The Longest List of Boswell Weekly Events Ever, for Monday, October 7 through Monday, October 14, 2013--Including Junot Díaz, Chuck Palahniuk, Jennifer Chiaverini, David Wiesner, David Shannon, Robert Sabuda, and More.

Monday, October 7, 6:30 pm, at the Franklin Public Library:
Scott Seegert and John Martin, authors of Vordak the Incomprehensible: Time Travel Trouble.

Vordak the Incomprehensible, Vol. 4: Time Travel Trouble is the next installment in the misadventures of Vordak. After having yet another evil plan to rule the world foiled by Commander Virtue, Vordak travels back in time in an attempt to defeat his arch-nemesis at the point of his greatest vulnerability—his childhood. Kirkus Reviews says, most likely followed by maniacal laughter, "At last, the supervillain tells his side of the story."

Vordak the Incomprehensible is a world-class supervillain and the Evil Master of all he surveys. His first books, including Vordak the Incomprehensible: How to Grow Up and Rule the World, have inspired a whole new generation of minions and fiends.

Scott Seegert was selected to transcribe Vordak's notes based on his ability to be easily captured. He has completely forgotten what fresh air smells like and has learned to subsist on a diet of beetles, shackle rust, and scabs.

John Martin has the great misfortune of being chosen by Vordak to illustrate this book. He hasn't seen the sun in three years. He is deathly afraid of the dark and spiders, which is unfortunate considering his situation.

Tuesday, October 8, 6:30 pm, at Greenfield Public Library:
David Shannon, author of Bugs in My Hair! and No David.

This event is of course co-sponsored by the Greenfield Public Library, which is located at 5310 West Layton Avenue, in Greenfield.

Lice: Nobody talks about them, but they are everywhere. (Some estimate 20 million children a year host them.) Luckily, the unwelcome bugs in this story are so funny you will be laughing aloud—even when Mom attacks them with battle-tested anti-lice weapons. From the opening picture of a happy, oversized louse appearing with his suitcases, you
know these bugs are determined to stay. Shannon peppers his hilarious scenes with fun, "nitpicking" facts about these "lousy" critters and pokes fun at common denial: "It's probably ash from that volcano in Pogo Pogo," resulting in another fresh, entertaining read-aloud.

David Shannon is the internationally acclaimed creator of more than thirty picture books, including No, David!, a Caldecott Honor Book and his second New York Times Best Illustrated Book of the Year, and three more David picture books. Shannon's bestsellers include A Bad Case of Stripes and his recent Jangles: A Big Fish Story.

Tuesday, October 8, 7 pm, at Boswell:
The Greatest Self Help Event Ever, with
Kimanzi Constable, author of Are You Living or Existing?
and
David Mezzapelle, author of Contagious Optimism.

Not just content to have one author to improve your life, we've doubled the life changing potential in just one short hour. In Are You Living or Existing?, Kimanzi Constable shares “9 Steps to Change Your Life.” He lays out his plan with an easy to read style that combines specific advice with anecdotes from his own experience, encouraging readers to examine their own lives and goals through self-reflection and further reading. A speaker and life coach who strives to “help people live the full and abundant life they deserve,” Constable also makes it clear he is personally dedicated to walking the walk, not just talking the talk, in his own life.

Inspired by a lifetime of practicing contagious optimism, personally and professionally, David Mezzapelle set out to gather stories and advice from business leaders, visionaries and ordinary people from around the world. The result is a “compendium of encouragement” with more than 100 easily digestible tidbits of guidance and inspiration. Contagious Optimism: Uplifting Stories and Motivational Advice for Positive Forward Thinking aims to show readers it’s possible to find a silver lining in every cloud, whether due to personal hardship or wrong turns in their own lives or the world around them.

Kimanzi Constable is an author, speaker, coach, and corporate consultant who lives in Wisconsin with his family.

David Mezzapelle is an entrepreneur and speaker who is a frequent contributor to the Wall Street Journal in addition to appearances on various radio and television programs.

