Boswell events this week - Jacqueline Woodson, Erin Entrada Kelly, Alice Hoffman, Atia Abawi, Matt Tavares, Daniel Holland, Carrie Voigt Schonhoff with Simon Van Booy, Charles Schudson, plus Educator Night and Daniel Milofsky next Monday

Welcome to fall at Boswell! There is a lot going on.

Monday, September 23, 7 pm, at Boswell:
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. Tickets are $28, include admission, a copy of Red at the Bone, and all taxes and fees, available at woodsonmke.bpt.me. Online tickets sales for this event close at 2 pm or when we reach capacity.

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.

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.

Tuesday, September 24, 7 pm, at Boswell:
Fall Educator Night

Boswell is happy to once again host Educator Night. Enjoy an informative and entertaining evening for teachers serving kids from elementary schools through high school. We'll feature presentations of childrens books by publishing reps Anne Hellman of Macmillan and Jenny Sheridan of HarperCollins Books for Young Readers. We don't want to oversell this to much, but Jenny and Anne are terrific presenters. If you love kids books, you're going to have a great evening.

Registration is required for this event at boswelleducatorfall19.bpt.me.There will be light refreshments and plenty of swag and advance reading copies for everyone who attends to take home. Everyone is welcome to attend, but educators and librarians who register and let us know their school and district affiliation in the 'company' field will qualify for a special gift on the night of the event.

Wednesday, September 25, 6:30, at Greenfield Public Library, 5310 W Layton Ave:
Erin Entrada Kelly, author of Lalani of the Distant Sea

Greenfield Public Library and Boswell Book Company present Erin Entrada Kelly, author of the Newbery Award-winning book Hello, Universe, for a talk about her newest novel of adventure about bravery, friendship, self-reliance, and the choice between accepting fate or forging your own path. Cosponsored by the Philippine Cultural and Civic Center Foundation.

Register for this free event on Greenfield Public Library’s website.

Inspired by Filipino folklore, this engrossing fantasy tells the story of Lalani Sarita, whose mother falls ill with an incurable disease. Lalani embarks on a dangerous journey across the sea in the hope of safeguarding her own future.

Life is difficult on the island of Sanlagita. To the west looms a vengeful mountain, one that threatens to bury the village at any moment. To the north, a fog swallows sailors who dare to leave for a more hospitable land. Women live in fear of the deadly disease, spread by the needles they use to repair the men’s fishing nets. When Lalani’s mother pricks her finger with a net needle, she gives Lalani an impossible task - leave Sanlagita and find the riches of the legendary Mount Isa. Generations of men and boys have died on the same quest - how can a timid young girl survive the epic tests of the archipelago? And how will she manage without Veyda, her best friend?

Wednesday, September 25, 7 pm, at Boswell:
Daniel Holland, author of Death Wins All Wars: Resisting the Draft in the 1960s

Milwaukee author Daniel Holland appears at Boswell with his new memoir of his involvement in the draft resistance movement during the Vietnam War era.

Holland’s memoir shares episodes of draft board raids, secret rooms, and the day-to-day responsibilities of a full-time activist. It recalls the breaking news of the time with Holland’s personal memories and reflections on his own coming of age, portraying a growing consciousness and the evolution from youthful naiveté into committed antiwar activism and the legal adventures that follow: indictment, arrest, arraignment, defending himself at trial, and sentencing. Holland’s book contains a surprising ending and a thoughtful afterword contemplating our personal responsibilities for peace.

Also on September 25, 6:30 pm, at Whitefish Bay Public Library, 5420 N Marlborough Dr:
Charles Benjamin Schudson, author of Independence Corrupted: How American Judges Make Their Decisions

Judge Schudson returns to Milwaukee for a talk at the Whitefish Bay Library. In his new book, Schudson exposes the personal, professional, and political pressures now threatening judicial integrity like never before. With attacks on judges intensifying, Independence Corrupted is essential for students and scholars, lawyers and judges, and all citizens concerned about the survival of judicial independence. More information on the Whitefish Bay Library event page.

Thursday, September 26, 7 pm, at Boswell:
Atia Abawi, author of A Land of Permanent Goodbyes

Boswell is pleased to host award-winning foreign correspondent and author of The Secret Sky Atia Abawi. Herself a refugee, Abawi talks about her powerful new novel, a story of refugees escaping from war-torn Syria masterfully told by a journalist who witnessed the crisis firsthand. Cosponsored by University School of Milwaukee.

