Tag: Regional books

Family memories and Johnny’s Pheasant: Two questions with Cheryl Minnema, winner of the Charlotte Zolotow Award

February 20, 2020

Earlier this month, author Cheryl Minnema (Johnny’s Pheasant) was awarded the 2020 Charlotte Zolotow Award for outstanding writing in a picture book. This annual award is given by the Cooperative Children’s Book Center (CCBC), a library of the School of Education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Minnema’s book, which features illustrations by Julie Flett, has … More Family memories and Johnny’s Pheasant: Two questions with Cheryl Minnema, winner of the Charlotte Zolotow Award

His words, his story, his magnetism: Capturing the voice of Hy Berman, Minnesota’s beloved public historian

November 1, 2019

BY JAY WEINER Until the work began on what would become Professor Berman: The Last Lecture of Minnesota’s Greatest Public Historian, I didn’t know Hy Berman very well. For nearly 30 years, I was a reporter for the Star Tribune and Hy was a prominent University of Minnesota professor and political pundit. But a search … More His words, his story, his magnetism: Capturing the voice of Hy Berman, Minnesota’s beloved public historian

When to Name Names

October 24, 2019

BY JACK EL-HAI Early in my writing of The Lost Brothers I considered an ethical question: In telling the story of the 68-year-old case of three young brothers who went missing in Minneapolis and have never been seen since, should I reveal the names of suspects who were never charged with a crime? There were … More When to Name Names

Swede Hollow: The surprises and intrigue behind Ola Larsmo’s haunting story of a real place

September 18, 2019

BY OLA LARSMO I guess it was the silence that caught my imagination. It was very deep, in the middle of a bustling city. My wife, Rita, had spent an important year as an exchange student in Minneapolis and wanted to visit old friends. When we first went there in 2006, I knew that I … More Swede Hollow: The surprises and intrigue behind Ola Larsmo’s haunting story of a real place

Anika Fajardo: On searching for identity, exploring origins, and reconciling what family means

April 17, 2019

BY ANIKA FAJARDO I once went swimming in natural hot springs in Colombia. It was the mid-1990s and Colombia was, according to the U.S. State Department, the most dangerous country on earth. At twenty-one years old, I had just arrived to see my father for the first time since I was a baby. His wife … More Anika Fajardo: On searching for identity, exploring origins, and reconciling what family means

How a chance encounter led to an uncommon collection of Sami folktales by Emilie Demant Hatt.

April 10, 2019

BY BARBARA SJOHOLM By the Fire is an uncommon collection of Sami folktales recorded by a woman who was herself quite remarkable for her time. Emilie Demant Hatt was born in a rural village in Jutland, Denmark, in 1873 and only attended school up to the age of fourteen. But with help from her mother’s … More How a chance encounter led to an uncommon collection of Sami folktales by Emilie Demant Hatt.

Linda LeGarde Grover: On resilience and loss.

March 27, 2019

BY LINDA LeGARDE GROVER The story began for me when I was a child, too young to question but old enough to see, hear, and remember. Adults conversing over tea occasionally forgot that there were children present and alluded to loss: to Indian boarding schools; to runaways and the foster home system; to inexperienced girls … More Linda LeGarde Grover: On resilience and loss.

Life on the edge in northern Minnesota border country.

September 25, 2018

BY SARAH STONICH The title of this novel might sound like the answer to a trivia question—points for anyone who can draw the Laurentian Divide on a bar napkin, extra to mark where it meets the St. Lawrence in northern Minnesota. At this juncture, rivers flow in three directions: east to the Gulf of St. … More Life on the edge in northern Minnesota border country.