Finalists announced for 2019 Minnesota Book Awards

Photographer Wing Young Huie explores what it means to be Chinese. — In his book "Chinese-ness" photographer Wing Young Huie embarks on a nuanced exploration of what it means to be Chinese inspired by his own experience growing up in Duluth.
Courtesy of Minnesota Historical Society Press

The field of finalists is set for the 31st annual Minnesota Book Awards.

Authors and artists living in Minnesota are eligible for the award. The finalists were picked Saturday by a group of judges from around the state, including librarians, booksellers and writers.

The awards are organized by The Friends of the St. Paul Public Library. The winners will be announced at a ceremony on April 6.

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Children's literature

• "Best Friends in the Universe" by Stephanie Watson, illustrated by LeUyen Pham

• "Hush Hush, Forest" by Mary Casanova, woodcuts by Nick Wroblewski

• "The Rabbit Listened" by Cori Doerrfeld

• "Small Walt and Mo the Tow" by Elizabeth Verdick, illustrated by Marc Rosenthal

Middle grade literature

• "The Collectors" by Jacqueline West

• "The Key to Every Thing" by Pat Schmatz

• "Louisiana's Way Home" by Kate DiCamillo

• "Otherwood" by Pete Hautman

Young adult literature

• "Dream Country" by Shannon Gibney

• "Hooper" by Geoff Herbach

• "We'll Fly Away" by Bryan Bliss

• "What I Leave Behind" by Alison McGhee

General nonfiction

• "Doing Harm: The Truth About How Bad Medicine and Lazy Science Leave Women Dismissed, Misdiagnosed, and Sick" by Maya Dusenbery

• "The Relentless Business of Treaties: How Indigenous Land Became U.S. Property" by Martin Case

• "A Stranger's Journey: Race, Identity, and Narrative Craft in Writing" by David Mura

• "Whaleback Ships and the American Steel Barge Company" by C. Roger Pellett

Genre fiction

• "Dreadful Young Ladies and Other Stories" by Kelly Barnhill

• "Leave No Trace" by Mindy Mejia

• "The Shadows We Hide" by Allen Eskens

• "The Voice Inside" by Brian Freeman

Memoir and creative nonfiction

• "The Art of the Wasted Day" by Patricia Hampl

• "Chinese-Ness: The Meanings of Identity and the Nature of Belonging" by Wing Young Huie

• "The I-35W Bridge Collapse: A Survivor's Account of America's Crumbling Infrastructure" by Kimberly J. Brown

• "Wild Mares: My Lesbian Back-to-the-Land Life" by Dianna Hunter

Minnesota-focused nonfiction

• "The Children of Lincoln: White Paternalism and the Limits of Black Opportunity in Minnesota, 1860-1876" by William D. Green

• "The Crusade for Forgotten Souls: Reforming Minnesota's Mental Institutions, 1946-1954" by Susan Bartlett Foote

• "Gichi Bitobig, Grand Marais: Early Accounts of the Anishinaabeg and the North Shore Fur Trade" by Timothy Cochrane

• "Gunflint Burning: Fire in the Boundary Waters" by Cary J. Griffith

Novel and short story

• "A Lady's Guide to Selling Out" by Sally Franson

• "Laurentian Divide: A Novel" by Sarah Stonich

• "Oranges" by Gary Eldon Peter

• "The Patron Saint of Lost Girls" by Maureen Aitken

Poetry

• "The Body of the World" by Mary Moore Easter

• "GeNtry!fication: or the scene of the crime" by Chaun Webster

• "Not Here" by Hieu Minh Nguyen

• "Wilder" by Claire Wahmanholm