Minnesota Book Award finalists announced

Some of the finalists of the 30th annual Minnesota Book Awards.
Some of the finalists of the 30th annual Minnesota Book Awards.
Courtesy of publishers

This year marks the 30th celebration of the Minnesota Book Awards, and the finalists are now out.

Authors and artists living in Minnesota are eligible for the award. The finalists are chosen by a group of judges from around the state, including librarians, booksellers and writers. Past winners include Louise Erdrich, Marlon James, Kao Kalia Yang and more.

The awards are organized by The Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library. The winners will be announced at a ceremony on April 21.

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Children's literature

• "A Different Pond" by Bao Phi, illustrated by Thi Bui

• "Mighty Moby" by Ed Young, text by Barbara DaCosta

• "Round" by Joyce Sidman, illustrated by Taeeun Yoo

• "The Shape of the World: A Portrait of Frank Lloyd Wright" by K. L. Going, illustrated by Lauren Stringer

Middle grade literature

• "A Crack in the Sea" by H. M. Bouwman

• "The End of the Wild" by Nicole Helget

• "Isaac the Alchemist: Secrets of Isaac Newton, Reveal'd" by Mary Losure

• "Rooting for Rafael Rosales" by Kurtis Scaletta

Young adult literature

• "The Exo Project by Andrew DeYoung" | More

• "The Last Thing You Said" by Sara Biren

• "Thief's Cunning" by Sarah Ahiers

• "Things I'm Seeing Without You" by Peter Bognanni

General nonfiction

• "Alice in France: The World War I Letters of Alice M. O'Brien" by Nancy O'Brien Wagner

• "The First and Only Book of Sack: 36 Years of Cartoons for the Star Tribune" by Steve Sack | More

• "Fortress America: How We Embraced Fear and Abandoned Democracy" by Elaine Tyler May | More

• "Mountain Ranch" by Michael Crouser

Genre fiction

• "The Dark Net" by Benjamin Percy | More

• "The End of Temperance Dare" by Wendy Webb

• "Nothing Stays Buried" by P. J. Tracy | More

• "Sulfur Springs" by William Kent Krueger

Memoir and creative nonfiction

• "Give a Girl a Knife" by Amy Thielen | More

• "It Won't Be Easy: An Exceedingly Honest (and Slightly Unprofessional) Love Letter to Teaching" by Tom Rademacher

• "Marcel's Letters: A Font and the Search for One Man's Fate" by Carolyn Porter

• "Onigamiising: Seasons of an Ojibwe Year" by Linda LeGarde Grover | More

Minnesota-focused nonfiction

• "A Bag Worth a Pony: The Art of the Ojibwe Bandolier Bag" by Marcia G. Anderson

• "Got to Be Something Here: The Rise of the Minneapolis Sound" by Andrea Swensson

• "Miles Lord: The Maverick Judge Who Brought Corporate America to Justice" by Roberta Walburn

• "Sights, Sounds, Soul: The Twin Cities Through the Lens of Charles Chamblis" by Davu Seru, photography by Charles Chamblis

Novel and short story

• "Future Home of the Living God" by Louise Erdrich | More

• "Stories for a Lost Child" by Carter Meland

• "The Through" by A. Rafael Johnson

• "What It Means When a Man Falls from the Sky" by Lesley Nneka Arimah | More

Poetry

• "Autopsy" by Donte Collins

• "Curator of Ephemera at the New Museum for Archaic Media" by Heid E. Erdrich

• "Solve for Desire" by Caitlin Bailey

• "Thousand Star Hotel" by Bao Phi | More