Kate DiCamillo wanted a picture with me, so of course I said . . . Okay, you know that’s not true. I’ll admit, I stalked her.
Author acquaintance Cheryl Blackford said, “You can’t swing a cat in the Twin Cities without hitting a National Book Award winner, a McKnight fellowship winner, a Newbery winner, or a Minnesota Book Award finalist. We are so very fortunate to have such talent here.”
That certainly was the case while sitting among 900 other writers, illustrators, agents, editors, librarians, publishers, and book enthusiasts at the 27th Annual Minnesota Book Awards Gala. Holy cow, it was literary celebrity Heaven. My only regret: that I didn’t take more pictures.
Finalists for the Award for Young People’s Literature:
- Ambassador by William Alexander
- Leroy Ninker Saddles Up by Kate DiCamillo, illustrated by Chris Ban Dusen
- The Witch’s Boy by Kelly Barnhill
Winner:
- West of the Moon by Margi Preus
Congratulations to Michael Hall, finalist for the MN Book Award for Children’s Literature. (Fellow reviewer and book award judge, Louise Aamodt, is pictured on the right)
Finalists for the Award for Children’s Literature:
- It’s an Orange Aardvark! by Michael Hall
- Little Puppy and the Big Green Monster by Mike Wohnoutka
- Water Can Be by Laura Purdie, Salas, illustrated by Violeta Dabija
Winner:
- Winter Bees and Other Poems of the Cold by Joyce Sidman and Rick Allen
Congratulations to all Minnesota Book Award finalists and winners!