The 2011 Whitney Awards Finalists have just been announced.
First off what are the Whitney Awards?
The Whitneys are awards given annually for the best novels written each year by LDS authors.
The awards are named after Orson F. Whitney, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as well as a poet and writer. Elder Whitney stated:
We will yet have Miltons and Shakespeares of our own.
Any reader can nominate a book. Once a book has received five or more nominations, it becomes an official nominee. A committee then reads and votes upon novels that are nominated in seven different categories narrowing the nominees down to five finalists in each category.
Here are the 2011 Finalists
Youth Fiction Speculative:
My Unfair Godmother by Janette Rallison
Shifting by Bethany Wiggins
Slayers by C.J. Hill
Tuesdays at the Castle by Jessica Day George
Variant by Robison Wells
Youth Fiction General:
Girls Don’t Fly by Kristen Chandler
Miles from Ordinary by Carol Lynch Williams
Pride & Popularity by Jenni James
Sean Griswold’s Head by Lindsey Leavitt
With a Name like Love by Tess Hilmo*
Romance:
Borrowed Light by Carla Kelly
Captive Heart by Michele Paige Holmes
Count Down to Love by Julie N. Ford
The List by Melanie Jacobson*
Not My Type by Melanie Jacobson
General:
Before I Say Goodbye by Rachel Ann Nunes
Gifted by Karey White*
Evolution of Thomas Hall by Kieth Merrill
The Walk: Miles to Go by Richard Paul Evans
The Wedding Letters by Jason F. Wright
Historical:
Daughter of Helaman by Misty Moncur*
Fires of Jerusalem by Marilyn Brown
Isabelle Webb: The Pharaoh’s Daughter by N.C. Allen
Letters in the Jade Dragon Box by Gale Sears
Miss Delacourt Has Her Day by Heidi Ashworth
Mystery/Suspense:
Acceptable Loss by Anne Perry
Bloodborne by Gregg Luke
If I Should Die by Jennie Hansen
Rearview Mirror by Stephanie Black
Smokescreen by Traci Hunter Abramson
Speculative:
The Alloy of Law: A Mistborn Novel by Brandon Sanderson
I Don’t Want to Kill You by Dan Wells
The Lost Gate by Orson Scott Card
A Night of Blacker Darkness by Dan Wells
No Angel by Theresa Sneed*
* Also eligible for Best Novel by a New Author
