Monday, September 16, 2019

Boswell events for the week of September 16-22 (with a preview of September 23) - Scott Westerfeld, Lynn Cullen, Michael Bauman with Ron Wolf, Sarah Seo, Chris Fink, R Richard Wagner, Matthew Farina and Doug Salati, Jacqueline Woodson

Monday, September 16, 7 pm reception, 7:30 pm talk, at Lynden Sculpture Garden:
Lynn Cullen, author of The Sisters of Summit Avenue

The Lynden Sculpture Garden’s Women’s Speaker Series produced by Milwaukee Reads and Boswell Book Company present the author's latest novel about two estranged sisters during the Great Depression.

Tickets cost $31, $26 for Lynden members, and include admission, a signed copy of The Sisters of Summit Avenue, and light refreshments. Come early and stroll the garden grounds. Online ticket sales have ended, but seats may still be available at (414) 446-8794. The Lynden Sculpture Garden is located at 2145 W Brown Deer Rd, just west of I-43.

Ruth is raising four young daughters and running her family’s Indiana farm since her husband was infected by the infamous “sleeping sickness” devastating families across the country. Her older sister, June, is married to a wealthy doctor, living in a mansion in St. Paul, and has a coveted job as one of “the Bettys” who populate General Mills’ famous Betty Crocker test kitchens. But she has no children, and the man she loves belongs to Ruth. When the two reluctantly reunite, June’s bitterness sets into motion a confrontation that’s been years in the making. And their mother, Dorothy, who’s brought the two of them together, has her own dark secrets, which could dismantle the entire family.

Monday, September 16, 7 pm, at UWM Student Union Fireside Lounge:
Scott Westerfeld, author of Shatter City: Impostors Book 2:

#1 New York Times bestselling author of the Uglies series, translated into 35 languages, returns to Milwaukee for Shatter City, the follow up to Impostors, a new sci-fi adventure series set in the world of The Uglies. This Geek Week preview event is cosponsored by University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Student Involvement and Boswell Book Company.

The UWM Student Union Fireside Lounge is at 2200 E Kenwood Ave, Campus Level (one floor above Kenwood). Free registration until 2 pm at westerfeldmke.bpt.me. We should have enough space to accommodate walk ups.

Twin sisters Frey and Rafi are inseparable, two edges of the same knife. But Frey's very existence is a secret. Frey isn’t just Rafi’s twin sister – she’s her body double. When the world sees Frey, they think they see her twin sister Rafi. Now Frey's taken on the role of her sister without anyone else knowing. Her goal? To destroy the forces that created her. But with the world watching and a rebellion rising, Frey is forced into a detour. Suddenly she is stranded on her own in Paz, a city where many of the citizens attempt to regulate their emotions through an interface on their arms. As the city comes under a catastrophic attack, Frey must leave the shadows and enter the chaos of warfare - because there is no other way for her to find her missing sister and have her revenge against her murderous father.

Wednesday, September 18, 7 pm, at Boswell:
Michael Bauman, author of Ron Wolf and the Green Bay Packers: Mike Holmgren, Brett Favre, Reggie White, and the Pack's Return to Glory in the 1990s, with special guest Ron Wolf

The Green Bay Packers turned 100 this year, and just like the rest of Wisconsin, we want to celebrate all season! We're pleased to host Michael Bauman, former sports columnist for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, in conversation with special guest Ron Wolf, former Packers General Manager and subject of Bauman's new book

Please register for free at baumanwolfmke.bpt.me. You can also upgrade to a copy of Ron Wolf and the Green Bay Packers for $24.70, including tax and ticketing fee. Books will also be available for sale at this event, but please note, special prices are for preorders only. Please see website for limitations on returns.

Bauman and Wolf will chat about the years when Wolf brought victory back to the Pack. With Wolf in charge, the Packers never had a losing season. One of the greatest NFL GM's of all time, his legacy continues to influence professional football.

Wednesday, September 18, 7 pm, at UWM Golda Meir Library Fourth Floor Conference Center:
R Richard Wagner, author of We’ve Been Here All Along: Wisconsin’s Early Gay History.

R Richard Wagner presents his volume of history of the gay community’s roots in Wisconsin and throughout the upper Midwest. Cosponsored by UWM Library, Wisconsin Historical Society Press, and Boswell. There will also be an exhibit featuring source materials for the book drawn from the collections of the Wisconsin Historical Society and the UWM Libraries. The UWM Golda Meir Library is located at 2311 E Hartford Ave.

Wagner, who was the first openly gay member of the Dane County Board of Supervisors, draws on historical research and materials from his own extensive archive to uncover previously hidden stories of gay Wisconsinites. This book honors their legacy and confirms that they have been foundational to the development and evolution of the state since its earliest days.

