Bianca raised her hand and waited patiently to pose a question. The young reader was among dozens at the Minnesota Humanities Center Monday evening who celebrated the launch of a series of biographies focused on the lives of Native Americans.

The Minnesota Humanities Center, together with Lerner Publishing Group, with support from the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community have published four books in a planned series of 12, designed for readers in grades four through eight.

With a book in one hand, the young reader accepted the offer of the microphone from Kevin Lindsey, CEO of the Minnesota Humanities Center.

“How did you make the series?” the grade schooler asked the panel.

Editors Gwen Nell Westerman and Heid E. Erdrich answered in turn. Westerman is the state’s poet laureate, and Er

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