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Literary Titan Gold Book Award: Fiction
The Literary Titan Book Award honors books that exhibit exceptional storytelling and creativity. This award celebrates novelists who craft compelling narratives, create memorable characters, and weave stories that captivate readers. The recipients are writers who excel in their ability to blend imagination with literary skill, creating worlds that enchant and narratives that linger long after the final page is turned.
Award Recipients
Visit the Literary Titan Book Awards page to see award information.
Literary Titan Silver Book Award
Celebrating the brilliance of outstanding authors who have captivated us with their skillful prose, engaging narratives, and compelling real and imagined characters. We recognize books that stand out for their innovative storytelling and insightful exploration of truth and fiction. Join us in honoring the dedication and skill of these remarkable authors as we celebrate the diverse and rich worlds they’ve brought to life, whether through the realm of imagination or the lens of reality.
Award Recipients
Dying to Meet the Newcomer by Judith Fournie Helms
Visit the Literary Titan Book Awards page to see award information.
Creating A Safe Space
Sista, Can You Feel a Brother’s Pain? is a compassionate, faith-centered exploration of the silent wounds men carry, revealing how childhood trauma shapes identity, relationships, and faith, while offering a biblical path toward healing, accountability, and restoration.
The phrase “Men hurt. Men hide. Men hope.” feels central. What do you think most people misunderstand about men’s emotional lives?
I believe one of the greatest misunderstandings about men’s emotional lives is the assumption that silence means absence of feeling. Many people interpret a man’s quietness as strength, indifference, or emotional unavailability, when in reality it is often protection learned behavior shaped by expectation, culture, and survival.
Men are often taught early that vulnerability is risky. So instead of expressing pain openly, they internalize it. They carry disappointment, fear, rejection, and pressure privately, believing their role is to endure rather than reveal. When men hide, it is rarely because they do not feel it is because they feel deeply and may not feel safe enough to express it.
The phrase “Men hurt. Men hide. Men hope.” captures a truth that is often overlooked: beneath guarded emotions is hope. The hope to be understood without judgment, respected without performance, and loved without conditions tied to strength alone.
What many misunderstand is that men are not emotionless; they are often emotionally unpracticed in environments that welcome honesty. When given permission to be human instead of merely strong, many men show remarkable depth, tenderness, and resilience.
Understanding men emotionally begins not by asking them to feel more, but by creating spaces where they no longer have to hide what they already feel.
Were there particular stories or patterns that stayed with you?
Yes, many stories stayed with me over the years they are, in fact, what prompted me to write the book. While the circumstances differed, the patterns were often the same. The actions that caused the trauma were similar, even though the faces of the victims changed. And in many cases, the outcomes were heartbreakingly alike.
Many men carried unspoken pain, living under the pressure to appear strong while quietly struggling within. Their hurt often revealed itself not through words, but through distance, anger, overworking, or withdrawal rather than open conversation. Beneath those behaviors, however, was a deep desire to be seen, respected, and truly understood.
One pattern I noticed repeatedly was silence not because men lacked words, but because they lacked safe spaces to speak them. Creating an environment where men felt heard and valued made all the difference. That safe space is exactly what the MITE (Men in Transformation Education) Program provided: a place where men could begin to release what they had long carried in silence and start the journey toward healing and transformation.
How can women better support the men in their lives after reading it?
Understand the power of being present without pressure; love him without trying to manage the process. Here are 5 ways women can walk alongside a man in silence and still genuinely support him, with wisdom, compassion, and strength.
1. Offer Presence, Not Pressure – recognize that sometimes the most healing words are unspoken.
- Sit with him.
- Stay emotionally available.
- Let him know you’re there without asking him to perform vulnerability.
Biblical wisdom:
“The Lord is near to the brokenhearted…” Psalm 34:18
Support looks like: “You don’t have to talk for me to stay.”
2. Create Safety Through Consistency – His silence is rooted in pain and he’s waiting to see if your love is temporary.
- Be steady, not reactive.
