February 12, 1998 ABBY Award Nominees Announced FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Jill Perlstein (914) 591-2665, ext. 283 ABBY AWARD NOMINEES ANNOUNCED February 12, 1998, Tarrytown, New York -- The American Booksellers Association (ABA) announced today the nominees for the 1998 American Booksellers Book of the Year (ABBY) Award. The final list of five books in both adult trade and children's categories, nominated by bookstore members of the ABA, represent titles that booksellers most enjoyed hand-selling during the past year. The 1998 adult nominees are: All Over but the Shoutin', Rick Bragg (Pantheon Books) At Home in Mitford, Jan Karon (Viking Penguin, cloth; Lion Publishing and Penguin Books, paper) Cold Mountain, Charles Frazier (Atlantic Monthly Press) Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster, Jon Krakauer (Villard Books) Memoirs of a Geisha: A Novel, Arthur Golden (Knopf) The 1998 children's nominees are: The Gardener, Sarah Stewart, illustrated by David Small (Farrar, Straus & Giroux) The Hat, Jan Brett (The Putnam Publishing Group) To Market, To Market, Anne Miranda, illustrated by Janet Stevens (Harcourt Brace & Company) Toot & Puddle, Holly Hobbie (Little, Brown & Company) When Jessie Came Across the Sea, Amy Hest, illustrated by P. J. Lynch (Candlewick Press) "The 1998 list of nominees is one of the strongest we've ever had," said ABA Vice President Richard Howorth. "This list clearly demonstrates independent booksellers' ability, in close partnership with their customers, to discover exciting new books that can be brought to an even broader audience." Booksellers will vote on the nominees in a mail-in ballot this spring, and the winners will be announced in May. The award itself -- $5,000 cash prizes and engraved Tiffany glass prisms -- will be presented to the winning author in both the adult and children's categories at the BookExpo America (BEA) trade show (May 30 - June 1) in Chicago. The remaining four nominees in each category will be awarded the title of ABBY Honor Book. Last year's winning author, Frank McCourt for Angela's Ashes, was on hand at BEA to accept his award. "Of all the prizes, I feel singularly honored and emotional about this one," Mr. McCourt told the hundreds of book industry professionals gathered at the "Celebration of Bookselling," a special BEA event at which the ABBY is presented. Other notable ABBY winners in the past have included Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel; Brother Eagle, Sister Sky by Susan Jeffers; and Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson. Children's ABBY winners have included Old Turtle by Douglas Wood, illustrated by Cheng-Khee Chee; Stellaluna by Janell Cannon; and The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister. About the ABA Founded in 1900, the American Booksellers Association is a not-for-profit trade organization devoted to meeting the needs of its core members -- independently-owned bookstores with retail store front locations -- through advocacy, education, research, and information dissemination. The ABA actively supports free speech, literacy, and programs that encourage children to read. The Association -- headquartered in Tarrytown, New York, and on the Web at www.bookweb.org -- also hosts the annual ABA Convention in conjunction with BookExpo America each spring. ### Topics: News - Bookselling,