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September
Time: 7:00p CT
Where: Livestreaming on Crowdcast (RSVP)
About the book
Hardy "Hardly" Reed—21, good-natured, usually stoned—is drifting through life. When he encounters two children who are being physically abused, he'll have to becomes the best version of himself if he wants to save them.
About the author
Lou Berney's novels have won the Edgar, Hammett, Silver Dagger, Anthony, Barry, and Macavity awards, and have been finalists twice for the L.A. Times Book Prize. He is the author of Dark Ride (Sept., 2023), November Road, The Long and Faraway Gone, Whiplash River, and Gutshot Straight. He teaches in the MFA program in creative writing at Oklahoma City University.
Time: 6:30p CT
Where: Mystery to Me (seats are limited, Get Tickets)
Livestream: Crowdcast (RSVP)
About the book
In 1855, the landscape painter George Inness began work on his commissioned painting The Lackawanna Valley. A century later, a girl in Scranton, Pennsylvania, looks out over her coal-strewn homeland wishing for beauty and wondering where the artist had stood with his canvas. The interplay between the two stories is at the heart of Catherine Young's memoir Black Diamonds: A Childhood Colored By Coal. Young invites readers into a world now vanished, but which lingers in shimmering portraits. A lyric work of environmental history, Black Diamonds gives voice to the birthplace of the industrial revolution in North America and the consequences for the people and the forgotten valley that once powered the nation.
About Catherine Young
CATHERINE YOUNG worked as a national park ranger, farmer, educator, and mother before putting her heart into her writing. She earned an MFA in Creative Writing at the University of British Columbia, and holds degrees in Geography, Environmental Science, and Education. Catherine is author of the literary memoir Black Diamonds: A Childhood Colored by Coal and the ecopoetry collection, Geosmin. She deeply believes in the use of story and art as tools for transforming the world, and she holds concern for water. Rooted in farmlife, Catherine writes with a keen sense of place and lives with her family in the Driftless region of Wisconsin.
About Jean Feraca
Jean Feraca is an award-winning broadcast journalist, writer and public speaker who became famous as a talk show host on Wisconsin Public Radio as the host of Conversations with Jean Feraca and Here on Earth: Radio Without Borders. She is the author of 3 books of poetry and the memoir, I Hear Voices: A Memoir of Love, Death, and the Radio. She retired from WPR in 2012 and is now active in The Prison Ministry Project. In 2016 she became a benedictine oblate of Holy Wisdom Monastery in Middleton, Wisconsin. She is married to the brilliant geneticist Alan Attie and has two sons: Ottoman historian Giancarlo Casale and noise artist Dominick Fernow. Bowie, her beautiful white cat with one green eye and one dreamy blue eye is named for David Bowie.
October
Time: 1:00p CT
Where: livestreaming on Crowdcast
Three authors from across the Crime Fiction spectrum are coming together to discuss their Fall 2023 new releases in the October 3 edition of The Lineup!
Join James R. Benn (Proud Sorrows), Stephen Mack Jones (Deus X), and Leonie Swann (The Sunset Years of Agnes Sharp) for a live conversation about everything from WWII history to the dark corners of Detroit to geriatric crime capers.
Time: 6:00p CT
Where: Mystery to Me (seats are limited, Get Tickets)
Livestream: Crowdcast (RSVP)
About the book
In her debut memoir Crossing Borders: The Search for Dignity in Palestine, Christa’s journey of curiosity beginning in Jerusalem and Gaza while studying abroad in her father’s homeland of Germany at the tail end of the Cold War. Christa’s experiences open up a world of joy and heartache that transforms into a lifetime pursuit to make a difference in a land two peoples call home. Through Christa’s unique perspective as an American and mother of three Palestinians, we become familiar with both current and historic challenges Palestinians face living in the shadow of the State of Israel. Christa poses thought-provoking questions that are a test to us all as we collectively grapple with how to come together in a place that is increasingly divided in the mind and on the ground.