- Don’t withdraw just because he’s quiet.
- Let your consistency preach louder than questions.
Biblical wisdom:
“Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” — 1 Corinthians 13:7
Safety says: “I’m not leaving because this is uncomfortable.”
3. Affirm His Worth Without Demanding Disclosure – Many men fear being seen as “less than” if they speak.
- Speak life into who he is not what he shares.
- Affirm his strength, character, and value apart from his story.
Biblical wisdom:
“Death and life are in the power of the tongue…” Proverbs 18:21
Support sounds like: “You matter even in your quietness.”
4. Respect His Timing While Holding Healthy Boundaries Walking alongside doesn’t mean disappearing yourself.
- You can honor his silence and still be honest about your needs. “Me Time” some say self care is important for you
- Support does not require self-neglect.
Biblical wisdom:
“To everything there is a season” Ecclesiastes 3:1
Wisdom balance: Compassion without self-abandonment.
5. Cover Him in Prayer, Not Control – Prayer reaches places conversation cannot.
- Pray for healing, not forced revelation.
- Ask God to do what only God can do.
Biblical wisdom:
“Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:7
Spiritual support says: “God is working even when I can’t see it.”
Pearls of Wisdom for Women supporting or walking along with someone in silence is not passive, it’s active trust.
But remember: You are a companion, not a counselor; a supporter, not a savior.
And for men: Be Silent No More. Silence may have kept you alive but love, safety, and God’s grace can lead you toward healing. Give yourself permission to be healed.
A New Way To Know
A New Way to Know is middle-grade historical fiction that follows Francis Bacon from a sharp-eyed boy in Queen Elizabeth’s noisy court to a grown man who helps invent a new way of doing science and then pays a steep price in politics. We watch him question his teachers, tinker with secret experiments, navigate his risky friendship with the fiery Earl of Essex, rise to become Lord Chancellor, and finally fall under charges of corruption, before the story jumps to a modern classroom where kids are using his method without even realizing it.
The scenes at court are vivid and concrete – the rustle of gowns, the sharp look from Elizabeth, the way everyone seems to be acting on a stage. I liked how often the book slows down for small details, like a feather falling or a pear dropping from a tree, and uses them to show how his mind works. The writing is clean and very readable, with short, punchy lines sitting next to longer, thoughtful ones. The recurring image of his little notebook and planting questions like seeds gives the story a gentle rhythm that feels just right for younger readers without talking down to them. Sometimes a line of dialogue spells the lesson out a bit plainly, but overall it still feels like a story first and a message book second, which I appreciated.
What really hooked me was the way the author builds Francis’s inner life. The author does not pretend that loving truth is simple. We see Francis grieving his father, scrambling after lost inheritance, testing seeds in chilly sheds, and then standing in rooms where his words might condemn a friend or save a kingdom. The chapters around Essex’s failed rebellion and trial are especially rough; Francis chooses evidence and duty over loyalty, and the book lets that ache sit there instead of smoothing it over. Later, when Bacon himself is accused of corruption and decides to accept blame to protect the stability of the realm, you can feel how much he has learned about pride, power, and bending so the world does not crack. For a work of historical fiction aimed at kids, that is a pretty honest look at how messy integrity can be. I also loved the author’s note that says this “new way to know” grows out of grief and doubt and the refusal to stop asking questions. It made the whole story click for me.
The last section, where a modern science teacher walks her students through a simple rot experiment, might have been cheesy in another book, but here it felt earned. The kids joke about grapes having “five-star freezing” and complain about gross samples, yet they keep coming back to Bacon’s basic rules: observe, test, compare, let evidence lead. As someone who likes both history and science, I enjoyed seeing the genre stretch a little. This is historical fiction that almost turns into a quiet science class at the end, and it works. It ties his life to their world in a way that feels practical rather than heroic and distant.
