SAN FRANCISCO BOOK FESTIVAL HONORS “THE BOY WHO KNEW TOO MUCH”


SAN FRANCISCO _ The amazing story of a young boy who has uncanny and accurate memories of a past life is the winner of the 2017 San Francisco Book Festival, which honors the best books of the spring.

Author Cathy Byrd’s The Boy Who Knew Too Much (Hay House Inc.) tells of baseball prodigy Christian Haupt, who began sharing vivid memories of being a pitcher in the 1920s and 1930s. His tales of riding cross-country on trains, his rivalry with Babe Ruth, and his grasp of historical facts about the life of Lou Gehrig is not something he could have possibly known at age two. That’s when his mother began a journey that would shake her beliefs to the core.

This compelling memoir will raise questions and inspire even skeptics to explore the possibilities of prior lives. Byrd and other authors in the competition will be honored at a private reception at the Hotel Rex in June.

Other winners in the competition:

POETRY

WINNER: Where Do I Sit – Neal Hall

RUNNER-UP: Collected Poems – Michael J. Vaughn

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

  • Connected to Source – Tina Thurston
  • Earthly Freight – Lindsay Knowlton
  • Riverspill – Barbara L. Thomas
  • Reflections of a Soul – June Marie Davis


YOUNG ADULT

WINNER: If You Wish – Cassandra Sage Briskman

RUNNER-UP: The Whizbang Machine – Danielle Vann

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

  • The Secret Billionaire – Teymour Shahabi
  • Ms. Vampy’s Teen Tawk – Brooke Lewis
  • Jurassic Earth – Logan Stark
  • Letters to Follow – Paddy Eger
  • A Darker Magic This Way Comes – Carmen Niland
  • The Emperor of Dragons – Logan Stark
  • The Wave – Kirsten Spiteri
  • South of Main Street – Robert Gately
  • Ocoee! A Novel - Myra Kinnie & Gail Waxman

 

UNPUBLISHED

WINNER: Libido Tsunami – Cate Burns



GENERAL NON-FICTION

WINNER: Lost, Kidnapped, Eaten Alive – Laurie King

RUNNER-UP: My Father’s War – Charley Valera

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

  • My Cells Made Me Do It – Robin R. Hayes
  • Part of the Family – Jason Hensley
  • You’ll Do Anything for Him – Maureen Hosier
  • Post-Traumatic Stress - Not a Life Sentence – Nola Hennessy
  • Beverly Hills Concentration Camp – Randi Maggid
  • I Punched Myself in the Eye – Pamela Capone
  • Shielded Suffering – A.J. Nystrom
  • James, A Young Man with an Unplanned Future – Eleanor Liggens

 

GENERAL FICTION

WINNER: No Man’s Land: A Novel - Simon Tolkein

RUNNER-UP: Pink Slips – Beth Aldrich

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

  • The Moon in the Palace – Weina Dai Randel
  • Chameleons - Marcus A. Nannini
  • Ashes – Steven H. Manchester
  • The Indian – Barry Kienzle
  • One-Two – Igor Eliseev
  • The Boston Castrato – Colin W. Sargent
  • Homeless - Zeynep Guvenc
  • The Audacity of Goats – J.F. Riordan
  • The Vicissitudes of Fortune - Bob Siqveland
  • The Hedgecock Friasko – Rick Hussey
  • The Second Winter – Craig Larsen
  • Never Marry a Warlock – Marilyn Vix
  • Twin Time – Olga and Kristopher Werby
  • Blue Herons – Harold R. Miller
  • Adelia of the Coliseum – Cynthia Morrison
  • Rising – TC Zmak
  • Cries of the Eagle – Michael Nathanson
  • The Secret Kept – Herbert C. Robinson
  • Love is Blind in One Eye: 7 Stories – Marianne Rogoff
  • Junction – Cody Slegel
  • Vantanahon – Peter Voeller
  • Madisonville – J.A. Huff
  • Beautiful Secret – Dana Faletti
  • Deadly Lode – Randall Reneau
  • Pitz Black – King Macachor
  • Consequence – Steve Masover
  • The Luminous Sandwich – Michael J. Vaughn
  • The Campaign – John Lally
  • Father Flanagan Laments – Denny Goetz
  • Wilfong the Wizard – Charloton Clayes
  • La Casa de los Secretos – Maria de Lourdes Victoria
  • Northern Star Whale of a Tale – Robert Mickey Maughon
  • Shattered Lies – S.J. Francis
  • Close-Hauled – Rob Avery

