Colorado Book Awards Finalist Reading: Children’s, Juvenile, & Young Adult Literature

The Colorado Book Awards annually celebrates Colorado’s outstanding literary achievement by commending the accomplishments of its authors, editors, illustrators, and photographers. In this free public reading, finalists will read from their work and attendees can pose questions. Select finalist books will be available for purchase at the readings and through Poor Richard’s Books & Gifts at poorrichardsdowntown.com.

Children’s Literature Finalists
If Tigers Disappeared
Lily Williams
What would happen if tigers disappeared? Find out in this fifth book in the award-winning If Animals Disappeared series that imagines the consequences of a world without tigers. Deep in the Biligirirangana Hills in India, a fierce creature roams. There are nine subspecies of tigers, but three are now extinct. They play a very important role in keeping nature in balance. But, due to expanding human populations, poaching, and more, they’re in danger. What would happen if tigers disappeared completely? Join Lily Williams as she tracks the devastating reality of what our world might look like without tigers. Lily Williams is the author and illustrator of If Sharks Disappeared, If Polar Bears Disappeared, If Elephants Disappeared, and If Bees Disappeared. She grew up in Northern California where she received her BFA from California College of the Arts before moving to Denver, Colorado. Lily seeks to inspire change, engage audiences, and educate people of all ages with her artwork.

Swim, Jim!
Kaz Windness
Jim the crocodile finds the courage to face his fear of swimming in this funny and charming debut picture book for fans of Jabari Jumps and Jean Reidy’s Truman! Jim the crocodile is scared of swimming—or rather, of sinking. His family’s swamp is just too deep, too dark, and too big. But maybe he could swim, if only there were a smaller swamp where he could try it on his own terms. Jim wiggle-waggles far and wide until he finds the perfect place. With the help of some floaties and his sisters, Jim just might find the courage to face his fear and show everyone—including himself—that Jim can swim! Kaz Windness is an author-illustrator who loves to make her readers laugh. When she’s not writing or illustrating books, Kaz teaches illustration at the Rocky Mountain College of Art + Design. Kaz lives in Denver, Colorado, with her husband, two children, and Boston terrier. She’s the author of picture book Bitsy Bat, School Star. She also created the Level 1 Ready-to-Read Graphics Worm and Caterpillar Are Friends.

Sylvie
Jean Reidy and Lucy Ruth Cummins
One small spider takes a big risk to bring together the people she watches over in her apartment building in this charming picture book from the celebrated author and illustrator of Truman. Jean Reidy’s bestselling and award-winning picture books have earned their spots as favorites among readers and listeners of all ages and from all over the world. Her books include Truman and Sylvie, both illustrated by Lucy Ruth Cummins. She is a three-time winner of the Colorado Book Award, a Parents’ Choice Gold Award winner, a Charlotte Zolotow Honor winner, and recognized on “Best of” lists by School Library Journal, The New York Times, NPR, and Amazon. Jean writes from her home in Colorado where she lives right across the street from her neighborhood library…which she visits nearly every day.

Juvenile Literature Finalists
Dad’s Girlfriend and Other Anxieties
Kellye Crocker
Dad hasn’t even been dating his new girlfriend that long, so Ava is sure that nothing has to change in her life. That is, until the day after sixth grade ends, when Dad whisks her away on vacation to meet The Girlfriend and her daughter in terrifying Colorado, where even the squirrels can kill you! Managing her anxiety, avoiding altitude sickness, and surviving the mountains might take all of Ava’s strength, but at least this trip will only last two weeks. Right? Kellye Crocker is a journalist who has written for Better Homes and Gardens, Parents, and Glamour. She holds an MFA in writing for children and young adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts and a bachelor’s degree in news-editorial from the Missouri School of Journalism. She lives in Denver, Colorado.

Middle School: Safety Goggles Advised
Jessica Speer and Lesley Imgart
Yes, there are cool things about middle school, like more independence, new friends, and new activities. But there’s baffling stuff too, like harsh judgment, the whole “popularity” thing, and, of course, drama. With fun illustrations and choose-your-own-adventure-style scenarios, this book will help you deal with the drama and define who you are when things get, well, weird. Jessica Speer is the award-winning author of BFF or NRF (Not Really Friends)? A Girls Guide to Happy Friendships. Her interactive books for preteens and teens entertain readers while exploring social-emotional topics. Blending humor, a dash of science, stories, and insights, her writing unpacks the social stuff that peaks during adolescence. She has a master’s degree in social sciences and explores topics in ways that connect with kids. Jessica is regularly featured in and contributes to media outlets on topics related to kids, teens parenting, and friendship.

Sisterhood of Sleuths
Jennifer Chambliss Bertman
Maizy always assumed she knew everything about her grandmother, Jacuzzi. So when a box full of vintage Nancy Drew books gets left at her mom’s thrift store, Maizy is surprised to find an old photo of her grandmother and two other women tucked beneath the collection. Stranger still, when Maizy shows the photo to Jacuzzi she feigns ignorance, insisting the woman is someone else. Determined to learn the truth — and inspired by the legacy of Nancy Drew — Maizy launches her own investigation with the help of new friends, Nell and Cam. What they discover not only points to the origins of the iconic series, but uncovers a truth from the past that will lead to self-discovery in the present, connecting three generations of women. This intergenerational mystery filled with literary history, friendship, and family secrets delivers a captivating tribute to the world’s most famous girl detective. Jennifer Chambliss Bertman is the NY Times bestselling author of the Book Scavenger series and the picture book A Good Deed Can Grow, illustrated by Holly Hatam. Jennifer holds an MFA in Creative Writing and lives in Colorado.