About the Author
Christa Bruhn is an American author, photographer, and culinary artist with a lifelong passion for peace and justice. She is the daughter of a German immigrant raised under Nazi Germany and the mother of three Palestinian Americans. She holds degrees in International Studies (BA), Middle Eastern & North African Studies (MA), and Educational Leadership & Policy Analysis (PhD). She has published academic work on Palestine, peace education, and diversity and led and participated in roundtables on the future of Palestine and Israel. She splits her time between her home in Madison, Wisconsin and Jalameh, Palestine.
Time: 8:00p
Where: livestreaming on Crowdcast
About Come Closer
Demonic possession or psychic break? One of Esquire's Top 50 horror novels of all time delves deep into the terrifying consequences of losing control.
“Hypnotic, disturbing, and written with such unerring confidence you believe every word.”—Bret Easton Ellis
A recurrent, unidentifiable noise in her apartment. A memo to her boss that's replaced by obscene insults. Amanda—a successful architect in a happy marriage—finds her life going off kilter by degrees. She starts smoking again, and one night for no reason, without even the knowledge that she's doing it, she burns her husband with a cigarette. At night she dreams of a beautiful woman with pointed teeth on the shore of a blood-red sea.
The new voice in Amanda's head, the one that tells her to steal things and talk to strange men in bars, is strange and frightening, and Amanda struggles to wrest back control of her life. A book on demon possession suggests that the figure on the shore could be the demon Naamah, known to scholars of the Kabbalah as the second wife of Adam, who stole into his dreams and tricked him into fathering her child. Whatever the case, as the violence of her erratic behavior increases, Amanda knows that she must act to put her life right, or see it destroyed.
About Sara Gran
Sara Gran is the author of the novels Saturn's Return to New York, Dope, and Claire DeWitt and the City of the Dead, the first in a detective series. Her work has been published in over a dozen countries and in nearly twice as many magazines, newspapers, and literary journals. Born and raised in Brooklyn, she now lives in California.
About Stephen Graham Jones
Stephen Graham Jones is the NYT bestselling author of some thirty novels and collections, and there's some novellas and comic books in there as well. Most recent are Don't Fear the Reaper and the ongoing Earthdivers. Up before too long are The Angel of Indian Lake and I Was a Teenage Slasher. Stephen lives and teaches in Boulder, Colorado.
About Paul Tremblay
Paul Tremblay has won the Bram Stoker, British Fantasy, and Massachusetts Book awards and is the author of The Beast You Are, The Pallbearers Club, Survivor Song, Growing Things and Other Stories, Disappearance at Devil's Rock, A Head Full of Ghosts, and the crime novels The Little Sleep and No Sleep Till Wonderland. His novel The Cabin at the End of the World was adapted at the Universal Pictures film Knock at the Cabin. He lives outside Boston with his family.
Time: 6:00p
Where: Garth's Brew Bar
We will be reading The Physicists' Daughter
About the book
New Orleans, 1944. Justine Byrne works at a small factory in the bayous of New Orleans to keep her head above water. Soon though, Justine begins to suspect that the carbon parts she assembles on the factory line might have something to do with a top-secret government initiative—The Manhattan Project. But Justine is not the only one to realize that the factory is much more than it seems, and German saboteurs will do anything to put the factory out of commission. With no one to trust, it will be up to Justine to figure out who is responsible and protect her coworkers, her factory, and her country from a war that is suddenly very close to home.
Time: 6:00p CT
Where: Mystery to Me (seats are limited, Get Tickets)
Livestream: Crowdcast (RSVP)
About the book
This newest collection from Richard Vargas stands chest-to-chest with the realities of the American working class. At once acerbic and tender, the poems swell with curiosity and compassion for the people living in a culture designed to milk them dry. Vargas writes with humor, with wonder, with wickedness and guileless admiration, acknowledging those whose lives are seldom glamorized.