 

CHILDREN’S BOOKS

WINNER: Six for Safari – Jeryl Abelmann

RUNNER-UP: Making Beautiful Music – Norma Minturn Stilwell

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

  • Cub’s Wish – Angie Flores
  • Jethro the Runaway Puppy – Karen Chrappa
  • Roxie the Doxie Finds Her Forever Home – Jody A. Dean, Ph.D
  • Feronia – The Little Girl Who Learned to Fly Free – Nola Hennessy
  • Ice Cream USA – Thal Dixon
  • The Perfect People – Cathi D’Avignon
  • Rose Marie Lynn and Her Fallen Feline Friend - Tina Thurston
  • Whoa! – Dr. Sherry Meinberg
  • Maya Makes a Friend – Kate Ryan/Heather McCarthy
  • Smile Big Dream Bigger – Andrea Scott
  • The Buddy Bench – Angela Peterson



HOW-TO

WINNER: Tame Your Money Elephants – Patrick Carroll

RUNNER-UP: How to Change a Law – John Thibault

HONORABLE MENTIONS:



BIOGRAPHY/AUTOBIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR

WINNER: Lana Turner, Hearts and Diamonds Take All – Darwin Porter/Danforth Prince

RUNNER-UP: The Repatriate: Love, Basketball, and the KGB – Tom Mooradian

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

  • Indomitable: The Life of Barbara Grier - Joanne Passet
  • Safari for the Soul – Jan Boal
  • My Life with Audree – Kenneth Norton
  • The Long Road to the Sixth ROK – Young Ran Kim
  • Heart Medicine: A True Love Story – E. Bast
  • My Life in Secret – Karla Smagur
  • Filling Her Shoes – Betsy G. Fasbinder
  • The Undeniable Favor of God – Elizabeth Jean Bruce, Ph.D
  • My Sister, My Daughter, and Me – Shirley Rose Webb
  • Unspeakable Gift: My Homecoming – Carole Lauweryssen
  •  Letters to Sis - Cesare Giannetti



SPIRITUAL

WINNER: The Boy Who Knew Too Much – Cathy Byrd

RUNNER-UP: The Dynamics of Global Leadership – Scott Friedman

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

  • Memoir of a Slightly Mad Mystic – Laurence Furman
  • Threading My Prayer Rug – Sabeeha Rehman
  • Living from the Mountaintop – Christian Sorensen
  • God’s Light Abridged Audiobook – Dr. Rick Scarnati

 

SCIENCE FICTION

WINNER: Old Earth – Gary Grossman

RUNNER-UP: Hellmaw: Of the Essence – Gabrielle Harbowy
HONORABLE MENTIONS:

  • Tomorrow’s End – G.R. Morris
  • Olympia – Kris Kramer
  • Variance: Raise Your Weapon – Josen Llave
  • Xenogenic – First Contact – Lance Erlick
  • Entromancy – M.S. Farzan



GAY

WINNER: Growing-up Twice: Shaping a Future – Aaron Kirk Douglas

RUNNER-UP: Tamburlaine: A Broadway Revival – Gregory A. Kompes

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

  • Blush – Harvey Helms
  • The Boston Castrato – Colin W. Sargent
  • Barrow’s Point – Robert Schirmer
  • The Scheme of Things – Tim Parks
  • Precincts of Light – Henry Alley



BUSINESS

WINNER: Zipline to Success: Fast-Track Marketing… - Claudia Newcorn

RUNNER-UP: The Start-up J Curve – Howard Love

HONORABLE MENTION:

  • Leadership Lessons from the Volkswagon Saga – Steven Howard



WILD CARD

WINNER: Big & Fabulous – Randi M. Sherman

RUNNER-UP: Buccaneer – Maycay Beeler

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

  • Dead Secrets – L.A. Toth
  • Building 8 – Anthony C. Mazzella
  • Josh Climbs the Tree of Life – Lee Vranna



COOKBOOKS

WINNER: Gluten-Free Cooking for Two – Carol Fenster


COMPILATIONS/ANTHOLOGIES

WINNER: Wordstruck! The Fun and Fascination of Language - Susanna Janssen



HISTORY

WINNER: A Tale of Two Bridges – Stephen Mikesell

RUNNER-UP: Building the Golden Gate Bridge – Harvey Schwartz