THREE AUTHORS OF YOUNG ADULT FICTION AT THE BALDWIN PUBLIC LIBRARY

Book Beat and the Baldwin Public Library are pleased to bring three authors of young adult and children’s fiction together for an event at the Baldwin Public Library on Sunday, December 6, 2009 from 2:00 - 3:30 p.m.  Helen Frost, Amy Huntley and Pearl North are three talented authors with unique literary voices and strong female characters.  This free afternoon event is an exciting chance to meet and listen to both veteran story-tellers and a promising newcomer in the world of young adult fiction.

Helen Frost is the 2008 winner of Michigan’s Mitten Award for her children’s novel Diamond Willow and also the recipient of the Lee Bennett Hopkins Award for verse.  Her latest book, Crossing Stones, is also a novel told in verse written for young adult readers and is set in rural Michigan in 1917. 

It's 1917--Muriel Jorgensen is not happy that all the boys she knows are heading overseas to fight in the war we now call World War I. Her teacher and her mother think she should be careful in expressing her opinions, and even her best friend Emma doesn't share her belief that women should have the right to vote.

In poems spoken in the voices of Muriel, Emma, and Muriel's brother Ollie, CROSSING STONES takes us through nine months in the lives of two families living on opposite sides of Crabapple Creek in rural Michigan as the war, the women's suffrage movement, and the flu epidemic alter the lives of the characters and the history of the world.  (from the author’s website, 12 and up.)

Crossing Stones has received positive starred reviews from Horn Book, Kirkus and Booklist and would be an excellent choice for young readers interested in historical fiction and lovers of poetry from any age.

With care and precision, Frost deftly turns plainspoken conversations and the internal monologues of her characters into stunning poems that combine to present three unique and thoughtful perspectives on war, family, love and loss. Heartbreaking yet ultimately hopeful, this is one to savor.   Kirkus starred review.

Everafter is the first young adult novel by East Lansing, Michigan author Amy Huntley and is a stirring and imaginative glimpse into the afterlife.  Huntley is a high school teacher and her impressive YA debut includes realistic look at high school life and a surreal take on death.

Madison Stanton doesn't know where she is or how she got there. But she does know this—she is dead. And alone, in a vast, dark space. The only company she has in this place are luminescent objects that turn out to be all the things Maddy lost while she was alive. And soon she discovers that with these artifacts, she can reexperience—and sometimes even change—moments from her life.

Her first kiss.

A trip to Disney World.

Her sister's wedding.

A disastrous sleepover.

In reliving these moments, Maddy learns illuminating and sometimes frightening truths about her life—and death   (From the publisher’s website, Ages 12 and up.)

“…Madison is an engaging protagonist, and the author builds a strong sense of tension; much of her story works well as slice-of-life realism. Huntley is an author worth watching.”  From Publisher’s Weekly.

Libyrinth by Pearl North is a fantasy novel for teens that takes place in a vast library realm.  This is the debut novel by Pearl North, pen name for fantasy author Anne Harris who lives in the Detroit metro area. 

For as long as she can remember, Haly has heard the voices of the books.  Growing up in the Libyrinth, a library so large that people sometimes get lost in it and never come out, she has been surrounded by words and stories her entire life.  When the Libyrinth’s mortal enemies, the illiterate Singers, discover her unique ability, they are determined to use her to destroy her home forever.  In order to save all that she loves, Haly must learn to think and dream like a Singer. (from the author’s website, Ages 13 and up.)

The authors will speak and also autograph their books which will be available for purchase at the event.  Please come and support this event and the talented authors connected to our state.  To reserve any copies or for more information please call Book Beat (248)-968-1190. 

For interviews and review copies contact

Colleen Kammer @ Book Beat 248-968-1190