We’ve now journeyed through eight decades in our 90 Years . . . 90 Books retrospective, in which we’re looking back at titles by 90 Ohio authors since Ohioana’s founding in 1929.

So far, we shared 70 books, representing authors from every part of the state, books of every literary genre, and books for readers of every age. In this final installment, we highlight 20 books, all of them produced during this decade which is about to end. Some of these authors have long been popular, others made their debuts in the past ten years. Several of these books have been made, or are being made, into works for film or television.

We’re happy so many of you have enjoyed these weekly installments. It certainly has been fun for the staff to put the series together. In fact, you may not have heard the end of this as yet! Keep a look out on our social media . . . and thanks for reading!

The Girl of Fire and Thorn, Rae Carson – 2011

Rae Carson pursued numerous careers and called many places home before moving to Columbus, Ohio, where she published her debut novel, The Girl of Fire and Thorns. The story follows Elisa, a princess overshadowed by her elder sister who must rise to greatness in this fantasy trilogy. The Girl of Fire and Thorns won the Ohioana Book Award in juvenile literature and was a finalist for the American Library Association’s William C. Morris Debut Award, launching Carson into a New York Times and USA Today bestselling career. Her recent novels include titles in the popular Star Wars franchise. Carson now lives in Arizona.

The Paris Wife, Paula McLain – 2011

Born in California and a long-time resident of Cleveland, Paula McLain is the author of three New York Times best-selling historical novels. The second of these, The Paris Wife, a fictionalized account of Ernest Hemingway’s first marriage, won the 2012 Ohioana Book Award in fiction, and was a 2013-14 Choose to Read Ohio title. McLain holds an MFA in poetry from the University of Michigan; has been a resident of Yadoo and the MacDowell Colony; and was the recipient of fellowships from the Ohio Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts. She was awarded the Cleveland Arts Prize in 2011, the year The Paris Wife was published.

Destiny of the Republic, Candice Millard – 2011

Ask Candice Millard and she’ll tell you her love of books began in the little library in her hometown of Lexington, Ohio. With degrees from Baker and Baylor Universities, Millard pursued a successful career writing and editing for National Geographic magazine before turning to biography. The result: three New York Times best-sellers chronicling difficult chapters in the lives of three notable men: Theodore Roosevelt, James A. Garfield, and Winston Churchill. Millard’s book on Garfield’s assassination, Destiny of the Republic, won her a number of honors, including an Ohioana Book Award and the coveted Edgar Award, and was adapted into a documentary for PBS’ American Experience. Millard lives with her family in Kansas.

Ready Player One, Ernest Cline – 2011

In Ready Player One Ernest Cline envisions the year 2045, where people escape their dystopian society by living in a virtual reality world called OASIS and where Columbus, Ohio is a futuristic mega-metropolis. The main character, teenaged Wade Watts, must use his knowledge of 1980s popular culture to decode a series of puzzles left by the OASIS’ creator in order to try to realize a better future. Cline grew up in Ashland, Ohio, from which he drew inspiration for many of the significant locations in the novel. Cline published a second novel, Armada, in 2015 and in 2018 Ready Player One was adapted into a film directed by Steven Spielberg. Cline now lives in Austin, Texas.

The Year of the Book, Andrea Cheng – 2012

Andrea Cheng was the daughter of Hungarian immigrant parents and grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio in an extended family with three generation living under one roof. Cheng studied Chinese at Cornell University, earning an MS in linguistics. While there she met and married her husband, James Cheng, like her the child of immigrants (from China). It was after their three children were born that she was inspired to start writing. The result: more than 25 books, including picture books, young adult, and nonfiction. The Year of the Book, the first in a popular series, follows Anna Wang, a young Chinese American girl living in Cincinnati. Based on a combination of Andrea and her two real-life daughters, the book was a 2017-18 Choose to Read Ohio. Andrea Cheng passed away in 2015.

