Minnesota Book Awards Past Finalists and Winners
by Award Year, 1988-2007

1988 | 1989 | 1991* | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997
1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007

*Note: No awards were held in 1990. 

Please also note that the award winners listed for each year were awarded in the year following publication (i.e. winners published in 2006 were announced in 2007 at the 19th Annual Minnesota Book Awards).

(Winners indicated by the icon; all others are Finalists)

1997 Biography and History

 Ado Leopold: A Fierce Green Fire
Marybeth Lorbiecki
Falcon Publishing

Remembering China, 1935-1945: A Memoir
Bea Exner Liu
New Rivers Press

F. Scott Fitzgerald in Minnesota: Toward the Summit
Dave Page
John Koblas
North Star Press of St. Cloud

And Prairie Dogs Weren't Kosher: Jewish Women in the Upper Midwest Since 1855
Linda Mack Schloff
Minnesota Historical Society Press

1997 Children's Non-Fiction

 Snapshot: America Discovers the Camera
Kenneth P. Czech
Lerner Publications

Jimmy Carter: On the Road to Peace
Carol Lazo
Dillon Press

Diseases: Finding the Cure
Robert Mulcahy
The Oliver Press

Free to Dream. The Making of a Poet: Langston Hughes
Audrey Osofsky
Lothrop, Lee & Shepard

1997 Collected Works

 Changing the Bully that Rules the World: Reading and Thinking About Ethics
Carol Bly, editor
Milkweed Editions

Irene: Selected Writings of Irene Paul
Gayla Ellis and others, editors
Midwest Villages & Voices

The Frederick Manfred Reader
John Calvin Rezmerski, editor
Holy Cow! Press

Going to the Lake
Betty Rossi, editor
Elmo Heggie, editor
Loonfeather Press

1997 Help & Guidance

 The Manipulative Child: How to Gain Control and Raise Resilient, Resourceful, and Independent Kids
E. W. Swihart
Patrick D. Cotter
Macmillan

Lifekeys: Discovering Who You Are, Why You're Here, What You Do Best
Jane A. G. Kise
David Stark
Bethany House Press

Cooperation Works: How People Are Using Cooperative Action to Rebuild Communities and Revitalize the Economy
E. G. Nadeau
Loan Oak Press

The Smart Consumers Book of Questions
Linda Mack Ross
Chicago Review Press

1997 Illustrated Books

 Minnesota's Architect: The Life and Work of Clarence H. Johnston
Paul Clifford Larson
Afton Historical Society Press

Maya Quest: The Interactive Expedition
Dan Buettner
Onion Press

Frogtown: Photographs and Conversations in an Urban Neighborhood
Wing Young Huie
Minnesota Historical Society Press

Twin Cites Then and Now
Larry Millett
Jerry Mathiason, photographer
Minnesota Historical Society Press

1997 Information

 Canoe Country Flora: Plants and Trees of the North Woods and Boundary Waters
Mark Stensaas
Pfeifer-Hamilton

Fred's Best Guide to Twin Cities Winter Recreation
Richard 'Fred' Arey
Minnesota Outdoor Press

Nature's Revenge: The Secrets of Poison Ivy, Poison Oak, Poison Sumac, and Their Remedies
Susan Hauser
Lyons & Burford

A Field Guide to Cows
John Pukite
Falcoln Press Publishing

1997 Memoirs

 Patty's Journey: From Orphanage to Adoption and Reunion
Donna Scott Norling
University of Minnesota Press

Crossing the Moon: A Journey Through Infertility
Paulette Bates Alden
Hungry Mind Press

Rescuing Little Roundhead
Syl Jones
Milkweed Editions

Where the Body Meets Memory: An Odyssey of Race, Sexuality and Identity
David Mura
Anchor Books

1997 Minnesota Places

 Tales of the Old North Shore: Paintings and Companion Stories
Howard Sivertson
Lake Superior Port Cities

To Call It Home: The New Immigrants of Southwestern Minnesota
Joseph A. Amato and others
Crossings Press

