2026 annual Minnesota Book Awards finalists announced
Jan 29, 2026 08:13AM ● By Editor
Photo by Kimberly Farmer on Unsplash
From The Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library - January 29, 2026
From The Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library - January 29, 2026
The Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library announced finalists in ten categories for the 2026 Minnesota Book Awards, presented this year by sponsor Education Minnesota.
Chosen on Saturday, January 24, by 27 judges from around the state – writers, teachers, librarians, booksellers, and others from the literary community – the finalists for each category are:
Chosen on Saturday, January 24, by 27 judges from around the state – writers, teachers, librarians, booksellers, and others from the literary community – the finalists for each category are:
Children’s Literature, sponsored by Beret Publishing:
- All the Stars in the Sky by Art Coulson; illustrated by Winona Nelson (Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers/Simon & Schuster)
- Dear Acorn (Love, Oak) by Joyce Sidman; illustrated by Melissa Sweet (Clarion Books/ HarperCollins)
- Revolutions Are Made of Love: The Story of James Boggs and Grace Lee Boggs by Mélina Mangal and Sun Yung Shin; illustrated by Leslie Barlow (Carolrhoda Books/Lerner Publishing)*
- Saturday Morning at the 'Shop by Keenan Jones; illustrated by Ken Daley (Beach Lane Books/Simon & Schuster)
General Nonfiction:
- Enchanted Plants: A Treasury of Botanical Folklore and Magic by Varla Ventura (Weiser Books/Red Wheel Weiser)
- Gentlemen of the Woods: Manhood, Myth, and the American Lumberjack by Willa Hammitt Brown (University of Minnesota Press)*
- It's Their World: Teens, Screens, and the Science of Adolescence by Erin Walsh (Free Spirit Publishing)
- Sea of Grass: The Conquest, Ruin, and Redemption of Nature on the American Prairie by David Hage and Josephine Marcotty (Random House/Penguin Random House)
Genre Fiction, sponsored by Macalester College:
- Apostle's Cove by William Kent Krueger (Atria Books/Simon & Schuster)
- Broken Fields by Marcie Rendon (Soho Press/Penguin Random House)
- The Codebreaker's Daughter by Amy Lynn Green (Bethany House Publishers/Baker Publishing Group)
- The Quiet Librarian by Allen Eskens (Mulholland Books/Little, Brown and Company/Hachette Book Group)
Memoir & Creative Nonfiction:
- Beard: A Memoir of a Marriage by Kelly Foster Lundquist (Eerdmans/Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.)
- The Book of Kin by Jennifer Eli Bowen (Milkweed Editions)*
- The Lonely Veteran's Guide to Companionship by Bronson Lemer (University of Wisconsin Press)
- What Doesn't Kill Me Makes Me Weirder and Harder to Relate To: A Memoir by Mary Lucia (University of Minnesota Press)*
Middle Grade Literature, sponsored by Education Minnesota:
- The House on Rondo by Debra J. Stone (University of Minnesota Press)*
- Scattergood by H.M. Bouwman (Neal Porter Books/Holiday House)
- Weird Sad and Silent by Alison McGhee (Rocky Pond Books/Penguin Random House)
- What Happened Then by Erin Soderberg Downing (Scholastic Press)
Emilie Buchwald Award for Minnesota Nonfiction, sponsored by Annette and John Whaley:
- Enmity and Empathy: Japanese Americans in Minnesota During World War II by Ka F. Wong (Minnesota Historical Society Press)*
- Held Over: Harold and Maude at The Westgate Theater by John Gaspard (self-published)
- Her Place in the Woods: The Life of Helen Hoover by David Hakensen (University of Minnesota Press)*
- The War at Home: Minnesota During the Great War, 1914 - 1920 by Greg Gaut (Minnesota Historical Society Press)*
Novel & Short Story, sponsored by Minnesota Humanities Center:
- Ashes to Ashes by Thomas Maltman (Soho Press/Penguin Random House)
- If the Dead Belong Here: A Novel by Carson Faust (Viking/Penguin Random House)
- Lucky Tomorrow: Stories by Deborah Jiang-Stein (University of Minnesota Press)*
- The Many Mothers of Dolores Moore by Anika Fajardo (Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster)
Poetry, sponsored by Wellington Management, Inc.:
- The Becoming Game by Paula Cisewski (Hanging Loose Press)
- Enter by Jim Moore (Graywolf Press)*
- I Imagine I Been Science Fiction Always by Douglas Kearney (Wave Books)
- Terminal Maladies by Okwudili Nebeolisa (Autumn House Press)
Young Adult Literature:
- Alice in Evermoor by Karen Huss (self-published)
- The Flip Side by Jason Walz (Rocky Pond Books/Penguin Random House)
- Seven for a Secret by Mary E. Roach (Disney Hyperion/Penguin Random House)
- Worthy of Trust: That Word Honor Book 1 by Erin Makela (Beaver's Pond Press)*
*Indicates a Minnesota-based publisher.
Award winners will be announced at the 2026 Minnesota Book Awards Ceremony on Tuesday, May 6, at Ordway Center for Performing Arts. The Kay Sexton and Hognander Minnesota History awards will also be presented that evening. Tickets are $27 and are available at www.thefriends.org/mnba. The Preface begins at 6:30 p.m., followed by the Awards Ceremony at 7:30 p.m. There will be an option to access the livestream of the Ceremony for free online.
Related: Winners of the Northeastern Minnesota Book Awards announced
Related: Winners of the Northeastern Minnesota Book Awards announced
The Minnesota Book Awards is a year-long program of The Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library that connects readers and writers throughout the state with the stories of our neighbors. The process begins in the fall with book submissions and continues through winter with two rounds of judging. Winners are announced at the Minnesota Book Awards Ceremony each spring. Woven throughout the season are events that promote the authors and connect the world of Minnesota books – writers, artists, illustrators, publishers, editors, and more – to readers throughout the state. In recognition of this and its other statewide programs and services, the Library of Congress has recognized The Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library as the state’s designated Center for the Book. For more information visit thefriends.org/mnba.
About The Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library:
The Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library acts as a catalyst for libraries to strengthen and inspire their communities. An independent, nonprofit organization established in 1945, The Friends invests in the Saint Paul Public Library through fundraising, advocacy, and programming; as a result, our Library is a nationally-recognized leader in serving its community. The Friends also serves libraries across the country through its consulting services, Library Strategies, and promotes literacy, reading, and libraries statewide as the Library of Congress’s designated Minnesota Center for the Book. For more information, contact The Friends at 651-222-3242 or visit thefriends.org.
The Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library acts as a catalyst for libraries to strengthen and inspire their communities. An independent, nonprofit organization established in 1945, The Friends invests in the Saint Paul Public Library through fundraising, advocacy, and programming; as a result, our Library is a nationally-recognized leader in serving its community. The Friends also serves libraries across the country through its consulting services, Library Strategies, and promotes literacy, reading, and libraries statewide as the Library of Congress’s designated Minnesota Center for the Book. For more information, contact The Friends at 651-222-3242 or visit thefriends.org.