The World We Found, Thirty Umrigar – 2012

Born in Mombai, India, and a graduate of the University of Bombay, Thrity Umrigar came to the United States in 1983 to pursue her graduate studies. Holding an MBA from The Ohio State University and a Ph.D. from Kent State University, Umrigar has been a successful journalist and teacher as well as a best-selling author. Her novels include The Space Between Us, If Today Be Sweet, and The Story Hour, which was a 2017-18 Choose to Read Ohio title. Umrigar won the 2013 Lambda Literary Award for her novel, The World We Found. In 2017, Umrigar wrote her first picture book for children, When I Carried You in My Belly. Also a Cleveland Arts Prize recipient, Umrigar is the Armington Professor of English at Case Western Reserve University.

Sky Ward, Kazim Ali – 2013

Queer, Muslim, American, poet and prose writer Kazim Ali has always navigated complex intersections and interstices, just to make a life. Born in the United Kingdom to Muslim parents of Indian descent, he received a BA and MA from the University of Albany-SUNY, and an MFA from New York University. Ali’s poetry collections include Bright Felon, a 2010 Ohioana Award finalist; Sky Ward, which won him the 2013 Ohioana Poetry Book Award; and his newest collection, Inquisition. He is the founding editor of Nightboat Press. Ali, who taught for many years at Oberlin College, is now Professor of Literature and Creative Writing at the University of California in San Diego.

Fat Angie, e.E. Charlton-Trujillo – 2013

High school is often a confusing, tumultuous and difficult time. This is particularly true for Fat Angie, the titular character of e. E. Charlton Trujillo’s 2013 YA novel, who often feels isolated, struggles with her sexuality and identity, and is desperately trying to hold onto hope for a sister who was captured in Iraq. Charlton-Trujillo, a native of Texas who has lived in Ohio for much of her adult life, captures these themes with tenderness and sensitivity. Fat Angie was a recipient of the American Library Association’s Stonewall Award and was a Lambda Literary Finalist and a Choose to Read Ohio book.

Not a Drop to Drink, Mindy McGinnis – 2013

Winner of the Edgar Award for A Madness So Discreet, Mindy McGinnis is a novelist who lives in Ohio. McGinnis’ debut novel, Not a Drop to Drink, tells the story of Lynn, a teenager living in a dystopian world where water is worth more than gold. This popular book led to a companion novel, In a Handful of Dust, and has been optioned by Fickle Fish Films. McGinnis has gone on to publish nine young adult novels that span multiple genres including postapocalyptic, historical, thriller, contemporary, mystery, and fantasy. Whether they are set in the past, the present, or a disturbing and not-too-distant future, McGinnis’s books offer an unflinching look at humanity and the world around us.

Super Boys, Brad Ricca – 2013

Jerry Shuster and Joel Siegel were two teenagers in Cleveland when in 1938 they created the first and most famous of all superheroes – Superman. Seventy-five years later, another Clevelander, Brad Ricca, told their remarkable story in his Ohioana Award-winning book, Super Boys. Ricca, who is also the recipient of the Cleveland Arts Prize, earned his Ph.D. from Case Western, where he teaches. His second book, Mrs. Sherlock Holmes, was a finalist for both the Ohioana Award and the Edgar Award.

All the Light We Cannot See, Anthony Doerr – 2014

Anthony Doerr’s All the Light We Cannot See follows two teenagers during World War II, one a blind girl in Nazi-occupied France, the other a German orphan boy pressed into service by the Nazi army. An international best-seller, the novel’s elegant prose and masterful storytelling earned Doerr the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction,  the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in fiction, and the Ohioana Book Award, one of four he has won since 2003. Ohioana has long been an advocate of Doerr, who is a native of Cleveland. He won the 2000 Ohioana Walter Rumsey Marvin Grant for emerging writers, the first prize in his amazing career. The author of five books, Doerr and his family live in Idaho, where he was the state’s Writer-in-Residence from 2007 to 2010.  