About Richard Vargas
Richard Vargas earned his B.A. at Cal State University, Long Beach, where he studied under Gerald Locklin, and Richard Lee. He edited/published five issues of The Tequila Review, 1978-1980, and twelve issues of The Mas Tequila Review from 2010-2015. Vargas received his MFA in Creative Writing from the University of New Mexico, 2010, where he workshopped his poems with Joy Harjo. He was recipient of the 2011 Taos Summer Writers' Conference Hispanic Writer Award. He was on the faculties of the 2012 10th National Latino Writers Conference and the 2015 Taos Summer Writers' Conference. Published collections: McLife, 2005; American Jesus, 2007; Guernica, revisited, 2014; How A Civilization Begins, 2022, and a fifth book, leaving a tip at the Blue Moon Motel, published by Casa Urraca Press in 2023. His work history is long and varied. Some of the jobs he's had since the 1970s: fry and grill cook, women's shoes salesman, bank employee, gas station attendant, retail sales/clerk (paint, men's clothes, auto service/repair, and bookseller), warehouseman, infantry lieutenant, warehouse supervisor, UPS deliveryman, massage therapist, bookstore events coordinator, and inbound call center CSR (for several companies.) He is now retired and currently resides in Wisconsin, near the lake where Otis Redding's plane crashed.
About Carlos Cumpián
Carlos Cumpián is a Chicagoan originally from Texas. Human Cicada (Prickly Pear Publishing & Nopalli Press, 2022) is his fifth book of poetry; earlier works include Coyote Sun (March/Abrazo Press, 1990), Armadillo Charm (Tia Chucha, 1996), 14 Abriles (March/Abrazo Press, 2010), and the children's book Latino Rainbow: Poems About Latino Americans (Children's Press, 1994). Cumpián coedited Coyote's Song: Collected Poetry & Selected Art of Carlos Cortéz Koyokuikatl ( March/Abrazo Press, 2023).
In 2000, Cumpián was recognized with a Gwendolyn Brooks Significant Illinois Poet Award. He was also a finalist in the 2004 Illinois poet laureate search. His work has been reviewed in the Chicago Tribune, the Los Angeles Times, and the American Library Association Booklist Online, among other publications.
Cumpián's work has been included in more than 30 poetry anthologies, including Telling Stories: An Anthology for Writers (Norton, 1998.)
Cumpián's essays have appeared in Poetry magazine, including "Encounter Diana Solís" and in 2022, "A Chicago Original: Ana Castillo" for the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame Fuller Lifetime Achievement Awards book. In 2014, he published an essay on literacy, "Learned to Read at My Momma's Knee," for the anthology With a Book in Their Hands: Chicano/a Readers and Readerships Across the Centuries (University of New Mexico Press, 2014). Cumpián is also a playwright and wrote the satire Behind the Buckskin Curtain: Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show.
Cumpián is the cofounder of March/Abrazo Press, the first Chicana, Native American, and Latino poetry small press in Illinois.
Time: 6:00p CT
Where: Mystery to Me (seats are limited, Get Tickets)
Livestream: Crowdcast (RSVP)
About the book
For teen mail jumper Bailey, the carefree days aboard the Mailboat aren’t so carefree anymore. Traumatized by a lifetime of loss in foster care—not to mention this summer’s maelstrom of murders—she’s convinced it’s better to abandon her newly found grandfather, Mailboat Captain Tommy, before he has the chance to abandon her. Meanwhile, Tommy, harboring his own scars, fears the distance Bailey keeps means she’ll leave him forever, like his son left them both.
The End of Summer is the fifth book in the stunning Mailboat Suspense Series. If you love an ensemble cast of life-like characters, and plot twists that shatter your expectations, then you’ll love Danielle Lincoln Hanna’s breathless new novel!
About the author
Danielle Lincoln Hanna is the author of the Mailboat Suspense Series. She left the Rocky Mountains of Montana to be closer to Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, where her books are set. But her first love is still the Great Plains of North Dakota where she was born.
Mailboat: The End of the Pier, the first book in her series, has been an Amazon bestseller, ranking #1 in Suspense and #2 in Thriller. She has been approached on two separate occasions about her film and TV rights, and a pitch for a Mailboat TV series made semifinalist in the Spring 2022 ScreenCraft Virtual Pitch Competition.
When Danielle isn’t writing, you can find her hiking with her boyfriend Charles, adventuring with her German Shepherd Angel, and avoiding surprise attacks from her cat Fergus.
