Books published by Texas Tech University Press won two first place awards, and
were finalists in the New Mexico Book Award competition. Awards were handed out Nov.
9 in 33 categories.
"The Death at Awahi," a novel by Harold Burton Meyers, was named Best Book in the
competition. Susan Cummins Miller’s novel, "Quarry," was named Best Novel in the Mystery
category.
"Our House on Hueco," by Carlos Nicolás Flores, and "Harvey Girl," by Sheila Wood
Foard, were both finalists in the Young Adult category.
"We are so proud of all our authors," said Judith Keeling, senior editor. "Winning
two awards and having two authors as finalists is indicative of the superior quality
of the authors we are fortunate to work with at Texas Tech University Press."
The New Mexico Book Awards recognizes the best in New Mexico’s books. The competition
is sponsored by Borders Book Stores and the New Mexico Book Co-op.
The 1920s-era controversy over the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs longstanding -- and
since discarded -- policy to "Christianize and civilize" American Indian children
is the backdrop for "The Death at Awahi." Meyers, a former correspondent for both
Time and Fortune magazines, grew up on Pima-Maricopa, Zuni, Navajo and Hopi reservations
in Arizona and New Mexico. He is the author of two other novels.
"Quarry" is the third of the Frankie MacFarlane Mysteries, featuring a geologist who
solves mysteries she encounters during her field research. Miller worked as a field
geologist with the U.S. geological Survey and taught geology and oceanography becoming
a writer. She lives in Tucson.
"Our House on Hueco" is the poignant yet often humorous story of a Hispanic family’s
struggles for a better life 1950s El Paso and their son’s coming of age in two cultures.
Flores is an English instructor at Laredo Community College and co-founding director
of the South Texas Writing Project.
Foard devoted years to researching and writing about the Harvey Girls, the young women
who worked as waitresses in the Harvey Eating Houses on the Santa Fe Railroad in the
West in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Foard is a former English and journalism teacher.
Her stories, articles and poems have appeared in numerous children’s magazines. She
is also the author of a biography of muralist Diego Rivera.
Texas Tech University Press publishes a variety of titles each year ranging from nonfiction
titles in natural history and the natural sciences to works in costume and textile
history and all aspects of the Great Plains and the American West -- especially biography,
history, memoir and travel. The press also publishes fiction, young adult and children’s
titles, a mystery series and poetry.
Texas Tech University Press, established in 1971 and a member of the Association of
American University Presses, publishes about 20 to 25 books each year.
Full information on the New Mexico Book Awards may be found at www.nmbookaward.com.
For more information on any of these books, contact Barbara Brannon, marketing manager,
Texas Tech University Press, (806) 742-2982 or barbara.brannon@ttu.edu, or visit www.ttup.ttu.edu.