It has been a busy and crazy month. As we come out of Foster Care Awareness Month, it feels like a whirlwind. In early May, we received word that Garbage Bag Suitcase had been chosen a “Gold” winner for he Independent Publisher Book Awards (IPPY’s) in the category of E-Book Personal-Non Fiction. What an honor that was. Out of thousands of books we were chosen.

In the photo above, please see Garbage Bag Suitcase’s great friend and fellow advocate, Shane Inmanwho attended to award gala in New York City and accepted the award on our behalf. As if that wasn’t great enough news, we received word from the Midwest Independent Publishers Association in the middle of April that Garbage Bag Suitcase has been chosen a finalist in the category of Social Justice/Political Science and Culture. We were excited again to be considered among other fantastic titles. Then on May 12, 2017 our friend Katie Miller of Alia Innovations agreed to attend their gala in St. Paul, Minnesota. Katie and I had big hopes that we might pull out a win, but will almost 200 books entered, we were still cautiously optimistic. Then, late Friday night, I started getting text messages. . .WE WON!

In fact, one of the judges told Katie that loved the book-the writing, the story and work we are all doing to try and change outcomes of kids in foster care. I was completely blown away to find out that this book, written by a girl from foster care, who was never supposed to grow up and turn into much, just one the Midwest Independent Publishers Association Book Award. . . YOWZA!!! Earlier this year, Garbage Bag Suitcase was awarded the Readers’ Favorite Book Award, was a Beverly Hills Book Award Winner and was also a Pinnacle Book Achievement Award winner. What a true honor to be recognized by all of these organizations. Additionally, Shenandoah Chefalo was honored to received the 2017 Women in American History Award by the Michigan Daughters of the American Revolution, and was also recognized with a Women of the Arts Recognition. It has been a humbling year thus far.