Time: 6:00p CT
Where: Mystery to Me (seats are limited, Get Tickets)
Livestream: Crowdcast (RSVP)
About the book
Sometimes the past refuses to stay hidden…
Rader-Day's signature blend of suspenseful storytelling and complex human emotions is on full display in THE DEATH OF US. The novel delves into the heart-wrenching story of Liss Kehoe, who has spent fifteen years trying to forget the rainy night Ashley Hay came to her doorstep and handed over her baby, Callan—born from an affair with Liss’s local golden boy husband—and then disappeared without a trace. But when Ashley's car is found in a murky pond on Kehoe property, Liss must face the truth about what happened and fight to keep her family safe.
As Liss struggles to protect her loved ones, she discovers that the small town she calls home is teeming with hidden secrets and betrayals. With everything she holds dear at stake, Liss must decide how far she's willing to go to uncover the truth and protect those she loves.
Reminiscent of the works of Tana French and Gillian Flynn, Rader-Day delivers a gripping novel that will keep you hooked from the first page to the last.
About the author
Lori Rader-Day is the Edgar Award-nominated and Agatha, Anthony, and Mary Higgins Clark award-winning author of Death at Greenway, The Lucky One, Under a Dark Sky, and others. Her latest book, forthcoming fall 2023, is The Death of Us (Harper Collins.) Lori lives in Chicago, where she co-chairs the Midwest Mystery Conference and teaches creative writing at Northwestern University. Visit her at www.LoriRaderDay.com.
4:00p - Rebecca Fannin, Silicon Heartland
5:00p - Dan Egan, Devil's Element
6:00p - Coco Krumme, Optimal Illusions
All events take place at the Discovery Building - DeLuca Forum
10:30a - Carol Dunbar, Winter's Rime
12:00p - Kurt Dietrich, Never Givin' Up
1:30p - Mary Bergin, Small-Town Wisconsin
3:00p - Sara Alvarado, Dreaming in Spanish
All events take place at the Wisconsin Historical Society
Time: 6:00p CT
Where: Mystery to Me (seats are limited, Get Tickets)
Livestream: Crowdcast (RSVP)
About the book
What if Sean Courtland’s old Chevy truck had broken down somewhere else? What if he’d never met Denise Givens, a waitress at a local tavern, and gotten into a bar fight defending her honor? Or offered a ride and a job to Dan Young, another young man like Sean, burdened by secrets and just drifting through town?
Instead, over the course of just a few short weeks, Sean and Dan form a deep friendship as they get drawn into the lives of the people they meet—from Denise and her father, to Marion Devereaux, who needs some work done on his house, to Corinne Viegas, a savvy detective with top-notch instincts—all haunted in different ways by the disappearance of three young boys decades ago, in the 1970s. And as these characters converge, an irreversible chain of events is set in motion that culminates in shattering violence, and the revelation of long-buried truths.
Evocative and gritty, Distant Sons is another immersive, gripping suspense novel by Johnston about how the most random intersection of lives can have consequences both devastating and beautiful.
About the author
Tim Johnston is the author of the novels Descent, The Current, the story collection Irish Girl, and the young adult novel Never So Green. He holds degrees from the University of Iowa and the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He is the recipient of the 2015 Iowa Author Award and currently lives in Iowa City, Iowa.
Time: 6:00p CT
Where: Mystery to Me (seats are limited, Get Tickets)
Livestream: Crowdcast (RSVP)
About the book
Silvia Guerra (1961, Maldonado, Uruguay) is among the most influential figures in Uruguayan poetry today. This translation, a panoramic selection of poems from nine books, presents Guerra as one of Latin America's dauntless poets of language. This tour-de-force translation engages Guerra's stunning range of forms while joining the poet as she courts the sublime.
About Silvia Guerra
Silvia Guerra (1961, Maldonado, Uruguay) is an Uruguayan poet and editor. She is a member of the executive board of the Mario Benedetti Foundation. In 2012, she was awarded the Morosoli Prize in Poetry for her career. Her selected poems A Sea at Dawn, translated by Jesse Lee Kercheval and Jeannine Marie Pitas, was just published by Eulalia Books.
