Live Oak Media wins 2015 Odyssey Award for 'H.O.R.S.E. A Game of Basketball and Imagination'

CHICAGO – Live Oak Media, producer of the audiobook, “H.O.R.S.E. A Game of Basketball and Imagination” has won the 2015 Odyssey Award for Excellence in Audiobook Production. The award announcement was made today during the American Library Association (ALA) Midwinter Meeting held Jan. 30 – Feb. 3 in Chicago.

 The Odyssey Award is given to the producer of the best audiobook produced for children and/or young adults, available in English in the United States. The award is jointly administered by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) and the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA), divisions of the ALA, and is sponsored by Booklist magazine.

H.O.R.S.E. A Game of Basketball and Imagination was written by Christopher Myers and narrated by Dion Graham and Christopher Myers.  Two boasting kids try to outdo each other during a pick-up game with increasingly imaginative and absurd plays. Outstanding sound effects -- from hoop swishes to horse whinnies -- take this production to great heights. Graham's and Myers’ playful banter over a funky beat make this a slam dunk production.

 
“We are so pleased to celebrate audiobooks that are crafted with such care and love, paced to perfection, with great comic timing and memorable voices,” said Odyssey Award Committee Chair Dawn Rutherford.

 The Odyssey Committee selected three Honor Audiobooks.

“Five, Six, Seven, Nate!” was written by Tim Federle, narrated by the author and produced by AUDIOWORKS (Children’s) an imprint of Simon & Schuster Audio Division, Simon & Schuster, Inc. Nate Foster, the musical theater-loving teen is back, cast in the Broadway production “E.T.: The Musical!”  However, a multitude of unforeseen disasters threaten to thwart his dreams of shining in the spotlight. A standing ovation for Federle’s pitch perfect narration capturing the humor and poignancy of Nate's dramatic journey.

 
“The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place” written by Julie Berry, narrated by Jayne Entwistle and produced by Listening Library, an imprint of the Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group.  In a very clever, very fun, very Victorian murder mystery, young boarding school ladies bury the dead while maintaining perfect manners. Jayne Entwistle makes death-by-poison a laugh riot with her dark, dry narration and amazingly lively characters in this delightfully macabre tale.

 
“A Snicker of Magic” was written by Natalie Lloyd, narrated by Cassandra Morris and produced by Scholastic Audiobooks. The once magical town of Midnight Gulch is cursed. Felicity Pickle, a natural born poet who literally sees words everywhere, rallies the townsfolk to bring the magic back. Morris positively glows as Felicity, enveloping listeners in the spindiddly magic of language, music, family, and ice cream.

Audiobooks constitute a fast growing area of usage in libraries. The award is named after the epic poem titled, “The Odyssey,” that was told and retold in the oral tradition and eventually ascribed by the poet Homer on the tales of Ulysses as he returns to his kingdom after the Trojan War.  The Odyssey Award allows us to return to the ancient roots of storytelling, while living in our modern world.

Members of the 2015 Odyssey Award Committee are: Chair Dawn Rutherford, Chair, Sno-Isle Regional Library, Marysville, Wash.; Catherine M. Andronik, Brien McMahon High School, Bridgeport, Conn.; Kathy L. Haug, San Pablo, Calif.; Sarah B. Hill, Lake Land College, Mattoon, Ill.; Karen Keys, Queens Borough Public Library Pomonok Branch, Flushing, N.Y.; Shannon Margaret Ozirny, West Vancouver Memorial Library, British Columbia, Canada; Sue Z. Rokos, Mohawk Valley Library System, Schenectady, N.Y.; Wendy Steadman Stephens, Cullman (Ala.) City Schools; and Brian E. Wilson, Evanston (Ill.) Public Library.

ALSC is the world’s largest organization dedicated to the support and enhancement of library service to children. With a network of more than 4,000 children’s and youth librarians, literature experts, publishers and educational faculty, ALSC is committed to creating a better future for children through libraries. To learn more about ALSC, visit their website at www.ala.org/alsc.

For more than 50 years, YALSA has worked to build the capacity of libraries and librarians to engage, serve and empower teens. For more information about YALSA or to access national guidelines and other resources go to www.ala.org/yalsa, or contact the YALSA office by phone, (800) 545-2433, ext. 4390, or e-mail, yalsa@ala.org.

For information on the Odyssey Award and other ALA Youth Media Awards, please visit www.ilovelibraries.org/yma.

Contact:

Macey Morales
Media Relations Manager
312-280-4393
mmorales@ala.org

Heather Cho
Media Relations Specialist
312-280-4020
hcho@ala.org

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