Book of the Year

New York 1880: Architecture and Urbanism in the Gilded Age by Robert A.M. Stern, Thomas Mellins, and David Fishman (The Monacelli Press)

Award for Biography

Morgan: American Financier by Jean Strouse (Random House)

Award for a Memoir

'Tis by Frank McCourt (Scribner)

Award for a Children's Book

Sector 7 by David Wiesner (Clarion Books)

Award for a Reference Work

Personal Name Index to the New York Times by Byron Falk Jr. and Valerie R. Falk (Roxbury Data Interface)

The 1999-2000 Book Awards Jury

Christopher Gray, Barbara Cohen, Hope Cooke, Joan K. Davidson, Elizabeth Barlow Rogers, Wendy Wasserstein

The awards presentation took place March 21, 2000.

Juror Barbara Cohen on New York 1880:

New York, 1880 by Stern, Mellins and Fishman is the most sophisticated volume yet of their comprehensive series on the architecture of the city. From tenements to skyscrapers they weave an engaging portrait of New York's buildings, both high and low.

Juror Wendy Wasserstein on Morgan:

Morgan is a panoramic view of the turn of the century's most accomplished financier. Jean Strouse mixes a writer's flair to turn extensive research into a rich story.

Juror Hope Cooke on 'Tis:

In 'Tis, the impish Frank McCourt paints a howlingly funny portrait of New York in the 1950's combining the strands of public school (in)discipline, street-level racial politics and shotgun marriages!

Juror Joan K. Davidson on Sector 7:

David Wiesner's Sector 7 is a wonderfully wordless fantasy, resurrecting Penn Station as the control center for an empire of clouds. Turn off the TV and give your kids this book!

Juror Christopher Gray on the Personal Name Index to the New York Times:

The Personal Name Index is outrageously ambitious in its scope but elegantly humble in its goal - to serve anyone who makes use of the already indispensable New York Times Index. The self-effacing Falks should have their names writ not just large but huge in the thank-you books of history.