Special Thanks to this year’s sponsors…

Awards design Sponsor: Illustrada Design
Creating inspired design for intriguing books. A joyfully collaborative designer focused on providing small and independent publishers with covers, interior layout & typesetting, print/ebook design, and production & publishing assistance.

Awards print sponsor: Kirk House Publishers
Our goal is to continue discovering gifted authors. We like working with writers to develop their books and careers over the long term.
Midwest Book Award Winners, by Category
Nonfiction – Anthologies

Last Cabin (maybe….)
by Mike Lein (Jackpine Writers Bloc)

Beginning Again: Stories of Movement and Migration in Appalachia
by Edited by Katrina M. Powell, Introduction by Nikki Giovanni (Haymarket Books)
Nonfiction – Arts/Photography/Coffee Table Books

Lights, Camera, Lionel Trains! A Photo History of an American Icon
by Roger Carp (Project Roar Publishing)
Nonfiction – Autobiography/Memoir

Fleetwood Dreams: Climbing a Mountain After a Landslide
by Amy Sazama (Ten16 Press)
Nonfiction – Biography

South Dakota Crusader: Francis Case’s Road to Congress
by Stephen L. Wilson (Joycliff Press)

We Had Fun and Nobody Died: Adventures of a Milwaukee Music Promoter
by Amy T. Waldman and Peter Jest (Wisconsin Historical Society Press)
Nonfiction – Business

My Little Book of Big Money
by Paul Tran (Beaver’s Pond Press)
Nonfiction – Children’s & Young Adult

The Resilient Brain: Understanding Traumatic Brain Injury for Kids
by Katianne Olson (Wise Ink Creative Publishing)
Nonfiction – Cookbooks/Crafts/Hobbies

Oyster Book: A Chronicle of the World’s Most Fascinating Shellfish—Past, Present, and Future
by Dan Martino (Agate Publishing)

Extra! Extra! Eat All About It!: Recipes and Culinary Curiosities from Historic Wisconsin Newspapers
by Jane Conway and Randi Julia Ramsden (Wisconsin Historical Society Press)
Nonfiction – Education/Learning

Bakke’s Shakespeare: Macbeth
by Anthony Bakke (Theran Press)
Nonfiction – Family/Parenting

Mom Dad Not Hear: 30 Powerful Stories and Lessons about Leadership, Life, and Love from My Deaf Parents
by Mickey Carolan (Third Culture Books)
Nonfiction – Health

The Mastectomy I Always Wanted
by Erica Neubert Campbell (Wise Ink Creative Publishing)
Nonfiction – History, General

Artist Goes to War: Leon Granacki in the South Pacific WWII
by Victoria Ann Granacki (Archway Publishing)
Nonfiction – History, Regional

Wisconsin for Kennedy: The Primary That Launched a President and Changed the Course of History
by B.J. Hollars (Wisconsin Historical Society Press)
Nonfiction – Inspiration

Impossible Life: A True Story of Hope and Mental Illness
by Rachael Siddoway and Sonja Wasden (A Possible Life, LLC)
Nonfiction – Nature

Great Nature Wisconsin: A Guide for Nature Immersion in Wisconsin
by Randy Hoffman, Cody Stingley, Laura Stingley (Little Creek Press)

Salmon Capital of Michigan: The Rise and Fall of a Great Lakes Fishery
by Carson Prichard (Wayne State University Press)
Nonfiction – Recreation/Sports/Travel

Mirage of Destiny: The Story of the 1990-91 Minnesota North Stars
by Kevin Allenspach (North Star Press of St. Cloud)
Nonfiction – Religion/Philosophy

For Times Such as These: A Radical’s Guide to the Jewish Year
by Rabbi Ariana Katz and Rabbi Jessica Rosenberg (Wayne State University Press)
Nonfiction – Social Science/Political Science/Culture

Dodge County, Incorporated: Big Ag and the Undoing of Rural America
by Sonja Trom Eayrs (Bison Books)
Fiction – Children’s

Marvelous Jackson
by Laura Anne Bird (Orange Hat Publishing)
Fiction – Children’s picture books


I Am Beautiful
by Dionne L. Grayson (Dionne L. Grayson)
Fiction – Fantasy/SciFi/Horror/Paranormal


Point of Hopes: A Novel of Astreiant
by Melissa Scott and Lisa A. Barnett (Queen of Swords Press)
Fiction – Literary/Contemporary/Historical

Sister Lumberjack
by Simar, Candace (North Star Press of St. Cloud)
Fiction – Mystery/Thriller

Omar’s Choice
by Cathy Sultan (Calumet Editions)
Fiction – Romance

To Sense a Passion
by Audrey Lynden (Penske Publishing)
Fiction – Short Story/Anthology

Machine We Trust
by Tim Conrad (Cornerstone Press)
Fiction – Young Adult

Beyond the Cemetery Gate: The Secret Keeper’s Daughter
by Valerie Biel (Lost Lake Press)

Shades of a Warrior
by Robert Saxton (Calumet Editions)
Poetry – Debut

American Inmate
by Justin Rovillos Monson (Haymarket Books)
Poetry – General

Map of My Want
by Faylita Hicks (Haymarket Books)
Poetry – Regional

We Live Here: Poems for an Ojibwe Calendar Year
by Lois Beardslee (Wayne State University Press)
Design – Cover Design

Rhino Keeper
by Jillian Forsberg (History Through Fiction) Christine Horner, The Book Cover Whisperer
Design – Illustration

Song of the Raven
by Amanda Hall (World Wisdom/Wisdom Tales Press) Amanda Hall
Design – Interior Design

Big Aquarium Adventure; Learn about frogs, turtles, sharks, and skates!
by Nancy Roop (Developmental Texts) TLC Book Designs
Design – Total Book Design

Lights, Camera, Lionel Trains! A Photo History of an American Icon
by Roger Carp (Project Roar Publishing) Lisa Schroeder