This week on Realgoodwords

Check out the video for young adult author Gayle Forman's "Where She Went" - it's been called "achingly satisfying" by Family Circle. Also MN Book Award winner Bonnie J. Rough and her memoir "Carrier: Untangling the Danger in My DNA".

2011 Minnesota Book Awards

The 2011 MN Book Awards are coming up on Saturday April 16th at the Crown Plaza Hotel in Downtown St. Paul.

Minnesota is a state that I'm proud to live in for many reasons - least of which is it's dedication to literature and books. Minnesota has many great independent publishers and one our greatest resources is its writers. Many of this year's nominees were guests this year on Realgoodwords and other KAXE programming.

During the month of March you can still vote for your favorite in the Minnesota Reader's Choice award here.

This week I feature my conversations with William Kent Krueger and David Housewright. They are both up for the award in the genre fiction category.

You can listen to the interviews I and other KAXE staff did with all of the authors I interviewed who are nominated for a MN Book Award this year:

-William Kent Krueger and "Vermilion Drift"
-David Housewright and "The Taking of Libbie SD"
-Julie Kramer and "Silencing Sam"
-Wendy Webb and "The Tales of Halycon Crane"

-Bonnie Rough and "The Carrier"
-Laurie Hertzel and "News to Me: Adventures of An Accidental Journalist"
-Chris Niskanen and Doug Ohman's "Prairie, Lake, Forest: Minnesota's State Parks" (you can hear the 2 hour Between You and Me on State Parks that includes an interview/conversation with Doug Ohman)
-Jay Weiner and "This is Not Florida: How Al Franken Won the MN Recount" (listen to Scott Hall's interview on the ampers.org site here)
-Michael Nordskog & Aaron Hautala's "Opposite of Cold: The Northwoods Finnish Sauna Tradition" You can see Aaron's essay and photos on the KAXE blog here....
-Anton Treur's "The Assassination of Hole-In-The-Day"

Here's who won the MN Book Awards for 2009!

Have you read any of them?

22nd Annual Minnesota Book Awards Presented

April 18, 2010, SAINT PAUL, MN – The Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library is pleased to announce the winners of the 22^nd annual Minnesota Book Awards, presented by RBC Wealth Management. In addition to winners in eight categories, the Book Awards presented the Readers’ Choice Award, which was selected by over 2,ooo voters from across Minnesota. The annual Minnesota Book Awards program is a project of The Friends, in consortium with the Saint Paul Public Library and the City of Saint Paul.

Nearly 750 people attended a gala award ceremony on Saturday, April 17, hosted by Marianne Combs of Minnesota Public Radio. Announced at the gala, the winners of the 2010 Minnesota Book Awards are:

Award for Children’s Literature, sponsored by Books for Africa:
Joyce Sidman – Red Sings from Treetops: A Year in Colors – published by Houghton Mifflin Books for Children/Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

This imaginative book describes the changing colors of the seasons with beautiful poems and vivid illustrations. Color becomes more than just what you see; it becomes something that you can hear and smell – something that has its own thoughts, feelings, and actions. Joyce Sidman is the author of several books of poetry including Songs of the Water Boatman and Other Pond Poems which won the Caldecott Honor.

Award for General Nonfiction, sponsored by Minnesota AFL-CIO:
Joy K. Lintelman – I Go to America: Swedish American Women and the Life of Mina Anderson – published by Minnesota Historical Society Press*

I Go to America traces the story of writer Mina Anderson, who emigrated from Sweden to Wisconsin and then to the Twin Cities where she worked as a domestic servant. It explores her move to rural Mille Lacs County where she and her husband worked a farm, raised seven children, and contributed widely to rural Swedish community life through her poetry, fiction, and letters to Swedish American newspapers. Joy K. Lintelman is a professor of history at Concordia College in Moorhead.

Award for Genre Fiction, sponsored by Wellington Management, Inc.:
David Housewright – Jelly’s Gold – published by Minotaur Books/St. Martin’s Press

In 1933, Frank “Jelly” Nash was suspected of masterminding a daring robbery of gold bars, and left the treasure somewhere in St. Paul. Two graduate students and two thugs are in competition to find the legendary stash of gold. Rushmore McKenzie, a retired St. Paul policeman, gets involved in the search for the treasure – and also a killer – when the hunt turns deadly. David Housewright has won both an Edgar and a Minnesota Book Award for his crime fiction.

