ATLANTA – The Reference and User Services Association (RUSA) has announced its selection for the 2017 Sophie Brody Medal, an annual honor bestowed by the Collection Development and Evaluation Section (CODES) of RUSA, a division of the American Library Association (ALA) at ALA’s Midwinter Meeting today in Atlanta.

This year’s winner is Moonglow by Michael Chabon, published by Harper, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. Sure-footed, Chabon’s command of story, language and ability to interweave memory and reality provides a delightful and utterly memorable reading experience. Few readers will forget Chabon’s grandfather - - one of the more richly developed characters in fiction.

Honorable mentions include Have I Got a Story For You: More than a Century of Fiction from The Forward edited by Ezra Glinter, published by Norton, In the Land of Armadillos by Helen Maryles Shankman, published by Scribner, and Pumpkinflowers: A Soldier’s Story by Matti Friedman published by Algonquin, Vilna My Vilna by Abraham Karpinowitz, Helen Mintz, translator, published by Syracuse University Press.

The Sophie Brody Medal is funded by Sophie and Arthur Brody Foundation and is given to encourage, recognize and commend outstanding achievement in Jewish literature. Works for adults published in the United States in the preceding year are eligible for the award.

This year’s winner and honor books were selected by the Sophie Brody Medal committee; Sarah Barbara Watstein, UNC Wilmington, Chair; Donald Altschiller, Boston University; Emily Bergman, Glendale Community College; Barbara Bibel, Oakland Public Library, retired; Jack Forman, Mesa College; Danise Hoover, Hunter College; Edward Kownslar, Texas A&M University- Corpus Christie; Daniel Mack, University of Maryland Libraries; Mary Parker; Nonny Schlotzhauer, Pennsylvania State University; Barry Trott, Williamsburg Regional Library.

The Reference and User Services Association (RUSA), a division of the American Library Association, represents librarians and library staff in the fields of reference, specialized reference, collection development, readers’ advisory and resource sharing. RUSA is the foremost organization of reference and information professionals who make the connections between people and the information sources, services, and collection materials they need. Learn more about RUSA’s Book and Media Awards at www.rusaupdate.org.