"Silhouette of a Sparrow," a debut young-adult novel by Minneapolis writer Molly Beth Griffin, is the winner of Milkweed Edition's annual Milkweed Prize for Children's Literature. Her book (reviewed here in the Star Tribune) is a coming-of-age tale of a 16-year-old girl in Excelsior during the 1920s. The award carries a $10,000 prize. Griffin is a graduate of Hamline University's MFA program in writing for children and young adults and she teaches at the Loft. You can read more about her here.
Meanwhile, Minnesota poet Ed Bok Lee has won an American Book Award for "Whorled," his collection of poetry published last year by Coffee House Press. "Whorled" also won a Minnesota Book Award. The Star Tribune review (which you can read here) called the book, "devastating and grandstanding, word-drunk and built for speed."
And, finally, two Minnesota high school seniors have won James Patterson awards in an essay competition. Fifteen students across the country won first-place awards, including Luke Mielke of St. Paul, and twenty students won second-place awards, including William Theriac, also of St. Paul.
The essays must answer the question "How has your favorite book inspired you?" and winners receive $1,000 and $500, respectively, to spend on books. The money is sent to a bookstore of the students' choice--in both cases, Common Good Books in St. Paul--and an account is established in their name.
What a fun, fun prize.
Congratulations all around!
