New England Book Festival Taps “Dad: A Novel” For Top Honors

NEW ENGLAND_The emotional novel Dad is the winner of the 2021 New England Book Festival, which honors the best books of the holiday season.

Author Steven Manchester’s Dad: A Novel (The Story Plant) tells of three generations of Dads, playing traditional roles in each other's lives, who arrive simultaneously at significant crossroads. The decisions they make and the actions they take will directly - and eternally - affect each other, as such is the sacred legacy of fatherhood. Manchester’s skilled insight into the emotions and rituals regarding the universal bond of fatherhood continue his legacy as one of the best modern storytellers. Other winners in the competition:

CHILDREN’S BOOKS:

WINNER: Tales of the Monkey King – Teresa Jones

RUNNER-UP: The Remarkable Story of Willie the Crow – Linda Harkey

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

• Garrett Bear Learning from Failure – K. Tang
• A Few Seasons – Howie Groff
• The Power of Gratitude Unlocking – Ruth Maille
• Axel and Ava as Cat Sitters – Tuula Pere
• Ting Ting, The Girl Who Saved China – Ryan O’Connor
• Fudge Fatale – D.G. Stern
• Mr. Cannelloni’s Circus – Tuula Pere
• Belinda and the “Boring” Ballet Class – Dani Tucci-Juraga
• The Burping Pumpkin – Steph Alexis
• Pablo The Plate Painter of Mazatlan – Craig M. Porter-Rollins
• Sammy the Flying Squirrel - Zivile Cecilia Brubeck
• Chesapeake Nursery Rhyme – Kay Swann-Gregor
• Success – Ruthie Godfrey
• Ryan’s Countdown – Howie Groff
• Black Bear Goes to Bangor to Find Beaver - Denise Lawson
• Monty’s Rainbow Road Adventure – Tina Kid
• Porter’s Magic Apple Pie – Deborah Moon
• Brayden the Great Warrior – John Livingston
• Siggy Loves Sausages – Mr. Brian Frederick
• Galactic Fun Park – Book One – Mason Bell
• 7 Children’s Adventure Stories - V.A. Boeholt/Nate Jensen
• The Bubble – Joseph Honor Patenaude
• Izza’s Tea Party – Hashmat Effendi
• Lilbeebye Stings Bully – Theresa Shields
• Full Throttle Axolotl: Daredevil Amphibian – Elsie Edelbrok
• Miss Dirt Turtle’s Garden Club – Daniel Boyd
• Nighttime Fantasy – Suzanne M. Shields

HOW-TO:

WINNER: The Kid Code – Brenda Miller

RUNNER-UP: Negotiating as a Martial Art – Cash Nickerson

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

• The Ultimate Guide to Planning Your Personal Finances - Mike Bernstein
• The Art of Forgiveness – Carolyn CJ Jones
• The Drive to Freedom – JT Hustlez, MPA

YOUNG ADULT:

WINNER: New England Seaside, Roadside, Graveside, Darkside– Steve Burt

RUNNER-UP: Pearls & Steel – J.B. Wadsworth

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

• Brotherhood of the Lion - Roger Wellington Nason
• The Mountains We Climb – Anthony Baisden
• Brilliant White Peaks – Teng Rong
• Tyrone Evans Clark’s Grapefruit: Season 1 - Tyrone Evans Clark
• The Adventures of Abby and Friend – Connor Owen

BIOGRAPHY/AUTOBIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR:

WINNER: Paris Blue - Julie Scolnik

RUNNER-UP: The Sad & Tragic Ending of Lucille Ball – Darwin Porter and Danforth Prince

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

• Burn This City to the Ground – N. Daniel
• Roots & Branches: A Family Saga… - Michael Meguid
• Very Far From Normal – Josie Allen
• My Obit: Daddy Holding Me – Ken Atchity
• Gone Before Glory – Stephen G. Yanoff
• Corners Untouched by Madness – N. Daniel
• The Angle of Flickering Light – Gina Troisi
• Wild Colts Make the Best Horses – Mary Rae Mauch
• Enough About Me – Richard Lui
• The Music – Herbert and Stephanie Ausbel
• The Little Things – Jack Trottier
• Brain Dance – Diane Grimard Wilson
• Blessed – Dr. Sherri A. Young
• Trials and Tribulations – Veersen Bhoolai
• Counter Culture – Eleanor Dunfey-Freiburger
• Learning to Dance in the Rain II – Shelby Wagner
• Splat – Adele Irving
• When to Run, Born Scared – Stephanie King
• Journey Between Two Worlds – Karola M. Schuette
• Waiting for Rainbows – Ashley Berry
• Crow and a Red Feather – Chellie Kew
• Rescued from the Ashes – Leokadia Schmidt
• Pages and Leaflets of North Oxfordshire – Angela Fortnum

GENERAL FICTION:

WINNER: Dad: A Novel – Steven Manchester

RUNNER-UP: The Barking Lions – Clifford J. Fazzolari

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

• Empire Remembered – Jason R. Sank
• The Mists - Barbara de la Cuesta
• Bloodroot – Daniel V. Meier
• The Darkness – Robbi Sommers Bryant
• Clarissa Hedgestone and the Blood Moon - C. Jill Hefte
• Sorrow – Tiffanie DeBartolo
• Gold Mountain Express – Gene Lassers
• The Chase – Mario Busacca and Hoyt A. Byrum
• Hello Tropez – CM Rieger
• Hotshot – Wayne Daye
• Operation Olive Tree – Jemil Metti
• Buried But Never Forgotten – Elisa Chastaine
• First Course – Jenn Bouchard
• The Old Cape Blood Ruby – Barbara Eppich Struna
• The Sand God - Jan E. Housley
• Brainwashed – Ramdyal Bhola
• Born Barron – Crystal C. Kane
• Silver Heels – Michelle Lynn
• Silver Lights – Michelle Lynn
• A Fire for Christmas – William R. Hincy
• Unbroken Bonds – D.W. Hogan
• A Club of Friends – Marco Antonio Diaz
• Grace – Emily Marie Lavalais
• South of Main Street – Robert Gately

