Names both familiar and new populate the list of 36 finalists for this year's Minnesota Book Awards, announced Saturday. Minneapolis writer Louise Erdrich, winner of five Minnesota Book Awards, is a finalist for "The Night Watchman," the novel based on the life of her grandfather, Patrick Gourneau. St. Paul writer Kao Kalia Yang, winner of four awards, is a finalist in two categories — memoir and children's literature. Kawai Strong Washburn and Jonathan C. Slaght are both finalists for their debut books. Here's the full list:
Children's Literature, sponsored by Books for Africa
• "Bee Love (Can Be Hard)," by Alan Page and Kamie Page (Page Education Foundation)
• "Big Papa and the Time Machine," by Daniel Bernstrom (HarperCollins)
• "A Bowl Full of Peace: A True Story," by Caren Stelson (Carolrhoda)
• "The Most Beautiful Thing," by Kao Kalia Yang (Carolrhoda)
Middle Grade Literature, sponsored by Education Minnesota
• "What if a Fish," by Anika Fajardo (Simon & Schuster)
• "Lukezilla Beats the Game," by Kurtis Scaletta (Capstone Editions)
• "CatStronauts: Digital Disaster," by Drew Brockington (Little, Brown)
• "The Littlest Voyageur," by Margi Preus (Margaret Ferguson Books/Holiday House)
Young Adult Literature, sponsored by United Educators Credit Union
• "Where We Are," by Alison McGhee (Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books)
• "My Eyes Are Up Here," by Laura Zimmermann (Dutton Books for Young Readers)
• "The Whitsun Daughters," by Carrie Mesrobian (Dutton Books for Young Readers)
• "Unscripted," by Nicole Kronzer (Amulet Books)
Emily Buchwald Award for Minnesota Nonfiction
• "Daybreak Woman: An Anglo-Dakota Life," by Jane Lamm Carroll (Minnesota Historical Society Press)
• "Elizabeth Scheu Close: A Life in Modern Architecture," by Jane King Hession (University of Minn. Press)
• "Minnesota's Geologist: The Life of Newton Horace Winchell," by Sue Leaf (University of Minnesota Press)
• "A Woman's War, Too: Women at Work During World War II," by Virginia Wright-Peterson (Minnesota Historical Society Press)
Genre Fiction, sponsored by Macalester College
• "The Deep, Deep Snow," by Brian Freeman (Blackstone Publishing)
• "From the Grave: A McKenzie Novel," by David Housewright (Minotaur Books)
• "Get Idiota," by Nate Granzow (Self-published)
• "Things We Didn't Say," by Amy Lynn Green (Bethany House Publishers)
General Nonfiction
• "100 Cookies: The Baking Book for Every Kitchen, with Classic Cookies, Novel Treats, Brownies, Bars, and More," by Sarah Kieffer (Chronicle Books)
• "How the Streets Were Made: Housing Segregation and Black Life in America," by Yelena Bailey (University of North Carolina Press)
• "Owls of the Eastern Ice: A Quest to Find and Save the World's Largest Owl," by Jonathan C. Slaght (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
• "The Language Warrior's Manifesto: How to Keep Our Languages Alive No Matter the Odds," by Anton Treuer (Minnesota Historical Society Press)
Memoir & Creative Nonfiction
• "The War Requiem," by Kaia Solveig Preus (Essay Press)
• "Tell Me Your Names and I Will Testify: Essays," by Carolyn Holbrook (University of Minnesota Press)
• "Unglued: A Bipolar Love Story," by Jeffrey Zuckerman (Boyle & Dalton)
• "Somewhere in the Unknown World," by Kao Kalia Yang (Metropolitan Books)
Poetry, sponsored by Wellington Management
• "Catrachos," by Roy G. Guzmán (Graywolf Press)
• "Feel Puma: Poems," by Ray Gonzalez (University of New Mexico Press)
• "Homie: Poems," by Danez Smith (Graywolf Press)
• "Wound from the Mouth of a Wound," by torrin a. greathouse (Milkweed Editions)
Novel & Short Story, sponsored by College of St. Ben's/St. John's Univ.
• "Sharks in the Time of Saviors," by Kawai Strong Washburn (MCD)
• "The Night Watchman," by Louise Erdrich (Harper)
• "Bliss" by Fredrick Soukup (Regal House)
• "The Things You Left," by Raki Kopernik (Unsolicited Press)
The winners will be announced in a virtual ceremony on April 29. The online event is free but requires registration, which opens Feb. 1 at thefriends.org/mnba.
