Middle Grade
Middle Grade writers from Minnesota.
Kathryn Sullivan
Kathryn Sullivan writes young adult science fiction and fantasy. She started writing science fiction and fantasy not long after she had finished reading all of the books in her father’s reading collection. Stories about girl agents defeating alien bad guys and tales of wizards’ apprentices looking for forgotten treasure filled school notebooks alongside her regular…
Adam Stemple
Adam Stemple is an author, musician, web designer, and professional card player. He has written eight novels, including Pay the Piper (with Jane Yolen), winner of the 2006 Locus Award winner for Best Young Adult Book. Of his debut solo novel, Singer of Souls, Anne McCaffrey said, “One of the best first novels I have…
Erin Soderberg Downing
Erin Soderberg Downing has published more than 75 books for kids, tweens, and young adults, including Controlled Burn (a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection) and the forthcoming Just Keep Walking, a story inspired by a 100-mile hike she took with her son on Minnesota’s Superior Hiking Trail. She has also written several popular series…
Duchess Harris
Duchess Harris was a Mellon Mays Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania where she graduated with a degree in American History. She earned a Ph.D. in American Studies from the University of Minnesota and did postdoctoral fellowships at the Institute on Race and Poverty at the University of Minnesota Law School and at the Womanist…
Lisa Bullard
Lisa Bullard is the author of more than 100 books for young readers. Her offerings range from picture books to nonfiction titles to a middle grade mystery. Her novel Turn Left at the Cow was a Maud Hart Lovelace Award nominee for the 2017-2018 school year. Bullard enjoys doing school visits and is a long-time…
Lynne Jonell
Lynne Jonell is an author (and occasional illustrator) of 17 books for children. From picture books to chapter books to middle-grade novels for ages 8-12 and 10-14, her books all have an element of fantasy: magical hamsters, talking cats, kid-sized planes with a secret fuel, rodents with special powers, time travel, and more. Her novel…
Anika Fajardo
Anika Fajardo was born in Colombia and raised in Minnesota. She is the author of a book about that experience, Magical Realism for Non-Believers: A Memoir of Finding Family, which was awarded Best Book (Nonfiction) of 2020 from City Pages and was a finalist for the 2020 Minnesota Book Award. She is the author of…
Sean Jensen
Sean Jensen was born in South Korea, but he was raised in California, Massachusetts, and Virginia, mostly on or near military bases. He’s always been drawn to storytelling, a skill he developed at Northwestern University and crafted almost exclusively covering the NFL. During his career, he’s earned distinctions from the Illinois Associated Press, Minnesota Associated…
Patricia Bauer
Patricia Bauer recently retired after 38 years in education, where she shared her passion for history, music, art, and literature with students and staff. She has been a strong advocate for using picture books with older students and has presented many workshops for teachers on that subject. Bauer is the author of B is for…
Cynthia (C.M.) Surrisi
Cynthia (C.M.) Surrisi has a BFA, J.D., and an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts in Writing for Children and Young Adults. She is author of picture books and middle grade cozy mysteries that are enjoyed equally by adults: The Maypop Kidnapping, Vampires On the Run, and A Side of Sabotage. Her mysteries have…