The Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association recently announced the winners of its annual PNBA Book Awards. The Awards Committee was made up of nine volunteer booksellers from independent bookstores located thoughout Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, and Alaska. This year, Awards Committee members considered more than 200 titles nominated for work published by a variety of NW authors in 2009. The 2010 winners include Naseem Rakha for her first novel entitled The Crying Tree.
The Crying Tree is a compelling story that reaches into the heart of a family nearly torn apart by a mother's act of forgiveness after the murder of her fifteen-year-old son during an apparent robbery. The murderer, a young mechanic with a long and violent criminal history, is caught and sentenced to death. During the traumatic months following his conviction, the mother (Irene Stanley) decides to reach out to her son's murderer.
"Dramatic, wrenching, and ultimately uplifting, The Crying Tree is an unforgettable book about the unbreakable bonds of family and the transformative power of forgiveness."
Naseem Rakha is an award-winning broadcast journalist whose stories have been featured on NPR. She currently lives with her husband and son in Oregon's Willamette Valley.
Naseem is scheduled to appear at the next meeting of the Oregon Coast Chapter of Willamette Writers on Tuesday, February 2, at 7 pm. She will talk about the art and craft of writing fiction and what skills she developed as a journalist that helped her write The Crying Tree. The meeting takes place in the McEntee Room of the Newport Public Library which is located at 35 NW Nye Street in Newport, Oregon. Admission is free to the public. For a complete listing of Naseem's other speaking engagements, please check her website.
The Pacific NW Booksellers Association is a non-profit group of independent bookstores located in five states. One of their oldest and most popular programs is the annual PNBA Book Awards. Past winners have included Ivan Doig, Ursula K. LeGuin, David Guterson, Jon Krakauer, Chuck Palahniuk, and Sherman Alexie.
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