Award for Memoir & Creative Nonfiction:
Kent Nerburn – The Wolf at Twilight: An Indian Elder’s Journey through a Land of Ghosts and Shadows – published by New World Library

Suspenseful, touching, humorous, tragic, and powerful are just a few of the words that could be used to describe Kent Nerburn’s captivating story of his journey to help an elderly Native American man discover what happened to his long lost sister. Nerburn brings light to the complicated friendship between a white American and a Lakota Indian, and the reader is allowed a private and extraordinary glimpse into the life and wisdom of a tribal elder. Kent Nerburn has written a dozen books on spirituality and Native themes, including Chief Joseph and the Flight of the Nez Perce which was featured on the History Channel.

Award for Minnesota, sponsored by Xcel Energy:
Cary J. Griffith – Opening Goliath: Danger and Discovery in Caving – published by Borealis Books/Minnesota Historical Society Press*

The author recounts the amazing story of Goliath’s Cave in southeastern Minnesota, discovered by recreational cavers in the 1980s. With a mix of adventure, suspense, politics, science, discovery and wonder, Opening Goliath takes readers to a subterranean wilderness where exploration and preservation sometimes coexist – and sometimes collide. Cary J. Griffith is a freelance writer who specializes in writing about the outdoors.

Award for Novel & Short Story:
Marlon James – The Book of Night Women – published by Riverhead Books/Penguin Group

This sweeping and astonishing novel tells the story of Lilith, a slave on a Jamaican sugar plantation who possesses a dark power. A group of slaves who call themselves the “Night Women” are plotting a revolt and assume Lilith’s powers will be the key to success. However, as Lilith begins to assume her identity, she chooses a different path which poses a threat to the conspiracy. Marlon James teaches literature and creative writing at Macalester College. The Book of Night Women was also a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction.

Award for Poetry:
Jude Nutter – I Wish I Had a Heart Like Yours, Walt Whitman – published by University of Notre Dame Press

In this collection, the poet invokes, invites and revises Walt Whitman’s civil war poems through contemporary and female perspectives. The poems bridge the gap between past and present, loss and reclamation through passionate lyrics full of clarity, imagination and sureness of vision. Jude has received many national and international awards, including a Minnesota Book Award in 2007 for The Curator of Silence.

Award for Young People’s Literature, sponsored by 3M Company:
Kate DiCamillo – The Magician’s Elephant – published by Candlewick Press

Peter Augustus Duchene is a ten year old orphan who is training to be a soldier in the city of Baltese. He was told his parents and sister are dead, but after a visit to a fortuneteller, he discovers his sister is alive. The fortuneteller tells Peter an elephant will lead him to her, which seems a bit silly and improbable at first; however, when an elephant magically appears, Peter vows to take the elephant and find his sister. Kate DiCamillo won the Newbery Medal for her book The Tale of Despereaux.

The Readers’ Choice Award, sponsored by Pioneer Press and TwinCities.com:
Dave Kenney – Honor Bright: A Century of Scouting in Northern Star Council – published by Northern Star Council, Boy Scouts of America*

This captivating and richly illustrated collection consists of stories and photographs of the Boy Scouts of America’s first century in central Minnesota and western Wisconsin. From the start of the Boy Scout Movement in 1910 to the Scouts’ contributions to the nation’s war effort in the 1940s, to the growth of Scouting in the 2000s to serve 100,000 young people each year, this book covers everything. Dave Kenney is a freelance writer specializing in Minnesota history.

At the Book Awards gala on April 17, Carolyn Holbrook received the previously announced Kay Sexton Award, for her lifelong contributions to Minnesota’s literary community. Since the early 1980s, Holbrook’s vision has been to promote the inclusion of disparate voices in the global community. She remains committed to writers, readers and spoken word artists - reaching out to individuals and communities whose access to opportunities for exploration of writing is limited or nonexistent. Holbrook’s work connects arts organizations, schools, individual artists, and neighborhoods. The Award is sponsored by Common Good Books.

Also presented was the third annual Book Artist Award, co-sponsored by Minnesota Center for Book Arts (MCBA). The award, presented to Wilber H. Schilling, recognizes a Minnesota book artist for excellence throughout a body of work, as well as significant contributions to Minnesota’s book arts community. Schilling’s work is currently being shown at St. Paul’s Central Library, 90 W. 4^th St., through the end of April and will be exhibited in early May at Minneapolis Central Library.

Books written by a Minnesotan and first published in 2009 were eligible for the 22^nd annual Minnesota Book Awards. 250 books were nominated for awards this year, and 32 books were selected as finalists. The winners were chosen by panels of judges from the list of finalists. Nominations for next year’s Awards will open in early fall, 2010. For more information on the Book Awards process, and a complete list of finalists and winners since 1988, visit The Friends website, www.thefriends.org, and click on the Minnesota Book Awards icon.

The Book Awards gala will be broadcast on Saint Paul Neighborhood Network and TPT-MN Channel at a later date. Check your local listings for the channel, date and time of broadcast.