In a country ripped apart by war, Tareq lives with his big and loving family until the bombs strike. His city is in ruins. His life is destroyed. Those who have survived are left to figure out their uncertain future. Tareq’s family knows that to continue to stay alive, they must leave. As they travel as refugees from Syria to Turkey to Greece, facing danger at every turn, Tareq must find the resilience and courage to complete his harrowing journey.

While this is one family’s story, it is also the timeless tale of the heartbreaking consequences of all wars, all tragedy, narrated by Destiny itself. When you are a refugee, success is outliving your loss. Abawi captures the hope that spurs people forward against all odds and the love that makes that hope grow.

Thursday, September 26, 7 pm, at Harry and Rose Samson Family Jewish Community Center, 6255 N Santa Monica Blvd:
A ticketed event with Alice Hoffman, author of The World That We Knew

Alice Hoffman, author of The Marriage of Opposites and The Rules of Magic, visits with her new book, The World That We Knew, a novel set in 1941, during humanity's darkest hour, about three unforgettable young women who must act with courage and love to survive. This event will be in conversation with Boswell's Daniel Goldin.

Tickets for this event available here on the Jewish Community Center website. The cost is $25 for one admission and includes a copy of The World That We Knew. For $35, get two ahdmissions and one copy of the book. Cosponsored by The Harry and Rose Samson Family Jewish Community Center Tapestry Series, The Nathan and Esther Pelz Holocaust Education Resource Center, and ABCD - After Breast Cancer Diagnosis.

In Berlin, a mother must send her twelve-year-old daughter away to save her from the Nazi regime. A renowned rabbi's daughter offers hope when she creates a mystical Jewish creature, a rare and unusual golem, who is sworn to protect the girl. Travelling from Paris to a convent in western France to a school in a mountaintop village where three thousand Jews were saved, we meet remarkable characters that take us on a stunning journey of loss and resistance, the fantastical and the mortal, in a place where all roads lead past the Angel of Death and love is never ending.

Friday, September 27, 4 pm, at Boswell:
Matt Tavares, author of Dasher: How a Brave Little Doe Changed Christmas Forever

Creator of the celebrated modern-day Christmas classic Red and Lulu visits Boswell with the story of a brave little doe who meets Santa and changes Christmas forever. Great for adults and kids age 4 and up.

Dasher is an adventurous young reindeer with a wish in her heart. She spends her days with her family under the hot sun in a traveling circus, but she longs for a different life, one where there is snow beneath her hooves and the North Star above her head.

One day, Dasher seizes her destiny and takes off in pursuit of the life she wants to live. It’s not long before she meets a nice man in a red suit with a horse-drawn sleigh - a man named Santa. And soon, with the help of a powerful Christmas wish, nothing will ever be the same.

We will be serving Christmas cookies at this event.

Saturday, September 28, 2 pm, at Boswell:
Carrie Voigt Schonhoff, author of The Liminal Space, in conversation with Simon Van Booy

Wisconsin poet Carrie Voigt Schonhoff visits Boswell to read from her debut collection of poems and chat with Simon Van Booy, author of the novels The Illusion of Separateness and Father's Day, as well as several story collections and books for children.

Schonhoff’s poems capture the spirit of her native Wisconsin through poignant descriptions of landscape and revelations of the emotional interiors of people and places. Her work resonates with those native to our state and strikes at the heart of what it means to live, survive, and prosper as a woman of the Midwest. Her characters are drawn from life and her subjects are the experiences that change our lives, both suddenly and those that shape us over longer periods, defining memory.

Monday, September 30, 7 pm, at Boswell:
David Milofsky, author of A Milwaukee Inheritance, in conversation with Dick Blau

Milwaukee-raised Milofsky chats about his sixth novel with Dick Blau, Professor Emeritus of Film, Video, Animation, and New Genres at UWM.

Milofsky’s novel is the story of a man who moves back to Milwaukee with his mercurial wife only to inherit a run-down duplex from his mother who, on her deathbed, extracts a promise from him not to evict the money pit’s delinquent occupants. The novel is a slow-burning, finely textured portrait of family dynamics, the secrets between generations, and the ways the shadows of the past can keep us from moving into the future.

Richard Ford says, “A Milwaukee Inheritance is, as advertised, a loving, knowing paean to the Cream City, but also to our great American middle – about which not enough can be written – and as such has its own honest inheritances in Howells, Anderson, Bellow, Gass, Oates, Dybek – all heroes and – among whom David Milofsky’s measured, poignant, plain-spoke Midwestern sentences and intelligence stand out vividly. It’s a novel that welcomes us.”


More events on our upcoming events page.