Well, this is neat news. My book, The Last Great Getaway of the Water Balloon Boys, which was published by Simon and Schuster in 2010, is a finalist for the Oregon Book Award.
It’s one of five finalists in the YA category, or specifically the Leslie Bradshaw Award for Young Adult Literature. The winners in all categories will be announced at a ceremony on April 25 at the Gerding Theater at the Armory in Portland, Oregon. Even to be a finalist is a neat honor and I’m very stoked. You can read more about the Oregon Book Awards and Oregon Literary Arts on their website, as well as on the Paper Fort blog. Some great books on that list, which certainly puts me in rarefied company.
One other thing: This year, they’ve created a new category. The finalist out of all the categories with the most votes will be awarded the Oregonian’s Reader Choice Award, which is a nice additional honor as well as a few extra dollars in the writer’s pocket.
If you’ve read the book, and would like to vote, all you need to do is go here.
They just ask for your name and email to verify that you’re a real person. One or two clicks and you’re done. I’d love your help! You might also think about writing a brief customer review at Amazon or Barnes and Noble. Even if you’ve bought the book elsewhere, you can write a review; they just require that you have an account with them. In the modern bookselling world, with an ever increasing share of books bought online, these customer reviews really do help writers — especially when you consider that only a tiny fraction of readers do them.
And of course you can read more about The Last Great Getaway of the Water Balloon Boys on my site, as well as purchase it from Amazon, B&N, or a local independent like Powell’s Bookstore in Portland.
Thanks for your support!