2008 Beatty Award Winner
Joan W. Blos will be honored with the 2008 John and Patricia Beatty Award for her book Letters from the Corrugated Castle: A Novel of Gold Rush California 1850-1852 (Atheneum Books for Young Readers 2007). The Beatty Award is given annually to the children's or young adult book that best represents California, its people, culture, and history.
The year is 1850. Thirteen year old Eldora and the couple she calls Aunt and Uncle have moved from quiet New Bedford, Massachusetts to bustling San Francisco in the midst of the California Gold Rush. They receive a letter from a woman who believes herself to be Eldora's mother. Is she? How will Eldora adjust to this new life and the possibility of a new family? Told in letters, Eldora's story unfolds amidst the backdrop of gold rush mining camps, Mexicano children, stage coach travel, and ranchero life.
The John and Patricia Beatty Award, established in 1987 by Patricia Beatty, has been given annually since 1989. Since 1999, BWI Books has co-sponsored the award with the California Library Association. The winning author receives an engraved plaque, along with a prize of $500, which is presented at the annual CLA Conference's Beatty Award Breakfast. The 2008 Beatty Award Committee consists of: Danita Eastman of County of Los Angeles Public Library, Kristen Murray of Fairfield Cordelia Library, chair Jeanne Kelly O'Grady of Santa Cruz Public Libraries, Patricia Sullivan of Irwindale Public Library, and Maida Wong of South Pasadena Public Library.