Great News! Janice Hardy's "The Shifter" Was Chosen for the 2014 List of Ten Books All Young Georgians Should Read!

Just a heads up that my monthly post is up over at Pub(lishing) Crawl. Today, I'm asking what your character values most and why that's important. Come on over and say hello!

I'm thrilled and honored to announce that last week, my teen fantasy novel, The Shifter, was chosen by the Georgia Center for the Book for this year's Ten Books All Young Georgians Should Read list (squee!).

Not only did I receive a beautiful glass trophy, but golden stickers that make the cover pop (just look how pretty it looks there on the book). You can't beat that, except by having writer pal Vicky Alvear Shecter also make the list with her wonderful YA historical, Cleopatra's Moon.

A huge thanks to GCB for selecting The Shifter, and to Joe Davich and Zachary Steele for organizing the award ceremony and a great evening. You guys rock.

The lists are selected by the writers, educators, librarians, and media representatives who comprise the Georgia Center for the Book Advisory Council. They represent a compilation of some of the best Fiction, Non-Fiction, Poetry, and children's literature by Georgia writers and artists. This year marked the fifth edition of the "Books All Georgians Should Read", and the second of the "Books All YOUNG Georgians Should Read".

Here's the full list for both adult and young readers:

Books All YOUNG Georgians Should Read 2014

1. Martina the Beautiful Cockroach: A Cuban Folktale by Carmen Deedy, illustrated by Michael Austin (picture book)

2. Cosmo's Moon by Devin Scillian, illustrated by Mark Braught (picture book)

3. Ruth and the Green Book by Calvin Ramsey with Gwen Strauss, illustrated by Floyd Cooper (picture book)

4. Just One Bite by Lola Schaefer, illustrated by Geoff Waring (picture book)

5. It Jes' Happened: When Bill Traylor Started to Draw by Don Tate, illustrated by R. Gregory Christie (picture book)

6. The Dagger Quick by Brian Eames (mid-grade book)

7. The Shifter by Janice Hardy (mid-grade book)

8. Sweetly by Jackson Pearce (young adult book)

9. Cleopatra's Moon by Vicky Alvear Shecter (young adult book)

10. Henry Franks by Peter Adam Salomon (young adult book)

Books All Georgians Should Read 2014

1. War Like The Thunderbolt: The Battle and Burning of Atlanta - Russell Bonds

2. Reign of Madness - Lynn Cullen

3. The Starboard Sea - Amber Dermont

4. The Complete Poems of James Dickey - James Dickey, edited by Ward Briggs

5. Must Win: A Season of Survival for a Town and Its Team - Drew Jubera

6. The Many Deaths of the Firefly Brothers - Thomas Mullen

7. Eat Drink Delta: A Hungry Traveler's Journey Through the Soul of the South - Susan Puckett

8. The World of the Salt Marsh: Appreciating and Protecting the Tidal Marshes of the Southeastern Atlantic Coast - Charles Seabrook

9. Thrall: Poems - Natasha Trethewey

10. The Grey Album: On the Blackness of Blackness - Kevin Young