September 13, 2024, Day 5643

On Sunday, November 3, 4 pm, Boswell Book Company and The Pabst Theater Group present a special, ticketed event with internationally bestselling author Jeff Kinney, who appears at the Riverside Theater, 116 W Wisconsin Ave, with Hot Mess, the latest installment of Kinney's beloved Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. In Hot Mess, our hero Greg Heffley is in for a particularly awkward summer with his whole family!

The Hot Mess Show is a deliciously entertaining and interactive one-hour event. Jeff will be serving up laughs and celebrating the latest Wimpy Kid book, while satisfying your craving for family fun! Select audience members will have a chance to join Jeff on stage for a family-style feast of friendly competition! Make your next family outing a HOT one!

Tickets for this event cost $25 plus tax and fee, which includes admission for two people and one signed copy of Hot Mess. Do note, this is a general admission event, with no assigned seating. There is no public signing or meet and greet at this event. Doors open at 3 pm. Click here to visit pabsttheatergroup.com/events/detail/jeff-kinney-2024 and get your tickets now.

The pressure is building for Greg Heffley, who discovers that when you mix heaps of family, a tiny beach house, and sweltering heat, it’s a recipe for disaster. Speaking of recipes - the secret ingredients behind Gramma’s famous meatballs have been closely guarded for years. Can Greg unpack all of his family’s mysteries before their vacation is over? Or will he just stir the pot? This sidesplittingly relatable summer story is the funniest Wimpy Kid book yet!

Jeff Kinney is a #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series and the Awesome Friendly Kid series. He is a six-time Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Award winner for Favorite Book and has been named one of Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in the World. With his wife, Kinney owns a bookstore named An Unlikely Story. Click here and get your tickets now for Jeff Kinney at the Riverside Theater, 116 W Wisconsin Ave, on Sunday, November 3, 4 pm central.

Carnegie Medalist Patrick Ness Visits Boswell on Tuesday, September 24, 6:30 pm

Boswell welcomes Carnegie Medalist Patrick Ness, author of A Monster Calls, to the store. Ness appears for an event featuring his new book, Chronicles of a Lizard Nobody. This funny, wise middle-grade book explodes every stereotype, including what it means to be a hero, in a brilliant reptilian take on surviving school.

Please click here to visit patricknessmke.eventbrite.com and register for this event. And call, visit the store, or click right here to order a copy of Chronicles of a Lizard Nobody now as well. Suggested for ages 8 and up.

Smart and relatable, this middle-grade novel by a revered author returns to his themes of grief, bullying, and negotiating differences, with zeal and comic relief to spare. When Principal Wombat makes monitor lizards Zeke, Daniel, and Alicia hall monitors, Zeke gives up on popularity at his new school. But maybe the halls are a war zone, and the school needs a hero.

This is one of Boswellian Tim's top 5 books of the year! He says: "Compared to this creature crew, humanity can be soooo boring. Young readers, maybe 3rd grade and higher, should live in this strange, smart, snarky, hilarious, and sometimes tenderly sad world for a bit. I have a rule: I don’t write 'lol' unless I really laughed out loud. I did!" And from our kids buyer Jen Steele: "A delightful early middle grade novel that is both silly and serious with fun illustrations throughout. Ness packs a punch in this heartfelt and funny novel about friendship, grief, bullying, and acceptance."

Patrick Ness’s A Monster Calls was made into a major motion picture. Ness is also the author of books such as the Chaos Walking trilogy, More Than This, and Different for Boys. His many accolades include an Olivier Award, the Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize, the Book Trust Teenage Prize, and the Costa Children’s Book Award. Click here and register for his visit to Boswell on Tuesday, September 24, 6:30 pm central.

Milwaukeean Vivian L King Chats About Her Debut Picture Book with Susan Kim at Boswell on Friday, September 27, 6:30 pm

Milwaukee author, speaker, and former TMJ4 anchor Vivian L King appears at Boswell with Grace Welcomes the Lady Next Door, her first picture book in a series written to instill manners in children during a time when the world seems far from civility. In conversation with TMJ4 News at 4 Anchor Susan Kim.

Please click here to register for this event at vivianlkingmke.eventbrite.com. And be sure to order your copy of Grace Welcomes the Lady Next Door now, too. Call the store, stop in and ask a bookseller, or click here to order on our website.

After Mama died of breast cancer and her family moves to Michigan, Grace Polite is missing her home state of Georgia and her mother. It's just her father, her little brother and sister, and her now. The move was meant to give the family a fresh start, but the adjustment is difficult for all of them. Grace misses everything about home, including the southern hospitality. However, when summer brings a new neighbor next door, Grace has an idea to use the manners her mother taught her to make their new house feel more like home.

