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The Southern Bookseller Review 2/17/26

The week of February 17, 2026

The 2026 Southern Book Prize Winners

The winners of the 2026 Southern Book Prize were announced the past weekend on Valentine’s Day.Saturday, February 14.

Southern Book Prize Winners

“I have never received an award that specifically recognized my personal and very emotional ties to the South, as well as my commitment to stories that feature our rich and complicated history. This award is meaningful to me in ways I cannot adequately express.” 
—Dolen Perkins-Valdez, author of Happy Land

The Winners:

  • Fiction: Dolen Perkins-Valdez for Happy Land (Berkley, April 2025)
  • Nonfiction: Silas House for All These Ghosts (Blair, September 2025)
  • Young Readers: Christy Mandin for Millie Fleur Saves the Night (Orchard Books, July 2025)

Read more about the winning authors and their books at The Southern Bookseller Review website.

Featuring reviews of:

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A First Time for Everything (Deluxe Edition) by K. L. Walther

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A First Time for Everything (Deluxe Edition) by K. L. Walther
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This fun and lighthearted young adult novel follows high school sports star Madeline through her journey to find love as well as a connection with her soon to be sister in law. She is thrust into the adult world with wedding planning and events, all while searching for love. Only love was there all along, just not where she expected it to be. Just like in life, Madeline had to learn to open her eyes and realize that our journey does not always lead us where we expected. We just have to be ready and accepting. This book also has some great lessons on not being assuming and seeing people for who they really are. All around a great read!

A First Time for Everything (Deluxe Edition) by K. L. Walther, (List Price: $14.99, Sourcebooks Fire, 9781728263144, June 2025)

Reviewed by Kristy Everette, Angel Wings Bookstore & Bistro in Oxford, North Carolina

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Fateless by Julie Kagawa

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Fateless by Julie Kagawa
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It was so awesome being back in a world created by Julie Kagawa. It’s so easy to get swept up in her world-building and storytelling. It did take a little bit to get into, but I truly think that is only because of the immense world-building needed. The only problem I have now is how long do I have to wait for book 2?!?

Fateless by Julie Kagawa, (List Price: $19.99, HarperCollins, 9781335448804, July 2025)

Reviewed by Mandy Harris, Angel Wings Bookstore & Bistro in Oxford, North Carolina

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Worth Fighting For by Jesse Q. Sutanto

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Worth Fighting For by Jesse Q. Sutanto
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Mulan was a badass woman warrior in history, and Jesse Sutanto portrays that beautifully in this contemporary retelling. I have always loved the story of Mulan. That was then amplified when Disney made a movie about her. Sutanto does an amazing job of twisting the tale into a contemporary storyline without losing the original meaning and lessons from the original. In my opinion, you could not have found a better author to take on Mulan’s story and blow it out of the park.

Worth Fighting For by Jesse Q. Sutanto, (List Price: $26.99, Hyperion Avenue, 9781368112802, June 2025)

Reviewed by Mandy Harris, Angel Wings Bookstore & Bistro in Oxford, North Carolina

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This Woven Kingdom by Tahereh Mafi

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This Woven Kingdom by Tahereh Mafi
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Supreme and magnificent world building. Tahereh Mafi has created a book to lose yourself in. This Woven Kingdom has it all. Amazing world building, forbidden love, suspense, and unexpected twists and turns. Be prepared for anything! I did have a little problem with the first quarter of the book just because of the extensive world building but after that the story pulled me in as if a string was attached on one end to my heart and the other to the story of Alizeh.

This Woven Kingdom by Tahereh Mafi, (List Price: $15.99, Storytide, 9780062972453, December 2022)

Reviewed by Mandy Harris, Angel Wings Bookstore & Bistro in Oxford, North Carolina

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The Long Game by Elena Armas

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The Long Game by Elena Armas
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Adalyn Rayes has spent her life working hard to earn her spot in her dad’s company. But when a video of her having a really bad day goes viral her world is turned upside down. She is sent to the middle of nowhere in North Carolina to help make something of a girls soccer team. The head coach just so happens to be Cameron Caldani, recently retired professional goalkeeper. The hate and attraction are almost instant between the two, with a very slow burn that finally explodes. Add in feisty preteen girls, farm animals, a quirky mayor who seems to have a hand in basically everything that happens in the town, and you have a great weekend read.

