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Kids Indie Next List: Winter
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Calm: Calm Mind, Change the World by Michael Acton Smith
This book is chock-full of suggestions for calming your mind and body. Some pages have meditation examples, while others may have a special calming poem. It's full color throughout. This is a very special book if you know someone who could use this message.
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Event:
Writing Workshop for Teens with Susan Dennard, April 15, 6-7pm - Reservations are requested for this event.
Get to know the woman who will lead this exciting workshop next month!
Susan Dennard has come a long way from small-town Georgia, where she suffered from mosquitoes, humidity, and a desperate desire to live in a castle. There were also crazy vegetarian parents involved. Needless to say, she read a lot of books in those days and often composed wretched stories for her sister's amusement. Eventually, she went off to university, got a Masters in marine biology and statistics, and thought she would devote her life to saving the world from overfishing...Until she met a handsome Frenchman, that is. A year later, when it came to pursuing her PhD or joining aforementioned Frenchman in Europe, Susan chose the latter. With no oceans nearby, she turned her attention to writing for publication. Three years later, her debut novel, Something Strange and Deadly was published by HarperCollins. These days, Susan spends most of her time writing more novels or working with aspiring authors online (she has loads of resources for writers on her blog and in her forums). She also enjoys long walks on the beach-really, she does! Tidal pools are always fun to marine biologists. She also enjoys long walks with her dogs (an Irish setter named Asimov and a terrier mutt named Princess Leia). But most of all, Susan enjoys reading. Science fiction, fantasy, literary-they're all consumed with enthusiasm. Oh, and Susan's favorite food is cookies. She consumes those with enthusiasm, too.
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Calling All Young Writers!
The 2016 Young Writers Exposition Opens Tuesday, April 12. Time to start your first draft! There are LOTS of details so click here for rules, prizes, etc! Participants: Young writers in the Charlevoix-Emmet ISD (or home school students in Charlevoix or Emmet Counties) may submit one work of poetry or prose, or one of both. Work must be submitted online. Prizes: 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place will be awarded in the 3 categories of Elementary, Middle, and High School. Click to view details.Online submissions: Tuesday, April 12 and run through Wednesday, April 20, 2016. A submission link will be activated on the Crooked Tree Arts Center's website on April 12.
Awards Reception: Saturday, May 7, 2-4pm
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An Ernest Hemingway Event:
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Matt's Latest Picks:
Although China has become more and more open to outsiders we have not had many opportunities to read its contemporary authors, but that is changing. The Three-Body Problem was the first work of Cixin Liu's to have been translated to English, and it promptly won a Hugo Award in 2015. The Three-Body Problem is very much a science fiction novel but it begins with a fascinating recounting of the Cultural Revolution; something Cixin Liu remembers clearly, having been born in 1963. Ye Wenjie is an astrophysicist who witnessed the brutal murder of her mathematician father at the hands of young revolutionaries in the mid-60s. She has been exiled to a labor camp in the countryside when the powers that be realize that her mind is more valuable to the revolution than her hands, and she is reassigned to begin work at the mysterious "Red Coast Project." In the current day, Wang Miao is a nanomaterials scientist who has been drawn into an investigation to uncover why China's leading scientists have been committing suicide at an alarming rate. All of whom belonged to a mysterious organization called the "Frontiers of Science." The closer Wang gets to the "Frontiers of Science" the more tenuous his grasp on reality becomes. The Three-Body Problem is a marvelous journey on a grand scale that has been skillfully translated and peppered with helpful translator's notes. For those looking for something different The Three-Body Problem holds many rewards
Everyone had that one kid during childhood who would torment them; that one jerk who could cut to your core in an instant. For Alex Abramovich that bully was Trevor Latham, and he has never forgotten him. When Abramovich learns that his childhood bully has grown into an adult bully and is now the head of the infamous motorcycle gang, the East Bay Rats, he simply cannot help himself and is drawn to reconnect with his old nemesis. After successfully pitching the story to a magazine, Alex is off to Oakland, California to meet with Trevor and get an insider's view of one of the most notorious biker gangs in California. To Alex's surprise he is quickly enamored by the charismatic Trevor and finds himself tumbling deeper and deeper into the world of the East Bay Rats, ultimately relocating with his wife and children from New York to California. At times "Bullies" feels like a real life Fight Club where arguments are settled in boxing matches and the bar is always open. Bullies: A Friendship is a fascinating romp through a world few of us allow ourselves to consider and like life, it is filled with many more conflicts than resolutions.
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Found on the Shelf:
Heartbreaking, but important. This is a beautiful book to have on hand when it is time to talk to your child about death. Ida and Gus live in the city zoo together, and as Ida grows old, Gus learns that she will not be with him for much longer. But no matter what, Ida will always be with him in spirit. It's lovely images, and honest, straightforward text make this an instant classic like Dog Heaven or The Tenth Good Thing About Barney.
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