AmericanBookFest.com

Rufus: A Boy's Extraordinary Experiences in the Civil War by Phoebe Sheldon

Award Winner: 2018 Best Book Awards
Young Adult: Non-Fiction

Rufus, A Boy's Extraordinary Experiences in the Civil War Based on the incredible Civil War letters of Rufus Harnden, this book follows a perceptive and well-spoken seventeen-year-old from New York State through three exciting years in the Union Army. He fights at Antietam and then Chancellorsville before being wounded and sent to the hospital and on to more adventures behind the front lines. The book includes historical details about the Battle of Chancellorsville that have never been published before. It also includes extensive footnotes that provide the reader context for Rufus's very personal war story. "These letters are a window into our country's defining struggle." American Singer/Songwriter James Taylor

An Adolescent's Guide to ME/CFS by Vidhima Shetty

Award Finalist: 2018 Best Book Awards
Young Adult: Non-Fiction

"This brief book on ME will be most helpful to young people and their parents as it provides an excellent overview of what this disease is including its history and possible causes. While there is still no cure, there are coping strategies that can help patients better adjust to one of the more debilitating illnesses that affect thousands of youth in our country. Clearly, more research and educating needed for this most vulnerable population that is affected with ME." -Leonard A. Jason, Ph.D. Professor of Psychology, DePaul University

"An Adolescent's Guide to ME/CFS is an essential book addressing a hidden health crisis. Young people dealing with this devastating disease not only have to deal with their illness but with the lack of understanding from the outer world. This book will both give them and their families the practical information they need and will be a balm, leaving them feeling less alone and misunderstood." -Julie Rehmeyer, author of Through the Shadowlands and contributing editor at Discover magazine

"An excellent, concise overview of ME. There is a crisis in (lack of ) health care for these patients. Shetty knows more about ME than most health professionals and demonstrates that one person can make a difference--even a teen. Share this book widely, for education and research are crucial to lessen the suffering of millions of patients worldwide." -Dorothy Hassler, MD, pediatrician and parent of severely ill patient

Secret Life of a Juror: Voir Dire - The Domestic Violence Query by Paul Sanders

Award Finalist: 2018 Best Book Awards
Young Adult: Non-Fiction

"Readers' Favorite Secret Life Of A Juror: Voir Dire, The Domestic Violence Query by Paul Sanders is a moving story that comes to life when the author is invited to become a juror in a murder trial. As such, he has to undergo a 'voir dire' which means answering a number of questions to qualify for the duty. Two questions pop out at him; whether he had ever experienced domestic violence in his household, and whether he had ever been incarcerated longer than thirty days in his whole life. Opting to tell the truth, Paul Sanders is confronted by a childhood he wished he could forget. The son of a prominent doctor in Michigan, his family lived in a beautiful house and, from the outside, it looked like a dream childhood. The truth, however, is a shocking tale of child abuse that would leave any child deeply scarred for life. Paul Sanders' Secret Life Of A Juror: Voir Dire, The Domestic Violence Query strongly tugs at the reader's heart and it is one of those books that will always stay in our minds and hearts. Two little boys and one little girl go through an abusive childhood and people around them don't notice or perhaps some of them don't really care. And for a true story like this to happen in a first world country sends chills down my spine. The story unravels innocently enough when multi-award winning author Paul Sanders is invited to become a juror, but what follows is a tale that is both gripping and heartbreaking. Vivid and concise, Secret Life Of A Juror is surprisingly objective and I think this is what makes the story highly credible and remarkably powerful!
(Reviewed by Maria Beltran)

The Stump: My Way Out of Chicago's South Side by CSM Terry L. Braddock, U.S. Army (Ret.) with Kathleen A. Braddock

Award Finalist: 2018 Best Book Awards
Young Adult: Non-Fiction

Three guys I didn’t recognize stood outside the door as I came down the steps of a Chicago apartment building. I had just finished up collecting newspaper fees for delivering the daily paper. One stepped inside, walked toward me, and said, “What’s up?” I looked at him and said, “What’s up with you?” As he stepped closer I saw a gun in his waistband and it made me think of my father, who always said, “Think before you react, son.” If I reach for his gun, I thought, he could be faster than me. He also had buddies just outside the door. My decision was made for me when the boys stepped into the hallway and surrounded me. It took me only a second to think, Is your life worth ninety bucks of newspaper collection fees? I pulled the money out of my pocket and handed it over, and he said, “Now that’s what I’m talking about.” He pulled out his gun, pointed it at me, and pulled the trigger. I knew at a young age in my city of Chicago that more bad things were happening than good, especially for me, an African American growing up in the ’60s and ’70s, living on the South Side.

Given that, our teachers should have been our role models. Yet when held after class one day, my teacher told me, “To set you on the right path, I want you to strive to be . . . a custodian.” I jumped up and said, “I don’t want to be no janitor.” He said, “Now, now, you’re a ‘N’ and there’s not a lot of opportunities for ‘N’s.” I ran to the Stump, the crumbling steps of an apartment building where I knew Mrs. Hannaberry would be, and I told her what my teacher had said. She hugged me and responded, “You are better than this, and you are going to do better. Let no one tell you different. The first thing you must do is believe in yourself. Do you believe?” The Stump prepared me for my life-long journey. It shaped me to see a brighter future, realize I had a future. It all started at the Stump—my way out.