The North Dakota State Library’s Center for the Book announces the North Dakota Great Read titles for 2025 are “What We Leave Behind” by Barb Solberg and “Sir Rupert and the Battle of the Squirrels” by RubyAnn Stiegelmeier.

“Great Reads from Great Places provides a wonderful opportunity to highlight North Dakota authors both nationally and across the state,” says Literacy Specialist Tammy Kruger. “We are excited to have the talents and hard work of Barb Solberg and RubyAnn Stiegelmeier showcased in 2025!”

Every year, the Library of Congress asks each state Center for the Book to select titles that represent the state’s literary landscape to highlight at the National Book Festival, an event showcasing the importance of books and reading. This year’s festival will be held on Saturday, Sept. 6, in Washington, D.C., and online. More information can be found at

https://www.loc.gov/events/2025-national-book-festival

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The North Dakota Center for the Book invites North Dakotans to read “What We Leave Behind” by Barb Solberg and “Sir Rupert and the Battle of the Squirrels” by RubyAnn Stiegelmeier.

For more information on the 2025 North Dakota Great Read Program, visit

https://library-nd.libguides.com/NDCenterforthebook/greatreads

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About “Sir Rupert and the Battle of the Squirrels”: This book is a funny approach to creative problem solving, cooperation and perseverance. Sir Rupert is a young person living in the castle, aspiring to become a “real” knight someday. He tries to help everyone he can to gain necessary knighthood experience. When his friend Bertha, the castle cook, comes to him one day asking for help with squirrels that have overrun the kitchen, Sir Rupert’s skills are put to the test. He asks everyone he can find for help, but no one has practical advice, so he and his friends team up to tackle the problem on their own. This story draws on themes of asking for help, persevering no matter what, helping others in the face of adversity, and receiving approval for one’s efforts even when things don’t turn out the way you planned.

About “What We Leave Behind”: Martin and Asta came to America in 1913 to homestead and create a better life for themselves and a hoped-for family. Nineteen years later during the difficult years of the Great Plains Dust Bowl, they intend to improve the lives of three of their nine children by sending their 18-year-old daughter with her two younger sisters to Norway to live with relatives for two years. But things do not go according to plan. The oldest sister falls in love with and marries a young Norwegian man, leaving the two younger sisters with no one to take them home. By 1940, when Germany invades Norway, the two younger sisters were living with the family relative who in the meantime married a Quisling, a member of the Norwegian Nazi Party. The two sisters miss the last U.S. evacuee ship out of Petsamo, Finland, and soon German soldiers take one sister to Grini, a concentration camp north of Oslo. Eventually she and her older sister both marry men active in the Norwegian Resistance Movement of WWII. Will the entire family ever reconnect?

The Arkansas Razorbacks (43-13) are set to host the Fayetteville Regional as the No. 3 national seed in the 2025 NCAA Tournament. The first squad the Diamond Hogs will face is the North Dakota State Bison (20-32), who are the 4-seed in the Fayetteville Regional.

The Bison defeated Oral Roberts 4-2 last Saturday in the “if necessary” game to claim the Summit League Tournament championship as a two-seed after falling to the Golden Eagles 3-1 earlier in the day to force the winner-take-all matchup. This is the third time the Bison have appeared in an NCAA Tournament as a Division I member, the other two in 2014 and 2021.

NDSU has a mostly straight shot, but lengthy, trek to Fayetteville while the other two squads in the Fayetteville Regional, 2-seeded Kansas and 3-seeded Creighton, are within a four and six-hour trip.

Arkansas head Coach Dave Van Horn mentioned Monday that he was not surprised when the pairings were announced.

“That’s pretty much who I thought was coming,” Van Horn said. “Obviously Nebraska winning yesterday, there was a possibility of them coming in as a 3. I did feel like Kansas would come in being three hours up the road as a 2. They’ve had a great season. You know I felt like it was going to be either North Dakota State or Little Rock coming in as the 4. So pretty much what I thought.”

Their record in the big picture essentially tells the story of how the season has gone that includes a brutal start, dropping 13 of their first 14 games, but the experienced Bison got some things clicking in their conference tournament and have won four of their last five contests.

“They’ve been sneaky good over the last few years to be honest with you,” Van Horn said. “You’re kind of going ‘Wow,’ because they’re playing inside. They’re practicing inside and doing it a lot most of the year.

“They have an older team. I was informed that they have … and I know they had them but they have like 10 seniors on their team. A lot of times that’s what it takes when you are a mid-major to be really successful at all levels is to have those older kids.”

NDSU is led by fourth-year head coach Tyler Oakes. The heart and soul of the roster includes junior southpaw Nolan Johnson, who was named Summit League Pitcher of the Year as well as sophomore infielder Jake Schaffner, the Summit League’s Defensive Player of the Year. Johnson was also named the Summit League Championship’s Most Valuable Player.

Along with Johnson and Schaffner, lefty pitcher Danny Lachenmayer was also tabbed first-team all-conference, while outfielder Dante Smith and right-handed pitcher Logan Knight were named to the second team. Third baseman Davis Hamilton and outfielder Sam Canton were listed on the Honorable Mention squad.

The Bison played two games this spring against Fayetteville Regional counterpart Creighton, taking the first matchup on April 8 over the Blue Jays 3-2 and Creighton took the second one a couple of weeks later 5-2.

It is assumed the Hogs will trot regular Friday starter Zach Root to the mound against Johnson and the Bison, but the Hogs will wait to say for sure.