About Jesse Lee Kercheval
Jesse Lee Kercheval is a poet, writer and translator. Her sixth poetry collection I Want to Tell You (University of Pittsburgh Press) was published earlier this year. She is the Zona Gale Professor Emerita of English at UW-Madison and the coeditor of the Wisconsin Poetry Series at the University of Wisconsin Press.
About Jeannine Marie Pitas
Jeannine Marie Pitas is the author of Or/And (Paraclete Press 2023) and Things Seen and Unseen (Mosaic Press 2019). She is the translator or co-translator of twelve books by Latin American poets, including the Uruguayan poets Marosa di Giorgio and Selva Casal. She lives in Pittsburgh and teaches at Saint Vincent College.
Time: 6:00p CT
Where: Mystery to Me (seats are limited, Get Tickets)
Livestream: Crowdcast (RSVP)
About the book
When a mother is charged with murder in a town already convinced of her guilt, can defense attorney Powell Harrison find truth and justice in a legal system where innocence is not presumed?
Emily Lloyd, a young widow in Reconstruction-era Virginia, is accused of poisoning her three-year-old daughter, Maud. It isn’t the first death in her home: her husband and three other children all died of mysterious illnesses, so when Maud succumbs to an unexplained malady, the town suspects foul play. Soon Mrs. Lloyd is charged not only with poisoning the child, but with murdering her children, her husband, and her aunt.
Enter Powell Harrison, a soft-spoken, brilliant attorney who recently returned to his Virginia hometown to help his brother manage their late father’s practice. Approached to assist in Mrs. Lloyd’s defense, Harrison initially declines, worried that the infanticide case might tarnish their family's reputation. But as details about the widow's erratic behavior and her reclusive neighbors emerge, Harrison begins to suspect that an even more sinister truth might lurk beneath the family's horrible fate and finds himself irresistibly drawn to the case.
Based on a shocking true story, Veil of Doubt is part true-crime thriller, part medical and legal procedural. Perfect for fans of Margaret Atwood’s Alias Grace and filled with rich detail gleaned from exhaustive research, Veil of Doubt delves into the darkness of the South during Reconstruction, exposing intrigue, deception, and death.
About the author
Sharon Virts, author of Veil of Doubt and Masque of Honor a successful entrepreneur and visionary who, after more than twenty-five years in business, followed her passion for storytelling in the world of historical fiction. She has received numerous awards for her work in historic preservation and has been recognized nationally for her business achievements and philanthropic contributions. She was recently included in Washington Life Magazine's Philanthropic 50 for her work with education, health, and cultural preservation.
Sharon's passion truly lies in the creative. She is an accomplished visual artist and uses her gift for artistic expression along with her extraordinary storytelling to build complex characters and craft vivid images and sets that capture the heart and imagination. She is mother to four sons, James, Lucas, Zachary, and Nicholas, stepmom to Ben and Avery, and "Nana" to ten-year-old Charlie and toddler Bodhi. She lives in Virginia with her husband, Scott Miller, at the historic Selma Mansion with their three Labrador retrievers Polly, Cassie, and Leda. For more information, visit sharonvirts.com and follow her on Instagram @sharonvirtsbooks.
November
Time: 6:00p CT
Where: Mystery to Me (seats are limited, Get Tickets)
Livestream: Crowdcast (RSVP)
About the book
From Hardship to Hope invites us to walk into the complexities of two women's parallel universes. It is a fictionalized, shared autobiography. Some of the moments and experiences come from Jaylin's and Judith's lives. Some do not.
***
Ruby Blue, a pregnant, homeless, Black teen is temporarily housed with Zoe, a White, olding widow, as Covid-19 interrupts their lives.
The daily pace has slowed and after a stormy start, Zoe and Ruby Blue begin to build trust, sharing increasingly insightful life experiences as they stay together. Zoe knows her world through books and travel. Ruby Blue knows her world through life on the streets.
