Colorado Book Awards History

History of the Colorado Book Award

The Colorado Book Awards began in 1991 with the first awards presented in 1992 in four categories-Nonfiction, Fiction, Poetry, and Children's. In 1993 Young Adult was added as a category. Since then, the Colorado Center for the Book (a program department of the Colorado Humanities since April 2004) has amended categories depending on the number and kind of books nominated. The Colorado Book Award has celebrated Colorado's most noted authors, including John Fielder, Linda Hogan, Jon Krakauer, Kent Haruf, Margaret Coel, Tom Noel, Stephanie Kane, Avi, Bruce Ducker, David Milofsky, Joanne Greenberg, T.A. Barron, and many others. Awards are presented each year to books published in the previous year. The dates below reflect the year the award was presented.

Colorado Book Award Recipients

Anthology
2002   Encyclopedia of American Indian Contributions to the World by Kay Marie Porterfield
2003   Lucky Lady: The World War II Heroics of the USS Santa Fe and Franklin by Steve Jackson
2004   Monkey Dancing by Daniel Glick
2006   Comeback Wolves: Western Writers Welcome the Wolf Home by Gary Wockner
2007   Open Road by Sonya Unrein 2001-Growing Up True by Craig Barnes
2008   Home Land: Ranching and a West That Works, edited by Laura Pritchett, Richard Knight and Jeff Lee
2010   A Dozen on Denver: Stories, Rocky Mountain News, editor

Biography/History
1999   (Biography and History) The Ute Indians of Colorado in the Twentieth Century by Richard Young
2001   (Biography and History) Molly Brown: Unraveling the Myth by Kristen Iversen
2002   (Biography and History) Crucible of War by Fred Anderson
2005   (Biography/Autobiography) Halfbreed: The Remarkable True Story of George Bent by 
David Fridtjof Halaas & Andrew E. Masich
2005   Painting a New World: Mexican Art and Life, 1520-1821 by the Denver Art Museum, editors Donna
Pierce, Rogelio Ruiz Gomar, Clara Bargellini
2006   Blood Struggle: The Rise of Modern Indian Nations by Charles Wilkinson
2007   Your Death Would Be Mine: Paul and Marie Pireaud in the Great War by Martha Hanna
2008   The Life and Times of Richard Castro by Richard Gould
2009   Polk: The Man Who Transformed the Presidency and America by Walter R. Borneman
2010   Rosalie Edge, Hawk of Mercy: The Activist Who Saved Nature from the Conservationists, 
by Dyana Z. Furmansky, The University of Georgia Press
2011   Rival Rails: The Race to Build America's Greatest Transcontinental Railroad by Walter R. Borneman, 
Random House

Children's Literature
1992   Sand Dune Pony by Franklin Folsom
1993   Hunters of the Sky by Ann C. Cooper
1994   Way Out West Lives a Coyote Named Frank by Jillian Lund
1995   Goose and the Mountain Lion by Marian Harris
1996   Tops and Bottoms by Eleanor Ayer
1997   Ten Little Dinosaurs by Pattie Schnetzler
1998   Beardream by Will Hobbs
1999   Through the Eyes of the Children by Diane Hirschinger Gallegos
2000   Margaret's Magnificent Colorado Adventure by Julie Danneberg
2001   Tiger Math by Ann Whitehead Nagda and Cindy Bickel
2002   And the Dish Ran Away with the Spoon by Janet Stevens
2003   What Did You Do Today? by Kerry Arquette
2004   Max Goes to the Moon by Jeffrey Bennett
2005   Just Another Morning by Linda Ashman
2006   Prehistoric Actual Size by Steve Jenkins
2007   Inventor McGregor by Kathleen Pelley, illustrated by Michael Chesworth
2008   Living Color by Steve Jenkins
2009   M Is for Mischief: An A to Z of Naughty Children by Linda Ashman, illustrated by Nancy Carpenter
2010   Grandmother, Have the Angels Come? by Denise Vega, illustrated by Erin Eitter
2011   Magnus Maximus, A Marvelous Measurer by Kathleen T. Pelley, pictures by S.D. Schindler, 
Farrar Straus Giroux

Colorado/West
2000   Colorado 1870-2000 by John Fielder
2001   Messages from Frank's Landing by Charles Wilkinson
2002   Mythmakers of the West by John Murray
2003   Soul of Nowhere by Craig Childs
2004   The Beast in the Garden by David Baron
2005   Boomtown Blues by Andrew Gulliford

