Monday, November 7, 6 pm
Ebony LaDelle, author of Love Radio, appears at The Table, a community space sponsored by Alice’s Garden. Located in the former Capitol Drive Lutheran Church, The Table offers 1st Century Style Community in the 21st Century. And LaDelle’s book offers a story that’s witty and romantic, a YA teen novel about a self-professed teen love doctor with a popular radio segment who believes he can get a girl who hates all things romance to fall in love with him in only three dates.
Love Radio stars Prince and Dani, two Black teens determined to pursue their goals in a story of sweeping romance, biting wit and humor, and the pursuit of happy endings - a much-needed addition to the growing canon of stories centering Black joy. Prince Jones is the guy with all the answers. At seventeen, he has his own segment on Detroit’s popular hip-hop show,
Love Radio, where he dishes out advice to the brokenhearted. But the only romances in his life are the ones he hears about from his listeners. Until he meets Dani Ford. Yet Dani is focused on her plan: ace senior year, score a scholarship, and move to New York City to become a famous author. When the romantic DJ meets the ambitious writer, sparks fly. Prince is smitten, but Dani’s not looking to get derailed. She gives Prince just three dates to convince her that he’s worth falling for.
Jasmine Guillory, author of
Drunk on Love, says:
"Love Radio is pure joy. This book is a celebration of Black love, Black teenagers, Black friendship, and the Black family, and I adored it from beginning to end."
Midwesterner Ebony LaDelle is a marketing pusher by day, storyteller by night. She’s a graduate of Howard University, and cohosted the monthly video series Why Not YA?.
Boswell is hosting a virtual school visit featuring National Jewish Book Award finalist Sofiya Pasternack, middle grade author of fantasy and adventure novels drawn from folklore and mythology, who visits us via Zoom to celebrate the release of her new novel, Black Bird, Blue Road, a book that's getting rave (and starred!) prepublication reviews.
This virtual school visit is open to the public to attend - great for home schoolers, parents, and anyone else with an interest in rich fantasy novels for young readers.
Set in the little-known medieval Jewish empire of Khazaria (now the southeastern section of Russia, southern Ukraine, Crimea, and Kazakhstan), the story follows main character Ziva, who will do anything to save the life of her twin brother, even if it means facing down the Angel of Death. This historical fantasy novel is one of Boswellian Jenny Chou's Top 5 books of 2022.
From the starred Kirkus review: "Pasternack’s story is rich in the rhythms, values, and deep magic of Jewish culture and life in the Turkic Jewish empire of Khazaria. It revels in an often overlooked mythology, deploying exciting fantasy elements with ease. More than simply an adventure, this is a story about grief and illness and arguing with the rules of the world, enduring and enjoying the living that happens between now and the end, threaded through with the profound, unshakeable love of two brave siblings. Propulsive, wise, and heartbreaking."
Sofiya Pasternack is a mental health professional and author of Anya and the Dragon and Anya and the Nightingale.
Boswell hosts an evening with the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Elvis Cole and Joe Pike series for a conversation about Racing the Light, its latest installment. In conversation with Milwaukee author Nick Petrie, whose Peter Ash books include The Runaway and The Drifter.
With dangerous secrets lurking behind every lead, Cole needs his partner Pike more than ever to uncover the truth about a missing son, corrupt politicians, and the vicious business cartels rotting the heart of Los Angeles from within. And when Elvis's estranged girlfriend and her son return, he learns just how much he has to lose - if he survives. Written with the heart, humor, and relentless suspense for which Crais is famous,
Racing the Light delivers Elvis Cole's most dangerous case yet.
Early praise includes this quote from David Baldacci: "Racing The Light is another grand slam for the master storyteller Robert Crais. If there’s a better dynamic duo than Elvis Cole and Joe Pike in all of crime fiction, I’m not aware of it." And from Lisa Scottoline: "Crais
does the impossible in this thriller: moves the story at a breakneck pace while creating characters you absolutely adore."