At the same time the pandemic slows the pace of life, the Black Lives Movement roils out of the unrest and the inequalities -- laid bare by Covid-19 -- showcasing disparities in job prospects, educational possibilities, housing opportunities, health care access, and civic violence. The women struggle with these realities.
Over time, Zoe and Ruby Blue share their stories. And some secrets. They talk about family differences in favorite foods, hair styles, skin care, and history. (The women have the same last name, with different spellings.) Then, carefully, yet often bluntly, they compassionately move to discussing tough topics. Race. Age. Gender. Poverty. Healthcare. Pregnancy. Adoption. Protesting. Policing. Incarceration. Death. Trust. Love.
Singer, H.E.R. raises the question of how people can look at exactly the same event or entity and come away with opposite views. She asks, can the killer and the protector be the same person, an idea the women deliberate.
From Hardship to Hope challenges us to consider where our -- often strongly held -- different beliefs and assumptions about reality come from.
How did each of us learn to see the world as we do? Zoe clings to her heritage through her grandmother's sugar bowl and striped chair. Ruby Blue pulls her man's blue hoodie tightly around her distended belly.
How do we dare to question these realities we so strongly believe? Ruby Blue's lived experiences tell her to fear the police – the pigs as she calls them. Zoe tells of the time a police officer saved her from a predator, to which Ruby Blue asks, why did you call him a predator?
How do we come to see that our understanding is ultimately subjective; that other people authentically experience different realities? Hold different truths. The women's experiences of giving birth – objectively the same event -- could not have been more divergent.
And then, ultimately, what do we do with this knowledge? How do we come away with hope?
About the authors
Judith Gwinn Adrian, co-author. During the Covid pandemic, I read more about racial differences and created the basic outline for From Hardship to Hope, but recognized I could not honorably complete the book alone. I needed a strong co-author. Jaylin Stueber! We met through an online Circle of Support for returning prisoners where I learned she had the lived experience and passion to bring Ruby Blue's character to life, as I did with the Zoe character. We are a team.
My academic background includes two degrees in English and my Ph.D. in adult learning. After working for four years, through the University of Wisconsin-Madison, on a Kellogg Foundation Leadership Program with my major professor, Jerold Apps, I taught at Edgewood College, Madison, for 25 years. My course topics ranged from diversity to prison reform to initiating change to hospice. Each class was built on integrated studies and civic involvement, usually in local challenged communities.
Since retirement, in 2019, I have co-written or edited ten memoirs and books, working with Kira Henschel, HenschelHAUS Publisher, Milwaukee.
I am forever grateful for all of these life transforming relationships.
Time: 6:00p CT
Where: Mystery to Me (seats are limited, Get Tickets)
Livestream: Crowdcast (RSVP)
About the book
The fourth book in the Shady Hollow mystery series sees Vera embroiled in a case involving star-crossed lovers whose affair may have turned deadly.
It’s spring in Shady Hollow, and romance is in the air. Even reporter Vera Vixen is caught up in the season as her relationship with new police chief
Orville Braun blossoms. But true love is not always smooth sailing, as two of the hollow’s young residents come to find. Jonah Atwater and Stasia von Beaverpelt find themselves battling their families in order to be together. And when Jonah's father, Shelby, goes over the top of Twilight Falls, all signs point to Stasia being the murderer.
The evidence against Stasia appears overwhelming, and Orville arrests her.
It looks like the case is closed, but Vera isn’t so sure. There are almost too many clues indicating Stasia is the killer, leading her to suspect someone is setting Stasia up. Besides, what about the mysterious ghostly creature skulking around town at night? Maybe he or she was involved? As Vera investigates further, her sleuthing puts her in direct opposition to Orville, and soon she’s stirred up a hornet's nest of trouble.
About the author
JUNEAU BLACK is the pen name of authors Jocelyn Cole and Sharon Nagel. They share a love of excellent bookshops, fine cheeses, and good murders (in fictional form only). Though they are two separate people, if you ask either of them a question about their childhood, you are likely to get the same answer. This is a little unnerving for any number of reasons.
