Mister Tender's Girl by Carter Wilson and The Doggie in the Window by Rory Kress are 2019 Colorado Book Award Finalists

We are thrilled to share that Mister Tender’s Girl by Carter Wilson and The Doggie in the Window by Rory Kress are 2019 Colorado Book Award finalists!
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Mister Tender’s Girl is a finalist in the Thriller category, and The Doggie in the Window is a finalist in the Nonfiction category. 

The Colorado Book Awards are sponsored by Colorado Humanities and Colorado Center for the Book. They recognize books that are written by Colorado authors/residents, and “and authors whose personal history, identity, and literary work reflect a strong Colorado influence.” The awards consist of at least ten categories including anthology/collection, children’s literature, creative nonfiction, general fiction, general nonfiction, genre fiction, history, pictorial, poetry, and young adult literature.

Click "Read More" for more information about each author and book.

learn more about the colorado book awards

Mister Tender's Girl by Carter Wilson

How far are you willing to go for Mister Tender?

At fourteen, Alice Hill was viciously attacked by two of her classmates and left to die. The teens claim she was a sacrifice for a man called Mister Tender, but that could never be true: Mister Tender doesn’t exist. His sinister character is pop-culture fiction, created by Alice’s own father in a series of popular graphic novels.

Over a decade later, Alice has changed her name and is trying to heal. But someone is watching her. They know more about Alice than any stranger could: her scars, her fears, and the secrets she keeps locked away. She can try to escape her past, but Mister Tender is never far behind. He will come with a smile that seduces, and a dark whisper in her ear...

Inspired by the Slender Man crime, this gripping thriller plunges you into a world of haunting memories and unseen threats, leaving you guessing until the harrowing end.

USA Today and #1 Denver Post bestselling author Carter Wilson explores the depths of psychological tension and paranoia in his dark, domestic thrillers. Carter is a two-time winner of the Colorado Book Award and his novels have received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly, Booklist, and Library Journal. He lives outside Boulder, Colorado. Visit him at carterwilson.com.

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The Doggie in the Window by Rory Kress

“Brilliant and unflinching.”
—Peter Zheutlin, New York Times bestselling author of Rescue Road and Rescued

When journalist Rory Kress met Izzie, she didn’t think twice about bringing her home. She found the twelve-week-old wheaten terrier in a pet shop and was handed paperwork showing Izzie had been born in a USDA-licensed breeding facility—so she couldn’t be a puppy mill dog, right?

But a few years later, as Rory embarked on her own difficult journey to become a mother, her curiosity began to tug at her. Sure, Izzie was her fur baby, but who was her dog’s real mother, and where was she now? And where did Izzie pick up her strange personality quirks? Like so many people, Rory had assumed the young puppy was a clean slate when she bought her. Those questions led Rory—with Izzie by her side—on a nationwide investigation, the first of its kind. From a dog livestock auction to the laboratory of one of the world’s leading animal behavioral scientists all the way up to the highest echelons of the USDA, they sought answers about who we’re trusting to be the watchdogs for our pet dogs.

The Doggie in the Window is a story of hope and redemption. It upends the notion that purchased dogs are a safer bet than rescues, examines how internet puppy sales allow customers to get even farther from the truth of dog breeding, and offers fresh insights into one of the oldest bonds known to humanity. With Izzie’s help, we learn the real story behind the dog in the window—and how she got there in the first place.

Rory Kress is a journalist who has covered stories around the world. A two-time Emmy Award winner, she holds a BA in creative writing from Princeton University and graduated at the top of her class from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. She lives in Denver, Colorado.

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