Award for Children’s Literature
Sponsored by Xcel Energy:
Lynne Jonell – Emmy and the Incredible Shrinking Rat
Published by Henry Holt and Company

When Emmy discovers that she and her parents are being drugged with rat potions by her horrid nanny, Miss Barmy, she and her animal friends must foil the dastardly plot. Readers will enjoy the clashes between Emmy and the mischievous rat in this whimsical adventure.

Award for General Nonfiction
Sponsored by Meyer, Scherer & Rockcastle, Ltd.:
Charles Baxter – The Art of Subtext: Beyond Plot
Published by Graywolf Press*

Acclaimed writer and essayist Charles Baxter explores the hidden overtones and undertones in fictional work. As the author explains, “A novel is not a summary of its plot but a collection of instances, of luminous specific details that take us in the direction of the unsaid and the unseen.” Baxter teaches at the University of Minnesota.

Award for Genre Fiction:
William Kent Krueger – Thunder Bay
Published by Atria Books/Simon & Schuster

The seventh book in the Cork O’Connor series takes the protagonist into Canada where he attempts to locate the son his friend, the Ojibwe healer Henry Meloux, fathered several years ago. Reuniting the two proves more dangerous than anyone predicted. William Kent Krueger, winner of last year’s Genre Fiction Award, lives in St. Paul.

Award for Memoir & Creative Nonfiction
Sponsored by Wellington Management, Inc.:
Patricia Hampl – The Florist’s Daughter
Published by Harcourt

In her most personal book to date, St. Paul author Patricia Hampl revisits her childhood as she experiences her mother’s death. Daughter of a Czech father whose floral work gave him entrée to high society, and a distrustful Irishwoman with an uncanny ability to tell a tale, Hampl paints a picture of herself as someone who remained a devoted daughter well into adulthood.

Award for Minnesota
Sponsored by Marquette Financial Companies:
Doug Hoverson - Land of Amber Waters:
The History of Brewing in Minnesota
Published by the University of Minnesota Press*

Starting with Minnesota’s first brewery in 1849, Doug Hoverson, a certified beer judge and award-winning homebrewer, tells the story of the state’s beer industry from small-town breweries to larger companies such as Schell’s and Grain Belt. The book also highlights the vibrant beer culture of today including a new wave of breweries and brewpubs.

Award for Novel & Short Story:
Wang Ping – The Last Communist Virgin
Published by Coffee House Press*

From the restaurants of New York’s Chinatown to the retail emporium of Bergdorf Goodman, and from remote Chinese military outposts to the streets of Beijing, Wang Ping’s stories open a window into the rapid transformations of an ancient culture. Born in Shanghai, the author currently teaches at Macalester College.

Award for Poetry:
Deborah Keenan – Willow Room, Green Door
Published by Milkweed Editions*

Written over the course of three decades, this collection presents a body of work addressing themes of love and rage; vulnerability and authority; and distraction and focus. In this collection, the reader gets a sense of inhabiting the world with the poet, of walking through time, both historical and personal.

Award for Young Adult Literature:
Will Weaver - Defect
Published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux

David was born with different features than other people. Some are apparent to others, such as his hearing aids and misshapen face. Others are secret, terrifying to some and magical to others. Will Weaver has written many notable young adult novels as well as the short story on which the movie Sweet Land was based.

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