The attorney general of Minnesota and one of the world’s most beloved writers for young people are among the nominees for this year’s Minnesota Book Awards.
The Friends of the St. Paul Public Library announced the contenders, including Keith Ellison’s “Break the Wheel” and Kate DiCamillo’s “The Puppets of Spelhorst,” as well as podcaster TD Mischke’s “Winter’s Song” and National Book Award-longlisted “A Council of Dolls,” by Mona Susan Power. Presented this year by Education Minnesota, awards will be handed out May 7 at the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts. Tickets, which are $22, can be purchased at thefriends.org.
The nominees:
Novel & Short Story, sponsored by Minnesota Humanities Center:
“Brotherless Night,” by V.V. Ganeshananthan (Penguin Random House); “A Council of Dolls,” by Mona Susan Power (Mariner Books); “Power and Light,” by Will Weaver (Calumet Editions); “The Sky Vault,” by Benjamin Percy (William Morrow).
General Nonfiction:
“The Greatest Summer in Baseball History: How the ‘73 Season Changed Us Forever,” by John Rosengren (Sourcebooks); “Lessons on the Road to Peace,” by John Noltner (self-published); “The Needle and the Lens: Pop Goes to the Movies From Rock ‘n’ Roll to Synthwave,” by Nate Patrin (University of Minnesota Press); “Smoke on the Waterfront: The Northern Waters Smokehaus Cookbook,” by Ned Netzel, Nic Peloquin, Mary K. Tennis, Greg Conley & Eric Goerdt; photographs by Jacob Swanson, Florencia Matamoros, Stephen Pestalozzi, & Zac Bentz (University of Minnesota Press).
Emilie Buchwald Award for Minnesota Nonfiction:
“Break the Wheel: Ending the Cycle of Police Violence,” by Keith Ellison (Twelve Books); “Making the Carry: The Lives of John and Tchi-Ki-Wis Linklater,” by Timothy Cochrane (University of Minnesota Press); “Minescapes: Reclaiming Minnesota’s Mined Lands,” by Pete Kero (Minnesota Historical Society Press); “Winter’s Song: A Hymn to the North,” by TD Mischke (Skywater Publishing Cooperative).
