Park Slope-based Author Joan Bauer Honored by a Third Christopher Award for "Soar"

Park Slope, Brooklyn, N.Y.-based author Joan Bauer has won her third Christopher Award for “Soar,” [Viking/Penguin Young Readers Group].Written for children aged 10 and up, it is one of 12 books for adults and young people by 16 authors and illustrators to be celebrated, along with the writers, producers and directors of 10 feature films and TV/Cable programs, on May 16,2017 at the 68^th annual Christopher Awards in New York.

Jeremiah was not one to let anything keep him down. Starting with his adoption by computer genius Walt, Jeremiah looked on his life as a series of lucky breaks. When a weak heart kept him from playing his beloved baseball, Jeremiah appointed himself the team coach. When Walt had to move for a new assignment, Jeremiah saw it as a great chance to explore a new town. But no sooner did they arrive than a doping scandal was revealed and the town felt betrayed and disgraced. Jeremiah took it as his personal mission to restore the town’s morale. He helped the teams bounce back and remember how to soar. The book is full of humor, heart and baseball lore.
In addition to “Soar,” Bauer has received a Christopher Award for “Hope was Here” and “Close to Famous,” which also received the Schneider Family Book Award. She is the recipient of numerous state awards voted by readers—such as the Michigan “Thumbs-up!” Award for Children’s Literature; the Pacific Northwest Library Association Award; the New Jersey Reading Association M. Jerry Weiss Award; the New England Booksellers Award and the Boston Public Library’s “Literary Light” Award. She is also the author of numerous books for young readers and received a Newbery Honor Medal for Hope Was Here, and the L.A. Times Book Prize for Rules of the Road.
The Christopher Awards were created in 1949 to celebrate authors, illustrators, writers, producers and directors whose work “affirms the highest values of the human spirit.” The Christophers, a nonprofit organization founded in 1945 by Maryknoll Father James Keller, is rooted in the Judeo-Christian tradition of service to God and humanity. The ancient Chinese proverb—“It’s better to light one candle than to curse the darkness”— guides its publishing, radio, and awards programs. More information about The Christophers is available at www.christophers.org.