Each day leading up to the 30th annual Minnesota Book Awards Ceremony, we’ll be featuring an exclusive interview with one of our 36 finalists. Learn more about these incredible local writers and gear up to see the winners announced live in person April 21.
Interview with Kurtis Scaletta, author of Rooting for Rafael Rosales
Category: Middle Grade Literature, sponsored by Education Minnesota
How does it feel to be a finalist for the MN Book Awards?
Surprising and flattering and a bit confusing. There are so many great middle-grade authors in this state, and there were a lot of great books this year.
What does writing mean to you?
I’ve been writing since I was six years old, so it’s really part of me and so much a part of me I can’t think what it would be not to write.
Why are stories important for our communities?
Stories are important in two ways – there are those stories you can relate to personally that help you shape your view of yourself, and there are stories showing how other people live and think that widen your worldview. As a reader, as I’ve gotten older I’ve drifted away from the first and toward the second. I know myself well enough and want to learn about, you know, everybody else.
Tell us something people might not know about you.
My first book – unpublished – was for adults, a near-future sci-fi/virtual reality caper that was pretty on the nose as far as the futurism goes. Now it would be an historical novel.
What do you love about libraries?
As a reader I’ve always loved the cozy refuge of a library. I spent hours there as a kid, and it was my escape from school and home when neither place gave me comfort. Nothing makes me happier than seeing kids at the library; they just opened a new one in my neighborhood and the kids are outside the door before it opens, waiting to get in.
More about Kurtis Scaletta
Kurtis Scaletta is the author of eleven books for young readers. Many of them are about baseball, but he has also written about snakes, robots, and giant fungi. He grew up in five states and three foreign countries, but now stays put in Minneapolis with his wife, son, and house cats.
See the winners announced live at the 30th annual Minnesota Book Awards Ceremony!
