Here are the books that have been nominated for 2022 Connecticut Book Awards

Susan Dunne, Hartford Courant
·2 min read

The 2022 Connecticut Book Awards, honoring the best books written by state residents and natives, or set in the state, will be held Oct. 23, 2022, at the Hartford Public Library.

The nominations were announced Sept. 1. Categories are in fiction; nonfiction, poetry; and various levels of young readers; plus the Bruce Fraser “Spirit of Connecticut” Award, in honor of the longtime director of Connecticut Humanities.

The awards ceremony, which will be at at 5 p.m., is presented by Connecticut Center for the Book. A registration link will be posted soon at ctcenterforthebook.org.

Here are the nominees.

Nonfiction

Seeing Ghosts by Connecticut native Kat Chow

Broke in America by Joanne Goldblum and Colleen Shaddox of Branford

Squirrel Hill by Mark Oppenheimer of New Haven

Correctional, a book set in Connecticut, by Ravi Shankar

Piglet, The Unexpected Story of a Deaf Blind Pink Puppy and His Family by Melissa Shapiro of Westport

Picture Books, Nonfiction

Bei Bei Goes Home: A Panda Story by Cheryl Bardoe of Wallingford

Walrus Song by Janet Lawler of Farmington

Middle Grade, Nonfiction

Fairy Tale Science by Sarah Albee of Watertown

Robo-Motion: Robots That Move Like Animals by Linda Zajac of Vernon

Fiction

  • The Family Plot by Megan Collins of Manchester

  • Justine by Connecticut native Forsyth Harmon

  • Goliath by Tochi Onyebuchi of New Haven

  • 9 Lupine Road by Eric Lehman of Hamden

  • Book of Form and Emptiness by Connecticut native Ruth Ozeki

Young Adult, Fiction

  • The Secret Life of Kitty Granger by G. D. Falksen of Hamden

  • Mercury Boys by Chandra Prasad of Woodbridge

Middle Grade, Fiction

  • View From Pagoda Hill by Michaela MacColl of Westport

  • The Flyers by Beth Turley of Waterford

  • To Tell You the Truth by Beth Vrabel of Canton

Picture Books, Fiction

  • Soul Food Sunday by Winsome Hudson-Bing of Ledyard

  • Three Pockets Full by Cindy Rodriguez of Plainville

Poetry

  • Taking Her Back by Cristina Baptista of Newington

  • The Glass Globe by Margaret Gibson of Preston

  • A Cluster of Noisy Planets by Charles Rafferty of Sandy Hook

  • Songs for a Solo Voice by James Whitley of Waterbury

Bruce Fraser Spirit of Connecticut Finalist

  • All Girls, a book set in Connecticut, by Emily Layden.

Susan Dunne can be reached at sdunne@courant.com.