First day of ownership sees Sadie threatened with a shotgun by the town crazy woman, saved by the local coffee regulars and learns Goldie Ray has been murdered. Not a very auspicious beginning to a new career. The book is reminiscent of a Billie Letts novel, where seemingly diverse characters become family. And like all families they display both good and self-destructive behaviors. The novel is thick with family secrets and Sadie is challenged to find out the truth.

Oklahomans will appreciate the setting, and insights into Native American culture. This novel will hold your interest until the very end. It made me want to go back and re-read the first Sadie Walela mystery, Deception on All Accounts. American Cafe was published by the University of Arizona Press in 2011. Enjoy.

Anna Myers is Lifetime Achievement Award Winner

 Entries are now being accepted for the twenty-third annual Oklahoma Book Award competition. The deadline for entering is January 6, 2012, according to the Oklahoma Center for the Book in the Oklahoma Department of Libraries.

The Oklahoma Book Award program is designed to recognize and promote Oklahoma’s working writers as well as outstanding books about the state. Entries are being sought in five categories: fiction, non-fiction, poetry, children/young adult, and design/illustration.

To qualify, books must have been published between January 1, 2011, and December 31, 2011. Moreover, the author must reside or have resided in Oklahoma, or the book must have an Oklahoma theme. Finalists in each category will be selected and announced in early February; winners will be announced at the awards ceremony on April 14, 2012. 

In addition to the five categories listed, the board of directors of the Oklahoma Center for the Book presents the Arrell Gibson Lifetime Achievement Award for a body of work contributing to Oklahoma’s literary heritage. The award was named for Norman, Oklahoma, historian Arrell Gibson, who served as the first president of the Oklahoma Center for the Book.  The 2012 recipient is award winning author Anna Myers, who writes historical and contemporary fiction for young adult readers. Her books include Time of the Witches, Assassin, Tulsa Burning, Wart, Stolen by the Sea, Spy!, Graveyard Girl, Hoggee, Confessions from the Principal’s Chair, and Fire in the Hills.

The Oklahoma Book Award ceremony will be April 14, 2012, at the Jim Thorpe Museum and Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame.  Winners in the five book categories will be announced at the ceremony. For more information on the book awards, including submitting entries, visit the website at www.odl.state.ok.us/ocb, or contact Connie ARmstrong, Executive Director, Oklahoma Center for the Book, Oklahoma Department of Libraries, 200 NE 18th Street, Oklahoma City, OK 73105, or call 405/522-3383.

The Oklahoma Center for the Book, located in the Oklahoma Department of Libraries, has announced the national Letters About Literature (LAL) writing competition for the 2011-2012 academic school year.

Sponsored by the Library of Congress and Target Corporation, LAL offers students fourth grade through twelfth grade the opportunity to write a letter to an author (living or dead) from any genre—fiction, nonfiction, or poetry, contemporary or classic–explaining how that author’s work changed the student’s way of thinking about the world or themselves.

“Most everyone can relate to a favorite book or character,” said Oklahoma Center for the Book Executive Director Connie Armstrong. “Yet, not everyone responds to a particular book the same way. This program allows students to express how he or she as an individual relates to the book.”

Last year, approximately 70,000 students participated in the national writing contest. Oklahoma tripled its student participation. Three competition levels are offered: Level I for students in grades 4 through 6, Level II for students in grades 7 and 8, and Level III for students in grades 9 through 12.

Next spring, winning students from around the state, along with their parents, teachers, family, and friends will attend an awards ceremony sponsored by the Oklahoma Center for the Book and the Oklahoma Department of Libraries. State winners will receive a Target gift card and cash prizes. The first place state winners will advance to the national competition, where six national winners and twelve national honorable mention winners will be announced.

The national winners will receive a $500 Target gift card, and will secure a $10,000 LAL Reading Promotion Grant in his/her name for a community or school library. The national honorable mention winners will receive a $100 Target gift care, and will secure a $1,000 LAL Reading Promotion Grant in his/her name for a community or school library.  