Robert Crais is author of twenty-two previous novels, eighteen of them featuring PI Elvis Cole and his laconic partner, Joe Pike. Before writing his first novel, Crais spent several years writing scripts for such major television series as Hill Street Blues, Cagney & Lacey, and Miami Vice. He was named a Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America and has received multiple awards for his work.
Longtime TV and radio reporter Garbarino Cullen visits Boswell to chat about Owning Grief, her raw, compellingly honest memoir that tells the story of her young husband’s death and how she navigated and survived an unspeakable loss.
At 40 years old, on a business trip, Gael Garbarino Cullen’s 40-year-old husband, an otherwise healthy man, was found dead in a hotel, having passed suddenly in his sleep. Faced with the loss of her partner, Cullen coped with despair, anxiety, fear, and depression as she navigated an uncertain future for herself and her four young daughters.
Natalie Kathryn Sanchez, author of The Language of Loss, says: "In raw, compelling honesty, Gael Garbarino Cullen articulates the complexities of grief and single motherhood, beautifully illustrating the power of resilience." And from Steve Radowski: "An unflinching walk through the long and inevitably difficult stages of grief - confirming and validating the curves and turns that come with healing."
Gael Garbarino Cullen is an accomplished writer and video producer as well as a TV and radio news reporter who covered everything from presidential politics to the World Series throughout her career. She lives in Milwaukee.
Boswell book company hosts a Saturday morning special featuring Everina Maxwell, author of the space opera hit Winter’s Orbit, for a conversation about her new novel, a stand-alone space adventure called Ocean’s Echo. In conversation with Boswellians Rachel Copeland and Oli Schmitz.
Socialite flirt and walking disaster Tennalhin Halkana can read minds. Conscripted into the military under dubious circumstances, Tennal is placed into the care of Lieutenant Surit Yeni, a duty-bound soldier. Whereas Tennal can read minds, Surit can influence them. But Surit refuses to go through with illegal orders to control unconsenting Tennal’s mind. So they fake a bond and plan Tennal's escape. When war begins, Tennal and Surit can no longer abandon their world, and the only way to avoid life under full military control is to complete the very sync they've been faking. Can two unwilling weapons of war bring about peace?
Here’s Rachel Copeland’s take: "Maxwell deepens the worldbuilding established in Winter's Orbit with a focus on the mysterious alien remnants that seem to have endless horrifying possibilities. I don't know how it's possible in a story that engages in difficult topics such as coercion and mental health issues, but Ocean's Echo left me with a distinctly warm feeling. Can one feel hugged by a space opera? Asking for a friend." And Oli Schmitz: "Surit and Tennal's distinct character voices will reach for your heart, and the story will hold it. This is my favorite book of 2022!" And from Ryka Aoki, author of Light from Uncommon Stars: "Compassionate, queer, slightly horrifying, and wildly inventive... What a glorious read!"
Everina Maxwell is the author of Winter’s Orbit, a queer romantic space opera that won an American Library Association Alex Award and was a Sunday Times bestseller.
Boswell presents an evening with Rainbow Rowell, author of books such as Eleanor & Park and Fangirl, and someone who has won fans all over the world with her writing about love and life.
Tickets for this event cost $19.99 plus tax and fee and include admission to the event and a copy of Scattered Showers. Masks required for this event.
In her first book of short stories, Rowell collects nine beautifully crafted tales of love. Girl meets boy camping outside a movie theater. Best friends debate the merits of high school dances. A prince romances a troll. A girl romances an imaginary boy. And Simon Snow himself returns for a holiday adventure.
Scattered Showers is a feast of irresistible characters, hilarious dialogue, and masterful storytelling - everything readers expect from a Rainbow Rowell book. From Kirkus: "A treat." And from the starred Booklist review: "a generous serving of nine exemplary short stories."
Rainbow Rowell is author of Eleanor & Park, Attachments, Landline, and the Simon Snow trilogy: Carry On, Wayward Son, and Any Way the Wind Blows.
Photo credits
Ebony LaDelle by Taylor Baldwin
Robert Crais by Aaron Rapoport
Nick Petrie by Troye Fox
Everina Maxwell by Richard Wilson
Rainbow Rowell by Augusten Burroughs
