Karen Tei Yamashita, author of "I Hotel," published by Coffee House Press of Minneapolis, is this year's winner of the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature in fiction.

And Margi Preus, the Duluth author of "Heart of a Samurai," is the winner in children's literature. Preus's book was also a Newbery Honor Book this year.

The awards will be given in June in New Orleans. You can read the Star Tribune review of "I Hotel" here. And you can read theStar Tribune review of "Heart of a Samurai" here.