Child advocate and author Gin Noon-Spaulding says: "A beautifully illustrated, well-written story that will help many children who are dealing with losing a special family member, moving, or learning how to adjust to change. Vivian has once again drawn people into an engaging, interesting story with a sweet twist at the end. Children and adults will love Grace Welcomes the Lady Next Door. I'm already looking forward to the next book!"

Vivian L King is author of the memoir When the Words Suddenly Stopped: Finding My Voice Again After a Massive Stroke, which was honored by the National Association of Black Journalists. An award-winning speaker and communications consultant, King received her journalism degree from the University of Missouri and is a life member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority. Click here and register now for her conversation at Boswell on Friday, September 27, 6:30 pm central.

YA Fantasy Author Hemant Nayak in Conversation with Anuradha D Rajurkar at Boswell on Sunday, September 29, 4 pm

Boswell hosts a Sunday afternoon special event with YA fantasy author Hemant Nayak, who visits with his new novel, A Magic Fierce and Bright. It’s a propulsive YA fantasy novel set in the isolated jungles of South India, and it’s perfect for fans of Gearbreakers and Iron Widow. In conversation with Anuradha D Rajurkar, author of American Betiya.

Please click here to visit hemantnayakmke.eventbrite.com and register for this event.

You can call us, stop by Boswell, or click right here to order a copy of A Magic Fierce and Bright now as well. Suggested for ages 13 and up.

Adya has the rare ability to wake electric machines using magic, a skill that makes her a coveted political pawn in the endless war for control over magic’s supernatural sources. These senseless power struggles mean little to Adya; she only wants to find her missing sister. Adya must reluctantly team up with a rakish, disreputable thief to untangle a web of intrigue, conspiracy, and deceit that threatens to take all of India down with it.

From author Judy I Lin: "A Magic Fierce and Bright is a wildly imaginative story that takes the reader from the lush jungle to a grand palace hiding many secrets. The action doesn’t let up from the explosive beginning to the triumphant end. The magical world contained within these pages is a pure delight. I’ve never experienced anything like it!"

Hemant Nayak is a writer of fantasy stories with a bit of heart and joy and a lot of the strange. When he’s not writing, he shifts to his alternate life as an ER doctor.

National Book Award Finalist Randy Ribay Appears at the Wauwatosa Public Library on Wednesday, October 2, 6:30 pm

Boswell Book Company, the Filipino American National Historical Society - Wisconsin Chapter, and Wauwatosa Public Library, 7635 W North Ave, present a special evening with National Book Award finalist Randy Ribay, author of Patron Saints of Nothing. Ribay visits with Everything We Never Had, an emotionally charged, moving new YA novel about four generations of Filipino American boys grappling with identity, masculinity, and their fraught father-son relationships. This book was also just named to the 2024 National Book Award Longlist!

Please click here to register for this event on the Wauwatosa Library website at wauwatosa.librarycalendar.com/event/evening-randy-ribay-5233. And call, visit, or click right here to order your copy of Everything We Never Had. Boswell will be on hand at the event with copies available for purchase, too. Suggested for ages 12 and up. Refreshments will be served, courtesy of FANHS-WI.

In Watsonville, 1930, Francisco Maghabol barely ekes out a living in the fields of California. In Stockton, 1965, Emil works night shifts at his aunt’s restaurant. In Denver, 1983, Chris is determined to prove that his overbearing father, Emil, can’t control him. And in Philadelphia, 2020, Enzo struggles to keep his anxiety in check as a global pandemic breaks out and his abrasive grandfather moves in. Everything We Never Had unfolds like a beautifully crafted nesting doll, where each Maghabol boy forges his own path amid heavy family and societal expectations, passing down his flaws, values, and virtues to the next generation, until it’s up to Enzo to see how he can braid all these strands and men together.

From the starred Kirkus review: "Heartwarming and heartbreaking moments offer deep insights into intergenerational patterns and how one’s life experiences and upbringing affect parenting and relationships… A powerful and moving family saga."

Randy Ribay is a Filipino American author of YA fiction. His novel Patron Saints of Nothing was a finalist for the LA Times Book Prize. Ribay was also a contributor to the Printz Award-winning anthology The Collectors, and his other works include An Infinite Number of Parallel Universes, After the Shot Drops, and Chronicles of the Avatar: The Reckoning of Roku. Click here and register now for his event at the Wauwatosa Public Library, 7635 W North Ave on Wednesday, October 2, 6:30 pm central,

Staff Recs

Our first picture book recommendation comes from Jen Steele, who suggests The Boy and the Elephant by Freya Blackwood, and award-winning illustrator who adds author to her name with this book. Jen says: "The Boy and the Elephant is a touching wordless picture book about a boy saving his friend, the tree next door, before it's cut down. Imaginative and wonderful, this would make for an engaging story time with your child." Suggested for ages 4 and up.

