2001 Alex Awards

James Bradley and Ron Powers.
Flags of Our Fathers, Bantam.


James Bradley's father was one of the six men who raised the famous flag on Iwo Jima during World War II. Bradley investigated to learn more about the men and the event.

Gillian Bradshaw.
The Sand-Reckoner. Tor/Forge


Archimedes is known best for his mathematical abilities, but he was also one of the first army engineers. Both skills came in handy in ancient Greece when the Romans threatened to take over the known world.

Tracy Chevalier.
The Girl with a Pearl Earring. Dutton


Have you ever thought about the story behind a person in a painting? Griet is the name of the girl with a pearl earring painted by Vermeer, a famous Dutch artist. As the story unfolds, she is only sixteen and a servant in the household of the painter himself.

Larry Colton.
Counting Coup: A True Story of Basketball and Honor on the Little Big Horn. Warner


One player stands out on the Hardin High School's girls' basketball team. Her name is Sharon La Forge, a talented but troubled teenager. During a 15-month stay on the Crow Reservation where the high school is located, the author, a professional baseball player turned journalist, begins to understand how the conditions of life on the reservation affect the lives of teens like Sharon.

June Jordan.
Soldier: A Poet's Childhood. Basic


Growing up as an African-American in a white world with a father who is harsh one minute and caring the next, means June Jordan's growing up years are difficult but not impossible. Her father's desire for her success makes her strong and able to achieve that success.

Juliet Marillier.
Daughter of the Forest. Tor


A young girl must restore her six brothers who have been turned into swans by weaving each of them a shirt from a blistering plant that tears her skin to shreds. The first book in the Sevenwaters trilogy.

Nathaniel Philbrick.
In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex. Viking


The tragedy of the whaling ship Essex influenced Herman Melville when he wrote Moby Dick. Philbrick takes a close look at the whaling industry, whales and the men who hunted them.

Ben Sherwood.
The Man Who Ate the 747. Bantam


Unbeknownst to Wally Chubb he is going for a record. He will be the only person who ever ate a 747 airplane by grinding it into paste and using it like ketchup on his food. But Wally doesn't want the record--this amazing feat is an act of love!

Darin Strauss.
Chang and Eng. Dutton


Conjoined brothers, Chang and Eng, were sideshow celebrities. Eng tells the stories of their lives, both as individuals and as one entity. The emotional as well as the physical effects on the brothers is fascinating.

Alan Watt.
Diamond Dogs. Little, Brown


Neil is a 17-year-old bully who has an abusive, demanding father. While driving drunk, he hits and kills a pedestrian and hides the body in the trunk of his father's car. His father, who is sheriff, chooses to ignore the crime.