Ave Maria Press is pleased to announce that three authors have won Excellence in Publishing Awards from the Association of Catholic Publishers.

Katie Prejean McGrady won first place in the teen books category for Follow: Your Lifelong Adventure with Jesus. In it she shares sometimes embarrassing, often humorous, and always inspiring stories about how she came to know and love Jesus and shows readers can, too, through prayer, scripture, sacraments, and service.

Bestselling author Joyce Rupp received a second-place award for Boundless Compassion: Creating a Way of Life in spirituality books. She guides readers to discover compassion from science, medicine, theology, spirituality, sociology, and psychology. She also encourages readers to explore personal and professional expressions of compassion, and to re-energize their ability to offer loving kindness to those around them.

In the inspirational category, Susan Muto earned second place for Gratefulness: The Habit of a Grace-Filled Life. The executive director of the Epiphany Association, she reminds readers that gratefulness is a gift from God and reveals that grateful living is not another new fad but has been the way of saints and Christian mystics for centuries. 

“We are very excited for Katie, Joyce, and Susan,” said Karey Circosta, Ave’s associate publisher and vice president of sales and marketing. “Each of their books has an important message that is much needed in today’s world.”

“We are also proud of all of the authors who were named ACP award finalists,” Circosta said.

The Association of Catholic Publishers is a membership organization of Catholic publishers.