Learn the latest news about local authors and books on local topics. Get reviews on award-winners and today's popular books. Read up on tips on using online resources.
The Boy who Harnessed the Wind: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope, by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer. 2010 Alex Award.
A 14-year-old boy from Malawi barely survives a severe famine. With only a few years of formal education, William manages to create a windmill to generate electric power for his family, using scrap material in the local trash yard. That’s the basic premise for this incredibly inspiring and humbling story, but such a summary doesn’t do it justice. The story is told from Kamkwamba’s point of view, from a child growing up in better times in his village to the famine and to his success. The story does a good job capturing not only the problems in the area, but the local culture and “feel.” What is really neat is the solutions offered — very refreshing.
William H. Hildebrand, emeritus professor of English at Kent State University, recently published “A Most Noble Enterprise.” He had been commissioned by the University to write the official centennial history of Kent State University, 1910-2010. It was published by KSU Press and released late last year.
Cuyahoga Falls resident Robert Ward, along with Lisa Bell, recently published “Living Outside of Tiny Boxes” through PublishAmerica.
In 1953, Robert Ward entered the world. A perfect baby – so his parents thought. After he entered school, his family learned that Robert had major learning disabilities. An overall IQ of 68, compounded by a speech impairment and verbal fluency issues, imposed limitations on this young boy until he felt as if he lived inside a tiny box. How could he overcome the limitations of others and his own mind when no one encouraged him to do more than menial labor?
Ward’s faith pushed him beyond anyone’s expectations into a successful career, but he wanted something better. Could he move outside of tiny boxes and fulfill his dream of public speaking?
Ward is a CLASS (Christian Leaders, Authors and Speakers Seminar) graduate, Ohio Rehabilitation Services Commission Advisory Committee member, and an Advanced Communicator Silver with Toastmasters International. Ward works for Coleman Data Solutions.
Twain scholar Mark Dawidziak will present a program entitled, “Mark Twain: The Reports of His Death Are Greatly Exaggerated,” at the Main Branch of the Wayne County Public Library on March 16 at 7 p.m.
The program is a part of this year’s The Big Read in Wayne County. This year’s event will serve as a tribute to American author Mark Twain.
HE BIG READ IN WAYNE COUNTY is a county-wide community read of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain set for March and April. The Wayne Center for the Arts, all seven branches of the Wayne County Public Library, the Orrville Public Library, The Wooster Book Company and area schools through the Tri-County Educational Service Center have come together to get adults as well as students to read, discuss and examine this seminal work and the life of Samuel Clemens at the one hundredth anniversary of his death. A Kickoff Event is scheduled for Friday, March 12 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Wayne Center for the Arts.
Dawidziak will discuss why the reports of Mark Twain’s death were indeed an exaggeration. Dawidziak writes for the Cleveland Plain Dealer, is the author of Mark My Words: Mark Twain on Writing and has presented Twain programs around the country.
Additional information about The Big Read is available online through the NEA Web site, www.neabigread.com and through the Wayne Center for the Arts Web site, www.wayneartscenter.org
About a dozen children, most of them girls and many of them donning pink tutus and other fancy finery, flocked to the Stow-Munroe Falls Library Feb. 13 to meet Fancy Nancy, from the popular children’s series by author Jane O’Connor, with illustrations by Robin Preiss Glasser.
“Fancy Nancy,” adapted for the stage by New York choreographer Francis Patrelle, comes to the Akron Civic Theatre March 13 at 2:30 and 7:30 p.m., and March 14 at 2:30 p.m. A reception for children is planned 30 minutes prior to each performance.
Tickets may be purchased by calling the Akron Civic Theatre box office at 330-253-2488 or online at www.ticketmaster.com. Ticket prices are $10 for general seating and $25 for preferred seating.
For details, call the CVYB information line at 330-996-1100.
Also, to see more pictures and read more information about the Cuyahoga Valley Youth Ballet’s stop at the Stow-Munroe Falls Public Library, click here.
Joyce Dyer, author of Goosetown: Reconstructing an Akron Neighborhood, will sign her book on March 6from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Learned Owl Book Shop (204 N. Main St, Hudson). Goosetown is the story of Dyer’s search to rediscover her childhood neighborhood, and with it, forgotten pieces of her childhood.