Totality! An Eclipse Guide in Rhyme and Science
Jeffrey Bennett
Tens of millions of people came out to view the 2017 total solar eclipse, the first in the US in nearly four decades. Now we are approaching an even more exciting, back-to-back pair of US eclipses: an annular eclipse on Oct. 14, 2023 and a total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024. Totality! An Eclipse Guide in Rhyme and Science features a unique combination of rhyme and science that makes it suitable for a wide range of ages. The rhyme has been pedagogically constructed to serve as a mnemonic device for the underlying science explained with illustrations and “Big Kid Box” sidebars. The book concludes with a glossary, suggested activities, and an eclipse science summary — features that will add particular value for parents and teachers learning along with their students or kids. Astrophysicist/educator Jeffrey Bennett is the author of numerous books, including college textbooks in astronomy, astrobiology, mathematics, and statistics, books for the general public, and six previous books for children. All six children’s books have won numerous awards, including the American Institute of Physics Science Communication award and have been read by astronauts aboard the International Space Station for the Story Time From Space program. Dr. Bennett is involved in numerous public outreach projects, including creation of the free app “Totality by Big Kid Science,” development of scale model solar systems, and a free online textbook for middle school Earth and Space Science.

Young Adult Literature Finalists
Azar on Fire
Olivia Abtahi
Fourteen-year-old Azar Rossi’s first year of high school has mostly been silent, and intentionally so. After a bad case of colic as a baby, Azar’s vocal folds are shredded—full of nodules that give her a rasp the envy of a chain-smoking bullfrog. Her classmates might just think she’s quiet, but Azar is saving her voice for when it really counts and talking to her classmates is not medically advisable or even high on her list. When she hears about a local Battle of the Bands contest, it’s something she can’t resist. Azar loves music, loves songwriting, but with her vocal folds the way they are, there’s no way she can sing her songs on stage. Then she hears lacrosse hottie, Ebenezer Lloyd Hollins the Fifth, aka Eben, singing from the locker room. She’s transfixed. He’s just the person she needs. His voice + her lyrics = Battle of the Bands magic. But getting a band together means Azar has a lot of talking to do and new friends to make. For the chance to stand on stage with Eben it might all just be worth it. Growing up in the DC area, Olivia devoured books and hid in empty classrooms during school to finish them. Her debut novel, Perfectly Parvin, was published in 2021 by Penguin Random House Putnam Books For Young Readers, receiving the SCBWI Golden Kite Honor, and YALSA Odyssey Honor, and numerous starred reviews. She currently lives in Denver, Colorado, with her husband and daughter.

Bright Ruined Things
Samantha Cohoe
The only life Mae has ever known is on the island, living on the charity of the wealthy Prosper family who control the island’s magic and its spirits. Mae longs for magic of her own and to have a place among the Prosper family, where her best friend, Coco, will see her as an equal, and her crush, Miles, will finally see her. But tonight is First Night, when the Prospers and their high-society friends celebrate the night Lord Prosper first harnessed the island’s magic and started producing aether – a magical fuel source that has revolutionized the world. With everyone returning to the island, Mae finally has the chance to go after what she’s always wanted. When the spirits start inexplicably dying, Mae realizes that things aren’t what they seem. And Ivo, the reclusive, mysterious heir to the Prosper magic, may hold all the answers – including a secret about Mae’s past. As Mae and her friends unravel the mysteries of the island, and the Prospers’ magic, Mae starts to question the truth of what her world was built on. Samantha Cohoe writes historically-inspired young adult fantasy. She was raised in San Luis Obispo, California, where she enjoyed an idyllic childhood of beach trips, omnivorous reading, and writing stories brimming with adverbs. She currently lives in Denver with her family and divides her time among teaching Latin, mothering, writing, reading, and deleting adverbs. A Golden Fury is her debut novel.

Cold the Night, Fast the Wolves
Meg Long
A lone girl determined to survive. The feral wolf she must learn to trust. Only one chance to escape their icy planet: a race across the deadly tundra. Seventeen-year-old Sena Korhosen hates the sled race, especially after it claimed both her mothers’ lives five years ago. Alone on her frozen planet, she makes money any other way she can–until she double-crosses a local gangster. Desperate to escape, Sena flees with his prized fighting wolf, Iska, and takes an offer from a team of scientists. They’ll pay her way off-world, on one condition–that she uses the survival skills her mothers taught her to get them to the end of the race. But the tundra is a treacherous place. As the girl and the wolf forge a tenuous bond and fight to escape ice goblins, giant bears, and the ruthless gang leader intent on trapping them both, one question drives them relentlessly forward: Where do you turn when there is nowhere to hide? Cold the Night, Fast the Wolves is a captivating, breathless debut about survival and found family that delivers a fresh twist on classic survival stories. Meg Long was born and raised in Louisiana and originally wanted to be a spy. Instead she somehow found herself teaching overseas in China and Malaysia before ending up in Colorado, where it snows entirely too much. She taught middle and high school for eight years before jumping to the tech industry as a content writer. When not reading or writing, she’s kicking things at her Muay Thai gym with her boyfriend, playing video games, or obsessing over Sailor Moon fanart. Cold the Night, Fast the Wolves is her debut novel.