2015 Christy Award Winners Announced
The 2015 Christy Awards were held on Monday night, June 29, 2015, at the Rosen Center Hotel in Orlando. The awards honor excellence in Christian fiction in ten categories, and they have—through the years—truly raised the bar on storytelling from a Christian perspective. They were named for Catherine Marshall's wonderful book by the same name (i.e., Christy). The 2015 Christy Award Winners are as follows:Book of the Year – Thief of Glory, by Sigmund Brouwer (WaterBrook Multnomah)Contemporary Romance – A Broken Kind of Beautiful, by Katie Ganshert (WaterBrook Multnomah) Contemporary Series – The Amish Blacksmith, by Mindy Starns Clark and Susan Meissner (Harvest House Publishers)Contemporary – The Story Keeper, by Lisa Wingate (Tyndale House)First Novel – Feast for Thieves, by Marcus Brotherton (RiverNorth/Moody Publishing)Historical – The Sentinels of Andersonville, by Tracy Groot (Tyndale House Publishers)Historical Romance – Thief of Glory, by Sigmund Brouwer (WaterBrook Multnomah)Suspense – The Color of Justice, by Ace Collins (Abingdon Press)Visionary – Once Beyond a Time, by Ann Tatlock (Heritage Beacon Fiction)Young Adult – Storm Siren, by Mary Weber (Thomas Nelson)Each category of novels is evaluated against a ten-point criteria by a panel of seven judges (including my dear friend Kelley Mathews) composed of librarians, reviewers, academicians, literary critics, and other qualified readers, none of whom have a direct affiliation with a publishing company.Thanks to Ginny McCabe, Special to ASSIST News Service, for her assistance with this post.