Dog Man, Dav Pilkey – 2014

Dav Pilkey was born in Cleveland, Ohio. In elementary school, he was diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia, and was frequently sent to sit out in the hall for his disruptive behavior. He filled the time doodling and creating silly stories that were frowned upon by his teachers. Fortunately, he ignored all the scolding and pursued his love of cartooning into adulthood, creating multiple New York Times bestselling series for children. His beloved series include The Dumb Bunnies, Ricky Ricotta, Dragon, and Captain Underpants, the latter of which came to the big screen as a DreamWorks movie in 2017. Dog Man is Pilkey’s most recent graphic novel series, following the antics of a half-dog, half-human hero through eight adventurous books—and counting!

Brown Girl Dreaming, Jacqueline Woodson – 2014

Though she was born in Columbus, Jacqueline Woodson was raised in South Carolina and New York, and always felt halfway home in each place. Brown Girl Dreaming tells the story of her childhood in verse and shares what it was like to grow up as an African American in the 1960s and 1970s, living with the remnants of Jim Crow and her growing awareness of the Civil Rights movement. It also reflects the joy of finding her voice through writing stories, creating the first sparks of the writer she was to become. Its many accolades include the National Book Award, the Coretta Scott King Award, the NAACP Image Award, a Newbery Honor, and the inaugural Ohioana Book Award for Middle Grade and Young Adult Literature. Woodson is the author of more than 35 books for both children and adults. The 2018-19 National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, Woodson lives with her family in Brooklyn, New York.

Showdown, Wil Haygood – 2015

Wil Haygood’s 2008 Washington Post article “A Butler Well Served by This Election,” served as the basis for Lee Daniels’ acclaimed film, The Butler. A 30-year career as a journalist at the Post and also the Boston Globe, where he was a Pulitzer Prize finalist, led Haygood to an equally successful career as a biographer. In Show Down, he tells the remarkable the story behind President Lyndon Johnson’s historic appointment of Thurgood Marshall as the first black Associate Justice of the US Supreme Court. It won Haygood the second of his three Ohioana Awards – he also won for 1998’s The Haygoods of Columbus and 2018’s Tigerland, which was a finalist for the Dayton Literary Peace Prize. Haygood lives in Washington DC.

Little Tree, Loren Long – 2015

Loren Long began his career illustrating greeting cards, theater posters, and magazines before finding his true passion: children’s books. His award-winning books have encompassed titles he both authored and illustrated—including his popular Otis series about a loveable tractor—as well as stories written by American icons like Walt Whitman and Barack Obama. Little Tree tells the story of a young tree who holds tight to his leaves and is a heartfelt ode to the challenges of growing up and letting go. It won the Ohioana Award in juvenile literature and was the inaugural Floyd’s Pick, an annual award presented by the State Library of Ohio and Ohioana. Long lives in Cincinnati where he finds inspiration in nature just outside his studio window.

Epitaph, Mary Doria Russell – 2015

Mary Doria Russell is a celebrated American writer who lives near Cleveland. She drew on her interests both in the Wild West and the Homeric epics when writing Epitaph, a follow up to Doc that continues the story of Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday. The result is a sweeping a historical fiction novel that is mystical, epic, intimate and masterfully told. Mary is the winner of numerous awards and accolades, including the 2016 Ohioana Fiction and Readers’ Choice Awards for Epitaph, the Arthur C. Clarke Prize and the American Library Association Best Novel in Historical Fiction for Doc.

Dothead, Amit Majmudar – 2016

In 2016, Amit Majmudar received the honor of being named by Governor John Kasich as Ohio’s first Poet Laureate. The son of Indian immigrants and raised in Cleveland, Majmudar is a doctor as well as a writer, and diagnostic nuclear radiologist in Columbus. His poems have appeared in numerous publications as well as in three books. Dothead, published the year he became Poet Laureate, is described as “an exploration of selfhood, both intense and exhilarating.” Majmudar has also published a translation in verse of the Bhagavad Vita, and two novels, one of which, The Abundance, was a Choose to Read Ohio title in 2013-14. Majmudar, who lives in Westerville, was succeeded in 2018 as Ohio Poet Laureate by Ohioana Award winner Dave Lucas.

Rightful Heritage, Douglas Brinkley – 2016

Called “America’s new past master” by the Chicago Tribune and CNN’s official Presidential Historian, Douglas Brinkley is the author of nearly 40 books. His subjects have included Walter Cronkite, Henry Ford, Hunter S. Thompson, and Jack Kerouac. Many of his books have dealt with 20^th century American Presidents, including the Ohioana Award-winning, Rightful Heritage, about President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s towering contributions to conservation. Brinkley was born in Atlanta, Georgia, and grew up in Perrysburg, Ohio, where both his parents were teachers. He received his BA from The Ohio State University, and his MA and Ph.D. from Georgetown. Brinkley lives with his family in Austin, Texas, where he is a Professor of History and holds the Katherine Tsanoff Brown Chair in Humanities at Rice University.

Little Fires Everywhere, Celeste Ng – 2017

When Shaker Heights was established as a suburb of Cleveland in 1912 it was one of the first planned communities of its kind in the country. In Little Fires Everywhere, as she did in her acclaimed debut novel, Everything I Never Told You, Celeste Ng uses Shaker Heights as the setting of the novel, exploring the interesting cultural and class phenomenon that has risen from the concept of such a community with a large and diverse cast of characters. Ng herself lived in Shaker Heights during her middle and high school years, and draws upon her intimate knowledge of the community for the story. Little Fires Everywhere is the recipient of the 2018 Ohioana Award in Fiction and is being adapted into a Hulu miniseries, set to be released in 2020. She is also a Pushcart Prize-winning author of short fiction appearing in One Story, TriQuarterly and Subtropics. A Massachusetts Book Award winner, Ng lives in Cambridge.

Go Ahead in the Rain, Hanif Abdurraqib – 2019

Poet, essayist, and cultural critic Hanif Abdurraqib is a Columbus native. Columbus has always featured in his works, whether it is a mention of I-270 or an aside about parking tickets in Bexley, where he attended Capital University. His latest book, Go Ahead in the Rain: Notes to a Tribe Called Quest is not only an homage to the seminal rap group, but also a meditation on growing up in the late 1990s and entering adulthood. His books, always deeply personal, are both a reflection and a critique of our admiration of artists whose works touch our lives, and the “relationships” we form with the artists and media we love. His second poetry collection, A Fortune for Your Disaster, was published in September 2019.

It’s been great hearing from many readers who tell us they’ve really been enjoying our special year-end blog, 90 Years . . . 90 Books, in which we’re taking a look at books by 90 Ohio authors that have been published since Ohioana was founded in 1929.

So, since the magic number is 90 – our third entry will focus on the 1990s. The last decade of the 20^th century saw a number of debuts by authors who are as popular today as they were when they first arrived on the scene. Some of the fifteen books we’re shining the spotlight on might be favorites of yours. Others you may be discovering for the first time.

Whatever the case may be, we hope you enjoy learning about them all, and that our blog may continue to add to your list of books to read over the holidays and in the coming year!

The People I Know, Nancy Zafris, 1990

Our last 90 books list ended with a collection of stories and our new one begins with another. Nancy Zafris’ The People I Know, a collection of nine stories told by characters who hover at the edge of life, won not only the Ohioana Book Award, but also the prestigious Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction. A native of Columbus, Zafris is the author of three other books and serves as the series editor for the O’Connor Award. She was previously fiction editor of the Kenyon Review, for whom she now serves as a teacher and associate director of the summer writer’s workshop.

