The Boy Kings of Texas gets National Book Award Nomination

Finalists for the 2012 National Book Awards were named this morning on MSNBC's Morning Joe program by David Steinberger, chairman of the National Book Foundation's board of directors. Winners will be announced November 14 in New York City.

The Boy Kings of Texas: A Memoir, by Domingo Martinez, Lyons Press, 978-0-7627-7919-2, was nominated in the Non-Fiction category.  Congratulations!

A lyrical and authentic book that recounts the story of a border-town family in Brownsville, Texas in the 1980's, as each member of the family desperately tries to assimilate and escape life on the border to become "real" Americans, even at the expense of their shared family history. This is really un-mined territory in the memoir genre that gives in-depth insight into a previously unexplored corner of America.

 

This is Not My Hat!

Watch the book trailer for THIS IS NOT MY HAT, by Jon Klassen, 978-0-7636-5599-0:

October Mourning: A Song for Matthew Shepard

Candlewick Press is publishing an astonishing book this September - October Mourning: A Song for Matthew Shepard by Lesléa Newman.

On the night of October 6, 1998, a gay twenty-one-year-old college student named Matthew Shepard was lured from a Wyoming bar by two young men, savagely beaten, tied to a remote fence, and left to die. Gay Awareness Week was beginning at the University of Wyoming, and the keynote speaker was Lesléa Newman, discussing her book HEATHER HAS TWO MOMMIES. Shaken, the author addressed the large audience that gathered, but she remained haunted by Matthew’s murder. OCTOBER MOURNING, a novel in verse, is her deeply felt response to the events of that tragic day. Using her poetic imagination, the author creates fictitious monologues from various points of view, including the fence Matthew was tied to, the stars that watched over him, the deer that kept him company, and Matthew himself. More than a decade later, this stunning cycle of sixty-eight poems serves as an illumination for readers too young to remember, and as a powerful, enduring tribute to Matthew Shepard’s life.

Here’s the book trailer:

A Nation of Wusses

Former Pennsylvania Governor and author of Nation of Wusses (Wiley 9781118279052, $25.95 )  Ed Rendell has been confirmed to be a guest on “Colbert” on Comedy Central on Friday, September 7!  Rendell will also be providing analyses at the Democratic National Convention in September and more media is expected. In A Nation of Wusses, Rendell revisits some of the toughest fights of his career. He recalls most vividly those moments when he saw someone stand his ground, even at the risk of incurring the wrath of supporters and losing the next election. Unfortunately, as he surveys the current political scene, what he sees is a herd of elected officials, both legislators and executives, who seem far more concerned with their own job security than with serving the people who elected them.

The Secret of the Fortune Wookiee

THE SECRET OF THE FORTUNE WOOKIEE by Tom Angleberger makes its debut and the ORIGAMI YODA series surges onto the bestseller lists at #4!

Love Looks Not With The Eyes

Get your copy of Martha Stewart Living this week - they're recommending this look through the lens of photographer Anne Deniau.

Love Looks Not with the Eyes: Thirteen Years with Alexander McQueen

October

ISBN: 978-1-4197-0448-2

Abrams

In the Shadow of Greatness

Voices of Leadership, Sacrifice, and Service from America’s Longest War

The U.S. Naval Academy Class of 2002

978-1612511382

Naval Institute Press

This book's getting some nice praise:

From Tom Brokaw:

This is a must read for all Americans--an up close and personal account of duty and sacrifice by graduates of the U.S. Naval Academy in Iraq and Afghanistan. You´ll stand a little straighter when you mingle with these remarkable fellow citizens.

From Publishers Weekly:

These proud Annapolis graduates provide a glimpse of the achievements of and contributions made by today’s young service members, making a strong case that they are worthy of being called the next great generation.

Watch a video made by the authors: http://youtu.be/chQsTpu7UPY

Visit the publisher's website for the book:  http://shadowofgreatness.com/