Time: 6:00p CT
Where: Livestreaming Crowdcast (RSVP)
About Bing, Bop, Bam
A joyful, rhyming celebration of music and community, Bing, Bop, Bam: Time to Jam! is an upbeat picture book from the creators of Ride, Roll, Run: Time for Fun! that follows nine children as they help plan a big musical block party.
Sounds soar!
Tunes galore.
Music trance . . .
Gotta dance!
Author and educator Valerie Bolling’s rhyming text makes for a rollicking read aloud and features instruments from all around the world, including agogô, banjo, daegeum, djembe drums, double bass, erhu, maracas, piano, steel drums, and trumpet. Sabrena Khadija’s stunning, colorful illustrations depict the joy of dancing, playing music, and feasting with neighbors and friends. Readers will clamor to plan jam sessions of their own!
About Let's Dance
This rhythmic showcase of dances from all over the world features children of diverse backgrounds and abilities tapping, spinning, and boogying away!
Tap, twirl, twist, spin! With musical, rhyming text, author Valerie Bolling shines a spotlight on dances from across the globe, while energetic art from Maine Diaz shows off all the moves and the diverse people who do them. From the cha cha of Cuba to the stepping of Ireland, kids will want to leap, dip, and zip along with the dances on the page!
About the author
Valerie Bolling has been an educator for 30 years and is passionate about creating stories in which all children can see themselves and feel seen and heard, valued and validated. Her debut picture book, LET'S DANCE!, was published in March 2020 and won SCBWI's Crystal Kite Award in 2021.
Valerie is the author of four more picture books (Kirkus Prize Finalist TOGETHER WE SWIM; TOGETHER WE RIDE; RIDE, ROLL, RUN: TIME FOR FUN!; and BING, BOP, BAM: TIME TO JAM!) and RAINBOW DAYS, a Scholastic Acorn early reader series.
Sharing her books with children and inspiring them to write their own stories brings Valerie immense joy! Valerie and her husband live in Connecticut and enjoy traveling, hiking, reading, going to the theater, and dancing. linktr.ee/ValerieBolling
January
Time: 6:00p CT
Where: Mystery to Me (seats are limited, Get Tickets)
Livestream: Crowdcast (RSVP)
About the book
The dark underbelly of an idyllic Midwestern resort town is revealed in the aftermath of a murder with ties to America's opioid epidemic in this unputdownable and thrilling debut that is perfect for fans of James Lee Burke, William Kent Krueger, and Mindy Mejia.
Eli North is not okay.
His drinking is getting worse by the day, his emotional wounds after a deployment to Afghanistan are as raw as ever, his marriage and career are over, and the only job he can hold down is with the local sheriff’s department. And that’s only because the sheriff is his mother—and she’s overwhelmed with small town Shaky Lake’s dwindling budget and the fallout from the opioid epidemic. The Northwoods of Wisconsin may be a vacationer’s paradise, but amidst the fishing trips and campfires and Paul Bunyan festivals, something sinister is taking shape.
When the body of a teenage boy is found in the lake, it sets in motion an investigation that leads Eli to a wealthy enclave with a violent past, a pharmaceutical salesman, and a missing teenage girl. Soon, Eli and his mother, along with a young FBI agent, are on the hunt for more than just a killer.
If Eli solves the case, could he finally get the shot at redemption he so desperately needs? Or will answers to this dark case elude him and continue to bring destruction to the Northwoods?
About Amy Pease
Amy Pease is an alumnus of the University of Wisconsin and the Madison Writer’s Studio, and works as a nurse practitioner, where she is a nationally recognized HIV specialist. She lives in Wisconsin with her husband and two children. Northwoods is her first novel.
About Cayce Osborne
Cayce Osborne is a writer and graphic designer from Madison, WI. When not writing, she spends her time hanging out with her husband and two sons, reading library books, walking her dog, subscribing to way too many streaming services, and attempting arts and crafts. Her short fiction has appeared in many literary magazines and anthologies, including Exposition Review, Atlas + Alice Literary Magazine, and Pizza Parties and Poltergeists. I Know What You Did is her debut novel. Learn more at cayceosborne.com.