Readers' Choice Award
Since 2007, all Minnesotans are invited to take part in voting for the Readers' Choice Award in the weeks leading up to the Minnesota Book Awards gala. The Readers' Choice Award is designed to let readers from throughout the state have their say in what they feel is the best book of the year. Votes are tabulated from online voting for one book among the four finalists in each regular category.
In spring of 2011, more than 2,000 readers visited Twin Cities.com to vote for their favorite among the 32 Minnesota Book Award finalists.
2012 Readers’ Choice Award:
Kurtis Scaletta
The Tanglewood Terror
Published by Alfred A. Knopf/Random House Children’s Books
The book was a finalist in the Young People's Literature category. Kurtis Scaletta lives in Minneapolis, where he is currently working on his fourth book for middle school audiences.
2011 Readers’ Choice Award:
Laurie Hertzel
News to Me: Adventures of an Accidental Journalist
Published by University of Minnesota Press.
Hertzel is the books editor at the Minneapolis Star Tribune. This story of her journey in the world of print journalism was nominated in the Memoir and Creative Nonfiction category.
Previous Winners:
2010 Readers' Choice Award:
Dave Kenney
Honor Bright: A Century of Scouting in Northern Star Council
Published by Northern Star Council, The Boy Scouts of America.
2009 Readers' Choice Award:
Kao Kalia Yang
The Latehomecomer: A Hmong Family Memoir
Published by Coffee House Press
2008 Readers' Choice Award:
Jill Kalz
Farmer Cap
Published by Picture Window Books
2007 Readers' Choice Award:
Matthew Sanford
Waking: A Memoir of Trauma and Transcendence
Published by Rodale
The Minnesota Book Awards is a project of The Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library, in consortium with the Saint Paul Public Library and the City of Saint Paul. Outreach partners and supporting organizations include: MELSA, Minnesota Center for Book Arts, Minnesota Department of Education—State Library Services, and Minnesota Educational Media Organization.