Genre:
Middle Grade
Kristin Johnson
Kristin Johnson has won two Minnesota State Arts Board Artist Initiative grants (2013, 2015), a Mystery Writers of America Helen McCloy Award for mystery novel writing, two Loft Literary Shabo Awards for picture books (2007, 2011), and published nine books for children. She has also published numerous poems, articles, and short fiction in a variety…
Alison McGhee
Alison McGhee writes novels, picture books, poems, and essays for all ages. Her most loved books include the novels The Opposite of Fate, Shadow Baby, and Never Coming Back, along with Someday, the #1 New York Times bestselling picture book for adults. Her work has been translated in more than 20 languages. She also teaches…
Paige Riehl
Paige Riehl is the author of the poetry collection Suspension and the poetry chapbook Blood Ties. Her poetry has appeared in numerous publications such as Artful Dodge, Crab Orchard Review, Water~Stone Review, Portland Review, and Meridian. She was a finalist for the 2017 Lindquist & Vennum Prize for Poetry and winner of the Loft Mentor…
J.M. Lee
Born and raised in the great Minnesota north, J.M. Lee spent his formative years searching for talking animals and believing he could control the weather. After pursuing nerdy interests in comparative film studies, screenwriting, and Shakespeare, he graduated from the University of Minnesota with a much nerdier degree in linguistics with a focus in Japanese…
Wing Young Huie
In his 40-year career, photographer Wing Young Huie has captured the complex cultural realities of American society. He has exhibited nationally and internationally, and his best-known projects, Lake Street USA and The University Avenue Project, transformed Twin Cities’ thoroughfares into six-mile galleries, reflecting the everyday lives of thousands of its citizens. Chinese-ness: The Meanings of…
Pete Hautman
Pete Hautman is the author of more than 30 novels for adult, teen, and middle-grade readers, including the 2004 National Book Award winner Godless and Los Angeles Times Book Prize winner The Big Crunch. He has written three New York Times Notable Books and won four Minnesota Book Awards. His “young adult” novels range from…
Rebecca Ansari
After twelve years as an ER doctor, Rebecca K.S. Ansari shelved her scrubs to write magical and mysterious worlds for middle grade readers. Her debut novel, The Missing Piece of Charlie O’Reilly was a Minnesota Book Award finalist, an ALA 2020 Notable Children’s Book nominee, and a Junior Library Guild selection. Her second novel, The…
Mary Casanova
Once a can’t-sit-still reader, Mary Casanova now writes stories that matter and books readers can’t put down. She is the author of numerous award-winning books, from picture books (One-Dog Canoe) to books and book-inspired movies for American Girl (Grace); from middle grade adventure novels (Wolf Shadows and The Klipfish Code) as well as historical fiction…
John Coy
John Coy is the author of young adult novels, the 4 for 4 middle-grade series, and nonfiction and fiction picture books including Night Driving, Two Old Potatoes and Me, Hoop Genius, Game Changer, Their Great Gift, and My Mighty Journey: A Waterfall’s Story. He has received numerous awards for his work including a Marion Vannett…
Jacqueline West
Jacqueline West is the author of The New York Times bestselling series The Books of Elsewhere, the Schneider Family Award Honor Book The Collectors, the middle grade mystery Digging Up Danger, and the middle grade ghost story/mystery Long Lost, as well as the YA novels Dreamers Often Lie and Last Things. A four-time Minnesota Book…