Good morning, my lovely readers! Remember when I told you about the INSPY awards? Well, for a little refresher, it's "the bloggers' award for excellence in faith-driven literature," and I was one of the three Literature for Young Adult judges this year.
I absolutely loved judging this award and will definitely try to apply for judging again next year. The books were all great and it was extremely difficult to choose one from the five.
The winner that Sheila, Sherry, and I finally selected was....
Literature for Young People: With a Name Like Love by Tess Hilmo (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, September 2011)
With a Name Like Love is a family story with a great plot – a murder to be solved, friendships to resolve, and family decisions to be made – and excellent, heart-grabbing characters. Olivene Love’s daddy is a traveling preacher, as was his daddy before him and his daddy before him, ”all the way back to the time of Moses.” Ollie herself is a good girl, typical oldest child. Ollie’s mama, Susanna Love, is “like living poetry” as she welcomes the people who come to their revival meetings. Ollie’s sisters – the pessimist who gets things done, the daddy look-alike longing to become a preacher like him, the simple-minded but graceful girl who almost has the dictionary memorized, and the eager-to-please baby of the family – fill out this wonderful and down-to-earth family. Together, the Love family has a character and winsomeness all their own, rivaling other great families of literature such as the the Marches, the Melendys, or the Moffats. With a Name Like Love doesn’t look like much at first, but it is a surprisingly touching – and sometimes tearful – story about family and friends that will appeal to both boys and girls of all ages.
Don't forget to go see all the winners of this year's INSPY awards!
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