Ted Dunagan Is Named Top Author for 3rd Time

Ted Dunagan, book author and part-time columnist, reporter and feature writer for The Monticello News received his third “Georgia Author of the Year” award of young adult fiction last Saturday at a ceremony at Kennesaw State University.

This year’s award was for Trouble on the Tombigbee, his third young adult fiction book featuring Ted and Poudlum, two adolescent boys, one black and one white, growing up in southwest Alabama in the late 1940s.

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The book recived rave reviews from several sources, including Tony Crunk, who said the book was a satisfying, page-turning read.

“In this installment, the boys set out innocently enough on a fishing/camping trip on the Tombigbee River. Immediately, they find themselves entangled and endangered by a very dark, shadowy adult world—they stumble onto a midnight KKK meeting, and discover the secret identities of two of the group’s leaders. They themselves do not go undetected, and most of the book’s action involves their days-long attempt to elude and outwit their Klan pursuers….They eventually prevail through all their mortal challenges and end up helping bring justice to the people who had threatened them.

“Shades of Huck and Tom and Jim are very palpable here. As in Twain’s novels, the seeming innocence of the adolescent protagonists is belied….The story is a ripping good yarn for any reader. The action is swift and exciting, the characters are complex and engaging. A crowning delight is the descriptive language that evokes the sights, smells and textures of such a physically rich landscape. The river itself becomes an immutable presence, offering both hazard and refuge, and thus serving as a near-perfect setting for this coming of age tale.”

Mr. Dunagan’s first published book, A Yellow Watermelon, also won him the Georgia Author of the year title, and was listed by the Georgia Center of the Book on its inaugural list of 25 Books Every Young Georgian Should Read.