Contest Winners

2025 Awards for Books Published in 2024

RICHARD FRISBIE AWARD FOR ADULT NONFICTION
WINNER:
Kenn Kaufman, The Birds That Audubon Missed: Discovery and Desire in the American Wilderness, Avid Reader. (Author lives in Oak Harbor, Ohio.)

HONORABLE MENTIONS:
— Casey A. Huegel, Cleaning Up the Bomb Factory: Grassroots Activism and Nuclear Waste in the Midwest, University of Washington Press. (Author lives in Dayton, Ohio.)
— Mark Larson, Working in the 21st Century: An Oral History of American Work in a Time of Social and Economic Transformation, Agate. (Author lives in Chicago.)
— Kim Mager with Lisa Pulitzer, A Hunger to Kill: A Serial Killer, a Determined Detective, and the Quest for a Confession That Changed a Small Town Forever, St. Martin’s Press. (Mager lives in Hayesville, Ohio.)

The judges for Adult Nonfiction were Gerry Plecki, Chris Lynch, and Sharon Woodhouse.

ADULT FICTION
WINNER:
Miles Harvey, The Registry of Forgotten Objects, Mad Creek Books. (Author lives in Chicago.)

HONORABLE MENTIONS:
— Barbara Gregorich, Exit Velocity, BookBaby. (Author lives in Chicago.)
— Amy Lee Lillard, Exile in Guyville, BOA Editions. (Author lives in Des Moines, Iowa.)
— Kevin Prufer, Sleepaway, Acre. (The author, who now lives near Houston, formerly resided in Warrensburg, Missouri.)

The judges for Adult Fiction were Patricia Skalka, Richard Reeder, and Jon Volkmer.

HISTORY
WINNER:
Patricia Cleary, Mound City: The Place of the Indigenous Past and Present in St. Louis, University of Missouri Press. (Author was born in St. Louis and lives now in Long Beach, California.)

HONORABLE MENTIONS:
— Charles Cosgrove, They Both Reached for the Gun: Beulah Annan, Maurine Watkins, and the Trial That Became Chicago, Southern Illinois University Press. (Author lives in Brookfield, Illinois.)
— Sarah E. Lirley, Sudden Deaths in St. Louis: Coroner Bias in the Gilded Age, Southern Illinois University Press. (Author lives in Columbia, Missouri.
— Cathy Jean Maloney, Olmsted’s Riverside: Stewardship Meets Innovation in a Landmark Village, Southern Illinois University Press. (Author lives in Columbia, Missouri.)

The judges for History were Joseph Gustaitis, Greg Borzo, and David Witter.

BERNARD J. BROMMEL AWARD FOR BIOGRAPHY & MEMOIR
WINNER:
Trish O’Kane, Birding to Change the World: A Memoir, Ecco. (Author formerly lived in Wisconsin and now resides in Vermont.)

HONORABLE MENTIONS:
— Stacy Cordery, Becoming Elizabeth Arden: The Woman Behind the Global Beauty Empire, Viking. (Author lives in Ames, Iowa.)
— Ray E. Boomhower, The Ultimate Protest: Malcolm W. Browne, Thich Quang Duc, and the News Photograph That Stunned the World, High Road. (Author lives in Indianapolis.)
— Scott Dominic Carpenter, Paris Lost and Found: A Memoir of Love, Travelers’ Tales. (Author lives in St. Paul, Minnesota.)

The judges for Biography and Memoir were Bob Remer, Marlene Targ Brill, and David Shih.

CHILDREN’S FICTION
WINNER:
Ruth Spiro, One Small Spark: A Tikkun Olam Story, Dial. (Author lives in Deerfield, Illinois.)

HONORABLE MENTIONS:
— Cristina Oxtra, What Lolo Wants, Kids Can Press. (Author lives in Savage, Minnesota.)
— Edward Underhill, This Day Changes Everything, Wednesday. (Author was raised in Wisconsin and lives now in Los Angeles.)
— Bob Holt, The Unlucky Kid, Kids Can Press. (Author lives in Kansas City, Missouri.)

The judges for Children’s Fiction were Sandra Renner, Laura Hirshfield, and W. Nikola-Lisa.

CHILDREN’S READING ROUND TABLE AWARD FOR CHILDREN’S NONFICTION

WINNER:
James W. Loewen and Nate Powell, Lies My Teacher Told Me: A  Graphic Adaptation, The New Press. (Powell lives in Bloomington, Indiana. Loewen, a native of Decatur, Illinois, died in 2021.)

HONORABLE MENTIONS:
— Ruth Spiro, How to Explain Robotics to a Grown-Up, Charlesbridge. (Author lives in Deerfield, Illinois.)
— Marlene Targ Brill, Jane Addams: The Most Dangerous Woman in America, Ohio University Press. (Author lives in Wilmette, Illinois.)
— Janet Nolan, Bats Beneath the Bridge, Albert Whitman & Company. (Author lives in Oak Park, Illinois.)

The judges for Children’s Nonfiction were Jingmai O’Connor, Carrie Pearson, and Laurie Lawlor.

POETRY
WINNER:
Alice Friman, On the Overnight Train, LSU Press. (Author is a former longtime Indianapolis resident who now lives in Milledgeville, Georgia.)

HONORABLE MENTIONS:
— Ae Hee Lee, Asterism, Tupelo Press. (Author lives in Kenosha, Wisconsin.)
— Janice N. Harrington, Yard Show, BOA Editions. (Author lives in Champaign, Illinois.)
— Amie Whittemore, Nest of Matches, Autumn House Press. (Author lives in Urbana, Illinois.)

The judges for Poetry were Emilio Degrazia, Brenda Cardenas, and Elton Glaser.

This year’s winners will receive a $750 award and a recognition plaque.