Great Barrington Author Wins Awards for First Novel
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GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. — Great Barrington resident Judith Shaw's book "Charley's Horse" has been named "Children's Book Winner" and "Young Adult Winner" in the 2018 New England Book Festival.
Entries are judged by a panel of industry experts for general excellence, an author's passion for telling a good story and its potential to reach a wider audience. Since its release in 2018, the novel has also received a Maxy Award and a Reader's Favorite Review Award.
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"Charley's Horse" is the story of an 11-year-old girl who is in love with horses. She knows everything about them except how to ride. When her parents announce the end of their marriage, she and her brother are sent to camp for the summer. The scenario is familiar. Children all over America face variations of family breakups every day. The details may differ, but the feelings cross the board. The novel is set in 1959, when divorce was not as common as it is today. Neither parents nor children had a road map for coping safely with the seismic change in their lives.
Along with divorce and its effect on families, a few themes run through the novel that will ring bells with parents of middle school and older children. Bullying figures largely in Charley’s Horse, and there is no one-size-fits-all solution. Another theme is fear.
A native New Yorker, Shaw married an Aussie and raised two children in Indonesia, Singapore, and the Blue Mountains west of Sydney Australia. She has a deep love of animals and feels deep connections with dogs, horses, and, on one striking occasion, a pet python. When a riding accident
ended her active involvement with horses, She focused on her writing. After decades as an editor and journalist, she began to explore fiction. "Charley's Horse" is her first novel.
