Tag: Golden Squirrel Awards

Golden Squirrel Awards 2019

Book Squirrel has read and reviewed some fantastic books this year. While not every book can receive an award, Book Squirrel presented the third annual Golden Squirrel Awards to books in twenty different genres across a variety of age ranges, interests and styles on December 31st, 2019.

Just to make it clear, this is not a contest that people can vote on. This is an entirely subjective and preference-driven selection process. Book Squirrel knows what he likes, and that’s what he reads. When he reads, he always leaves a review. And here on the Book Squirrel blog, he awards gold, silver or bronze acorns instead of a star rating system. 

At the end of the year, he chooses the best of the books he has read and reviewed, and gives some nice shiny awards to the wonderful authors who entertained and enlightened him in the past twelve months. 

You can be sure that the winners of Golden Squirrel Awards are excellent reads, and worthy of recognition. 

Click on the awards below to navigate to the Book Squirrel review of each book.

And the winners are…

Book of the Year!

Best Children’s Book: 

Best YA  Fantasy:

Best YA Paranormal

Best YA Sword and Sorcery:

Best Audiobook: 

Best Contemporary:

Best Cozy Mystery:

Best Fairy Tale:

Best Fantasy:

Best Historical Fiction:

Best Holiday Themed Book:

Best Horror:

Best LGBTQ+ Book:

Best Mystery:

Best Non-Fiction:

Best Paranormal:

Best Science Fiction:

Best Short Story:

Best Steampunk:

Best Urban Fantasy:

Congratulations to all the winners!

New Release: ‘Mya’ His Majesty’s Elite Book 1 by Missy Sheldrake

‘Mya’ is a standalone prequel to the Golden Squirrel Award winning ‘Keepers of the Wellsprings’ fantasy series by Missy Sheldrake. It is a magical high fantasy adventure for the whole family. 


Find ‘Mya’ His Majesty’s Elite Book 1 here.

Her voice is her power. 

As the daughter of a vagabond scoundrel, aspiring minstrel Mya has spent her childhood wary of her magical voice while traipsing through dangerous jungles in pursuit of her father’s dream—fortune and glory.  

She never imagined Pa’s latest scheme would have her tangling with thieves, sailing across the world on a ship full of pirates, kissing a prince, meeting the foxy elf of her dreams (literally), and dodging the grasp of the most dangerous Sorcerer in Cerion, all the while wondering: Where is Pa? 

A mysterious note promising he’ll meet her soon pushes Mya toward options she never considered before. She could go on living at the mercy of her father’s endless plots, or create the home she’s longed for in Cerion, and finally embrace the power of her own voice.

Find ‘The Keepers of the Wellsrpings’ series here.

Missy Sheldrake is an epic daydreamer and a muse of positivity who weaves worlds full of character-driven, complex fantasy adventures.

In 2014, she dusted off an unfinished, Tassy Walden Award-winning manuscript from her college days, started writing her first novel, Call of Kythshire, and never looked back. In four short years, she completed the five-book Keepers of the Wellsprings series, an epic high-fantasy young adult adventure that was awarded the Golden Squirrel Independent Book Award in 2017 for Best Fantasy!

When she isn’t writing, Missy can be found creating fantastical artworks in paint and clay, wandering hidden forest paths, and concocting plots for imaginary people who are beyond real to her.

Find out what she’s up to next at http://www.missysheldrake.com, on Instagram @m_sheldrake, on Twitter @missysheldrake, and on Facebook as Author/Illustrator Missy Sheldrake