Biography & Memoir Finalists

Acclaimed neurosurgeon Warren assumed he could accurately predict the outcome for his patients. But it became far more personal when his own family experienced an unimaginable tragedy. As he relates stories of real-life medical drama, he takes a raw, honest look at how we can find light during our darkest hours. 272 pages, hardcover from Waterbrook.

In Centered, former NFL player Jason Brown shares the story of his and his family's call to leave a life in the spotlight and pursue a life in agriculture. Through the ups and downs of financial challenges, learning to embrace a new career, and caring for his family, the Brown's story will inspire readers to listen for and follow leadings into God's wild and abundant dreams.

At 22, Danielle Walker was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis, an inflammatory disease that attacks the colon. A simple blood test revealed a long list of food sensitivities. This set her on a years-long trial-and-error quest to fashion a diet that required minimal digestive processes, which she details in inviting, conversational prose.

Walker follows her grain-free and gluten-free cookbooks with this unflinching chronicle of dealing with an autoimmune disease and her path to discovering food’s “amazing power to heal.”

At the end of World War I, young C. S. Lewis was a devout atheist about to begin his studies at Oxford. In the three decades that followed, he would establish himself as one of the most influential writers and scholars of modern times, undergoing a radical conversion to Christianity that would transform his life and his work.

In this second volume of his biographical trilogy, scholar Harry Lee Poe unfolds these watershed years in Lewis’s life, offering readers a unique perspective on his conversion, his friendships with well-known Christians such as J. R. R. Tolkien and Dorothy L. Sayers, and his development from an opponent of Christianity to one of its most ardent defenders.

The incredible true story of a boy who is changing the world through kindness...one bunny at a time.

Meet Caleb Smith: a young man who, at age 8, decided to follow his dream to train endangered and rescued rabbits to become therapy animals. Caleb is a teenage entrepreneur who owns and operates a private 22-acre Mississippi River sanctuary called Peacebunny Island. The deal is simple: he saves the rabbits, and they help save us.

This is the story of God whispering, "What no one wants, I cherish."

The daughter of a mail-order bride and a busboy from San Francisco's Chinatown, Bonnie Gray grew up never truly feeling beautiful or beloved. As an adult, she built her life to look pleasant and ordinary, with a wonderful husband, two amazing boys, and a thriving career. But despite these blessings, she still felt the tugging emptiness of a missing piece.

At 39, a long-forgotten birth certificate in an old file cabinet sparked a curiosity Bonnie couldn't ignore. Determined to uncover her family's secrets and understand the home she was born into, Bonnie embarked on a quest that would leave her forever changed. Returning to the culture, places, and stories that shaped her, her search led her to soul-shaking discoveries about her identity, human kindness and what it truly means to belong.

The profoundly moving journey of learning to embrace our true worth, Sweet Like Jasmine celebrates how God uses our unique and broken stories to create a beautiful mosaic of His love, one life at a time.

Spend 40 days getting to know your brothers and sisters on the "front lines"---persecuted modern-day disciples who share daily in the sufferings of Christ. You'll be inspired by believers worldwide who risk their safety, security, and lives to follow Jesus. Each eye-opening devotional reading is followed by guided prayer and space for you to respond. 208 pages, hardcover from Moody.