May 20, 1998 1998 ABBY Winners Announced FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: ABA Jill Perlstein (914) 591-2665, ext. 283 Contact: Kratz & Company Rich Chernela (212) 979-2700 1998 ABBY Winners Announced Cold Mountain reaps booksellers' book of the year award Tarrytown, NY (May 20, 1998) - The American Booksellers Association (ABA) announced today that Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier and The Hat by Jan Brett are the winners of the 1998 American Booksellers Book of the Year (ABBY) Awards. Cold Mountain, published by Atlantic Monthly Press, was this year's winner in the adult category, and The Hat, published by The Putnam Publishing Group, took top honors in the children's category. Chosen by independent booksellers across the country, the ABBY awards represent the books that booksellers most enjoyed recommending to their customers throughout the previous year. Both winners were critically acclaimed and became bestsellers, due in large part to "hand-selling" by independent booksellers across the country. "Hand-selling" is the personalized relationships independent booksellers develop with customers, understanding their interests and reading habits and matching them with the right book. "Now in its seventh year, the ABBY is a shining example of how independent bookstores take pride in the recognition of good books and pass that knowledge on to their customers," said ABA President Barbara Bonds Thomas, owner of the Toad Hall Bookstore in Austin, TX. The ABBY Award is both a $5,000 cash prize and an engraved Tiffany glass prism. Mr. Frazier will be presented with his award at "A Celebration of Bookselling" during the BookExpo America Trade show on Saturday, May 30, 1998 in Chicago, IL. Ms. Brett will be presented with her award at the "Children's Book and Author Breakfast" that same morning, also at BookExpo. Cold Mountain, Mr. Frazier's first novel, is an extraordinary tale of a soldier's perilous journey back to his beloved at the end of the Civil War. The Hat, the charming story of Hedgie the hedgehog, celebrates the cozy hearth and home of picturesque Scandanavian country life, frozen in time. Ms. Brett, a perennial bestselling author of books for children, wrote The Hat as a companion piece to The Mitten. In addition to the top winner in each category, there are four 1998 ABBY honor books. In the adult trade category, these are, in alphabetical order: All Over but the Shoutin', by Rick Bragg, published by Pantheon Books; At Home in Mitford, by Jan Karon, published by Viking Penguin (cloth) and Lion Publishing and Penguin Books (both in paperback); Into Thin Air, by Jon Krakauer, published by Villard Books; and Memoirs of a Geisha, by Arthur Golden, published by Knopf. For the children's category, the 1998 ABBY Honor Books are: The Gardener by Sarah Stewart, illustrated by David Small, published by Farrar, Straus & Giroux; To Market, To Market by Anne Miranda, illustrated by Janet Stevens, published by Harcourt Brace & Company; Toot & Puddle, by Holly Hobbie, published by Little, Brown & Company; When Jessie Came Across the Sea by Amy Hest, illustrated by P.J. Lynch, published by Candlewick Press. "One of the most rewarding things about being a bookseller is the pleasure of turning a customer on to something new. The ABBY is our opportunity to sort through the multitude of wonderful books published each year and to choose a few well-deserving titles that we feel our customers shouldn't miss," said Sandra Torkildson, chair of the ABBY Awards Advisory Panel, and owner of A Room of One's Own in Madison, Wisconsin. About the ABBY Established in 1991, with the children's category added in 1993, the American Booksellers Book of the Year Award recognizes the "hidden treasures" in the adult and children's book categories that ABA bookstore members most enjoyed recommending to their customers during the previous year. Four Honor Books are also chosen in each category. Past adult category winners include: Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt; Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson; and Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel. In the children's category, some previous winners include: Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse by Kevin Henkes; Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney; The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister; and Stellaluna by Janell Cannon. 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,