I’ve been courting the Massachusetts Center for the Book for four years, shot down each year but so sure that one of my books is going to make the list for “must reads” the center picks annually to honor books written by Massachusetts writers or about Massachusetts themes.

It’s a big honor.

The Massachusetts Center for the Book is the commonwealth affiliate of the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress. Though there are lots of awards out there, if you publish in the commonwealth, you want recognition from your peers.

So, I’m thrilled: Schooner: Building a Wooden Boat on Martha’s Vineyard, is right there with books from Simon and Schuster, Harper and Viking/Penguin. I’m told that one of my children’s books, Nighttide on a Vineyard Farm, almost made the final cut.

We’ll be competing for recognition in the fall as the best book published about Martha’s Vineyard. But even if we don’t win, we’re stoked – a “must read” is plenty good.