Welcome,
The Montana Book Award is an annual award that recognizes literary and/or artistic excellence in a book published during the award year. Eligible titles will be set in Montana, deal with Montana themes or issues, or be written, edited, or illustrated by a Montana author or artist. Books for all ages will be considered for the award.
Red Rover wins 2007 Montana Book Award!
The 2007 Montana Book Award winner is Red Rover by Deirdre McNamer. This annual award recognizes literary and/or artistic excellence in a book written or illustrated by someone who lives in Montana, set in Montana, or dealing with Montana themes or issues. Presentations and a reception with the winning authors will take place Thursday, April 10, during the Montana Library Association Conference in Great Falls. Red Rover is a beautifully crafted novel about idealism laid waste and the haunting, redemptive bonds of friendship. As boys, Aidan and Neil Tierney ride horseback for miles across unfenced prairie, picturing themselves as gauchos, horsemen of the Argentine pampas. A hundred miles away, Roland Taliaferro wants only to escape the violence and poverty of his family. As war approaches, Aidan and Roland join the FBI. Roland serves Stateside while Aidan requests hazardous duty and is sent as an undercover agent to Naziridden Argentina. Aidan returns to Montana ill, shaken, and divided from Roland over the FBIs role in the war. On a cold December day in 1946, he is found fatally shot, an apparent suicide. The FBI stays silent.
Three honor books were also chosen by the 2007 Montana Book Award Committee:
Chrysalis: Maria Sibylla Merian and the Secrets of Metamorphosis by Kim Todd.
Evelyn Cameron: Montana's Frontier Photographer text by Kristi Hager
One Woman's Montana photography by Kathe LeSage
Read more in our Press Release: 2007 Awards (announced in March of 2008; PDF document)
Winners (with links to winning authors)
Award Process
Nominations and the Book Award Committee