Next up is McKenna Moran-Jones, who suggests Good Night Thoughts, a picture book written by Max Greenfield and illustrated by James Serafino. McKenna says: "An adorable and relatable book about trying to quiet your anxiety. It's touching, hysterical, and perfect to introduce young readers to how to manage an anxious mind. The artwork depicts the progression of several thoughts existing at once so well (I especially loved the candy covered donuts)!" Suggested for ages 3 and up.

Now it's over to Kathy Herbst for a middle grade book: The Sherlock Society by James Ponti. Kathy says: "Tween brother and sister Alex and Zoe Sherlock, along with two friends, Lina and Yadi, want to make some money this summer. After considering babysitting, lawn mowing, and cleaning out the attic (none of which appeal in the least), they take their last name as inspiration (makes sense, doesn't it?) and launch a detective agency. With the help of their grandfather, a retired crime reporter who provides transportation, information on cold cases, and expertise, the four set out to tackle a decades-old mystery. While sometimes at odds, they gradually learn to work as a team and to appreciate the ways in which their unique skills and abilities help them to succeed. Action packed, funny, and often touching, it's a wonderful read!" Suggested for ages 8 and up.

Finally, over to Tim McCarthy for his notes on new kids nonfiction: The Leadership Journey: How Four Kids Became President, written by Pulitzer winner Doris Kearns Goodwin, with illustrations by Amy June Bates. Tim says: "Kearns Goodwin is a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian who got started in political writing while working for President Johnson and then teaching government at Harvard. She has written extensively about the four men whose young lives are detailed here: Abe Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and Lyndon Johnson. Now she tells middle grade readers (and I hope older nonfiction lovers as well) how early experiences led to their legendary White House pinnacles. She tells smooth tales while respecting her young readers' intelligence. Sidebars on vital topics such as slavery, women's struggles, and American politics add brief lessons and varied perspectives while keeping the book’s main body flowing. We learn about Abe's hardscrabble farm life and inspiring personal qualities, Theodore’s frail asthmatic body countered by his stubbornly powerful and charitable mind, Franklin's confident but sincere optimism, and Lyndon's endless, ambitious energy. All stood out boldly to their peers. Kids who enjoy learning about presidents and how people lived in the past will appreciate this fair-minded, traditional history with its heroic rise-through-adversity vibe. More importantly, they’ll see the making of true leadership in future Presidents who had at heart the wellbeing of others." Suggested for ages 8 and up.

One for the Books - Madeline Martin at Shully's - A Note from Daniel

Recently I was chatting with long-time bookseller Jane Glaser (Harry W Schwartz, Next Chapter, Boswell) about what she was reading. We still have folks who, when I recommend a book, ask "Did Jane like it?" We discussed Madeline Martin, author of The Last Bookshop in London, a favorite of hers. I asked if she would be amenable to reviewing Martin's latest, The Booklover's Library. She was!

Here's Jane Glaser's take: "I enjoyed reading The Booklover's Library and would consider it as an excellent companion to The Last Bookshop in London. This time the plot is set in the wartime Nottingham countryside rather than the city of London, and the characters acquire their books from a lending library rather then by bookshop purchase. Both titles emphasize characters whose passion for reading becomes the ultimate power to carry them through the worst of times. I was particularly moved by the heartrending struggle of a widow who not only faces the wartime employment limitations, but also the challenge of having to separate from her young daughter to live in the safety of the countryside."

Madeline Martin will be a Shully's ATS in Thiensville this Sunday, September 15, a 4 pm, presented by Milwaukee Reads. Tickets are $40 plus tax and fee, and include admission, a paperback copy of The Booklover's Library, and a glass of wine. Available a madelinemartinmke.eventbrite.com.

Photo Credits: Jeff Kinney by Filip Wolak, Randy Ribay by Leopoldo Macaya. Newsletter compiled by Chris. As always, thank you for your patronage and apologies for the typos,

Daniel Goldin with Alex, Amie, Chris, Claire, Greta, Idalis, Ingrid, Jane, Jason, Jen, Jenny, Jeremy, Kathy, Kay, Keith, Kim, McKenna, Oli, Rachel, and Tim