Creative Nonfiction
2002   (Autobiography/Memoir) Growing Up True by Craig Barnes
2004   (Autobiography/Memoir) Monkey Dancing by Daniel Glick
2006   The Guinness Book of Me by Steven Church
2007   Who are you people? A Personal Journey into the Heart of Fanatical Passion in America by Shari 
Caudron
2008   No Place Safe: A Family Memoir by Kim Reid
2009   Trespass: Living at the Edge of the Promised Land by Amy Irvine
2010   Just Like Us: The True Story of Four Mexican Girls Coming of Age in America by Helen Thorpe
2011   Paradise General: Riding the Surge at a Combat Hospital in Iraq by Dr. Dave Hnida, Simon & Schuster

General Nonfiction
1992   Telling Distance: Conversations with the American Desert by Bruce Berger
1993   West of the Divide by Jim Carrier
1994   The Four-Cornered Falcon: Essays on the Interior West and the Natural Scene by Reg Saner
1995   Breast Cancer Journal by Juliet Wittman
1996   Red Earth White Lies by Vine Deloria
1997   Photographing the Landscape by John Fielder
1998   Herbs in the Garden by David Macke and Rob Proctor
1999   Innocents on the Ice by John Behrendt
1999   Chokecherry Places by Merrill Gilfillan
2000   Cutthroat by Stephen Keating
2000   (Guide Book) Making the News by Jason Salzman
2001   (Educational Non-Fiction/How-To and Advice) 10 Smart Money Moves for Women by Judith Briles
2001   (Inspirational/Spirituality) Living the Renewed Life by M. Wayne Brown
2001   (Self Discovery/Relationships) The Angelic Year by Ambika Wauters
2001   Beethoven's Hair by Russell Martin
2002   The Coldest March: Scott's Fatal Antarctic Expedition by Susan Solomon
2002   (Educational Non-Fiction/How-To and Advice) Fighting for Your Marriage by Howard Markman
2003   (Mental Health/Counseling) Writing to Heal the Soul by Susan Zimmerman
2003   (Practical Living) Colorado Colore: A Palate of Tastes by Junior League of Denver
2003   (Reference) The Encyclopedia of the American Civil War by David & Jeanne Heidler
2003   Blood Diamonds by Greg Campbell
2004   Under the Banner of Heaven by John Krakauer
2004   (Guide Book) Bats of the Rocky Mountain West by Rick Adams
2004   (Inspirational/Spirituality) Embracing the World by Jane. E. Vennard
2004   (Mental Health/Counseling) The Bully, the Bullied and the Bystander by Barbara Coloroso
2004   (Nature and Recreation) Shadowcasting: An Introduction to the Art of Fly Fishing by John Dietsch and
Gary Hubbell
2005   The Candy Men: The Rollicking Life and Times of the Notorious Novel CANDY by Nile Southern
2005   (Educational Non-Fiction) Xeriscape Colorado: The Complete Guide by Connie Lockhart Ellefson and
David Winger
2006   Wild at Heart: Town of Snowmass by Janis Lindsay Huggins
2007   Walking Into Colorado's Past: 50 Front Range History Hikes, written and photographed by Ben
Fogelberg and Steve Grinstead
2008   Cruisin' the Fossil Freeway by Kirk Johnson and illustrated by Ray Troll
2009   Storey's Illustrated Breed Guide to Sheep, Goats, Cattle and Pigs by Carol Ekarius
2009   (Health and Well-Being) Unexpected Intimacy: Everyday Connections that Nourish the Soul by 
Sarah Gabriel
2010   Voices of the American West by Corinne Platt & Meredith Ogilby
2011   The Heroine's Bookshelf: Life Lessons, From Jane Austen to Laura Ingalls Wilder by Erin Blakemore,
Harper

Genre Fiction 
2000 (Romance) Meant to be Married by Ruth Wind (Barbara Samuel)
2001 (Romance) Flowers Under Ice by Jean Ross Ewing
2001 (Mystery) The Spirit Woman by Margaret Coel
2002 (Romance) My Dark Prince by Julia Ross (Jean Ross Ewing)
2002 (Mystery) Two O'Clock, Eastern Wartime by John Dunning
2002 (Science Fiction) Passage by Connie Willis
2003 Song of the Beast by Carol Berg
2003 (Mystery) The Shadow Dancer by Margaret Coel
2003 A Winter Haunting by Dan Simmons
2004 (Romance) A Piece of Heaven by Barbara Samuel
2004 (Mystery) Extreme Indifference by Stephanie Kane
2005 (Mystery) Wife of Moon by Margaret Coel
2006 Eye of the Wolf by Margaret Coel
2007 Iron Ties by Ann Parker
2008 The Girl With Braided Hair by Margaret Coel
2009 Breath and Bone by Carol Berg
2010 A Land Beyond Ravens: Book 4 of the Macsen's Treasure Series by Kathleen Cunningham Guler
2010 The Radio Magician and Other Stories by James Van Pelt
2011 The Spider's Web by Margaret Coel

