The final recap of the finalists on the 2023 Southern Book Prize Ballot, as reviewed by booksellers on The Southern Bookseller Review. Here is what they have to say about the Nonfiction finalists:

This Boy We Made by Taylor Harris
This is heart-wrenching. As a mother I was absolutely enveloped in the author’s journey through this incredibly difficult time in her life. At every turn I was in awe of her grace in dealing with what life continued to throw at her. –Rayna Nielsen, Blue Cypress Books in New Orleans, LA

Beyond Innocence by Phoebe Zerwick
Once upon a time, a man was unjustly imprisoned. DNA and dogged work freed him after 19 years. He lived happily ever after. Sorry, that last part didn’t happen. Zerwick details Hunt’s journey from teen to convicted killer, innocent freed man, and activist with many twists. –Rosemary Pugliese, Malaprop’s in Asheville, NC

Spine Poems by Annette Dauphin Simon
I love that the concept of this book seems so simple, but author and creator Annette Dauphin Simon turned it into something complex and spectacular. –Johanna Albrecht, McIntyre’s Books in Pittsboro, NC

The Hurting Kind  by Ada Limón
Poems of movement, of worry, of a recognized grief and the subsequent small joys that can bloom out of dirt like small flower heads...Limón never, ever disappoints. –Aimee Keeble, Main Street Books in Davidson, NC

Child: A Memoir by Judy Goldman
In her lovely memoir, Judy Goldman reflects on what it was like to be a young Jewish girl raised by a Black nanny in the 1940s and 50s. Mattie Culp became a part of the Kurtz family. Now in her 80s, Goldman reflects on what Mattie had to give up—including her own child—in order to make the Kurtz family’s life easier. –Linda Hodges, Fiction Addiction in Greenville, SC

Bomb Shelter  by Mary Laura Philpott
Thank you, MLP, for making all of us worriers feel seen, and for helping us put into words the emotions (so very many emotions) that go along with being not just a parent but a person. –Lady Smith, Snail on the Wall in Huntsville, AL

Booksellers can find links to Edelweiss collections for all the finalists here: Fiction | Nonfiction | Children's & YA

Flyers (PDF): Fiction | Nonfiction | Children & YA
Full-color, perfect for displays of 2022 bookseller favorites

SBP Shelf Talker (PDF)

Other SBP Assets (logos, author photos, pdfs, links)

SBP on SBR:
Finalists reviews on The Southern Bookseller Review
The SBP Ballot

Code to embed the ballot on bookstore, author, and publisher websites