Minnesota Book Award finalists include Yang, Erdrich and a host of newbies

Names both familiar and new populate the list of 36 finalists for this year's Minnesota Book Awards, announced Saturday. Minneapolis writer Louise Erdrich, winner of five Minnesota Book Awards, is a finalist for "The Night Watchman," the novel based on the life of her grandfather, Patrick Gourneau. St. Paul writer Kao Kalia Yang, winner of four awards, is a finalist in two categories — memoir and children's literature. Kawai Strong Washburn and Jonathan C. Slaght are both finalists for their debut books. Here's the full list:

Children's Literature, sponsored by Books for Africa

• "Bee Love (Can Be Hard)," by Alan Page and Kamie Page (Page Education Foundation)

• "Big Papa and the Time Machine," by Daniel Bernstrom (HarperCollins)

• "A Bowl Full of Peace: A True Story," by Caren Stelson (Carolrhoda)

• "The Most Beautiful Thing," by Kao Kalia Yang (Carolrhoda)

Middle Grade Literature, sponsored by Education Minnesota

• "What if a Fish," by Anika Fajardo (Simon & Schuster)

• "Lukezilla Beats the Game," by Kurtis Scaletta (Capstone Editions)

• "CatStronauts:  Digital Disaster," by Drew Brockington (Little, Brown)

• "The Littlest Voyageur," by Margi Preus (Margaret Ferguson Books/Holiday House)

Young Adult Literature, sponsored by United Educators Credit Union

• "Where We Are," by Alison McGhee (Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy Books)

• "My Eyes Are Up Here," by Laura Zimmermann (Dutton Books for Young Readers)

• "The Whitsun Daughters," by Carrie Mesrobian (Dutton Books for Young Readers)

• "Unscripted," by Nicole Kronzer (Amulet Books)

Emily Buchwald Award for Minnesota Nonfiction

• "Daybreak Woman:  An Anglo-Dakota Life," by Jane Lamm Carroll (Minnesota Historical Society Press)

• "Elizabeth Scheu Close:  A Life in Modern Architecture," by Jane King Hession (University of Minn. Press)

• "Minnesota's Geologist:  The Life of Newton Horace Winchell," by Sue Leaf (University of Minnesota Press)

• "A Woman's War, Too:  Women at Work During World War II," by Virginia Wright-Peterson (Minnesota Historical Society Press)

Genre Fiction, sponsored by Macalester College

• "The Deep, Deep Snow," by Brian Freeman (Blackstone Publishing)

• "From the Grave:  A McKenzie Novel," by David Housewright (Minotaur Books)

• "Get Idiota," by Nate Granzow (Self-published)

• "Things We Didn't Say," by Amy Lynn Green (Bethany House Publishers)

General Nonfiction

• "100 Cookies:  The Baking Book for Every Kitchen, with Classic Cookies, Novel Treats, Brownies, Bars, and More," by Sarah Kieffer (Chronicle Books)

• "How the Streets Were Made:  Housing Segregation and Black Life in America," by Yelena Bailey (University of North Carolina Press)

• "Owls of the Eastern Ice:  A Quest to Find and Save the World's Largest Owl," by Jonathan C. Slaght (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)

• "The Language Warrior's Manifesto:  How to Keep Our Languages Alive No Matter the Odds," by Anton Treuer (Minnesota Historical Society Press)

Memoir & Creative Nonfiction

• "The War Requiem," by Kaia Solveig Preus (Essay Press)

• "Tell Me Your Names and I Will Testify: Essays," by Carolyn Holbrook (University of Minnesota Press)

• "Unglued:  A Bipolar Love Story," by Jeffrey Zuckerman (Boyle & Dalton)

• "Somewhere in the Unknown World," by Kao Kalia Yang (Metropolitan Books)

Poetry, sponsored by Wellington Management

• "Catrachos," by Roy G. Guzmán (Graywolf Press)

• "Feel Puma:  Poems," by Ray Gonzalez (University of New Mexico Press)

• "Homie:  Poems," by Danez Smith (Graywolf Press)

• "Wound from the Mouth of a Wound," by torrin a. greathouse (Milkweed Editions)

Novel & Short Story, sponsored by College of St. Ben's/St. John's Univ.

• "Sharks in the Time of Saviors," by Kawai Strong Washburn (MCD)

• "The Night Watchman," by Louise Erdrich (Harper)

• "Bliss" by Fredrick Soukup (Regal House)

• "The Things You Left," by Raki Kopernik (Unsolicited Press)

The winners will be announced in a virtual ceremony on April 29. The online event is free but requires registration, which opens Feb. 1 at thefriends.org/mnba.