GENERAL NON-FICTION:

WINNER: Lost Wonderland – Stephen R. Wilk

RUNNER-UP: Trust and Confidence – Jim Lichtman

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

• Rental Secrets – Justin Pogue
• The Musashi Field Manual – Lawrence Kane, et. al
• The Contract Professional’s Playbook – Jeanette Nyden and Lawrence Kane
• Conspiracy U – Scott Shay
• Hiding in Plain Sight – Thomas LeBrun
• Coaching Like a Champion – Steve Miller
• The Power of Kindness - Ruth Maille
• Eternal Vigilance – Ralph L. Bayrer
• A Constitution for a Democracy – Rohit (Roy) Kajaria
• The Angle of Flickering Light – Gina Troisi
• Voices of Cancer – Lynda Wolters
• Put Off My Sackcloth – Essays – Annie Dawid
• God’s Love for You: A Pictorial Devotional – Carolyn Begley Daley
• The Black Foster Youth Handbook – Angela Quijada-Banks
• Brain Dance: My Journey with Invisible.. – Diane Grimard Wilson
• From Army Regulations to Novels - Don Helin
• Field Control: An NYPD Story – Harry Nyles

COMPILATIONS/ANTHOLOGIES:

WINNER: Stumbling Through Adulthood – John Sheirer
 

WILD CARD:

WINNER: Revelation Through Science – James Martin

RUNNER-UP:

Why Baseball is a Sport and Golf is Not – Aaron S. Bayley

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

• Grydscaen: dark – NatsuyaUesugi DuBois
• Webb Wilder, Last of the Full Grown Men - Shane Caldwell & Steve Boyle
• Buried But Never Forgotten – Elisa Chastaine
• Hamlet in Baltimore - Pavel Cerny
• Nantucket Nocturne – Steve Sheppard
• Leo, The Little Wanderer – Tulla Pere
• Osaka Games – Yurie Kiri
• Rental Secrets – Justin Pogue
• The We and the They – Kyra Ann Dawkins
• Tales of the Elder Statesman – Edward Faith
• Newburyport Clipper Heritage Trail– Ghlee E. Woodworth
• Mind the Gap – George Tombs
• In Your Dreams, Book 1 – Robert Sanborn
• Undue Influences – Debra E. Blaine, MD
• Reinventing Herself – DJ Martin
• Three Dimensions – Lizzies Fizzies – Elizabeth Reinach
• Different Essays - Charles Pinwill
• Judge Ed – Ted Rose
   

BUSINESS:

WINNER: Brands Don’t Win – Stan Bernard, MD, MBA

RUNNER-UP: Restaurant & Bar Management III – Erik Shellenberger

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

• Rental Secrets – Justin Pogue
• Self-Publish & Succeed – Julie Broad
• Book Title Generator – Scott Lorenz
• The Drive to Freedom – JT Hustlez, MPA

POETRY:

WINNER: Tom the Cat – Elizabeth Reinach

RUNNER-UP: Paradise Taken – Josue Gonzalez

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

• Moon Tide: Cape Cod Poems – Mary Petiet
• Touch My Head Softly – Eileen P. Kennedy
• Fun Poems for Your Child – Jenny Carey
• Flying - Patricia Mortenson
• To The Monsters Of My Past – Cameron Crews
• Much – Joel Peckham
• Cross Stitched Words – Chaitali Sengupta
• Taught by Women – Haki Madhubuti

GAY:

WINNER: Boys’ Secrets and Men’s Loves – David A.J. Richards

RUNNER-UP: Crystal’s House of Queers - Brooke Skipstone

HONORABLE MENTION:

• The MoonStone Girls – Brooke Skipstone

SPIRITUAL/RELIGIOUS:

WINNER: New England Christmas Sampler – Steve Burt

RUNNER-UP: All This Was Mission – S.J. Cunningham

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

• I Love to Tell the Story - Rev. J. Harold McKeithen Jr.
• Enough About Me – Richard Lui
• The Ultimate Human Secrets – Rami Naijar
• Building with Discarded Stones – Timothy Buckley
• Dying for a Drink – Amelia Baker
• Ryan’s Countdown – Howie Groff

REGIONAL LITERATURE:

WINNER: Ninety-Nine White Horses – J.B. Wadsworth

RUNNER-UP: Comfort Zone – Kimberly Fish

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

• Newburyport Clipper Heritage Trail – Ghlee E. Woodworth
• Last Casualty – Lee W. Doty

SCIENCE FICTION:

WINNER: The Clone Paradox (The Ark Project) – JW Elliot

RUNNER-UP: Dreamworms Book 1: Isaac Petrov

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

• Hello Tropez – Carla Rieger
• Water Witch – Kelly Brewer
• Hard Kill – Bill Eckel
• The Terminal Code – J.W. Galliger
• The Adventures of Abby and Friend – Connor Owen
• Type B – Steve Mitchell
• Instinct or Learned? – Glenn Tickner

PHOTOGRAPHY/ART:

WINNER: 1 Sally O. Lee’s Salon des Refuses - Sally O. Lee

RUNNER-UP: Dancing, and Other Problems – Norville Parchment

HONORABLE MENTION:

• Using Japanese Paper for Digital… - Carl-Evert Jonsson

COOKBOOKS:

WINNER: The Gentlemen’s Guide to Cooking - Randy Motilall