The 22^nd annual Minnesota Book Awards is a Capital City project, led by The Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library, with the Saint Paul Public Library and the City of Saint Paul. Statewide outreach partners include: the Loft Literary Center, Metropolitan Library Service Agency (MELSA); Minnesota Department of Education—State Library Services; Minnesota Educational Media Organization; Minnesota Library Foundation; and Saint Paul Almanac. Media sponsors include: Minnesota Public Radio, Pioneer Press, Saint Paul Neighborhood Network (SPNN), Swank Audio Visual and TPT-Minnesota Channel. Major funding for the Book Awards was provided by the Boss Foundation, Harlan Boss Foundation for the Arts; Huss Foundation; The Katherine B. Andersen Fund of The Saint Paul Foundation; a Library Services and Technology Act grant administered through the Office of State Library Services; a Cultural STAR grant from the City of Saint Paul; 3M Company; Books for Africa; Minnesota AFL-CIO; RBC Wealth Management; Wellington Management, Inc. and Xcel Energy.

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*indicates a Minnesota-based publisher

I'm so EXCITED!

I really don't want to quote the Pointer Sisters. I mean really don't want to. As a geeky reader type who lives in Minnesota, this week is one of my favorites. But seriously, I AM so excited for this week's episode of Realgoodwords.

Kate DiCamillo and Alison McGhee are writers from Minneapolis/St. Paul that are known nationwide. Kate for her books and movies like "Because of Winn-Dixie" and "The Tale of Despereaux" and Alison is a Pulitzer Prize nominee and a #1 New York Times bestselling author. Both of them are nominated for the MN Book Awards happening this weekend in St. Paul.

Even though both of these authors write for kids, I love reading their books and talking with them. They both seem almost magical to me, and I know that sounds silly, but here's what I mean.

*When I talked with Kate she is so quick to point out, even with all her success, that she knows she's lucky she get to do what she gets to do (write books and talk to readers!). She readily admits how HARD it is for her to write, but lucky for me and for her readers, she still abides by her own rule of writing 2 pages everyday. Not at least 2 pages, but 2 pages only! Telling me that makes me think anything is possible.

*When I talked to Alison McGhee about her latest picture book "Song of Middle C" that is about a little girl about to perform at her piano recital, she reminded me that we occasionally need to do things in our lives (adults I'm talking to you!) that we aren't good at. Things we can't POSSIBLY ever be that good at. Like taking up the piano. How liberating, to not expect perfection but only practice.

Hope you get a chance to hear the program this week - Wednesdays from 6-7pm and Sunday mornings from 9-10. You can check the archive later in the week as well....

there is always something new to learn

This week's Realgoodwords was kind of a stretch for me. One of the featured books was about immigration laws in the United States, the other was a novel considered historical fiction or inspirational fiction. Both things I don't read every day. So what did I learn you ask?

I've always wondered when I hear people talk about "illegal" citizens in the United States - they suggest that it is easy to become a citizen. Most of the time the people who are saying this know what they are talking about, because they became U.S. citizens themselves. The difference is, all they had to do was be born.

When I talked with author Helen Thorpe about the four young Mexican students she profiles in her new book "Just Like Us" and asked her why the two undocumented students haven't filled out the paperwork to become citizens she finally explained things to me.

These young women were brought to the United States illegally by their parents. When you come into the United States illegally, you do not have the option of filling out the paperwork to become a citizen. You have to go back to your country and apply. It could take decades for this to happen. And in the meantime they would be back in a country that they chose to leave because of severe economic situations. These girls are in a no-win situation.

If you missed the conversation, check the Realgoodwords archive here.

I realized when I talked with MN author Julie Klassen that I tend to read the same kinds of novels, and don't really seek out new and different kinds. I am a contemporary reader. In fact, there are many classics that people can't believe I haven't read. For that reason I might have passed right by Julie's novel "the Silent Governess" because it would have been in either the historical fiction or the inspirational fiction section. Because she was nominated for a MN Book Award I decided to take a chance. And I found a strong storyteller that pulled me out of my contemporary rut to Jane Austen-era England.

This week I realized why I read. There is always something new to learn.

