keep, by J. Scott Savage
• Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow, by Jessica Day George

SPECULATIVE:

• Ender in Exile, by Orson Scott Card
• The Great and Terrible: From the End of Heaven, by Chris Stewart
• The Hero of Ages (Mistborn, Book 3), by Brandon Sanderson
• The Host, by Stephanie Meyer
• The Wyrmling Horde: The Seventh Book of the Runelords, by David Farland

HISTORICAL:

• Abinadi, by H.B. Moore
• Isabelle Webb, Legend of the Jewel, by N.C. Allen
• Master, by Toni Sorenson
• The Ruby, by Jennie Hansen
• Traitor, by Sandra Grey

GENERAL FICTION:

• Bound on Earth, by Angela Hallstrom
• The Reckoning, by Tanya Parker Mills
• Waiting For the Light to Change, by Annette Hawes
• Fields of Home, by Rachel Ann Nunes
• Keeping Keller, by Tracy Winegar

BEST BOOK BY A NEW AUTHOR:

• Bound on Earth, by Angela Hallstrom
• The Reckoning, by Tanya Parker Mills
• Spare Change, by Aubrey Mace
• Traitor, by Sandra Grey
• Waiting For the Light to Change, by Annette Hawes

NOVEL OF THE YEAR:

• Bound on Earth, by Angela Hallstrom
• Fool Me Twice, by Stephanie Black
• The Hero of Ages (Mistborn, Book 3), by Brandon Sanderson
• Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow, by Jessica Day George
• Traitor, by Sandra Grey

 (Stole this from Annette Lyon since she said it better than I would) I would also like to suggest that, if at all possible, you print off this list and take it to your local library, requesting that they be sure to have all these titles on their shelves. This would not only help those that seek out the titles, but it’s also helpful for the academy members (LDS authors, publishers, critics, retailers, etc) so they can find the copies, and it helps the authors get a wider audience for their books.

Most libraries in Utah have an LDS section, and many outside of Utah have a limited selection as well. I believe that knowing the book is up for an award would increase their likelihood of stocking it in their library–it’s worth a shot, right?

Thank you to everyone who has supported the Whitney Awards through donations, the auction, spreading the word, and reading these books. It truly is our goal to honor those writers who have achieved excellence in their craft.

A few weeks ago, my cousin put a picture her daughter drew of her on her blog. The picture was this happy smiling face of mom, with a heart and a dialogue bubble that read, “I love my child” or something like that. It was fairly adorable. The Sunday just before seeing this picture on my cousin’s blog, my children had also drawn pictures of me. They weren’t exactly like the one my cousin’s child drew of her.

See for yourself:

And then there’s this one:

My darling son and I had a little war over this one. I scratched off the word mom and put in his name, which he scratched off and put mom back on, and so forth until I gave in, figuring he might be right.

And then this one:

 They so over dramatize things. I will have you know that these pictures were drawn during sacrament meeting when the speaker was talking on the pure love of the Savior. My kids obviously weren’t listening. But they were giggling–albeit stifled giggling because loud giggling is not allowed in sacrament meeting. I giggled a little too, in between my scowling looks, and shushing. When we got home I told them all I was terribly disappointed in their suck-up skills. They really need to work on that. I tell my daughter she’s got horns on her head all the time. She tells me she needs to have something to help hold up her very heavy-from-good-deeds halo. I’m sure that’s what they mean when they put horns on my head. I’m sure they were just saying I needed them to hold up my very heavy-from-good-deeds halo.