Christy Awards Finalists 2024 – Historical Fiction

What are the Christy Awards?

The Christy Award is destined to nurture creativity and quality in the writing and publishing of fiction written from a Christian worldview and showcase the diversity of genres. These 2024 finalists are books published in 2023. 

How does this giveaway work?

You select ONE of the Historical Fiction finalists you would like to receive if your name is drawn. Mention the title in a comment. If you win that’s the book that will be sent to you. Easy Peasy. Here are the finalists. (I have provided links to my reviews of the books I have read.)

Appalachian Song by Michelle Shocklee – Tyndale House – Winner’s Choice of paperback or ebook – Bertie Jenkins has spent forty years serving as a midwife for her community in the Great Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee. Out of all the mothers she’s tended, none affects her more than the young teenager who shows up on her doorstep, injured, afraid, and expecting, one warm June day in 1943. As Bertie and her four sisters tenderly nurture Songbird back to health, the bond between the childless midwife and the motherless teen grows strong. But soon Songbird is forced to make a heartbreaking decision that will tear this little family apart.

Thirty years later, the day after his father’s funeral, Walker Wylie is stunned to learn he was adopted as an infant. The famous country singer enlists the help of adoption advocate Reese Chandler in the hopes of learning why he was abandoned by his birth parents. With the only clue he has in hand, Walker and Reese head deep into the Appalachian Mountains to track down Bertie Jenkins, the midwife who holds the secrets to Walker’s past.

For fans of historical and Southern fiction comes a poignant story of love and sacrifice set in the heart of Appalachia, from award-winning author Michelle Shocklee.

https://kavsbestreads.ca/2024/03/04/appalachian-song-giveaway/

The Foxhole Victory Tour by Amy Lynn Green – Bethany House, Baker Publishing Group – Winner’s Choice of paperback or ebook – In World War II, worlds collide when performers across the United States unite to tour North Africa in a USO variety show.

Vibrant and scrappy Maggie McCleod tried not to get fired from her wartime orchestra, but she can’t keep from speaking her mind, so an overseas adventure with the USO’s camp show seems like the perfect fresh start. Wealthy and elegant Catherine Duquette signs with the USO to leave behind her restrictive life of privilege and to find out what happened to the handsome pilot whose letters mysteriously stopped arriving.

The two women are joined by an eclectic group of performers–a scheming blues singer, a veteran tap dancer, and a brooding magician–but the harmony among their troupe is shattered when their tour manager announces he will soon recommend one of them for a new job in the Hollywood spotlight. Each of the five members has a reason to want the contract, and they’ll do whatever is necessary to get it. As their troupe travels closer to combat in Tunisia, personal crises and wartime dangers only intensify, until not only their careers but also their lives are on the line.

The Warsaw Sisters by Amanda Barratt – Revell, Baker Publishing Group – Winner’s Choice of paperback or ebook – On a golden August morning in 1939, sisters Antonina and Helena Dąbrowska send their father off to defend Poland against the looming threat of German invasion. The next day, the first bombs fall on Warsaw, decimating their beloved city and shattering the world of their youth.

When Antonina’s beloved Marek is forced behind ghetto walls along with the rest of Warsaw’s Jewish population, Antonina turns her worry into action and becomes a key figure in a daring network of women risking their lives to shelter Jewish children. Helena finds herself drawn into the ranks of Poland’s secret army, joining the fight to free her homeland from occupation. But the secrets both are forced to keep threaten to tear the sisters apart–and the cost of resistance proves greater than either ever imagined.

Shining a light on the oft-forgotten history of Poland during WWII and inspired by true stories of ordinary individuals who fought to preserve freedom and humanity in the darkest of times, The Warsaw Sisters is a richly rendered portrait of courage, sacrifice, and the resilience of our deepest ties.

https://kavsbestreads.ca/2023/12/12/the-warsaw-sisters-giveaway/

52 thoughts on “Christy Awards Finalists 2024 – Historical Fiction”

  1. If I were fortunate enough to be selected, I would LOVE the opportunity to read APPALACHIAN SONG by Michelle Shocklee. I was pulled in with that beautiful cover. Then finding out it was a dual timeline story, had me placing this book on my TBR list back when you posted your review. My desire to read it has only increased.