Rainbow Remnants in Rock Bottom Ghetto Sky, Thylias Moss, 1991

A poet, author, experimental filmmaker, and playwright of African American, Native American, and European heritage, Cleveland-born Thylias Moss began to write when she was seven years old. Her fourth collection of poetry, Rainbow Remnants in Rock Bottom Ghetto Sky, won the Ohioana Poetry Book Award, the Whiting Award, and the Witter Byner Poetry Prize. Moss’ other honors include the Guggenheim and MacArthur Fellowships. A graduate of Oberlin and the University of New Hampshire, Moss lives in Ann Arbor and has taught at the University of Michigan since 1993.

Parliament of Whores, P.J. O’Rourke, 1991

Known for his frequent appearances as a panelist on NPR’s popular game show Wait . . . Don’t Tell Me, Toledo’s Patrick Jake O’Rourke has also been a journalist and contributor to publications as diverse as Rolling Stone and The Atlantic Monthly. But he is best-known as one of America’s foremost political satirists, thanks to books like Parliament of Whores, subtitled “A Lone Humorist Attempts to Explain the Entire U.S. Government,” which was an international best-seller and praised by Time magazine as “a riotously funny and perceptive indictment of America’s political system.”

Welcome to Dead House (Goosebumps #1), R.L. Stine, 1992

In 2011, Robert Lawrence Stine received a singular honor when the Guinness Book of World Records named him “the world’s most prolific author of children’s horror fiction novels” with more than 300 books to his credit. While Stine has written several series over his long career, none has been more popular than Goosebumps, and it all started with this novel in 1992. Among Stine’s many other awards is the 2000 Ohioana Career Medal. He said his writing all stems from one goal: “to give kids the creeps.” No one can deny that he has succeeded. A Bexley native, Stine now lives in New York City.

Missing May, Cynthia Rylant, 1992

Cynthia Rylant’s Missing May, a touching book for young adults about grief, won the 1993 Newbery Medal. That same year, Rylant, who had previously won two Ohioana Book Awards in juvenile literature, received Ohioana’s Alice Louise Wood Memorial Award for her body of work. Born in West Virginia, Rylant received her MA from Marshall University and her MLIS from Kent State University. She lived in Kent and later Akron for many years, working as a librarian and a teacher. Rylant, who has more than 100 books to her credit, now lives in Oregon. 

Walk Two Moons, Sharon Creech, 1994

Children’s author Sharon Creech was born and raised in the Cleveland suburb of South Euclid. Growing up, she often visited her cousins in a small town in Kentucky, which would later find its way into a number of her books. Creech lived and taught abroad for 18 years, and her first books were published in England. Her first US book, Walk Two Moons, won the 1995 Newbery Medal. Seven years later, Creech’s Ruby Holler won Britain’s Carnegie Medal, making her the first American recipient, and the first author to win both the Newbery and the Carnegie. She now lives in New Jersey.

Getting Rid of Bradley, Jennifer Cruise, 1994

Jennifer Smith of Wapakoneta took her grandmother’s maiden last name on her way to becoming one of America’s most popular authors of romantic fiction. Her first career was as a teacher, and it was only when she was working on her MFA dissertation – about the role of women in mystery fiction – that she decided to try her hand at romance writing. Her third novel, Getting Rid of Bradley, won the Romance Writers of America’s RITA Award, the genre’s equivalent of the Oscar. Crusie, who lives in New Jersey, has seen more than 20 of her novels published in 20 countries.

Tears of a Tiger, Sharon Draper, 1994

Sharon M. Draper is a professional educator as well as an accomplished children’s writer. She has been honored as the National Teacher of the Year and is a New York Times best-selling author. She’s won five Coretta Scott King Literary Awards, including for 1994’s Tears of a Tiger. Draper began writing when challenged by one of her 9^th grade students to enter a story in a competition. She won the $5,000 first prize. When the story was published, she got a note of congratulations and encouragement from Roots author Alex Haley. Born in Cleveland, Draper has lived in Cincinnati for many years.

