Five Ave Maria Press authors were recently honored with first-place awards by the Catholic Press Association.
Fourteen authors were given awards overall.
Former University of Notre Dame football coach Lou Holtz took top honors in the hardcover spirituality books category for Three Rules for Living a Good Life.
The Reclaiming Catholic History series was honored in the best new religious books series category. The series includes published books by James L. Papandrea, The Early Church (33-313), and the series editor Mike Aquilina, The Church and the Roman Empire (301-490).
Haley Stewart was awarded first place in the backlist beauty category for The Grace of Enough.
Taking top honors in the anthology category was Avery Dulles: Essential Writings from America Magazine, which was edited by James T. Keane, a senior editor at America magazine.
Other winners include:
- Claire Swinarski, Girl, Arise!, gender issues, second place
- Marge Steinhage Fenelon, My Queen, My Mother, pilgrimages/Catholic travel, second place
- Michael O’Neill and Robert L. Fastiggi, Virgin, Mother, Queen, theology—Morality, Ethics, Christology, Mariology, and Redemption, second place
- Roy Petitfils, Helping Teens with Stress, Anxiety, and Depression, family life, second place
- Kathryn Whitaker, Live Big, Love Bigger, first-time author, third place
- Katie Prejean McGrady and Tommy McGrady, Lent, books for teens, third place
- Sarah Christmyer, Becoming Women of the Word, scripture, third place
- Maria Morera Johnson, My Badass Book of Saints, backlist beauty, honorable mention
The awards were announced July 2 at the conclusion of the annual Catholic Media Conference, which was held virtually this year.
To see the entire list of award-winning books and media, check out the CPA website, where you also can see a gallery of covers of the winning books.