USA Book News Announces Winners and Finalist of the USA "Best Books 2011" Awards
Mainstream & Independent Titles Score Top Honors in the 8th Annual USA "Best Books" Awards: Simon & Schuster, Random House, Penguin, Harper Collins, McGraw-Hill, and hundreds of Independents contribute to this year's Competition!

DENVER, CO, November 03, 2011 /24-7PressRelease/ -- USABookNews.com, the premiere online magazine and review website for mainstream and independent publishing houses, announced the winners and finalists of THE USA "BEST BOOKS 2011" AWARDS on November 1, 2011. Over 500 winners and finalists were announced in over 140 categories covering print, e-books and audio books. Awards were presented for titles published in 2010 and 2011.

Colorado author, CS Shride's debut young adult novel, Lucy Dakota: Adventures of a Modern Explorer Book 1-Rocky Mountain Beginnings is a finalist in the Fiction: Young Adult category (full results listing available on USABooknews.com).

Jeffrey Keen, President and CEO of USA Book News, says of the awards, now in their ninth year, "The 2011 results represent a phenomenal mix of books from a wide array of publishers throughout the United States. With a full publicity and marketing campaign promoting the results of the USA 'Best Books' Awards, this year's winners and finalists will gain additional media coverage for the upcoming holiday retail season." Winners and finalists traversed the publishing landscape: Simon & Schuster, St. Martin's Press, Random House, Penguin, Harper Collins, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, McGraw-Hill, John Wiley & Sons and hundreds of independent houses contributed to this year's outstanding competition. Keen adds, "Our success begins with the enthusiastic participation of authors and publishers and continues with our distinguished panel of industry judges who bring to the table their extensive editorial, PR, marketing, and design expertise."

Meet Lucy
If you don't know Lucy Dakota yet, you should! Lucy is one cool girl. She climbs mountains, braves roiling whitewater and leads others with confidence. Best of all, she isn't afraid to be herself. But it wasn't always this way.

Lucy Dakota isn't different from other teens - she is just like them. Lucy has many strengths, she just doesn't realize them. She is smart and kind, organized and tenacious, trusting and a bit naive. At school, she tries desperately to fit in somewhere, anywhere. That leads her to make poor decisions, particularly around boys and friends. She joins various sports teams, she goes out with boys that have no respect for her and she is friends with a girl who bullies her. Then one day our heroine, Lucy Dakota, is invited to explore in the Colorado wilderness. In the backcountry of her home state, she faces danger around every corner, and discovers her adventurous side. She starts believing in herself and her abilities and learns there is a lot she can do. Join Lucy as she transforms from a timid, chubby tween who hides from school bullies to a brave, spirited, globe-trotting leader in the wilderness and beyond and rally with her as she comes to grips with who she is as a young woman and starts loving life and being alive.

Lucy is the heroine of an exciting new adventure series for young adults that encourages readers to discover their strengths and take on the world, whether at school, home or, like Lucy, skipping across the continents. Lucy is relatable because she is real. "I lived these adventures," Ms. Shride says. "I was scared at time and I made some bad decisions. Fortunately, Lucy makes better choices than I did! I found my way because I found myself." Denver author Shride spent nearly 30 years as a high-altitude mountaineering guide, outdoor educator and owner of an adventure travel business. She saw how young women blossom while challenging themselves on outdoor adventures. "I want to bring the power of self-discovery and self-reflection to girls in a fun way. Joining Lucy on her adventures opens a new world of possibilities for girls. They realize that if Lucy can do it, they can too."

Rocky Mountain Beginnings is the first in the Lucy Dakota:  Adventures of a Modern Explorer series. In future books, Lucy climbs the world's highest mountains—and loses a friend—in Nepal, lives with headhunters and faces jaguars in South America, dives with sharks in the Galapagos Islands, faces angry predators in the African savanna, and survives a tropical storm in Australia's Great Barrier Reef.

To find out more about Lucy, get news on upcoming books, other cool products and to subscribe to Lucy's weekly sell-improvement blog for teens "Lucy Says", visit www.LucyDakota.com.

"Like" Lucy Dakota on Facebook at  www.facebook.com/lucydakota or follow Lucy on Twitter at www.twitter.com/lucydakota.

Meet CS Shride
Ms. Shride is an author, speaker, educator, explorer and guide who grew up at the foot of the Rocky Mountains. For nearly 30 years, Shride pursued her lifelong passions:  travel, outdoor education and high-altitude mountaineering. She holds a master's degree in education and found tremendous joy teaching both outdoors and in the classroom. Now a full-time writer, she authors books and essays for women and teens. Learn more about Shride's life and work at www.CSShride.com and "like" her on Facebook at www.facebook.com/CSShride.author

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