Margi enjoys traveling, speaking, and visiting schools all over the world.

Her books for young readers have won multiple awards, including a Newbery Honor, landed on the New York Times bestseller list and many other “best-of” lists, been honored as ALA/ALSC Notables, featured on NPR, and chosen for community reads.

New titles include the picture book Snowshoe Kate and the Hospital Built for Pennies and a chapter book series entitled The Shrew Detective, as well as paperback editions of Village of Scoundrels and Windswept. She lives in Duluth where she likes to hike, ski, snowshoe, or sit quietly with a book on her lap.

May 21 to june 20, 2026

Celebrate the launch of the Shrew Detective with at your favorite local bookstore

Meet Minerva Shrew, the detective you didn’t see coming, probably because she is only two inches long, including her tail. Although she is small, she wants to do big things, like solve the mysteries of life and the universe. In spite of her size, she has a capacious intellect, a vast vocabulary (attributable to her wallpaper, pages of a human dictionary), and, owing to her breakneck metabolism, a gigantic appetite for gourmet bug snacks!

Middle Grade & Young Adult Fiction

Historical fiction, mystery, and fantasy for ages 10 and up.

Available May 19, 2026

The Shrew Detective:
The Case of the Pilfered Pearls

With a curious mind and a vast vocabulary (thanks to her wallpaper —pages of a discarded human dictionary), tiny Minerva Shrew helps her cousin Tenacity solve a mystery in the most dangerous of places: a human house. When a string of pearls goes missing, the human owner is sure a “dreadful rodent” has pilfered them—and now the lives of all Minerva’s friends are at risk! Will Minerva find the true culprit before the exterminators arrive?

With wit and warmth, Margi Preus creates a charming woodland world filled with creatures both whimsical and nefarious, along with suspense, intrigue, and, thanks to Minerva’s metabolism, plenty of snacks.

Shadow on the Mountain

West of the Moon

New for 2025

Snowshoe Kate and the Hospital Built for Pennies

Dr. Kate Pelham Newcomb (or "Dr. Kate," as she was known to her patients) was a doctor in rural northern Wisconsin during the early 1900s, a time when very few women practiced medicine. Because the nearest hospital was over two hours away and the snowy roads were often impassable, Dr. Kate frequently traveled many miles by snowmobile or snowplow in order to reach her patients, which lead to her nickname, the "Angel on Snowshoes."

This book is officially on the 2026 CCBC Choices List and was just nominated for a 2027 Towner Award.

Lily Leads the Way

Storm’s Coming

Celebritrees: Historic and Famous Trees of the World

The Legend of the Lady Slipper

Educational & Enlightening

Margi would love to visit your school (virtually or in-person), speak at your conference, or conduct a writing workshop or residency.

How does a book come to be? What’s it like to be an author? Margi loves to explore these questions and more with large or small groups; classrooms or auditorium assemblies; kids or kids at heart. Learn more >