You go, Mary-girl!

It's May, and you know what that means in the book world? Time to announce awards and winners.

As far as such announcements go, Mary DeMuth is having a fab month. So far she's received a nomination for a Retailer's Choice award, and she is also a Christy Awards finalist in the "First Novel" category for her superb read, Watching the Tree Limbs. (You can see the list of the other finalists here.) Winners will be announced in Atlanta on July 7 at a dinner keynoted by Lauren Winner (love her).

The Christys are named for Catherine Marshall's bestselling book, Christy!, on which the TV series by the same name is based. (I just finished reading the commemorative edition of that book. More on that in a future post, but it was a great read and edgy for its time.)

In case you don't know, the Christys have been called the Christian Oscars. Perhaps it would be more accurate to call them the Christian Pulitzers for fiction. Or the Christian National Book Awards. Whatever you want to call them, they're big stuff.

What makes a book Christian? It reflects a worldview in which the author "does justice, loves mercy, and walks humbly with God" in a world in which the triune God reigns as Sovereign. That does not mean all characters believe. Or even that the characters talk about Jesus all the time. But hope and redemption are key themes. Think Chronicles of Narnia.

Congratulations, Mary! I'm not at all surprised, but I am excited for you!