Heart of a Samurai (Amulet) by Margi Preus, a Duluth resident, has been named a Newbery Honor Book at the ALA’s midwinter meeting in San Diego. Dark Emperor (Houghton Mifflin) by Joyce Sidman of Minneapolis, illustrated by Rick Allen of Duluth’s Kenspeckle LetterPress, has also been named a Newbery Honor Book. They are two of four Newbery Honor Books — basically they were the four runners-up to the book, Moon Over Manifest, that won the Newbery Medal this year.

The Newbery Medal is given each year to the author of that year’s most distinguished contribution to American children’s literature.

This is a very big deal, congratulations to Margi and to Rick!