Literary Fiction
1992   With the Snow Queen by Joanne Greenberg
1993   Booked to Die by John Dunning
1994   The Ballad of Rocky Ruiz by Manuel Ramos
1995   Lead Us Not into Penn Station by Bruce Ducker
1996   Solar Storms by Linda Hogan
1997   A Killing in Quail Country by Jameson Cole
1998   MARI: A Novel by Jane Valentine Barker
1999   A Good Doctor's Son by Steven Schwartz
2000   The Crook Factory by Dan Simmons
2001   Color of Law by David Milofsky
2002   The Good Journey by Micaela Gilchrist
2003   This Side of the Sky by Elyse Singleton
2004   Land that Moves, Land that Stands Still by Kent Nelson
2005   Eventide by Kent Haruf
2006   Articles of War by Nick Arvin
2007   The Pull of the Earth by Teague Bohlen
2008   Migration Patterns: Stories by Gary Schanbacher
2009   The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski, Ecco
2010   Spoon by Robert Greer, Fulcrum Publishing
2011   Postcards from a Dead Girl by Kirk Farber, Harper Perennial

Juvenile Literature
2011   Warriors: In the Crossfire by Nancy Bo Flood, Front Street Press

Poetry
1992   Wandering Roots/From the Hothouse by Ma. Fatima Lim
1993   Hands of the Saddlemaker by Nicholas Samaras
1994   The Book of Medicines by Linda Hogan
1995   The Fever of Being by Luis Alberto Urrea
1996   Deep Red by Rawdon Tomlinson
1997   The Very Stuff by Stephen Beal
1998   Tattooed Woman by Carolyn Evans Campbell
1999   Letters from a Stranger by James Tipton
2000   In the Colorado Gold Fever Mountains by Robert Cooperman
2001   White City by Mark Irwin and Swan, What Shores by Veronica Patterson
2002   Colcha by Aaron Abeyta
2003   Never Summer by Chris Ransick AND Air Into Breath by Kathryn Winograd
2004   Shooting Script: Door of Fire by Bill Tremblay
2005   Bright Hunger by Mark Irwin
2006   Body Painting by Jane Hilberry
2007   The Prayers of Others by David Keplinger
2008   Ludlow by David Mason
2009   A Murmuration of Starlings by Jake Adam York
2010   Theory of Mind: New & Selected Poems by Bin Ramke
2011   The Diminishing House by Nicky Beer, Carnegie Mellon University Press

Pictorial
2002 Riverwalk by William Wylie
2003 Reclaiming the American West by Alan Berger
2004 Medal of Honor by Nick Del Calzo
2006 14,000 Feet: A Celebration of Colorado's Highest Mountains by Walter Borneman, photos by
Todd Caudle
2007 Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park: Then & Now by James H. Pickering & Carey Stevanus,
photographs by Mic Clinger
2008 Prairie Thunder: The Nature of Colorado's Great Plains by Dave Showalter
2009 Colorado Scenic Byways, Taking the Other Road by Jim Steinberg and Susan J. Tweit
2010 Phlogs: Journey to the heart of the human predicament by George Stranahan & Nicole Beinstein Strait
2011 Touchstones of Design: Redefining Public Architecture by Curtis Fentress, Images Publishing Group Pty
Ltd.
2011 Landscapes on Glass: Lantern Slides for the Rainbow Bridge-Monument Valley Expedition, by Jack
Turner, Durango Herald Small Press

Young Adult
1994   Beardance by Will Hobbs
1995   The Merlin Effect by T.A. Barron
1996   Parallel Journeys by Eleanor Ayer
1997   Far North by Will Hobbs
1998   Ghost Canoe by Will Hobbs
1999   Water at the Blue Earth by Anne Howard Creel
2000   Yukon Gold: The Story of the Klondike Gold Rush by Charlotte Foltz Jones
2001   The Seer and the Sword by Victoria Hanley
2002   Cloud: Wild Stallion of the Rockies by Ginger Kathrens
2003   Crispin: The Cross of Lead by Avi
2004   Meadow Lark by Mary Peace Finley
2005   Luna by Julie Anne Peters
2006   Click Here (To Find Out How I Survived the Seventh Grade) by Denise Vega
2007   What the Moon Saw by Laura Resau
2008   Red Glass by Laura Resau
2009   Fact of Life #31 by Denise Vega
2010   The Indigo Notebook by Laura Resau
2011   The Secret to Lying by Todd Mitchell, Candlewick Press