Carol Award Finalist – Young Adult + Giveaway

First off — what exactly are the Carol Awards?

They are awards given out by American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) in recognition of outstanding Christian fiction in the previous calendar year. So these 2025 finalists are books published in 2024. You might have read them already, you might not. I’ll include links to books I’ve read and reviewed.

Carol Award Winners will be announced on September 6 2025 at the ACFW Gala in Springfield, Missouri (wouldn’t you love to be there?!)

How does this giveaway work?

You select which of the Carol Award finalists 2025 —Young Adult Category you would like to receive. Mention the title in your comment (or an email if you’re entering that way) and if you win, that’s the book that will be sent to you. Easy Peasy. 

IMPORTANT TO NOTE:

Giveaway details may vary with each book (print, ebook only or winner’s choice of either, plus audible options for Canadians.) Edition availability will be noted in bold after the title/author/publisher of each entry. ALSO NOTE: Giveaway is for US and Canada OR ebook international if you have US Kindle account.

Young Adult Fiction Finalists

The Nightmare Virus by Nadine Brandes – Enclave Publishing (Oasis Family Media) – Editor: Rebecca Reynolds – Giveaway options: US: print or ebook, Canada: ebook or audible, International: ebook with US Kindle account.

Some viruses go after the body. But the Nightmare Virus goes after the mind.

When dream technology goes wrong, a virus spreads across the globe, trapping people in a universal dreamscape. They call it the Nightmare Virus. 

Cain Cross is determined to find a cure . . . if he can decipher his brother’s chicken-scratch formula notes. But when he gets infected, he has only 22 days until he’s trapped in the mental prison forever. Now, every time he falls asleep, he must fight in a Nightmare Arena until he earns his freedom to live in the “new world” that exists only in the mind. 

Then he finds a way to manipulate the Nightmare–to change it by mere thought. 

Forced to navigate a world of nightbeasts, mistblades, and half-truths, Cain turns his focus to survival. When the Emperor offers him a LifeSuPod–and access to a cure–in exchange for a dangerous favor, Cain thinks he’s found a way out. But Cain’s new power threatens to take him on paths that jeopardize his very soul. 

Will he continue searching for a cure, or will he swear allegiance to the Nightmare? And the bigger question might be . . . will he even have a choice?

Rift by Steven James – Sky Turtle Nova (Oasis Family Media) – Editor: Rebecca Reynolds – Giveaway options: US: print or ebook, Canada: print or ebook or audible, International: ebook with US Kindle account.

Some doors were never meant to be opened. Some tales were never meant to be set free. When seventeen-year-old Sahara O’Saughnessy discovers a rift into the realm of lore, the most haunting stories she’s been telling her friends come to life, and she must find a way to stop them before they tear her world apart. RIFT explores loss, longing, and courage with spine-chilling suspense. Set within the Appalachian Mountains, it walks the boundaries between the known and the unknown.

Mortal Queens by Victoria McCombs – Enclave Publishing (Oasis Family Media) – Editors: Sarah Grimm and Lisa Laube – Giveaway options: US: ebook, Canada: ebook or audible, International: ebook with US Amazon account.

They vanish without a trace, disappear into the night

Each year on the center island, one girl is chosen to be the next Mortal Queen of the idolized fae. The mortals praise these lucky girls, but their daughters are never seen again. 

The fae realm is eternal night, where disputes are settled by chess matches, power is acquired through the most devious kinds of trickery, and seven illusive kings roam. The fae hide their faces behind masks and guard their glass hearts to keep them from shattering. But beyond the veil of this luxurious paradise, a dark secret simmers, for their Queens have disappeared.

When aspiring artist Althea is selected, she is desperate to avoid the same mysterious fate. With no one to trust, she conceals messages in paintings and receives anonymous replies from a stranger who slowly reveals the tale of a girl who outwitted the fae. Only if she is clever enough will Althea survive the fate of the Mortal Queens. As long as the king who cannot love does not claim her first.”

Draw will be held and winner announced on Saturday August 9 2025. REMEMBER TO CHECK EDITION AVAILABILITY FOR EACH BOOK.