Letters will be accepted September 15, 2011, through January 10, 2012. For more information regarding the program and to download an entry form log on to www.lettersaboutliterature.org.

Excerpted from OU PRess…

An exciting account of the remaking of a football powerhouse—and its return to glory

The Oklahoma Sooners dominated the world of college football during the 1950s. Under the leadership of Coach Bud Wilkinson, the team won three national titles and established an astounding record of forty-seven straight victories that still stands today. Yet by 1959, Wilkinson’s Sooners were showing signs of vulnerability, marking the start of a new and challenging era in Oklahoma football. Then along came a new offensive strategy, and OU began to dominate college football once again.

In Wishbone, veteran journalist Wann Smith provides an in-depth account of Sooner football from the team’s final years under Wilkinson through its remarkable turnaround under Coach Barry Switzer. At the heart of this story is the phenomenal success of the Wishbone offense—a hybrid offshoot of the Split-t formation that Wilkinson employed so successfully in the 1950s. Though not without its risks, the Wishbone offense changed the face of college football and was a key factor in Oklahoma’s resurgence in the 1970s with Switzer at the helm.

Drawing on firsthand accounts from coaches, players, and university administrators, many never before published, Smith takes us behind the scenes during this exciting comeback period to reveal not just what happened but why and how it happened. And he brings to life the personalities who played pivotal roles in the team’s renewed success, including Jack Mildren, Greg Pruitt, Joe Washington, Billy Sims, and many, many others.

Meet the author events:

Thursday, Sept. 1, 6:30-8:00pm

Barnes & Noble   

8620 71st Street, Tulsa

(918) 250-0797   

Friday, Sept. 2, 5:30-6:30pm 

Barnes & Noble/Quail Springs 

13800 N. May, OKC

(405) 755-1155 

Uwe von Schamann
All-Big 8 Conference Kicker and Former Miami Dolphin
Scott Hill
All-Big 8 Conference Defensive Back and OU coach

Friday, Sept. 2, 7:30-9:00pm

Barnes & Noble

540 Ed Noble Parkway, Norman

(405) 579-8800 

Tony DiRienzo  All-Big 8 Conference Kicker

Saturday, Sept. 3, 10:00-11:30am

Hastings

2300 W. Main, Norman
(405) 329-5529

Saturday, Sept. 3, 1:00-3:00pm

University Bookstore/Union

900 Asp Ave, Norman
(405) 325-2171

Leon Cross  

All American Guard and former University of Oklahoma Associate Athletic Director 
J.D. Roberts   

1953 Outland Trophy Winner, All-American, and two-time All-Big 7 Conference Guard

Clendon Thomas   

1956 NCAA Scoring Champion, All-American, two-time All-Big 7 Conference Running Back, and recent NFL Hall of Fame inductee

Saturday, Sept. 3, 4:00-6:00pm

University Bookstore/Stadium

1185 Asp Ave, Norman
(405) 325-3511

Bobby Warmack   

All-Big 8 Conference Quarterback
Thomas Lott  

Two-time All-Conference Quarterback and recent inductee into the Texas High School Hall of Fame

Leon Crosswhite 

All-Conference Fullback

Sunday, Sept. 4, 1:00-3:00pm

Steve’s Sundry Books and Magazines

2612 S. Harvard, Tulsa

918-743-3544

Sunday, Sept. 4, 4:00pm

Books A Million

7404 S. Olympia, Tulsa

918-447-2702 

Thursday, Sept. 1, 6:30-8:00pm

Barnes & Noble   

8620 71st Street, Tulsa

(918) 250-0797   

Friday, Sept. 2, 5:30-6:30pm 

Barnes & Noble/Quail Springs 

13800 N. May, OKC

(405) 755-1155 

Uwe von Schamann
All-Big 8 Conference Kicker and Former Miami Dolphin
Scott Hill
All-Big 8 Conference Defensive Back and OU coach

