6th Annual Royal Dragonfly Book Award Winners Announced

CHANDLER, AZ (November, 2015)—Winners of the 2015 Royal Dragonfly Book Awards have been announced by Five Star Publications, Inc. Slow Dancing with a Stranger by Meryl Comer has earned this year’s $300 Grand Prize as well as First Place designations in the Aging and General Nonfiction categories and Honorable Mention in the First-time Author category. An Emmy-award winning broadcast journalist and leading Alzheimer’s advocate, Comer has written a profoundly personal, unflinching account of her husband’s battle with Alzheimer’s disease that serves as a much-needed wake-up call to better understand and address a progressive and deadly affliction. When Comer’s husband Harvey Gralnick was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s disease in 1996, she watched as the man who headed hematology and oncology research at the National Institutes of Health started to misplace important documents and forget clinical details that had once been cataloged encyclopedically in his mind. With harrowing honesty, she brings readers face to face with this devastating condition and its effects on its victims and those who care for them. Detailing the daily realities and overwhelming responsibilities of caregiving, Comer sheds intensive light on this national health crisis, using her personal experiences—the mistakes and the breakthroughs—to put a face to a misunderstood disease, while revealing the facts everyone needs to know.

Additional first-place winners include The Tiny Portrait by Heidi Carla, illustrated by Karla Cinquanta, which was also the $100 drawing winner; Bee in the Sea by Adam Reed, illustrated by Izzy Bean; American Mojo Lost and Found: Restoring Our Middle Class Before the World Blows by Peter D. Kiernan;   Ballerina Detective and the Missing Jeweled Tiara by Karen Rita Rautenberg; Numbers!: Take the Dog Out by Lynne Dempsey, illustrated by Mandy Newham-Cobb; Nickerbacher, The Funniest Dragon by Terry John Barto, illustrated by Kim Sponaugle; Posie Pixie and the Pancakes by Sarah Hill, illustrated by Sarah Mauchline; Posie Pixie and the Snowstorm by Sarah Hill, illustrated by Sarah Mauchline; Hi My Name is Hanna and I'm Adopted by Angie Barton; Colors!: Take the Dog Out by Lynne Dempsey, illustrated by Mandy Newham-Cobb; Castle in Danger by Karen Rita Rautenberg; Simmer and Smoke: A Southern Tale of Grit and Spice by Peggy Lampman; Going to the Park by Elizabeth Gorcey, illustrated by Kajiah Jacobs; and Ashes and Asphalt by Trevor Halloway.

“We had a very tight competition this year and our judges definitely had their work cut out for them," says Linda F. Radke, president of Five Star Publications, Inc. “I want to extend my sincerest congratulations to all of our winners.”

For a complete list of winners, visit www.RoyalDragonflyBookAwards.com. The next Royal Dragonfly Book Awards contest is already underway. The early bird deadline is August 1, 2016. Final deadline for submissions is October 1, 2016.

The early bird deadline for the Purple Dragonfly Book Awards contest, which recognizes outstanding children's literature, is March 1, 2016. The final deadline is May 1, 2016. For complete rules and submission forms for these contests, visit www.FiveStarBookAwards.com and click on the contest of choice.

The Story Monster Approved! program identifies quality children's books that have been kid-tested and judge-certified, making it easier for buyers to choose exceptional fiction and nonfiction books that parents will approve and youths will enthusiastically devour. Authors interested in having their books considered for the Story Monster Approved! designation should visit www.StoryMonsters.com to download an entry form. There is no deadline to enter and books are judged as they are received.

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