Afton Remembered
Edwin G. Robb
Afton Historical Society Press

Grand Avenue: The Renaissance of an Urban Street
Billoine Whiting Young
David Lanegran
North Star Press of St. Cloud

1997 Mystery & Detective

 Silent Words
Joan M. Drury
Spinsters Ink

The Oldest Sin
Ellen Hart
Ballantine Books

The Mortal Nuts
Pete Hautman
Simon & Schuster

1997 Nature

 Far From Tame: Reflections From the Heart of a Continent
Laurie Allmann
University of Minnesota Press

North Country Almanac: A Seasonal Guide to the Great Outdoors
Anne Braatas
Pioneer Books

Explorations in the Ordinary: A Backyard Naturalist's View of Minnesota
David R. Moffatt
North Star Press of St. Cloud

Smithson's Island: The Necessity of Solitude
Judith Ann Smithson
Lone Oak Press

1997 Non-Fiction

 The Garden of Eating: Food, Sex and the Hunger for Meaning
Jeremy Iggers
Basic Books

The American Barbershop: A Closer Look at a Disappearing Place
Mic Hunter
Face to Face Books

The Last Word on Lutefisk: True Tales of Cod and Tradition
Gary Legwold
Conrad Henry Press

1997 Novels

 Tales of Burning Love
Louise Erdrich
Harper Collins

Pushing the Bear: A Novel of the Trail of Tears
Diane Glancy
Harcourt Brace

Live at Five
David Haynes
Milkweed Editions

The Empress of One
Faith Sullivan
Milkweed Editions

1997 Personal Voices

 The Heart Can Be Filled Anywhere on Earth: Minneota, Minnesota
Bill Holm
Milkweed Editions
*Also winner of the 1997 John T. Flanagan Award

The Snow Lotus: Exploring the Eternal Moment
Peter Leschak
University of Minnesota Press

A Haunting Reverence: Meditations on a Northern Land
Kent Nerburn
New World Library

1997 Picture Books

 Aunt Nancy and Old Man Trouble
Phyllis Root, author
Candlewick Press

 Mud
Lauren Stringer, illustrator
Harcourt Brace

The Fiddler of the Northern Lights
Leslie W. Bowman, illustrator
Cobblehill Books/Dutton

Night Driving
John Coy, author
Henry Holt & Company

My Many Colored Days
Steve Johnson, illustrator
Lou Fancher, illustrator
Knopf

Ghost Dance
Alice McLerran, author
Clarion

October Smiled Back
Lisa Westberg Peters, author
Henry Holt

Remember That
Karen Ritz, illustrator
Clarion

1997 Poetry

 War Baby Express
Roseann Lloyd
Holy Cow! Press

To Collect the Flesh: Poems
Greg Hewett
New Rivers Press

Dovetailed Corners: Prose Poems
Jim Johnson
Marlene Wisuri, photographer
J.C. Hendricks, photographer
Holy Cow! Press

On the Road with Patsy Cline: Poems
John W. Reinhard
New Rivers Press

1997 Short Stories

 Glass Houses: Stories
George Rabasa
Coffee House Press

One Last Dance with Lawrence Welk
Peter Damian Bellis
River Boat Books

The Dance Hall at Spring Hill: Stories
Duke Klassen
New Rivers Press

An Explanation for Chaos
Julie Schumacher
Soho Press

The Worldwide Church of the Handicapped and Other Stories
Marie Sheppard Williams
Coffee House Press

1997 Young Adult Fiction

 Sees Behind Trees
Michael Dorris
Hyperion Books for Children

Riot
Mary Casanova
Hyperion Books for Children

Nerd No More
Kristine L. Franklin
Candlewick Press

Book of Enchantments
Patricia C. Wrede
Harcourt Brace: Jane Yolen Book

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The Minnesota Book Awards is a Capital City project, led by The Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library,
in consortium with the Saint Paul Public Library and the Mayor’s office in the City of Saint Paul. 
Outreach partners for the Book Awards include the Metropolitan Library Service Agency (MELSA)
and the Minnesota Library Association (MLA).