Out from Boneville, Jeff Smith, 1995

Growing up in Columbus, Jeff Smith loved cartoons – the Peanuts and Pogo comic strips, and the animated adventures of Scrooge McDuck. Smith’s own first cartoon series, Thorn, was created for the student newspaper, The Lantern, while he was a student at The Ohio State University. In 1991 came Bone, a series that mixed light-hearted comedy with dark fantasy. It became a sensation, winning Smith ten Eisner Awards over the course of its 13-year run. 1995’s Out from Boneville was the first anthology. In October 2019, Netflix announced that a Bone animated series is in the works.

Coyote v. Acme, Ian Frazier, 1996

In 1997, the Thurber Prize for American Humor was established. The inaugural winner: Coyote v. Acme, a collection of essays by Cleveland’s Ian Frazier, the first of which imagined the opening statement of an attorney representing cartoon character Wile E. Coyote in a product liability suit against the Acme Company, supplier of unpredictable rocket sleds and faulty spring-powered shoes. Best-known as a writer and humorist for The New Yorker, Frazier became the only two-time (thus far) winner of the Thurber Prize in 2007 for Lamentations of the Father.

The Devil’s Hatband, Robert Greer, 1996

Robert Greer is truly a Renaissance man – doctor and professor of pathology, cattle rancher, and writer. Born in Columbus, Greer holds degrees from Miami, Howard, and Boston Universities. For the past 40 years, he has lived and worked in Denver, Colorado, the setting for his popular contemporary western mystery series featuring black bail bondsman CJ Floyd, which started in 1996 with The Devil’s Hatband. Besides the series, Greer has written several standalone novels and a story collection. He is also editor-in-chief of the High Plains Literary Review, which he founded in 1986.

Broken Symmetry, David Citino, 1997

Few people were as passionately involved in Ohio’s literary life as David Citino. A Cleveland native, Citino spent the last three decades of his life teaching English and creative writing at The Ohio State University, which in 2002 named him as its first Poet Laureate. His many other honors included the inaugural Ohioana Helen and Laura Krout Poetry Prize for his contributions to the field and two Ohioana Book Awards. The second was for Broken Symmetry, in which “a poet approaching the end of the 20^th century takes stock of a single life.” Citino died in 2005 due to complications from MS.

Among the Hidden (Shadow Children #1), Margaret Peterson Haddix, 1998

Margaret Peterson Haddix grew up on a farm in Washington Court House. After receiving degrees from Miami University, she worked as a newspaper reporter in Indiana and Illinois. When she married her husband, who was also her editor, she decided that instead of being his employee, she would turn to writing fiction. The result was one of the most successful careers of any children’s author of the past 25 years. Her best-known works include the Shadow Children series, of which Among the Hidden was the first novel. Haddix won the 2009 Ohioana Book Award in juvenile literature for Uprising, a historical novel based on 1911’s Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire.

The Truth About Small Towns, David Baker, 1998

Originally from Maine, David Baker has lived in Granville, Ohio since 1984, where he holds Denison University’s Thomas B. Fordham Chair in Creative Writing. The Poetry Editor for the esteemed Kenyon Review, Baker is also the author of twelve books of poetry, including 1998’s Ohioana Award-winning The Truth About Small Towns. His many awards include grants from the Guggenheim Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, and Mellon Foundation. Baker’s most recent book is 2019’s Swift: New and Selected Poems.

The Orchid Thief, Susan Orlean, 1998

It’s not every day you are portrayed on screen by the likes of Meryl Streep. But Cleveland’s Susan Orlean was, when in 2002 Hollywood adapted her nonfiction book The Orchid Thief into a film called, appropriately enough, Adaptation. A journalist and staff writer for The New Yorker since 1992, Orlean has also contributed to many other leading magazines. She won a 2012 Ohioana Book Award for Rin Tin Tin: The Life and Legend. Her 2018 The Library Book was named by a number of publications, including the Washington Post, as one of the ten best of the year.