Minnesota Book Awards Past Finalists and Winners - 2011
*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 2010 were announced in 2011 at the 23rd Annual Minnesota Book Awards).
(Winners indicated by the 
icon; all others are Finalists)
2011 Award for Children’s Literature
Sponsored by Books For Africa
- My Heart Is Like a Zoo
- Michael Hall
- HarperCollins Publishers
- 1+1=5 and Other Unlikely Additions
- David LaRochelle, illustrated by Brenda Sexton
- Sterling Publishing
- Emma’s Poem: The Voice of the Statue of Liberty
- Linda Glaser, paintings by Claire A. Nivola
- Houghton Mifflin Books for Children/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
- A Night on the Range
- Aaron Frisch, illustrated by Chris Sheban
- The Creative Company
2011 Award for General Nonfiction
Sponsored by Minnesota AFL-CIO
- The Opposite of Cold: The Northwoods Finnish Sauna Tradition
- Michael Nordskog, photography by Aaron W. Hautala
- University of Minnesota Press*
- The Assassination of Hole in the Day
- Anton Treuer
- Borealis Books/Minnesota Historical Society Press*
- The Nature of College: How a New Understanding of Campus Life Can Change the World
- James J. Farrell
- Milkweed Editions*
- Paddle North: Canoeing the Boundary Waters-Quetico Wilderness
- Greg Breining, photography by Layne Kennedy
- Minnesota Historical Society Press*
2011 Award for Genre Fiction
Sponsored by Marvin Windows and Doors
- The Tale of Halcyon Crane
- Wendy Webb
- Henry Holt & Company
- Silencing Sam
- Julie Kramer
- Atria Books/Simon & Schuster
- The Taking of Libbie, SD
- David Housewright
- Minotaur Books
- Vermilion Drift
- William Kent Krueger
- Atria Books/Simon & Schuster
2011 Award for Memoir & Creative Nonfiction
- Carrier: Untangling the Danger in My DNA
- Bonnie J. Rough
- Counterpoint
- Crossing the Barriers: The Autobiography of Allan H. Spear
- Allan H. Spear
- University of Minnesota Press*
- News to Me: Adventures of an Accidental Journalist
- Laurie Hertzel
- University of Minnesota Press*
- She Looks Just Like You: A Memoir of (Nonbiological Lesbian) Motherhood
- Amie Klempnauer Miller
- Beacon Press
2011 Award for Minnesota
Sponsored by Xcel Energy
- North Country: The Making of Minnesota
- Mary Lethert Wingerd
- University of Minnesota Press*
- Prairie, Lake, Forest: Minnesota’s State Parks
- Chris Niskanen, photography by Doug Ohman
- Minnesota Historical Society Press*
- This Is Not Florida: How Al Franken Won the Minnesota Senate Recount
- Jay Weiner
- University of Minnesota Press*
- We’re Gonna Win, Twins! 50 Years of Minnesota’s Hometown Team
- Doug Grow
- University of Minnesota Press*
2011 Award for Novel & Short Story
Sponsored by Anchor Trust
- Vestments
- John Reimringer
- Milkweed Editions*
- Dogfight, A Love Story
- Matt Burgess
- Doubleday/Random House, Inc.
- The House of Tomorrow
- Peter Bognanni
- Amy Einhorn Books/G.P. Putnam’s Sons
- Losing Camille
- Paul Kilgore
- Black Lawrence Press/Dzanc Books
2011 Award for Poetry
Sponsored by Wellington Management, Inc.
- Find the Girl
- Lightsey Darst
- Coffee House Press*
- Dreaming Man, Face Down
- Mark Conway
- Dream Horse Press
- On Speaking Terms
- Connie Wanek
- Copper Canyon Press
- Sin Eater
- William Reichard
- Mid-List Press
2011 Award for Young People’s Literature
Sponsored by 3M Company
- Blank Confession
- Pete Hautman
- Simon & Schuster
- The Books of Elsewhere, Volume I: The Shadows
- Jacqueline West
- Dial Books for Young Readers/The Penguin Group
- Hamster Magic
- Lynne Jonell, illustrated by Brandon Dorman
- Random House Children’s Books/Random House, Inc.
- Split
- Swati Avasthi
- Random House Children’s Books/Random House, Inc.
* Denotes a Minnesota-based Publisher
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:3M Company; Anchor Trust; Beaver’s Pond Press; Books For Africa; Capstone; Coffee House Press; Common Good Books; Lerner Publishing; The Loft Literary Center; MELSA; Milkweed Editions; Minnesota AFL-CIO; Minnesota Center for Book Arts; Minnesota Crime Wave; Minnesota Educational Media Organization; Minnesota Library Foundation; Minnesota Licensed Beverage Association; Red Balloon Bookshop; Saint Paul Almanac; Wellington Management, Inc.; Xcel Energy. Media sponsors include Minnesota Public Radio (MPR); Pioneer Press and TwinCities.com; Saint Paul Neighborhood Network (SPNN); Swank Audio Visuals; Twin Cities Public Television (TPT) Minnesota Channel. Generous support has been provided by The Boss Foundation; Harlan Boss Foundation for the Arts, Huss Foundation, The Katherine B. Andersen Fund of The Saint Paul Foundation; City of Saint Paul - Cultural STAR Program; Minnesota Department of Education—State Library Services.