Thursday, September 19, 7 pm, at Boswell:
Sarah A Seo, author of Policing the Open Road: How Cars Transformed American Freedom

University of Iowa Associate Professor of Law Sarah A Seo chronicles how the rise of the car, the symbol of American personal freedom, inadvertently led to ever more intrusive policing, with disastrous consequences for racial equality in our criminal justice system. Cosponsored by the UWM Urban Studies Program.

Before the twentieth century, most Americans rarely came into contact with police officers. But with more and more drivers behind the wheel, police departments rapidly expanded their forces and increased officers’ authority to stop citizens who violated traffic laws. Constitutional challenges to traffic stops have largely failed, and motorists “driving while black” have little recourse to question police demands. Seo shows how procedures designed to safeguard us on the road ultimately undermined the nation’s commitment to equal protection before the law.

Friday, September 20, 7 pm, at Boswell:
Chris Fink, author of Add This to the List of Things That You Are

UWM Creative Writing PhD graduate and Professor of English at Beloit College, Chris Fink appears at Boswell with his new collection of short stories. Fink edits the Beloit Fiction Journal and is author of the novel Farmer’s Almanac.

Fink’s collection of stories features authentic Midwesterners with a lot of conflicts under their seemingly sunny exterior who suffer through the challenges of their lives. Fink’s characters want to flee hometowns yet feel out of place among the urbane.

A man can no longer face the cabin he shared with his ex and flees home, then around the world. People dream of free Cubs tickets, but once they arrive, watch in dismay as the twenties peel away from their wallets. Fink’s stories touch on alcoholism, violence, and the self-doubts of minds cultivated during long, shut-in winters.


Saturday, September 21, 11 am, at Boswell:
Matthew Farina and Doug Salati, author and illustrator of Lawrence in the Fall

It’s a fall-themed Saturday storytime with Waukesha native and author Matthew Farina and illustrator Doug Salati, who will present their beautiful picture book about a young fox who explores the changing forest in fall.

When Lawrence Fox's teacher announces that students will be presenting their collections at show-and-tell, Lawrence realizes he doesn't have anything to share. Luckily, Papa knows just what to do to help. Together, they venture into the woods. Lawrence is scared at first, but as he grows comfortable in the forest, he starts to recognize its magic, and how beautiful and unique each tree and leaf is, allowing him to gather a splendid, one-of-a-kind collection of his own!

Matthew Farina is a painter and writer whose reviews and essays have appeared in the Brooklyn Rail, Hyperallergic, ArtCritical, and elsewhere. Matthew received a BFA from the University of Pennsylvania and an MFA from the School of Visual Arts. Doug Salati received his MFA from the Illustration as Visual Essay program at the School of Visual Arts and was a 2015 Sendak Fellow. He is also the illustrator of In a Small Kingdom by Tomie dePaola.

Monday, September 23, 7 pm, at Boswell:
The Rose Petranech Lecture, featuring Jacqueline Woodson, author of Red at the Bone, in conversation with Dasha Kelly Hamilton

We're so pleased to announce that National Book Award-winning author Jacqueline Woodson will be appearing at Boswell Book Company for the Rose Petranech Lecture with her new novel, Red at the Bone. Woodson will be in conversation with Milwaukee writer, performer, and creative change agent Dasha Kelly Hamilton (below left). Tickets are $28, include admission, a copy of Red at the Bone, and all taxes and fees, available at woodsonmke.bpt.me.


Two families from different social classes are joined together by an unexpected pregnancy and the child that it produces. Moving forward and backward in time, with the power of poetry and the emotional richness of a narrative ten times its length, Jacqueline Woodson’s extraordinary new novel uncovers the role that history and community have played in the experiences, decisions, and relationships of these families, and in the life of this child.

From RO Kwon in the just-released New York Times review: "Woodson has written more than two dozen books, many of them award-winning; in 2014, she won the National Book Award for young people’s literature for her memoir, Brown Girl Dreaming. She is also a four-time National Book Award finalist and a two-time N.A.A.C.P. Image Award winner, a beloved writer with millions of copies of her books in print. Red at the Bone is her second novel* for adults, with urgent, vital insights into questions of class, gender, race, history, queerness and sex in America."

In addition to our general admission, Boswell will be working with several community groups to broaden the audience that would not normally be able to attend such an event. We're grateful to Kate Petranech, who is helping us facilitate this outreach, in honor of her late, book-loving sister, Rose Petranech.

More at the Boswell Upcoming Events page.

*I think it's her third.

No comments: