Middle Grade
Middle Grade writers from Minnesota.
Joanne Vruno
Joanne Vruno grew up in Maplewood, Minnesota, just houses away from Battle Creek Regional Park, where she spent most of her childhood days hiking and exploring. Her love for nature and the wooded parkland bordering Battle Creek created the magic of the Seasons of Elves series, just as her love for the lakes created her…
Ann Schoenbohm
Ann Schoenbohm holds an MFA in writing for children and young adults from Hamline University in Saint Paul, Minnesota and a BFA in acting from Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio. She currently volunteers with several organizations as a literacy tutor and teaches writing in Minneapolis community education programs. Rising Above Shepherdsville is her debut…
Natalie Fowler
Once a practicing attorney, Natalie Fowler is an author, a freelance editor (for FATE Magazine), paranormal investigator (for Ghost Stories Ink) and a psychic medium. Fascinated by good ghost stories from a very young age, now she writes her own stories inspired by her work as a ghost hunter and psychic medium. An avid researcher…
Bill Meissner
Writer/teacher Bill Meissner is the author of 11 books, including four books of fiction, five books of poetry, and two novels. His newest book is Summer of Rain, Summer of Fire, a family drama novel set during the turbulent years of the late 1960s. He frequently visits schools – from elementary school to college level…
Leanne M. Benson
Leanne M. Benson is a children’s author and illustrator. She earned an Art degree from the University of Minnesota. Among other things, Benson has worked in the public-school systems as an Art Adventure Coordinator, and with students in the English Secondary Language program. She and her husband moved from the Twin Cities a few hours…
Dale A. Swanson
Dale A. Swanson is a published author, poet, screenwriter, and playwright. His historical novel, The Thirty-ninth Man, made the Star Tribune “Best book read” in 2013. The sequel, Tears of Sorrow, was released in 2018. His fantasy chapter book, The Wild Ways: Mystery of the Hanging Tower, for 9- to 99-year-old readers, was published in…
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…