MN authors featured - Nicole Johns and Scott Muskin

Nicole Johns and Scott Muskin have some things in common - they both are writers - they both live in Minnesota - they both graduated with MFAs in creative writing from the University of Minnesota - and they are BOTH on Realgoodwords this week. I happen to think the last similarity is the most important :)

That being said, their books are very different. Nicole Johns "Purge: Rehab Diaries" is remarkable in its honesty. She writes of her experience with and recovering from an eating disorder. Here's an excerpt:

An eating disorder is driving to a gas station in the midst of a blizzard and writing a bad check to buy dozens of stale doughnuts because they are being sold at the day-old discount price and you are ravenous because you have been starving yourself, again. Your car gets stuck in the middle of an intersection, your tires churn up wet snow, you're going nowhere as you cram doughnuts into your mouth, sugar circling your lips and chin, granules of sticky sugar on the steering wheel, and you don't care that there is oncoming traffic, a light is about to change, and the tires are spinning. All you care about is making it back to the apartment before your roommate gets off work, in time to stick the index finger of your right hand down your inflamed throat so that doughnut pieces will heave their way up your esophagus and plummet into the toilet bowl.

Scott Muskin's first novel, "The Annunciations of Hank Meyerson, Mama's Boy and Scholar"is up for a 2009 MN Book Award for Fiction. This is what the book jacket says of it:

Hank Meyerson isn’t the whiny sort of mama’s boy. He’s more the wry, shaggy, chubby sort—an over-thinker, a ranter, and sometimes a crier. He adores Emily Dickinson. He kibitzes. He has the audacity to fall in love with his sister-in-law.

Plus, he mentions KAXE on his webpage!

Minnesota is such a great state for creativity and especially writers, like the two newer voices you'll hear on Realgoodwords this week. Got a MN author to recommend? Email me!

MN author Nancy Crocker

I "met" Minnesota author Nancy Crocker through facebook. I know, I know, the dreaded facebook. What would Mark Bauerlein think? But here's the thing: facebook is not all quizzes to see which superhero you are or that girl you sat behind in Mrs. Kramer's 5th grade math class. It's a good way for authors to get their books out there...and for people like me to find them.

"Billie Standish Was Here" (a finalist for the 2007 MN Book Award) is classified as a young adult book. But that's hooey as far as I'm concerned. A good book is a good book, even if the main character is 11 years old.

Billie Standish is a girl living in rural Missouri who badly needs a friend. When most of her town evacuates when the river threatens to crest, Billie finds what she's been needing in Miss Lydia. So what if she's 70 years older? A friend is a friend. I won't give anything away here, but pretty early on Billie suffers through a shocking event. But this isn't an afterschool special that defines her by this event. Billie grows through this experience. Tune in for my conversation this week on Realgoodwords. Heard Wednesdays from 6-7pm and Sundays 9-10am.

From Booklist
Proving that the heavily mined "child and elderly neighbor change each other's lives" premise isn't completely dry, Crocker's sturdy debut explores the deep and subtle reaches of a friendship that blooms between 11-year-old Billie and her across-the-road neighbor Miss Lydia. Set in a small town several generations ago, this is anchored by three pivotal acts—one driven by hate, one by love, and one a complex combination of the two.The story covers five years of Billie's struggles to get out from under the thumb of her spiteful, abusive mother, and Lydia's efforts to erase the guilt of two terrible secrets as, with agonizing slowness, her aging body fails. Crocker skillfully lays out the heart-deep regard that develops between these two perceptive, spirited females (Lydia is occasionally given to hilariously salty language) as life throws them severe challenges that they weather with each other's help. In Billie, the author creates a narrator whose credible mix of naïveté, resilience, and uncertain but budding sense of self-respect that will speak to young readers. This easily transcends its familiar themes and locale

Childhood and identity

This week on Realgoodwords are two new memoirs from women who are, to some extent, both writing about identity. Laura M. Flynn grew up in San Fransisco with a mentally ill mother. Her story shows not only the onset of schizophrenia and how it affects a family, but it shows the ordinary-ness of it; the good moments as well as the bad. Her father eventually divorced her mother, but left the three girls with their mother, because as she told me, "he didn't know that she wouldn't get better". Laura M. Flynn's "Swallow the Earth" was a finalist for a MN Book Award. The Washington Post wrote:

Despite all, Flynn's childhood contained love. Her salvation came through her father's protectiveness, her closeness with her sisters, and the imaginative world the three girls created together.

While Laura M. Flynn is examining her childhood to more fully understand who she is as an adult. In Mei-Ling Hopgood's "Lucky Girl" she, as an adult, comes to meet and understand the parents who gave her up for adoption in Taiwan. Kirkus Review's writes:

Hopgood writes with humor and grace about her efforts to understand how biology, chance, choice and love intersect to delineate a life. A wise, moving meditation on the meaning of family, identity and fate.

May is National Mental Health Awareness month and the Grand Rapids chapter of NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) is bringing Laura Flynn to Grand Rapids to speak - she'll be at the MacRostie Art Center Tuesday May 19th at 6:30pm. She'll be in Brainerd the next day, signing her book at BookWorld. And in June she's part of the Brainerd Public Library's Brown Bag lunch series.