Joyce Dyer is director of the Lindsay-Crane Center for Writing and Literature at Hiram College, and John S. Kenyon Professor of English. She is the author of three books, The Awakening: A Novel of Beginnings, In a Tangled Wood: An Alzheimer’s Journey, and Gum-Dipped: A Daughter Remembers Rubber Town. Dyer has won numerous awards for her writing, including the 1998 Appalachian Book of The Year Award and the 2009 David B. Saunders Award in Creative Nonfiction.
For more information, contact The Learned Owl Book Shop at 330-653-2252.
Children and their families can celebrate Dr. Seuss’ Birthday on March 6 and 7 at the Children’s Museum of Cleveland.
Activities are from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. both days, and include: Dr. Seuss story times every hour; Birthday Cake at 1:30 p.m.; create a “Cat in the Hat” craft from 11 a.m. to noon p.m. and 2 p.m. to 3 p.m.; and win a Dr. Seuss book and toy in a raffle. All activities included free with paid admission or membership.
The Children’s Museum is at 10730 Euclid Avenue in University Circle. The Museum is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Regular admission is $7 for adults and $7 for children ages 1 to 12 years; infants 11 months and under and members enter free.
The National Park Service welcomes author Jerry O. Potter March 5, as he presents a program about the sinking of the Sultana as part of the Lyceum Distinguished Speaker Series.
This lecture had been postponed previously due to weather.
Admission is $8 adults, $6 CVNPA members, and $3 children ages 3 to 12. Attend any three for the subscription price of $20 adults, $15 CVNPA members. Advance sales are available by calling 330-657-2909.
Lectures are at Happy Days Lodge from 7 to 9 p.m. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.
On April 27, 1865 the Sultana, a wooden-hulled steamboat carrying six times the legal capacity, exploded on the Mississippi River, killing more than 1,800 men, mostly soldiers just released from southern prison camps when the war ended.
Happy Days Lodge, at 500 West Streetsboro Road (State Route 303) in Peninsula. For more information on rentals, call CVNPA at 330-657-2909 ext. 119.
On Feb. 27, The Learned Owl Book Shop, 204 N. Main St. in Hudson, will celebrate authors in the local community by hosting a day of book signing, brainstorming and refreshments, featuring locally written books for adults and children.
Children’s authors attending the event include Pam Spremulli of Chagrin Falls, with her lavishly illustrated alphabet book, Letter Birds, Michael Samulak of Cleveland, with Africa ABC, illustrated by a Ugandan artist, and Lena Shane from Strongsville with Zoody, the story of a misunderstood stone.
Poet Brandice Schnabel of North Canton brings her collection of verse, Columbus Groove, to the celebration. Edgar Barmann of Twinsburg will sign his novel, Dear Annamelia, and novelist Karen Hasley shares her latest, Circled Heart.
Everyone is welcome to meet the authors, who will be signing their books in shifts from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Children’s authors are scheduled from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. The afternoon brainstorming session, an informal chat about the processes of writing and getting published, is also open to all, and runs from 2 to 3 p.m. Novelists and poets are scheduled to sign from 3 to 5 p.m.
For details, call The Learned Owl Book Shop at 330-653-2252.
Almost Astronauts: 13 Women who Dared to Dream, by Tanya Lee Stone. 2010 Sibert Medal. In the early 1960s, 13 women underwent testing to become astronauts. There was scientific evidence compiled that the women tested did just as well as the men (sometimes better). There were advantages to women in space. But none of the 13 ever became astronauts, held back by prejudice on multiple levels. This book does a good job giving the reader glimpses into the women’s lives, the time they lived in and how things have changed. It’s well illustrated and put together, although the time line tends to jump around a bit. Some of the reasons the women were ultimately denied were pretty surprising — it went beyond the “women belong at home” mentality.
Twain scholar Mark Dawidziak will present a program entitled, “Mark Twain: The Reports of His Death Are Greatly Exaggerated,” at the Main Branch of the Wayne County Public Library on March 16 at 7 p.m.
330-653-2252.
