Brandon Township Public Library is hosting Laurie Halse Anderson via Skype on December 8th

Brandon Township Public Library is bringing YA author Anderson via Skype next month. Grand Rapids Public Library used Skype to bring Connie Briscoe to their Celebration of the Book. Has anyone else used this? How did the audience like it? Do you think it effected turn out?

>>>>>>>>>>>
Award winning Young Adult Author Laurie Halse Anderson will join us live via Skype.com to discuss her books, writing style and to take questions from the audience.

Mark Crilley and Melody Carlson coming up at Willard Public Library

I posted a brief note about this a while ago, but have more detail now. Both programs sound quite good for teens. Mark Crilley will be at Willard on November 12th and Melody Carlson will be there on November 19th.

>>>>>>>>>>
Creator of Akiko - Join Mark Crilley as he performs live drawing demonstrations and reads from his books. Crilley’s first comic series, Akiko, published in 1995, led to a popular series of chapter books from Random House. In his high-energy presentation, Crilley will give advice to aspiring authors about generating story ideas, giving characters distinctive voices, building conflict, and jumping into the all-important rewrite.

Mark Crilley was raised in Detroit, educated at Kalamazoo College, and taught English in Taiwan and Japan for nearly five years. He lives in Novi, Michigan with his wife, Miki, and children, Matthew and Mio.

Today's Challenges for Teens - With more than fifty young adult novels, Melody Carlson’s writings tackle many of the unique challenges faced by today’s youth. From risky online relationships, cyber-bullying and ‘sexting,’ to peer pressure about physical appearance and the materialism of fashion mania, teens are bombarded by conflicting ideals, images and messages 24/7.

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg – teens still have all the regular challenges of growing up, too. In her presentation, Carlson will discuss some ways to deal with the rough ride through adolescence.

Marshall District Library will host Tobin Buhk and Stephen D. Cohle on December 1st

For those that like their CSI stories with a local flavor. Several other libraries have hosted Tobin Buhk and Stephen Cohle. Anyone have a comment on their program?

>>>>>>>>>>
Skeletons in the Closet - They opened the closet of the morgue to find stories of deception, intrigue and murder! Join true crime author Tobin T. Buhk and Kent County Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Stephen D. Cohle as they discuss their second collaboration, Skeletons in the Closet: Stories from the Country Morgue.

Wirt Public Library welcomes Thad Koza on November 11th

The Wirt Public Library of the Bay County Library System has a Meet the Tall Ships program on Wednesday, November 11th.

World renowned Tall Ship photographer, author, and lecturer Thad Koza will present his famous Tall Ship slide show and share stories of the ships, crews and adventures. Thad is the author of Tall Ships: A Fleet for the 21st Century.

Iosco-Arenac District Library presents Ric Mixter on November 10th

More on the theme of local history authors, the Iosco-Arenac District Library is hosting an local history writer who focuses on shipwrecks.

>>>>>>>>>>
Ric Mixter is the author of The Wheelsmen, which chronicles four Great Lakes shipwrecks from the perspective of the ship's wheelsman.

Alpena County Library welcomes Bob Haltiner on November on November 1st

Local history authors like Bob Haltiner can be a good draw for genealogists and other community history focused groups. It might be worth your while to find a good local historian for a speaker.

>>>>>>

It is our pleasure to showcase Bob Haltiner as one of our Focal Point authors.  We have had the pleasure of working with Bob for many years.  The voice he creates in his writing is like no other; it is as if you are sitting with him at a café enjoying a cup of coffee and an interesting conversation.  For many years Bob has sifted through boxes of old letters, papers and documents to discover the history of the Alpena area. He has spent countless hours meeting with families and investigating files at government offices and libraries. His detective work has allowed him to create a unique collection of books that paint a picture of Alpena and the many interesting people who were a part of the community.

Date Change - David Guterson will be at the Kalamazoo Public Library on March 17th

The Kalamazoo Public Library has changed the date for their David Guterson visit. It will now be on March 17th. David Guterson is the author of Snow Falling on Cedars. The event will be part of Kalamazoo's 2010 Reading Together program. Kalamazoo has excellent materials posted at their site and the Center for the Book's One Book Archive from previous Reading Together programs.