You are invited to the annual Books Save Lives award reception on February 23 at 1:45 PM celebrating Mindy McGinnis, 2023 award winner and author of Heroine. This award, originally given by the Florida Council of Teachers of English (FCTE) but now part of the Hipple Special Collection at USF, is given to the book that best represents an adolescent’s overcoming a situation–not of his or her own making—in such a way to provide significant insight and hope to a reader. It was named in honor of Dr. Joan F. Kaywell, a professor of English Education at the University of South Florida and long-time leader in the Council. Kaywell gave the inaugural awards to representative authors who write books that save lives to Laurie Halse Anderson & Chris Crutcher in 2012 and then to Ellen Hopkins & Walter Dean Myers in 2013. The first book to receive the award was Lesléa Newman’s October Mourning. Register here.