The Long Game by Elena Armas, (List Price: $18.99, Atria Books, 9781668011300, September 2023)

Reviewed by Heather Way, Angel Wings Bookstore in Stem, North Carolina

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The Ballad of Never After by Stephanie Garber

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The Ballad of Never After by Stephanie Garber
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I loved Once Upon A Broken Heart and was very excited to receive a review copy of The Ballad of Never After. Stephanie Garber has done an amazing job of bringing fairy tales to life along with the curses intertwined within them. Garber didn’t just bring one story to life but a story within a story, within another story. Fairy tales are not all gold and glitter, and you see this more so in The Ballad of Never After. You fall in love with all the characters, whether they are “good” or “bad.” I really hope there is a third book in this series, and I am impatiently waiting for it.

The Ballad of Never After by Stephanie Garber, (List Price: $13.99, Flatiron Books, 9781250268433, March 2024)

Reviewed by Mandy Harris, Angel Wings Bookstore in Summerville, North Carolina

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Last Call at the Local by Sarah Grunder Ruiz

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Last Call at the Local by Sarah Grunder Ruiz
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An enthralling, and wonderful story about two people who have issues of their own working through them and still living life on a daily basis. It also takes place in Ireland, what’s not to love about that? This book was awesome. The way that OCD and ADHD was portrayed through the main characters was done so well and it added icing to the cake that it was stressed multiple times that it is normal. I have a husband that has OCPD and two boys that have ADHD. I felt like I was reading their stories through this book.

Last Call at the Local by Sarah Grunder Ruiz, (List Price: $17, Penguin Publishing Group, 9780593549063, January 2024)

Reviewed by Mandy Harris, Angel Wings Bookstore in Stem, North Carolina

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The Drama Llama by Rachel Morrisroe

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The Drama Llama by Rachel Morrisroe
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I loved, loved, LOVED this book! A great book that teaches children with anxiety how it can affect you and teaches you the best way to help deal with anxiety…talk to someone. As someone who deals with anxiety on a daily basis and has a child who deals with anxiety this book was everything I hoped and more!

The Drama Llama by Rachel Morrisroe, (List Price: $18.99, Sourcebooks Jabberwocky, 9781728283135, January 2024)

Reviewed by Mandy Harris, Angel Wings Bookstore in Stem, North Carolina

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Duel by Jessixa Bagley

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Duelby Jessixa Bagley
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I loved the creativity in the book. I really like how they included other kids of people in the story. It shows that you have to have courage to do something even if you don’t win. I enjoyed the mostly black-and-white illustrations in the book. I love graphic novels. Overall I really liked this book and recommend it!

Duel by Jessixa Bagley, (List Price: $14.99, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 9781534496545, November 2023)

Reviewed by Mandy Harris, Angel Wings Bookstore in Stem, North Carolina

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Hello Stranger by Katherine Center

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Hello Stranger by Katherine Center
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A heartwarming rom-com full of hope! I fell in love wit Katherine Center’s writing with The Bodyguard. This book just cemented that. She has an amazing way of showing real life problems but filling the story with hope as well.

What would you do if you couldn’t see faces? Our sole way of recognizing people is by their face. Imagine losing that ability. This happens to Sadie after having what the doctor called a small surgery. Only problem is she wakes up unable to see faces. This effects her everyday life but her lively hood. Not being able to see faces for a portrait artist is not good at all. Sadie tries to work through life dealing with face blindness and her haunting past and her future. Is love truly blind? Sadie will soon find out just how important seeing other faces is.

Hello Stranger by Katherine Center, (List Price: 29, St Martin’s, 9781250283788, July 2023)

Reviewed by Mandy Harris, Angel Wings Bookstore in Stem, North Carolina

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The Bodyguard by Katherine Center

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The Bodyguard by Katherine Center
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A July 2022 Read This Next! Title

This was the perfect sweet, feel good and easy summer read! I fell in love with Hannah and Jack. Watching Hannah grow as a person was real life. It shows real is so much better than fake. Katherine Center did an amazing job meshing the worlds of security service and Hollywood. One of my favorite quotes in the book was, “Love is something you generate. And loving other people really does turn out, in the end, to be a genuine way of loving yourself.”

The Bodyguard by Katherine Center, (List Price: $27.99, St. Martin’s Press, 9781250219398, July 2022)

Reviewed by Mandy Harris, Angel Wings Bookstore in Stem, North Carolina

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