I’d say A New Way to Know is historical fiction for middle-grade readers that also works as a very human introduction to how the scientific method grew out of one person’s stubborn curiosity. If you like character-driven stories set in real history, if you teach upper elementary or middle school science, or if you have a kid who asks “why” ten times in a row, this book is a great fit. Adults who want a warm, accessible look at Francis Bacon will get a lot from it too, as long as they are happy to read in a younger voice. For that curious crowd, I’d recommend it without hesitation.
Pages: 132 | ASIN: B0GFVWBNQV
Sista, Can You Feel A Brother’s Pain?
Sista, Can You Feel a Brother’s Pain? is a deeply compassionate and spiritually grounded exploration of the hidden wounds many men carry from childhood into adulthood. The book weaves Scripture, lived experience, and the author’s years of ministry with incarcerated men into a guide that explains how unhealed trauma shapes identity, relationships, faith, and emotional expression. The heart of the message is clear and powerful. Men hurt. Men hide. Men hope. The chapters walk through silence, shame, verbal wounds, abandonment, generational cycles, and the long reach of emotional, physical, and sexual abuse. At the center of it all is God’s restorative love and the author’s call for understanding, accountability, and healing.
I kept pausing while reading because the writing lands with a kind of emotional weight that really resonated with me. The tone is warm and firm at the same time. I appreciated the way she confronts harsh truths without making the reader feel attacked. I found myself thinking about how many men really do move through life with silence wrapped around their pain like armor. The emotional rawness, the stories of boys treated like grown men, the confusion, the shame, the longing for safety. All of it stirred something in me. The simplicity of the language actually made the message sharper. Nothing felt dressed up. Nothing felt distant. It felt like someone sitting across from me telling the truth that everybody knows, but nobody says.
The chapters on emotional and verbal abuse spoke to me personally. The idea that a man can be well built on the outside but crushed on the inside felt painfully accurate. The writing made me think about how often we misinterpret withdrawal as arrogance or indifference. There is a lot of grace in these pages. A lot of patience. A lot of spiritual encouragement. At the same time, the author does not excuse harmful behavior. She keeps accountability right there on the table. I like that balance. It made the message feel honest. The prayers and reflection questions added a gentle rhythm that slowed me down and made me sit with what I had just read. I noticed how often the book circles back to hope. Even in the darkest chapters, there is this steady reminder that God sees what happened, knows what still hurts, and invites healing anyway.
I walked away moved and encouraged. I would recommend this book to women who want to understand the emotional landscape of the men in their lives, to men who are tired of pretending they are fine, and to anyone involved in pastoral care, counseling, or community leadership. It is also a meaningful read for people who simply want to love better and communicate with more understanding. The book feels like a bridge between worlds that rarely speak to each other. It shines a light on wounds that deserve attention, compassion, and truth so real healing can begin.
Pages: 78 | ASIN : B0GMLN6NJ3
The Wizard’s Apprentice
The Wizard’s Apprentice follows sixteen-year-old Prince Lucas of Colonodona as he studies magic with the sharp-tongued wizard Kralc and tries to live up to a heavy family legacy. Night after night, he relives a vision of his kingdom burning, a dream that feels far too real, while a mysterious girl named Lettie walks into the royal orchard claiming to search for her missing father and quickly wins the trust of Princess Audrina and Lucas himself. As the bond between this royal family and their guest deepens, secrets from past generations come to the surface, Kralc’s own hidden history matters more than anyone expected, and Lucas has to face the question that sits under every lesson and every nightmare. Is he the cause of the disaster he sees, or the one person who can stop it.
As a reading experience, I had a good time with this book. I liked the way the story keeps circling back to small, domestic moments in the castle, like breakfasts, walks in the orchard, and quiet scenes in Sitnalta’s salon, then lets those moments crack open into bigger tensions. The character work is the biggest strength for me. Lucas reads like a very believable teen boy, hungry for praise, prickly about being treated like a child, heart first and brain later. Kralc is gruff and very funny in that “I hate feelings, now drink this potion” way, and I enjoyed every scene where his care slips through his bad attitude. Audrina’s mix of entitlement, kindness, and cluelessness feels honest, and her attraction to Lettie has a real spark to it without ever being turned into a joke. The writing itself is clean and very readable. The author likes straightforward descriptions and clear dialogue, and that kept the pages moving. I felt the middle of the book slow a little because Lucas repeats the same pattern of doubt and defensiveness, and Lettie’s coyness about the truth goes on a bit long, yet I still turned the pages because I wanted to see this family finally sit down and tell each other everything.