Wednesday, October 9, 7 pm, at Boswell:
a ticketed event with LeRoy Butler and Rob Reischel, authors of Packers Pride:Green Bay Greats Share Their Favorite Memories

In this new collaboration, LeRoy Butler, a 12-year veteran and one of the most popular Green Bay Players ever to don the uniform, teams up with Journal Sentinel's Packer Plus reporter Rob Reischel to tell the stories of the team's most memorable players and coaches.

Tickets are $25.95 + tax and available online at brownpapertickets.com, event 477730. Purchase of one full-priced ticket includes a copy of Packers Pride, signed by LeRoy Butler and Rob Reischel, and allows for one additional free companion ticket. Free companion ticket must be ordered at the same time as the full-priced ticket.

LeRoy Butler played defensive back for 12 seasons with the Green Bay Packers between 1990 and 2001. He was named to four Pro Bowls, the NFL's 1990s All-Decade team, was a member of the Packers' Super Bowl XXXI squad, and is credited with inventing the Lambeau Leap after scoring a touchdown in 1993. He still makes his home in Wisconsin, co-hosting "The Big Show" on WSSP-AM in Milwaukee.

Rob Reischel has covered the Green Bay Packers for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's Packer Plus since 2001. Rob has also received 12 awards from the Wisconsin Newspaper Association for his writing and editing at News Publishing Co. since 2000. His books include the recently published 100 Things Packers Fans Should Know and Do Before They Die.

And yes, Rob Reischel will also sign his previous books, including ones brought from home.

Thursday, October 10, 6:30 pm, at the Oak Creek Public Library:
Margaret Peterson Haddix, author of Risked
and
Shannon Messenger, author of Exile.

Oak Creek Public Library is co-sponsoring this event, and is located at 8620 South Howell Avenue, in Oak Creek.

In Risked, the latest installment of the Missing series from Margaret Peterson Haddix, time-traveling middle schoolers Jonah and Katherine find themselves on a mission to return Alexei and Anastasia Romanov to history and then save them from the Russian Revolution. But they are at a loss, because in their own time, the bones of Alexei and Anastasia have been positively identified through DNA testing. What hope do they have of saving Alexis and Anastasia’s lives when the twenty-first century has proof of their deaths?

Exile, sequel to Keeper of the Lost Cities, opens with Sophie settling in nicely to her new home and her new life in the world of the lost cities. And it helps that living at Havenfield means getting to spend time with rare, precious species including the first female Alicorn, who shows herself to Sophie and trusts no one but her. Sophie is tasked with helping to train the magical creature so that the Alicorn can be revealed to the people of the lost cities as a sign of hope, but the secrets buried deep in Sophie’s memories remain, and before long she’s back in incredible danger, risking everything to find the answers to questions that could save not only her life, but the life of someone close to her.

Margaret Peterson Haddix is the author of many critically and popularly acclaimed YA and middle-grade novels. A graduate of Miami University of Ohio, she worked for several years as a reporter for The Indianapolis News. Among her popular novels are Running Out of Time, Uprising, and The Shadow Children series.

Shannon Messenger graduated from the USC School of Cinematic Arts where she learned among other things that she liked watching movies much better than making them. She studied art, screenwriting, and television production, but realized her real passion was writing for kids and teens. In addition to the Keeper of the Lost Cities series, she is also author of the young adult novels Let the Sky Fall and Let the Storms Break.


Thursday, October 10, 7 pm, at Boswell:
Jennifer Chiaverini, author of The Spymistress and Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker.

Madison's Jennifer Chiaverini was previously best known for her Elm Creek Quilters series, but with Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker and The Spymistress, she's developing a new reputation for her historical novels about the footnoted women of the Civil War era. (Mrs. Lincoln's Rival is up next, coming in January). We're co-sponsoring the event with Patched Works of Elm Grove as always, but these are really different books, and thus do not have fabric giveaways attached to the event. That said, Chiaverini is a wonderful speaker and what with all the book clubs planning to read Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker in paperback, I would highly recommend getting a jump start on your discussion by coming to see Chiaverini in person.