“Yeah, we pretty much know who we’re going to pitch but we’re not going to announce it yet,” Van Horn said.

Arkansas and North Dakota State will play the first game of the Fayetteville Regional on Friday at 2 p.m. CT at Baum-Walker Stadium in Fayetteville. The game will be streamed live on ESPN Plus.

Below is a comparison of the Arkansas and North Dakota State’s metrics and stats, as well as a look the projected starting lineup and noteworthy pitchers for the Bison.

1. SS Jake Schaffner – Sophomore, 6’2″, 175 pounds

2025 stats: .384/.443/.489, 52 GP, 219 AB, 84 H, 48 R, 9 2B, 4 3B, 2 HR, 21 RBI, 18 BB, 24 K, 18 SB

2. DH Dante Smith – Freshman, 5’11”, 175 pounds

2025 stats: .303/.388/389, 41 GP, 152 AB, 46 H, 28 R, 6 2B, 2 3B, 1 HR, 18 RBI, 41 K, 18 BB, 11 SB

3. 3B Davis Hamilton – Junior, 6’2″, 200 pounds

2025 stats: .314/.404/.469, 51 GP, 194 AB, 61 H, 36 R, 12 2B, 3 3B, 4 HR, 37 RBI, 25 BB, 33 K, 12 SB

4. CF Sam Canton – Senior, 5’10”, 185 pounds

2025 stats: .268/.369/.396, 41 GP, 149 AB, 40 H, 17 R, 7 2B, 4 HR, 26 RBI, 19 BB, 33 K, 4 SB

5. LF Colten Becker – Senior, 5’10”, 190 pounds

2025 stats: .286/.404/.438, 50 GP, 185 AB, 53 H, 18 R, 9 2B, 2 3B, 5 HR, 32 RBI, 30 BB, 61 K, 5 SB

6. C Noah Gordon – Sophomore, 5’10”, 190 pounds

2025 stats: .219/.299/.367, 38 GP, 128 AB, 28 H, 16 R, 5 2B, 1 3B, 4 HR, 20 RBI, 13 BB, 33 K

7. RF Blake Timmons – Redshirt Freshman, 5’10”, 175 pounds

2025 stats: .221/.303/.412, 21 GP, 68 AB, 15 H, 11 R, 3 2B, 2 3B, 2 HR, 9 RBI, 7 BB, 21 K

8. 1B Alex Urlaub – Senior, 6’1″, 190 pounds

2025 stats: .250/.352/.372, 48 GP, 164 AB, 41 H, 19 R, 8 2B, 4 HR, 23 RBI, 15 BB, 57 K

9. 2B Luis Garcia – Senior, 6’0″, 180 pounds

2025 stats: .135/.273/.162, 26 GP, 74 AB, 10 H, 8 R, 1 3B, 4 RBI, 10 BB, 25 K, 1 SB

LHP Nolan Johnson – Redshirt Junior, 6’1″, 185 pounds

2025 stats: 15 APP, 15 GS, 4-5 W/L, 82.2 IP, 77 H, 40 R, 38 ER, 21 BB, 77 K, .241 BAA, 4.14 ERA

RHP Logan Knight – Senior, 6’6″, 215 pounds

2025 stats: 14 APP, 14 GS, 4-6 W/L, 77 IP, 85 H, 48 R, 40 ER, 27 BB, 65 K, .278 BAA, 4.68 ERA

LHP Danny Lachenmayer – Freshman, 6’3″, 195 pounds

2025 stats: 22 APP, 2-3 W/L, 34.2 IP, 21 H, 12 R, 10 ER, 17 B, 53 K, .179 BAA, 2.60 ERA

RHP Reese Lightenberg – Redshirt Senior, 6’5″, 205 pounds

2025 stats: 18 APP, 1-1 W/L, 24.2 IP, 26 H, 18 R, 15 ER, 11 BB, 10 K, .280 BAA, 5.47 ERA

FARGO, N.D. (Valley News Live) – An appellant’s brief filed with the North Dakota Supreme Court is claiming that the 6th amendment was violated in the trial of Spencer Moen, who was found guilty of murdering his wife, Sonja Moen, in October 2024.

Court documents show that Moen and his attorney claim that the district court allowed two minor witnesses to testify remotely via Zoom, from a separate location, without establishing that live testimony would result in serious emotional trauma or without making factual findings to justify the necessity for remote testimony.

The two minor witnesses in question are Moen’s youngest children, who were inside the home at the time of the murder back in August of 2023. Moen’s brief says that “The Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution, made applicable to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment, and Article I § 12 of the North Dakota Constitution guarantees the right of an accused in a criminal prosecution to be confronted with the witnesses against him.”

Moen and his attorney are now asking the North Dakota Supreme Court to hear oral arguments and reverse his conviction and remand for a new trial.

The State of North Dakota filed their brief within 30 days of Moen’s filing and states that the 6th amendment was not violated. According to their brief, they claim that the state’s motion to have this one-way testimony by Moen’s children was because “it was unlikely that they would’ve been able to provide trustworthy evidence if they testified in their father’s presence and doing so would harm their psychological well-being.”

On August 9, 2024, the court found that the testimony of the kids in front of Moen would result in them suffering emotional distress or trauma that would impact their ability to speak in front of them.

The State of North Dakota is requesting that the court affirm the criminal judgment against Moen. They have also requested oral arguments to respond to any questions that the Court may have.

Moen was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole on December 30, 2024.

According to the North Dakota Appellate Case System, there are no future hearings scheduled for Moen at this time.

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