The nightmare that opens the book is not just a spooky hook, it turns into a question about fate and choice, about what it means to see a terrible future and then decide how you will live with that knowledge. Lucas’ fear that he will be the one who burns his own home felt very raw to me, especially in a world where he has real power and no full control over it. The book also plays with class in a simple, clear way. Lettie carries the anger and shame of growing up poor and illegitimate, and when she walks into this kind, shining royal family it’s easy to see why she wants both love and payback. The story is also about legacy. Kralc’s bond with the dead Learsi and the magic coin that holds pieces of all three of them gives the ending a quiet, emotional punch. Their little conversation in the green field, and her message to Sitnalta, gave me that warm ache you get when a fantasy story lets its ghosts speak with love instead of just horror.
I would recommend The Wizard’s Apprentice to readers who enjoy classic, character-driven fantasy with a strong family focus and a light, hopeful tone. It feels right for teen readers who are ready for themes of grief, guilt, and complicated loyalty, and also for adults who grew up on older school series and want something familiar yet emotionally honest. The Wizard’s Apprentice reads a bit like Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, with a young hero learning magic and facing a dark destiny, but it trades the bustling school setting for a more intimate focus on royal family drama and personal legacy. If you like training sequences, prickly mentors, messy siblings, and magic that always has a cost, this is a solid pick.
Pages: 290 | ASIN : B0GMK611PR
Jett Cooper
In Jett Cooper by MAC Hill, a young teen in rural Australia is chasing the one thing that makes him feel most alive: flying. Jett is training with his dad, Jack, and dreaming of the Blue Wolf Junior Air Competition, where a scholarship to a flying academy could change everything. Then Jack dies in a crash, and the story pivots hard into grief, blame, and a family that cannot agree on what “safe” should look like. Jett keeps getting pulled between school, his mum’s fear, and the competition he still wants more than he wants to admit. The air show weekend builds to a mid-race emergency when Ella’s plane sheds part of its wing, and Jett has to choose between finishing and helping her get down alive.
What grabbed me first was how confidently Hill writes the flying. It is detailed, but it does not feel like she is showing off. When Jett talks about the stick, rudder, and the way the air feels, you can almost feel the cockpit tighten around you. I also appreciated the simple tools she uses to keep you oriented, like the air show map and the racecourse layout. It sounds small, but it really helps the action land, especially when the racing gets fast and messy. Even the author’s note about Australian English made me smile, because it signals the book’s voice early: grounded, local, and not trying to flatten itself for anyone.
This is a young adult sports-adventure with a coming-of-age core, and it works in that lane because the competition structure is clear and the stakes keep rising, but the real pressure is emotional. The book does not rush past the shock of loss. There’s a line about grief feeling like “running in waist-high water,” and that’s exactly how the early chapters read, in a good way. I found the mum-son conflict believable even when it hurt to watch. She is terrified, he is stubborn, and neither of them has the full language for what’s going on underneath. And then Hill makes a smart, character-revealing call in the final stretch: Jett’s need to win is real, but the moment he hears “Mayday” and realizes Ella is in trouble, you can see his priorities rearrange in real time.
By the end, the book lands in a place that feels earned, with scholarships offered, big decisions made, and relationships shifting instead of snapping neatly back into place. I’d recommend Jett Cooper most to readers who like YA competition stories with real heart: people who enjoy training arcs, rivals, and high-stakes events, but also want family tension and grief handled with care. If you like aviation, you will like this book. If you do not know a thing about planes, I still think the emotions and momentum will carry you through an enjoyable story.
Pages: 308 | ASIN : B0FPXHJR8F
