Summary: Ivy; Homeless in San Francisco wins a 2011 Literary Classics Silver Medal and a Bronze Moonbeam Award!

I was recently informed that Ivy, Homeless in San Francisco is a dual award winning book! It has won both a Silver Medal as a 2011 Literary Classic, and a Bronze Moonbeam Award from Independent Publishers. I am super psyched to be a part of this project and am glad to see that it is getting the recognition that it deserves. My contribution to this book was in creating the cover image as well as the five black and white interior illustrations. If you’re just hearing about this project for the first time, here is a quick overview of the story:

Ivy, Homeless in San Francisco is an empathetic tale of hope, understanding, and the importance of family, readers face the difficult issue of poverty and the many hardships of being homeless through an inspiring young heroine named Ivy. Ivy is the story of a young girl who finds herself homeless on the streets of San Francisco when she and her father, Poppy, are evicted from their artist loft.

This is a story that seems to be gaining a lot of energy lately; especially in light of the recent housing meltdown where a lot of families are finding themselves homeless. This timely tale is a great way to start a dialogue with young readers about this oft ignored subject.

The publishers, Reach and Teach, have been doing an exceptional job of getting this book into the hands of teachers, as well as coordinating with the efforts with a wonderful community partner, Community Housing Project. Community Housing Partnership is the only San Francisco nonprofit organization exclusively dedicated to providing permanent, supportive housing to formerly homeless individuals and families.

About the Awards:

Literary Classics, encourages and promotes fine children’s and young adult literature. They have created the International Literary Classics Book Awards program to recognize those titles in children’s and young adult literature which exemplifies a high degree of excellence. Ivy, written by Summer Brenner, is the proud recipient of the 2011 Silver Medal for Pre-Teen Fiction.

In their own words:

At Literary Classics, we understand that true literary treasures will live on for years to come, lighting the way for future generations.  In an effort to promote classic children’s and young adult literature, our review team and judging committee looks for key literary elements, intertwined with notable creative components, which they believe will positively impact the lives of youth.  Books which ignite imagination and spirit – literature which promotes positive thinking and character building traits – these are the books which can truly make a difference in the lives of young people.   -These are the books which will stand the test of time and are deserving of recognition through Literary Classics Awards and the Literary Classics Seal of Approval.

The Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards are given out annually by Independent Publisher. These awards are intended to bring increased recognition to exemplary children’s books and their creators, and to celebrate children’s books and life-long reading. Ivy won the Bronze medal in the pre-teen General Fiction category. You can check out all the winners on the Independent Publisher website.

In the words of Moonbeam Awards founder Jerrold Jenkins:

This year’s Moonbeam award winners confirm that books can change children’s lives, they’ve already had a big impact on the judges and the kids that read them, so we know these books were created to enrich childrens’ lives. The Moonbeams are all about rewarding these books and bringing them to the attention of parents, booksellers, librarians – and to the kids themselves.

In Conclusion

I’ve written other blog posts about Ivy if you’d like to find out more information about the book: here’s a post about the book launch party held in June 2011

Of course in this the Holiday season, if you’d like to buy a copy of Ivy you can go directly to the independent publisher’s website to purchase copies of Ivy. They also offer Classroom packets for teachers, as well as Ebook formats of the book.

Also, if you would like to purchase a high quality Giclee print of these or any other images on my website, please email me. Prices start at $40 for a 8×10″ print on thick high quality paper.