Although she was posthumously inducted into the Military Intelligence Hall of Fame, Elizabeth Van Lew’s achievements during the Civil War are not widely known. Born to slave-holding aristocracy in Richmond, Virginia, and educated by Northern Quakers, she was a paradox of her time. When her native state seceded in April 1861, Van Lew's convictions compelled her to defy the new Confederate regime, pledging her loyalty to the Lincoln White House.

With unparalleled skills in gathering military intelligence, Van Lew developed a cipher system, helped to construct the Richmond Underground and orchestrated escapes from the infamous Confederate Libby Prison under the guise of humanitarian aid. Her spy ring's reach was vast, from clerks in the Confederate War and Navy Departments to the very home of Confederate President Jefferson Davis. Ulysses S. Grant would one day be quoted as saying she sent him “the most valuable information received from Richmond during the war.” Throughout it all, her courage would never waver, even as her wartime actions threatened not only her reputation, but also her life.

Friday, Octrober 11, 4 pm, at Boswell:
David Wiesner, author of Mr. Wuffles, Tuesday, and more.

Another comic tour de force from three-time Caldecott medalist David Wiesner. Mr. Wuffles ignores all his cat toys but one, which turns out to be a spaceship piloted by small green aliens. When Mr. Wuffles plays rough with the little ship, the aliens must venture into the cat's territory to make emergency repairs.

Here's Wiesner talking about his new book!



David Wiesner’s interest in visual storytelling dates back to high school days when he made silent movies and drew wordless comic books. He graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design with a BFA in Illustration, where he created a painting nine feet long, which he now recognizes as the genesis of Free Fall, his first book of his own authorship, for which he was awarded a Caldecott Honor Medal in 1989. David won his first Caldecott Medal in 1992 for Tuesday, and he has gone on to win twice more: in 2002 for The Three Pigs and in 2007 for Flotsam. He is only the second person in the award's history to win the Caldecott Medal three times.

Friday, October 11, 7 pm, at Boswell:
Tea Krulos, author of Heroes in the Night.

There are heroes among us. They wear spandex, masks, capes, and utility belts. They have names like The Fox, Death’s Head Moth, and The Watchman. They have day jobs and families. And there are hundreds of them across the U.S. and Canada. They are the Real Life Super Heroes.

For three years, Milwaukee-based journalist Tea Krulos immersed himself in their world—one he refers to alternately as a “movement,” a “community” and a “subculture.” Although their missions vary from actual crime-fighting to charity work, the one thing that they all have in common is bravery, and a passion for actively making the world a better place. Juxtaposing profiles of individuals and groups against a historical timeline of superheroes in literature, film and pop culture, Krulos offers a heartwarming and adrenaline-pumping contextualization of the roles extraordinary people are playing in order to fight injustice in the real world.

Read more about the movement on Riverwest Currents. And don't forget, after our event, the celebration continues at The Stonefly Brewery, 735 East Center Street. For more info about the after party, contact Stonefly at (414) 212-8910.

Saturday, October 12, 7 pm, at the UWM Union:
Adult Bedtime Stories, a ticketed event with Chuck Palahniuk (photo credit Shawn Grant), author of Doomed, Damned, and  Fight Club, along with special guests Chelsea Cain and Monica Drake.

Please note that there is no signing for this event.

Chuck Palahniuk celebrates the release of his latest novel, Doomed. This follow-up to Damned continues the adventures of Madison Spencer, a very overweight, very snarky, and very dead, thirteen-year-old girl. This time, instead of being trapped in Hell, she's trapped on Earth, or as it's known in the afterlife: Purgatory.

In addition to the usual Chuck-directed fun (trivia, prizes, toys, other shenanigans), we'll be joined by two of his favorite authors, Chelsea Cain and Monica Drake, who each possess their own dark visions. In keeping with the theme attendees are encouraged to wear their best sleepwear and bring a pillow or stuffed animal to keep them feeling safe from the monsters that might be lurking in the shadows.

