L.M. Elliott to receive the 2018 Grateful American Book Prize for Suspect Red and an Honorable Mention for Hamilton and Peggy!

An Honorable Mention also goes to Teri Kanefield for her Making of America series biography of Andrew Jackson

WASHINGTON, DC, Sep 20 – The winner of the 2018 Grateful American Book Prize is L.M. Elliott, for her historical novel, Suspect Red, a look at McCarthyism and the Red Scare, published by Hyperion-Disney. She will also receive an Honorable Mention award for Hamilton and Peggy! A Revolutionary Friendship, published by HarperCollins and Katherine Tegen Books. It’s the first time an author will be given the Prize, and an Honorable Mention.

Author and publisher David Bruce Smith, who co-founded the Prize with the late Dr. Bruce Cole, former chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities, calls Suspect Red “a historically accurate novel of suspense that will engage young readers in a complicated period of America’s history.”

The School Library Journal review of Hamilton and Peggy! A Revolutionary Friendship, noted “The story is drawn from extensive research on each of the characters, through their letters, magazines, newspapers, and personal diaries. Elliott has accomplished something wonderful here, and this is an absolute must-have for all middle and high school collections.”

Teri Kanefield, who will receive an “Honorable Mention” for her biography of Andrew Jackson, is a prolific contributor to “The Making of America” series published by Harry N. Abrams. In addition to “Jackson”, she has written about Alexander Hamilton (2017), and Abraham Lincoln (2018). Her “Susan B. Anthony” and “Franklin Delano Roosevelt” will appear in 2019, and the publication date of “Thurgood Marshall” is pending.

The goal of the Grateful American Book Prize, as Ms. Elliott described it, is to “restore history as the captivating subject it is. History is, after all, a human drama, the story of how we got to where we are. Teachers are faced with the daunting task of covering centuries of events, leaders, political and cultural movements, wars, and statistics, on and on. Historical or biographical fiction, if done well, immerses its reader in a time period and brings a beating heart to those ‘dry’ facts. It offers something for which students hunger—humanizing the history they must memorize for tests by telling it through the eyes of an ‘everyman’—a character who must navigate national situations and experiences fears, longing, and moments of revelation, a person with whom readers empathize and turn each page concerned about what happens next. Engaged in a compelling, well-researched story, teens learn so much about a time period and its challenges by osmosis. They’re just enjoying a good story–even if it’s about frightening, complex times, with large lessons, as is Suspect Red.

“This Prize is a gift to all of us taking on the responsibility (and the joy!) of writing historical pieces for young people. I am very lucky to have wonderful editors who believe in historical narratives and are willing to take on the extra work they require. Others in the publishing industry need convincing that such novels have just as much interest-value and potential audience as more pop-culture genres–this Prize does so much to promote that! So I know I speak for all historical novelists when I say we are GRATEFUL!”

The Grateful American Book Prize comes with an award of $13,000, a lifetime pass to the New-York Historical Society, and a medallion created by the American artist, Clarice Smith. The October 11^th presentation will be at The Society of the Cincinnati in Washington, D.C. The “Honorable Mention” authors receive the medallion, and $500 each.

###

Putting a new focus on history for America’s students

WASHINGTON, DC – More than half a million students participated in the 2018 National History Day Contest (NHD), including “more than 3,000 middle and high school students [who] presented documentaries, exhibits, papers, performances, and websites related to the 2018 theme, Conflict & Compromise in History.”

History education advocate David Bruce Smith believes the program imparts incentives for young learners, such as scholarships and cash awards, to focus on history.

“The late Dr. Bruce Cole, former chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities, which is a sponsor of National History Day, encouraged me to join him in creating the Grateful American Book Prize with the same goal in mind. Our aim was to create an inducement for authors and publishers to produce more books of historically accurate fiction and nonfiction that would inspire middle school students, and stimulate a curiosity about the past; NHD and the Grateful American Book Prize are important ways of creating better informed, more responsible generations of citizens.”

Established in 1974, NHD has already announced its 2019 theme: Triumph & Tragedy in History. Parents and teachers should consider encouraging their sons, daughters and students to get involved. The how-to page on the NHD Website provides information about entering.

 Meanwhile, the judges for the 2018 Grateful American Book Prize are in the process of reading this year’s qualified books. The deadline for entries is July 31^st. The Prize will be presented on October 11^th at The Society of the Cincinnati. The winner will receive $13,000 and a one-of-a-kind medallion created by American artist Clarice Smith. In addition, two authors will be selected as “Honorable Mentions.” They get $500 each and the medallion.

Why all this fuss about history? Peter Stearns, professor of History at George Mason University, points out there are plenty of reasons for instilling a love of the subject among our children. Perhaps most important is that it “provides data about the emergence of national institutions, problems, and values—it’s the only significant storehouse of such data available. It offers evidence also about how nations have interacted with other societies, providing international and comparative perspectives essential for responsible citizenship. Further, studying history helps us understand how recent, current, and prospective changes that affect the lives of citizens are emerging or may emerge and what causes are involved. More important, studying history encourages habits of mind that are vital for responsible public behavior, whether as a national or community leader, an informed voter, a petitioner, or a simple observer.”

###