    Thank you for the wonderful chance, once again, to win a copy of this amazing story!

    2clowns at arkansas dot net

    Liked by 1 person

  2. Happy Canada Thanksgiving Day! Having read the Warsaw Sisters, I think the Foxhole Victory Tour would be interesting, for several reasons. The summary makes me think about, as a young child, watching the annual television specials of Bob Hope’s USO Christmas Tours in Vietnam. My mom had his book, published by Doubleday, about those tours. Funny, interesting, and inspiring, with many pictures of the soldiers enjoying the entertainment. I read that and also found his book about USO tours during WWII, and a later book also covered other tours. So, a very interesting concept for this book.

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    1. It’s such a bizarre thing, when you think about it. Actors and singers going into war zones to entertain the troops — such a juxtaposition to the battlefield! I picked up a book at the library and thought of you. It’s called When Books Went to War : the stories that helped us win World War II by Molly Nuptial Manning. It’s about American librarians joining forces to protest the Nazi banning and burning over 100 million books! So what do outraged librarians do? Launch a campaign to send donated books to American troops to boost morale. Full of interesting historical bookish details that I didn’t know about — like this is why pocket books were created. And there’s this heart rending letter to an author in the introduction that had me bawling. Anyway — I’m way off topic, but it’s a book you might be interested in if you haven’t read it yet. Good luck, CC!

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      1. That sounds like a wonderful book! Thank you for sharing! There was something I had read (that isn’t coming immediately to mind) that touched on librarians or volunteers gathering books to ship to the soldiers, as a morale boost. I am trying to remember if Sarah Sundin touched on that in The Land Beneath Us or if it was something else.

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      2. Ooohhh, the Paxton brothers! Now I need to re-read that series and the heroine in The Land Beneath Us is a librarian! I feel like there was a fiction book about gathering books for that book drive too, but I can’t remember the title or author. I’ll have to think on it some.

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  3. Kav, I’ll go with Appalachian Song by Michelle Shocklee. It’s been on my radar for quite a while. I’ve already read The Warsaw Sisters and it is so good. All of Amanda Barratt’s work is amazing and oh so powerful. She is an automatic preorder for me 🙂

    ckbarker at gmail dot com

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  4. I’ll choose Appalachian Song by Michelle Shocklee. I’ve read The Warsaw Sisters, and it’s sooooo good! I love Amanda Barratt’s stories. Thanks for the chance to win, Kav!

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  5. I’ve been wanting to read this story since I first saw it a while ago. Appalachian Song by Michelle Shocklee. Would love a chance to win it if I could.

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  6. These are all such interesting books! I read The Foxhole Victory Tour and really enjoyed it. The other two books await me on Kindle, just have to somehow move them closer to the top of the TBR pile. Sandy

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  7. My choice is The Foxhole Victory Tour by Amy Lynn Green. I’ve enjoyed her other books. I already read Appalachian Song by Michelle Shocklee, which is excellent.

    pmkellogg56[at]gmail[dot]com

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  8. I have the Sundin book but I’d really like to read Appalachian Song by Michelle Shocklee. I’ve heard many good things about it. I’ve never read that author. Thank-you.
    appletamoATyahooDOTca

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  9. The Warsaw Sisters is a book I have wanted to read.

    Thanks for the review, sounds like a book that I would enjoy.

    I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. Have a good week.

    cenyatwoathotmaildotcom

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  10. Appalachian Song was excellent! I haven’t read anything by Amy Lynn Green, so let’s go with The Foxhole Victory Tour.

    pattymh2000(at)yahoo(dot)com

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  11. I have been wanting to read The Warsaw Sisters. Since my Dad was in the Army in World War II, I always enjoy these books.

    pbclark(at)netins(dot)net

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