At the
American Library Association's book awards ceremony in San Diego earlier this month, five authors and two publishers from Minnesota received numerous prizes in various categories, which are tallied by the
Star Tribune.
Author Laurie Hertzel quotes Alison McGhee, who, along with Kate DiCamillo received the Theodor Seuss Geisel award for best book for beginning readers for "Bink and Gollie," saying, "The Minnesotans are ruling!"
McGhee describes the phone call about the news: "It was an unfamiliar number and I thought it was a marketer, but instead it was Julie Roach from the ALA and there was a roomful of people clapping and cheering in the background, so I figured it had to be good news."
As the news made waves on Twitter, Hertzel says in the article, Andrew Karre, editorial director of Minneapolis' Carolrhoda Books, tweeted about the Minnesotans' "stunningly good" performance."