Friday, Sept. 2, 7:30-9:00pm

Barnes & Noble

540 Ed Noble Parkway, Norman

(405) 579-8800 

Tony DiRienzo  All-Big 8 Conference Kicker

Saturday, Sept. 3, 10:00-11:30am

Hastings

2300 W. Main, Norman
(405) 329-5529

Saturday, Sept. 3, 1:00-3:00pm

University Bookstore/Union

900 Asp Ave, Norman
(405) 325-2171

Leon Cross  

All American Guard and former University of Oklahoma Associate Athletic Director 
J.D. Roberts   

1953 Outland Trophy Winner, All-American, and two-time All-Big 7 Conference Guard

Clendon Thomas   

1956 NCAA Scoring Champion, All-American, two-time All-Big 7 Conference Running Back, and recent NFL Hall of Fame inductee

Saturday, Sept. 3, 4:00-6:00pm

University Bookstore/Stadium

1185 Asp Ave, Norman
(405) 325-3511

Bobby Warmack   

All-Big 8 Conference Quarterback
Thomas Lott  

Two-time All-Conference Quarterback and recent inductee into the Texas High School Hall of Fame

Leon Crosswhite 

All-Conference Fullback

Sunday, Sept. 4, 1:00-3:00pm

Steve’s Sundry Books and Magazines

2612 S. Harvard, Tulsa

918-743-3544

Sunday, Sept. 4, 4:00pm

Books A Million

7404 S. Olympia, Tulsa

918-447-2702

His research specialty was American Indian history, and he has authored many books on this topic. He served as president of both the American Society of Ethno History and the Western History Association. In 1989 he was awarded the Western History Association Prize and in 2003 was inducted into the Oklahoma Historical Society’s Oklahoma Historian Hall of Fame.

In 1998 he was a Non-fiction Oklahoma Book Award finalist for  Theodore Roosevelt and Six Friends of the Indian, and in  2004 a Non-fiction finalist for Taking Indian Lands: The Cherokee (Jerome) Commission, 1889–1893.

His other titles include: The Sac and Fox Indians; United States-Comanche Relations; Quanah Parker, Comanche Chief, and,  Charles Goodnight, Father of the Texas Panhandle.

Dr. Hagan will be missed, but his work will continue to inform and teach us about our Native American heritage and culture.

Carol Hamilton’s latest collection, Peter the Great: Master of Theater, doesn’t merely recount the peccadilloes of the Tsar who transformed Russia into a major power.  Instead, using a kaleidoscope effect, Hamilton captures Peter’s maritime obsessions and personal ticks in sharp, clear images which shed a light on our own culture and selves.  In these poems, locales meander from Russia to the United States, time travels from the seventeenth century to the present, the focus stretches from historical facts to their symbolic application in our current political and personal pursuits—all creating an unforgettable accounting of both the life of Peter the Great and the theater of the human condition. 

—Christine Butterworth-McDermott, Editor, REAL: Regarding Arts & Letters

Carol Hamilton is an experienced, expert wordslinger. With original, vivid imagery and some poetic comparisons to her own life as well as modern political icons, she conjures back to life the shrewd, ambitious, progressive, epileptic young Czar who ruled Russia for 42 years. Master of Theater: Peter the Great reminds me of Robert Peters’ poetic tributes to historical personages (Shaker Light, Ludwig of Bavaria and The Blood Countess) and Robert Cooperman’s wonderful historical poems.

 - Michael Hathaway, editor, Chiron Review

All great men are masters of theater, says Carol Hamilton, and her poetic reconstruction of Peter the Great enlivens one of the world’s central characters in fresh and dramatic scenes.

                                                                                                                                               –Ken Hada, author of Spare Parts

July 15th is the last day for pre-orders that go twards the pressrun for this new chapbook. 

