"Lost and Found: A Memoir of Mothers," by Kate St. Vincent Vogl, has been published by North Star Press of St. Cloud, Minn. Vogl is a fiction writer and writing teacher who lives in Plymouth. Her memoir is about finding her birth mother after her adoptive mother died of cancer.

• David Ward, professor emeritus at the University of Minnesota, has written "Alcatraz: The Gangster Years," published this month by the University of California Press. "Alcatraz," co-authored by Gene Kassebaum, covers the famous California prison from 1934 to 1948.

• "Ms. April and Ms. Mae," a picture book written and illustrated by Karen Dugan, has been published by the Gryphon Press of Minneapolis.

Meanwhile, the two picture books published by Gryphon last year have been honored. "A Home for Dakota" was named best picture book of the year by the Humane Society of the United States, which also named Gryphon's "It's Raining Cats and Cats" an honor book. These awards are the second for both books, which were previously honored with first- and second-place awards from the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.