News & Events
The way Preus imagines it in “West of the Moon,” the girl is escaping treacherous relatives and a lecherous goatherd — a story that springs from fairy tales and Norse mythology, but lands on the cusp of adulthood. “There’s something really wonderful about having one foot in childhood but this awareness that the world is about to get much bigger,” Preus said. Read more >
Photo: Kyndell Harkness | Star Tribune
While many details of her ancestors’ own immigration experience informed “West of the Moon,” Preus says her great-great-grandmother’s brief mention of a girl she met on the ship to America revved up her imagination. “As I read over [those lines in the diary],” she says, “I wondered . . . what kind of girl would get on a boat alone and go to America, not knowing anyone? I thought I’d see if I could figure out a story for her.” Read more >
Among the president's purchases at Dululth bookstore, Politics & Prose, was "Heart of a Samurai," a 2010 young adult novel by Margi Preus that was named a Newbery Honor Book. It's the story of a Japanese teenager who has a series of adventures that lead him to play an important political role -- and realize his lifelong dream. Read more >
With finesse and grace, Preus gets inside the mind of young Manjiro. She serves up gorgeous details of his daily life and transports the reader in time and space. Children today can use a few clicks of the mouse to discover another country or foreign culture. But Manjiro grew up in a completely closed society, and Preus helps explain what it must have been like for Manjiro to land in a world he didn't even know existed. Read more >
Two children's stories by local authors have caught the attention of a committee of librarians working in branches of the New York Public Library's list of 100 Books for Reading and Sharing — Chris Monroe's picture book "Sneaky Sheep" and Margi Preus' chapter book "Heart of a Samurai.”
“I never expected any such thing. The first reviews that came in I seriously thought were a mistake. They were writing about something else. So to get on these best-of lists, it's amazing to me." Read more >
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