Want to read an award-winning local book this weekend? Here are the winners of the Washington State Book Awards (formerly called the Governors’ Writers Awards), now celebrating their 54th year.
Announced on Friday by the Washington Center for the Book, a partnership of Seattle Public Library and Washington State Library, the awards are determined by panels made up of librarians and booksellers. To qualify, books must be published in 2019, and authors must currently live in Washington state or have formerly lived in the state for at least five years.
Adult categories
Fiction: “Deep River” by Karl Marlantes, of Duvall (Atlantic Monthly Press)
Creative nonfiction: “Become America: Civic Sermons on Love, Responsibility, and Democracy” by Eric Liu, of Seattle (Sasquatch Books)
General nonfiction: “The Big Thaw: Ancient Carbon, Modern Science, and a Race to Save the World” by Eric Scigliano, of Seattle (Braided River / Mountaineers Books)
Biography/memoir: “The Death and Life of Aida Hernandez: A Border Story” by Aaron Bobrow-Strain, of Walla Walla (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
Poetry: ” Nightingale” by Paisley Rekdal, formerly of Seattle now lives in Salt Lake City, Utah (Copper Canyon Press)
Youth categories
Picture book: “Flora Forager ABC” by Bridget Beth Collins, of Seattle (Little Bigfoot)
Books for young readers: “Growing Up Gorilla: How a Zoo Baby Brought Her Family Together” by Clare Hodgson Meeker, of Friday Harbor (Lerner Publishing Group)
Books for young adult readers (ages 13 to 18): ” Slay” by Brittney Morris, of Seattle (Simon & Schuster)
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