MFAW-VT faculty member Sherri Smith‘s middle grade novel, The Toymaker’s Apprentice, won the Southern California Independent Booksellers Association Award for Middle Grade. Described as “Part Nutcracker with a dash of Pinocchio” by School Library Journal and “an inventive fantasy” by Booklist, The Toymaker’s Apprentice was published as a hardcover by Putnam and recently released in paperback by Puffin Books. Congratulations, Sherri!