Tickets are $24.95 plus tax and service fee and include a pre-signed copy of Chuck's latest novel, Doomed; available at brownpapertickets.com, event #445282. UWM students, staff and faculty can purchase discounted tickets from the UWM Bookstore, located in the Union.

Chuck Palahniuk's twelve best-selling novels and two works of nonfiction have sold more than five million copies in the United States. They include Fight Club (made into a David Fincher movie of the same name, starring Edward Norton and Brad Pitt), Haunted (including the short story, "Guts," which caused numerous faintings at live events), Survivor, Invisible Monsters, and the acclaimed essay collection, Stranger Than Fiction.

Sunday, October 13, 2 pm, at Boswell:
Mark Tatulli, author of Desmond Pucket Makes Monster Magic, as well as the comic strip Lio.

Mark Tatulli is an internationally syndicated cartoonist best known for his popular comic strips, Heart of the City, which chronicles a fun-loving, tenacious little girl's adventures in the big city of Philadelphia; and Lio, which tells the adventures of a young boy and his pet squid. In addition to cartooning, Tatulli is an accomplished filmmaker and animator, and the recipient of three Emmy Awards.

Meet Desmond Pucket—master of mayhem, professor of frightology! Someday Desmond will be famous for his special effects wizardry, but for now he's just trying to make it through sixth grade at Cloverfield Memorial Junior High, which means he needs to stay one step ahead of the school's disciplinary officer, Mr. Needles.

The only problem is Desmond just can't stop pulling pranks--like the time he attached a shrieking rubber goblin to the toilet seat in the teachers' bathroom. Will his monster-y special effects pranks get him kicked out of middle school before the class trip to Crab Shell Pier? Or will Desmond be able to keep his monster magic in check?

Sunday, October 13, 6 pm, at Boswell:
Paper Engineer Robert Sabuda, author of The Little Mermaid.

Come along on a magical journey under the sea in this stunning pop-up adaptation of the beloved fairy tale The Little Mermaid, expertly crafted by renowned paper engineer Robert Sabuda. Amazing three-dimensional paper structures pop off each page, bringing this classic underwater adventure to life. This visually stunning tale of adventure, true love, and sacrifice is sure to become a favorite in any story-lover’s library.

The Little Mermaid will be sold for this event as a Boswell’s Best selection: 20% off the list price.

Robert Sabuda is known worldwide for his innovative pop-up paper engineering. His books have garnered numerous awards and have made the New York Times bestseller lists. Sabuda’s classic tales include The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, The Wizard of Oz, Alice in Wonderland, and The 12 Days of Christmas.

Monday, October 14, 7 pm, at Boswell:
a ticketed event with Junot Díaz, author of This is How You Lose Her.
This event is co-sponsored by 88Nine Radio Milwaukee.

Tickets for this event are $16 plus tax, and include a copy of This is How You Lose Her, or on the night of the event only, an $11 gift card. Buy ten or more tickets and get 10% off the ticket price.It's event 445965 on brownpapertickets.com.

This Is How You Lose Her is The New York Times bestselling and National Book Award shortlisted story collection from Junot Díaz, author of the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Critics Circle Award winning novel, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, and the critically acclaimed story collection, Drown.

"In the age of e-books and Twitter novels, we old-fashioned, language-loving followers of literature can feel a bit glum. Gadgets seem to matter more than writers do. Then a book like Junot Díaz's lands in our laps, and we're reminded of the acrobatic word wizardry that a true master can bring to the simple printed page."
--Héctor Tobar in the Los Angeles Times

Born in the Dominican Republic and raised in New Jersey, Junot Díaz is currently the fiction editor at Boston Review and the Rudge and Nancy Allen Professor of Writing at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In addition to the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Critics Circle Award, Díaz is also the recipient of a MacArthur "Genius" Fellowship, PEN/Malamud Award, Dayton Literary Peace Prize, Guggenheim Fellowship, PEN/O. Henry Award, and the Anisfield-Wolf Award.

Wow! Hope to see you at one or more of these events. That's 11 events in a week, and it really is our new record!