Middle Grade
Middle Grade writers from Minnesota.
H.M. Bouwman
H.M. Bouwman is the author of middle grade fantasy novels, most recently A Crack in the Sea and A Tear in the Ocean, as well as the Owen and Eleanor early chapter books. She lives in Saint Paul and teaches at the University of St. Thomas. Bouwman loves to speak to kids and adults about…
Mary Losure
From the titles, you might think Mary Losure’s books are fiction, but she assures you that every word of Isaac the Alchemist: Secrets of Isaac Newton, Reveal’d is not only true, but documented with primary sources. So is Wild Boy: The Real Life of the Savage of Aveyron and even The Fairy Ring, or Elsie…
Joyce Sidman
Joyce Sidman’s books have won a Newbery Honor (Dark Emperor and Other Poems of the Night), a Sibert Award for Nonfiction (The Girl Who Drew Butterflies) and two Caldecott Honors. Her book What the Heart Knows was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. In 2013, she received the NCTE Award for Excellence…
Jane St. Anthony
Jane St. Anthony’s first middle-grade book, The Summer Sherman Loved Me, was followed by Grace Above All, Isabelle Day Refuses to Die of a Broken Heart (Minnesota Book Award Finalist and winner of the Midwest Booksellers Choice Award for Young Adult and Middle Grade), and Whatever Normal Is. For several years St. Anthony has taught…
Stephanie Watson
Stephanie Watson is the author of the picture books Behold! A Baby (a 2016 Minnesota Book Award finalist), The Wee Hours, and Best Friends in the Universe (a 2019 Minnesota Book Award finalist). Her middle-grade novels include Pencilvania (named one of the best books of 2021 by the New York Public Library), and Elvis and…
Anne Ursu
Anne Ursu is the author of several middle grade fantasies, including Breadcrumbs, an NPR Backseat Book Club pick, and The Real Boy, which was longlisted for the 2013 National Book Award. She is a recipient of the McKnight Fellowship and teaches at Hamline University’s Masters in Fine Arts in Writing for Children. Ursu lives in…
Kurtis Scaletta
Kurtis Scaletta is the author of several novels for young readers including Mudville, Mamba Point, The Tanglewood Terror, The Winter of the Robots, and Rooting for Rafael Rosales. He also wrote the Topps League series. Scaletta was born in Louisiana, but moved a lot as a kid. He lived in five states and three foreign…
Caren B. Stelson
Caren Stelson is a Minneapolis writer for children and young adults, with a passion for nonfiction. Her work explores stories that struggle with issues of war and peace. Sachiko: A Nagasaki Bomb Survivor’s Story is such a book, revealing the horrors of nuclear war and Sachiko Yasui’s long arc toward peace. Stelson visited Nagasaki, Japan…
Kelly Barnhill
Kelly Barnhill is the author of four novels, most recently The Girl Who Drank the Moon, winner of the Newbery Medal. The Witch’s Boy received four starred reviews and was a finalist for the Minnesota Book Awards. Barnhill has been awarded writing fellowships from the Jerome Foundation, the Minnesota State Arts Board, and The McKnight…
Marion Dane Bauer
Marion Dane Bauer has published over 100 books, ranging from board books and picture books through early readers, both fiction and nonfiction, books on writing, middle-grade, and young-adult novels. She is the editor of the ground-breaking collection of gay-and-lesbian-themed short stories, Am I Blue? Coming Out from the Silence. She was one of the founders…