Hello, everyone! I’ll be at the Loft Literary Center in Minneapolis on Saturday, September 19 between 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. for a reading + conversation. Join me if you’re anywhere in the vicinity. More info here.
I served as the judge for the 2026 McKnight Award in the Children’s Literature category. The manuscripts submitted for the award truly moved me, and many of them paid tribute to the history of Minnesota, the North Star State.
It’ll be my first time visiting the North Star State, and I’ve been reading some history about how it gained its state motto. It apparently comes from the French phrase, L’Étoile du Nord, which directly translates to Star of the North. This French phrase was selected to honor the early French-Canadian explorers of the region, and the meaning of “a guiding light” definitely held up when slaves from the South headed north along the Mississippi River, landing in Minnesota.
I first saw the Mississippi River a few years ago, when I attended the Mississippi Book Festival…to say that I felt the presence of America’s (difficult) history there is a huge understatement. During that trip, I also visited the Civil Rights Museum in Jackson, MS, and it was one of the most powerful, moving, poignant museums I’ve ever stepped foot in. My heart was in my throat during my entire two-hour visit at the museum.
My book career has taken me to so many fascinating places within the U.S., places that I normally would never visit since I don’t have family or close friends in these areas, and I’m SO grateful. I was so inspired by the manuscripts I read for the McKnight Award (so many beautiful works about our planet and about America’s natural wonders), that…CONTINUED ON HELENA’S SUBSTACK NEWSLETTER