Gretna Can't Get Any Greener by L. A. Tramwell
Author L. A. Tramwell
SEAL 2026 NYC Big Book Award Distinguished Favorite
2026 NYC Big Book Award Distinguished Favorite
L. A. Tramwell’s Young Adult novel, “Gretna Can’t Get Any Greener,” has been named a Distinguished Favorite in the Teen Category.
NEW BRUNSWICK, CANADA, September 15, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — The NYC Big Book Award has selected Gretna Can't Get Any Greener by L. A. Tramwell as a Distinguished Favorite in the Teen category.
A panel of industry professionals—including publishers, writers, editors, designers, booksellers, librarians, and copywriters—evaluates the competition. Selection for winners and distinguished favorites hinges on overall quality.
Against the backdrop of 1990s Jerusalem, Gretna Can’t Get Any Greener delivers a deeply moving narrative about first love, self-discovery, and the intense challenges of immigration, conventional family dynamics, and the looming threat of forced military service.
Synopsis:
The draft doesn’t care who you love.
Vadim, a teenage immigrant who never quite feels Israeli enough despite his Russian roots, has just eight months until he’s conscripted into the army. That’s when he meets Louise, a sweet seventeen-year-old from South Africa, and his world turns upside down.
What begins as a simple attraction grows into a powerful romance neither can resist. Their budding love story becomes a race against time, pitted against conscription deadlines, familial pressures, cultural divides, and personal doubts. The legendary Scottish town of Gretna Green, famous for runaway weddings, seems like their sole escape.
As their last year of school slips by, Vadim and Louise are forced to confront who they are, where they belong, and what truly matters in terms of right and wrong.
The world appears set on keeping them apart.
The NYC Big Book Award drew entries from around the globe. Participants included lawyers, doctors, entrepreneurs, film and television writers, historians, and journalists, spanning seasoned authors, first-time indie writers, and both small and large publishing houses.
Submissions poured in from the United States and nations like Australia, Canada, China, Dubai, England, Estonia, France, Germany, Ghana, Greece, New Zealand, Scotland, Singapore, South Korea, Sweden, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom. Represented cities included Auckland, Baltimore, Dallas, Frankfurt, Hollywood, Johannesburg, Manhattan Beach, New Orleans, NYC, Philadelphia, Sydney, and West Palm Beach.
Notable publishers in the mix were Beacon Press, Berrett-Koehler, Casemate, Edinburgh University Press, Forbes Books, Kiplinger Books, NYU Press, Palgrave Macmillan, Penguin Random House, Rizzoli, Routledge, The White House Historical Association, University of California Press, University of Nebraska Press, Weaving Influence Press, and Wiley.
We have an amazing list of authors from around the globe participating this year, said awards sponsor Gabby Olczak. I’m so excited to share these books with a worldwide readership!
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About the Author
L. A. Tramwell is an independent writer whose debut novel, a young adult work, was published in January 2026 by Crystal Tortoise Publishing. Titled Gretna Can’t Get Any Greener, the book explores a coming-of-age romance shaped by questions of identity, cultural tensions, and the search for one’s place. Known for a perceptive and emotionally resonant storytelling style, Tramwell quickly earned international recognition with this first release.
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About the Award
NYC Big Book Award, https://www.nycbigbookaward.com/, is announced every fall. The award is open to authors, publishers, and illustrators worldwide, including submissions from major publishing houses. The Awards Dinner is scheduled for April 10th, https://www.nycbigbookaward.com/awardsdinner, during the BookCAMP event on April 9-10, 2027, https://www.ipabookcamp.com, where honorees from both programs will take the stage to accept their awards.)"
Gabby Olczak
NYC Big Book Award
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