The MN Book Award finalists: What's missing?

I look at the list of Minnesota Book Award finalists with admiration and dismay. It's hard to argue any one of those titles off the list--and who would want to? But oh, it's hard, thinking of those who didn't make the cut.

Below, once again, is the list of finalists, with links to our reviews, when available. But are there titles you wish were here that are not? "Shelter" a fine memoir by Sarah Stonich. "Big Little Brother," the joyous collaboration between Kevin Kling and Chris Monroe. "Sparrow Road," Sheila O'Connor's mysterious young adult novel. Charles Baxter's wonderful collection of stories, "Gryphon." Bao Phi's poetry collection, "Song I Sing."

And who knows? Perhaps those titles weren't submitted by their publishers and so were never considered by the committee. And lord knows the committee had an enormous task before it, winnowing down a huge pile of worthy books to just four in each category. My hat is off to them for their hard work and their love of literature and local books.

But worthy books are missing, simply because there are so many worthy books. What would you love to see on the list?

The four finalists in each of eight categories are as follows

Children's Literature, sponsored by Books for Africa:

"BookSpeak! Poems About Books" by Laura Purdie Salas, illustrated by Josée Bisaillon; "Friends: True Stories of Extraordinary Animal Friendships" by Catherine Thimmesh; "The Last Day of Kindergarten" by Nancy Loewen, illustrated by Sachiko Yoshikawa, and "Swirl by Swirl: Spirals in Nature" by Joyce Sidman, illustrated by Beth Krommes.

"Fool Me Twice: Fighting the Assault on Science in America" by Shawn Lawrence Otto; "Punishing Race: A Continuing American Dilemma" by Michael Tonry; "Trout Caviar: Recipes From a Northern Forager" by Brett Laidlaw, and "Vikings in the Attic: In Search of Nordic America" by Eric Dregni.

Genre Fiction, sponsored by Marvin Windows and Doors:

"Big Wheat" by Richard A. Thompson; "The Bone House," by Brian Freeman; "Death of the Mantis" by Michael Stanley, and "Northwest Angle" by William Kent Krueger.

Memoir and Creative Nonfiction, sponsored by Leonard, Street and Deinard:

"For Love of Lakes" by Darby Nelson; "The Last Deployment: How a Gay, Hammer-Swinging Twentysomething Survived a Year in Iraq" by Bronson Lemer; "Sheepish: Two Women, Fifty Sheep, and Enough Wool to Save the Planet" by Catherine Friend, and "A Song at Twilight of Alzheimer's and Love" by Nancy Paddock.

"Anishinaabe Syndicated: A View From the Rez" by Jim Northrup; "The Pillsburys of Minnesota," by Lori Sturdevant with George S. Pillsbury; "Pioneer Modernists: Minnesota's First Generation of Women Artists," by Julie L'Enfant, and "Sisterhood of War: Minnesota Women in Vietnam" by Kim Heikkila.

Novel and Short Story, sponsored by Anchor Trust:

"In Caddis Wood" by Mary François Rockcastle; "The Law of Miracles and Other Stories" by Gregory Blake Smith; "The Long-Shining Waters" by Danielle Sosin, and "Merit Badges" by Kevin Fenton.

Poetry, sponsored by Wellington Management Inc.:

"Bodies of Light" by Athena Kildegaard; "Buddha, Proof" by Su Smallen; "Invisible Strings" by Jim Moore, and "Whorled" by Ed Bok Lee.

"The Big Crunch" by Pete Hautman; "The Books of Elsewhere: Spellbound" by Jacqueline West; "The Tanglewood Terror" by Kurtis Scaletta, and "With or Without You" by Brian Farrey.

During the month of March, Minnesotans are invited to cast their votes to name a winner for the Readers' Choice Award. The link to vote is at www.thefriends.org.