2024 Grateful American Book Prize Winner Views Clarice Smith’s Paintings in Paris Embassy
Stuart H. Brody won the 2024 Grateful American Book Prize for his novel “Humphrey and Me.” The author was honored at an event at the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, DC on October 30, 2024. He was presented with a silver medallion created by the renowned artist, Clarice Smith.
Soon after the event in Washington, Brody had the opportunity to visit the residence of the ambassador to the OECD in Paris where Clarice Smith’s paintings are featured in the “American Art Accelerating Democracy” Exhibition.
The author recollected, “As a recipient of the beautiful medallion accompanying the Grateful American Book Prize award and having the good fortune to be in Paris during the display of her paintings, I was thrilled to make the visit.
I wanted also to especially acknowledge Marine Robidel, a remarkable curator and knowledgeable guide who led us through the collection with unstinting enthusiasm that made the experience exceptionally memorable.”
Stuart H. Brody’s “Humphrey and Me” Wins the 2024 Grateful American Book Prize
ARLINGTON, Va. – Oct. 7, 2024 – “Humphrey and Me” [Santa Monica Press], a novel by Stuart H. Brody, has won the 2024 Grateful American Book Prize, according to co-founder David Bruce Smith.
Andrea Barrett, the National Book Award-winning author of “Ship Fever,” praised Brody’s book—about his relationship with the vice-president—for being ” …a heartfelt account of a crucial period in American history … that sometimes seems lost today,” while Kirkus Reviews, said it illuminated “An important chapter in American History told with clarity and honesty.”
Honorable Mentions will go to Lea Lyon’s “The Double V Campaign: African Americans Fighting for Freedom at Home and Abroad” [Rowman & Littlefield Publishers], a powerful story of fighting for change and equality, —and—to the artfully written-illustrated “Plague-Busters!: Medicine’s Battles with History’s Deadliest Diseases” [Bloomsbury] by Lindsey Fitzharris and Adrian Teal.
Smith believes “if you give a student a good read, he or she will become curious, and—perhaps—start investigating the history of the nation, and grow into a productive, civically-minded citizen.”
An author and an education advocate, Smith co-founded the Grateful American Book Prize in 2015 with the late Dr. Bruce Cole, the longest-serving chair [2001 through 2009] of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
The annual book prize comes with $13,000 to commemorate the original 13 Colonies; a lifetime membership to the New-York Historical Society, and a medallion created by Smith’s mother, the renowned artist, Clarice Smith.
It is given for high quality—7th through 9th grade level—historical fiction, non-fiction, and biographies, that depict the events and personalities which have influenced the United States since its founding.
The Honorable Mention recipients receive $500 each, and the medallion.
The 2024 Grateful American Book Prize is accepting entries
The 2024 Grateful American Book Prize is now accepting submissions. They should be books of non-fiction, fiction, or biographies suitable for 7th to 9th graders, published between August 1, 2023 and July 31, 2024.
“Over the past several decades schools have gradually de-emphasized history in the classroom with the result that kids today do not know who George Washington and Benjamin Franklin were,” according to David Bruce Smith, Co-founder of the Prize. “It’s been a lingering problem for quite some time and so, at the behest and in collaboration with the late Dr. Bruce Cole, the former Chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities, we established the Prize as an incentive for authors and publishers to focus on history for young readers. As Dr. Cole put it, ‘we are a country of historical amnesiacs’ and perhaps historical ‘page turners’ for kids may be just what the doctor ordered.”
The Prize comes with a $13,000 cash award in commemoration of the 13 original Colonies, a lifetime membership at the New-York Historical Society, and a medallion created by Smith’s mother, the renowned artist, Clarice Smith.
Honorable Mention recipients receive a cash award of $500 each, and the medallion.
Submit your book via the online submission form.