Kregel Title Named 2025 ACFW Carol Award Winner

GRAND RAPIDS, MI — On Sunday, September 7, American Christian Fiction Writers announced the winners of the 2025 ACFW Carol Awards. One Kregel title was a winner.

Where Trees Touch the Sky by Karen Barnett was awarded the Carol Award in Historical. In the early 1920s, nature-loving Marion Baker discovers that the man she's grown to love is the son of one of the area's most prominent timber barons. She endeavors to convince him to help preserve her favorite redwood grove but faces a question: Is her love strong enough to persuade him—or will she choose to sacrifice her beliefs to keep him by her side?

Nearly fifty years later, in 1972, polio survivor June Turner is determined to prove herself capable as a ranger and to carry on the family tradition of preserving God's magnificent creation. She accepts the opportunity to help make a documentary about her Aunt Marion, not knowing it would unearth a secret that could cost June her family pride and her own dreams.

Barnett’s beautifully crafted split-time novel is set against the majestic backdrop of Redwood National Park, immersing readers in a historical read with secrets, family legacies, and the question of sacrifice.

Kregel is pleased to congratulate Karen Barnett. The full list of winners can be found here.

Kregel Publications is an evangelical Christian publisher that aims to develop and distribute—with integrity and excellence—trusted, biblically based resources that lead individuals to know and serve Jesus Christ.

The Carol Awards, hosted by ACFW, recognize the best Christian fiction published in the previous calendar year. ACFW's mission is to help you tell your stories by inspiring you to partner with God in the creative process, learn the craft, and find your audience.