Windswept: 2023 Minnesota Book Awards Finalist

On January 28, Friends of the St. Paul Public Library announced finalists in nine categories for the 2023 Minnesota Book Awards, presented this year by Education Minnesota. Nominees were chosen by 27 judges from around the state — writers, teachers, librarians, booksellers and others from the literary community.

Windswept was one of four books nominated for Best Middle Grade Literature. The 2023 nominees include:

Winners for 2023 will be announced Tuesday, May 2 in a live Ceremony at the Ordway. View all 2023 finalists from all categories >

Windswept: Interview with ReadWonder

Blogger Patrick Andrus interviewed Margi about Windswept for ReadWonder, a fourth grade teacher’s journey through the world of books. Below are a few highlights:

Patrick: What do you think Tag can offer to other children that are experiencing similar situations to what she went through?  

Margi: I hope no other children are kept indoors until they turn 15 or have been swept away by windstorms! But for children who are buffeted by the harsh winds of life, I hope Tag can inspire them with her resilience, grit, determination, stick-to-it-ness—and also her faith that things will get better.

Patrick: How did you research Tag and the circumstances she found himself in?

Margi: For my historical fiction, I always do lots and lots of all kinds of research. For Windswept, I read a lot of fairy tales. I find that fairytales give me ideas, solutions to knotty problems, and perhaps stretch my imagination a little further than it would ordinarily go. The idea of being windswept came from a fairy tale, and of course the impossible challenges—carrying water in a sieve, catching the wind in a net, and other such things in my story are also found in many fairy tales…

Read the complete interview here >

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