 To order, go to www.finishinglinepress.com and find New Releases, scroll down to Carol’s photo and book cover, and you can order there with PayPal.  Otherwise, you can send a check for $15.49 ($1.49 for postage).to Finishing Line Press, P. O. Box 1626, Georgetown, KY  40324.

Thanks for supporting one of Oklahoma’s finest poets.

Saturday, June 4, 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

The Bookseller, 614 W. Main Street, Ardmore

Peter G. Pierce will be signing copies of:

                Territorians to Boomers: Professional Baseball in Ardmore 1904-1926

                Indians, Cardinals and Rosebuds:  Professional Baseball in Ardmore 1947-1961

                Baseball in the Cross Timbers: The Story of the Sooner State League

Thursday, June 16, 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

Gaylord-Pickens Oklahoma Heritage Museum, 1400 Classen Drive (N. W. 13^th Street & Shartel Avenue), Oklahoma City

Co-authors Bob Burke and Eric Dabney

and their Subject, Judge Ralph G. Thompson will be signing copies of:   

                Gentleman Jurist: The Life of Judge Ralph G. Thompson

AND Best of Books in Edmond  has Michael Wallis signing his two newest books on June 4 from 12:00 pm to 1:30 pm. The new books are Davy Crockett and The Wild West 365.

So there is no excuse, get out there and kick the economy up a notch. Buy a book (or two) from one of our local authors and bookstores.

On Saturday, April 30, at 1:30 p.m., Master of Ceremonies, Rob McClendon, Host and Executive Producer of Oklahoma Horizon television show, will dedicate a Literary Landmark honoring Wilson Rawls.  The dedication, which is free and open to the public, will take place in the Carnegie Room at the Tahlequah Public Library, 120 S. College Ave.

Hope you can stop by this weekend to join in the festivities and celebrate a great Oklahoma writer.

So to get a wrap up on all the winners, I’m going to take you to the Oklahoma Center for the Book’s very own 2011 Award website. 

And personally I had a great time, my table mates were so interesting and enjoyable, and we celebrated having finalists, Carla Stewart and Ken Hada at our table, along with Children’s Award winner Tammi Sauer. And I was stunned and grateful to receive the Distinguished Service Award and want to thank OCB and all the Friends for this honor.

Haydn Kirkpatrick

The Oklahoma Center for the Book sponsors our state’s Letters about Literature program. 

LAL is a national reading promotion program of the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress, presented in partnership with Target and affiliate state centers for the book.

Each state center for the book has its own panel of judges that selects the winning letters.  Today at the Oklahoma State Capitol the winners were announced from Oklahoma. They will go on to compete nationally.  Lt. Governor Todd Lamb acted as Master of Ceremonies and did an excellent job making each finalist and guest feel welcome.  The National winners will be announced in April, so keep your fingers crossed.

Here’s how it works:

Jessy Walton

The top letters in each competition level for each state are chosen. Then, two National winners are chosen from each of the three competition levels: Level 1 (grades 4-6), Level 2 (grades 7-8) and Level 3 (grades 9-12). National winners each designate a favorite library that they wish to receive a $10,000 grant from Target. The students each receive a $500 Target GiftCard.

     Each national winner nominates a library in his or her community — either a public library or a school library – to receive the LAL promotion grant.  The LAL sponsors then approves the nominations.

There are also  four National Honors recipients from each competition level and they can designate a library to receive a $1,000 Target grant; the students each receive a $50 Target GiftCard.        

Morgan Allison

Last year our state had a National Honors recipient, 

Daniel Flores, Cushing OK. Wrote to Joseph Bruchac, author of Code Talker.

The Oklahoma Center for the Book has invited Haydn Kirkpatrick to attend the book awards’ ceremony on April 9. Haydn will be reading her letter to Ray Bradbury for his novel Fahrenheit 451.