Scribe Publishing Company novel honored as ForeWord Reviews’ 2012 Book of the Year in juvenile fiction
Michigan author Jody Lamb’s heartwarming middle-grade novel, Easter Ann Peters’ Operation Cool, was named ForeWord Reviews’ 2012 Book of the Year in the juvenile fiction category.
The award was announced recently by ForeWord at the American Library Association Annual Conference in Chicago.
Easter Ann Peters’ Operation Cool tackles the tough topics of parental alcoholism and depression along with coming-of-age struggles of fitting in and bullies.
“It’s a tender story of friendship, coping with parental alcoholism and the power of hope,” said Jennifer Baum, founder and editorial director of Scribe Publishing Company. “From the first time I read Easter Ann Peters’ Operation Cool, I loved the voice the story was written in, and when it became clear how passionate Jody was about the topic of coping with alcoholism, I knew it was something I could stand behind and would be proud to feature as one of Scribe Publishing Company’s first books.”
ForeWord’s Book of the Year Awards program was created to highlight the year’s most distinguished books from independent publishers. Award winners are chosen by librarians and booksellers who are on the front lines, working everyday with patrons and customers. ForeWord Reviews, a quarterly print journal established in 1998, is dedicated to exclusively reviewing independently published books to provide booksellers, librarians, agents, and publishing professionals with reviews of the best titles from small, alternative and academic presses.
Whitmore Lake-based author Jody Lamb was inspired to write the story when she read an estimate from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism that 25 percent of American kids live with at least one parent who abuses alcohol.
“When I was growing up, I thought alcoholism was unique to my family,” Lamb said. “When I discovered how common it is, I was disappointed in the lack of contemporary, effective books on the subject. Millions of kids are coping with the destructive effects of loved ones’ alcoholism and they believe they are alone because it remains a family secret. I wrote a realistic story and hoped it’d help one kid one day. Since its publication, I’ve received encouraging notes from dozens of tweens, teenagers and adults from the U.S., Canada and the U.K. who’ve told me that this story moved and inspired them. That’s the greatest honor in the world.”