Society of Midland Authors 2016 Award Winners and Finalists

The Society of Midland Authors has announced the winners and finalists for their 2016 awards, honoring books by Midwest authors published in 2015. Titles are linked to Booklist reviews when available. Founded in 1915, the Society has given the annual awards since 1957; this year’s banquet is Tuesday, May 10, at the swanky Cliff Dwellers Club in Chicago. Rex Huppke, columnist for the Chicago Tribune, will be the master of ceremonies. Tickets are $75. To reserve, visit www.midlandauthors.com.

ADULT FICTION

Winner

Marvel and a Wonder, by Joe Meno

Finalists

Mothers, Tell Your Daughters, by Bonnie Jo Campbell

Music for Wartime, by Rebecca Makkai

ADULT NONFICTION

Winner

Galileo’s Middle Finger: Heretics, Activists, and the Search for Justice in Science, by Alice Dreger

Finalists

The Ghost in My Brain: How a Concussion Stole My Life and How the New Science of Brain Plasticity Helped Me Get it Back, by Clark Elliott

$2.00 a Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America, by Kathryn J. Edin and H. Luke Shaefer

Epic Measures: One Doctor. Seven Billion Patients, by Jeremy Smith

BIOGRAPHY & MEMOIR

Winner

John Bartlow Martin: A Voice for the Underdog, by Ray E. Boomhower

Finalists

Escape Points: A Memoir, by Michele Weldon

Nobody Grew but the Business: On the Life and Work of William Gaddis, by Joseph Tabbi

CHILDREN’S FICTION

Winner

Great Ball of Light, by Evan Kuhlman

Finalists

Alphabet School, by Stephen T. Johnson

Francine Poulet Meets the Ghost Raccoon: Tales from Deckawoo Drive, Volume Two, by Kate DiCamillo

Stranded, by Melinda Braun

CHILDREN’S NONFICTION

Winner

Stonewall: Breaking Out in the Fight for Gay Rights, by Ann Bausum

Finalists

The Inventor’s Secret: What Thomas Edison Told Henry Ford, by Suzanne Slade

Like Finding My Twin, by Fern Schumer Chapman

POETRY

Winner

Karankawa, by Iliana Rocha

Finalists

Skin Music, by Dennis Hinrichsen

Errata, by Lisa Fay Coutley

JAMES FRIEND MEMORIAL AWARD FOR LITERARY AND DRAMATIC CRITICISM

Kelli Christiansen, founder and editor of Chicago Book Review

DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARD WINNER

Robert Remer