Meet the Writers behind Kansas Highlighted Books

 

 

Topeka, KS — The State Library of Kansas and the Kansas Center for the Book (KCFB) will recognize this year’s Kansas Notable Book Award winners at the 2012 Kansas Book Festival, an event showcasing current authors and books, while promoting literacy. “It’s an honor to be selected and to be connected to other Kansas authors through this program,” said author Marci Penner of Inman, KS.

 

Festival-goers can also visit the State Library and KCFB booths to learn about popular downloadable eBooks and audiobooks, online research tools, early childhood literacy initiatives, and the other statewide programs and services available at no charge to Kansas residents. Staff will be on hand to answer questions and help Kansans connect to their interests through local libraries.

 

The Kansas Notable Book list was established in the year 2006 by KCFB. The KCFB is a state affiliate of the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress and headquartered at the State Library of Kansas. “It is a great privilege to have one’s work recognized beside these luminaries. The prairies of Kansas have inspired deep riches in literature, history, art, poetry, and all the cultural expressions that define the human experience. This award recognizes not only the writers who capture that experience but the landscape which provides the stage,” said author Jim Leiker of Eudora, KS.

 

KCFB will also be represented at the 2012 National Book Festival, hosted by the Library of Congress, Sept. 22–23, on the National Mall. Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool, a 2011 Kansas Notable Book winner, will be featured in this year’s Great Reads about Great Places booklist.

 

The Kansas Book Festival will take place at the Kansas Museum of History in Topeka on Sept. 15 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Kansas Notable Book Award Ceremony will be at noon in the Museum Classroom. 13 authors are expected to attend the ceremony recognizing their books. Admission to the festival is free and open to the public. Details about the Kansas Notable Books can be found at www.kcfb.info/kansas-notable-books.html.

 

2012 Kansas Notable Book Authors and Hometowns

 

8 Wonders of Kansas! Guidebook

by Marci Penner (Inman, KS)

 

The Afterlives of Trees

by Wyatt Townley (Leawood, KS)

 

Amelia Lost: The Life and Disappearance of Amelia Earhart

by Candace Fleming (Oak Park, IL)

 

Bent Road: A Novel

by Lori Roy (Manhattan, KS)

 

Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President

by Candice Millard (Leawood, KS)

 

Doc: A Novel

by Mary Doria Russell (Cleveland, OH)

 

The Door in the Forest

by Roderick Townley (Leawood, KS)

 

Liar’s Moon

by Elizabeth C. Bunce (Lenexa, KS)

 

My Ruby Slippers: The Road Back to Kansas

by Tracy Seeley (Wichita, KS)

 

The Northern Cheyenne Exodus in History and Memory

by James N. Leiker (Eudora, KS) and Ramon Powers (Topeka, KS)

 

Osa and Martin: For the Love of Adventure

by Kelly Enright (Vail, CO)

 

Prairie Fire: A Great Plains History

by Julie Courtwright (Ames, IA)

 

Rode

by Thomas Fox Averill (Topeka, KS)

 

Send Me Work: Stories

by Katherine Karlin (Manhattan, KS)

 

Tapped Out: Rear Naked Chokes, the Octagon, and the Last Emperor: An Odyssey in Mixed Martial Arts

by Matthew Polly (New Haven, CT)