Midsummer Mishaps! Andrew Knapp and Momo Rescheduled for Sunday, June 28, 3 pm, While Mary Alice Monroe is Cancelled.

While authors and publishers fret about touring in winter, it turns out that every season has its own mishaps. Last year we lost a good chunk of our audience for Jonathan Lethem's Dissident Gardens appearance due to bad storms about an hour before start time. One couple told me that they were on their way, but had to turn around when a tree was blocking the road.

Last night we worried about similar storms for Andrew Maraniss and Strong Inside, but the second round wound up going south of Milwaukee. Even with some overly cautious folks staying away, we had a nice showing of folks coming out to hear about Perry Wallace, the African American college student who integrated the SEC basketball conference while playing for Vanderbilt, a school that itself had only been integrated for two years. In an amusing aside, two attendees arrived thinking that David Maraniss was speaking. I'm glad they stayed for the talk anyway, partly because it was so good, and partly because they got to meet the elder Maraniss anyway, who came out to see his son. Signed copies available, of course.

No such luck for Mary Alice Monroe, who had to cancel her Illinois and Wisconsin dates for The Summer's End, the concluding volume of her Lowcountry Summer trilogy. Alas, doctor's orders as she broke her wrist. She'll probably be back in the area for a future book, so keep up with our schedule. 

Better news for Andrew Knapp and Momo, who are touring the country by car for Find Momo Coast to Coast. Car trouble forced them to delay some events, and so our Wednesday appearance has now been rescheduled for Sunday, June 28, 3 pm. In a way, that's great, a little more family friendly. And what with our gearing up for the Find Waldo Local program in July, the Find Momo books will get you up to speed for the eye coordination to spot Waldo at 30 local retailers. 

Momo, a six-year-old Border collie first came to fame on Instagram. As he told Buzzfeed, he was inspired by “having a handsome dog, a phone in my pocket, and social media.”

And as Laurie Hertzel wrote in the Minneapolis Star Tribune, "Momo’s passion is playing hide and seek, something his owner, Andrew Knapp, discovered one day during a game of fetch. Knapp’s book, Find Momo, is a Where’s Waldo? of photographs — sweeping vistas, urban landscapes, factories, playgrounds — and in each one, Momo is hiding, peering out of something or from behind something, just his intense eyes and the white blaze of his snout visible. Sometimes you can find him only by the bright red collar around his neck. Sometimes you can’t find him at all, and then the key in the back of the book comes in handy."

How can you not love Momo? As one executive director of a major animal welfare nonprofit said to me, "I have such a crush on this book!" So say hi to Momo and his human companion Andrew Knapp on Sunday, June 28, 3 pm.

Yes, I know this is pretty similar to yesterday's event post, but like a good novel, it has a lot more obstacles to overcome. Plus I'm worried about folks showing up on Wednesday in error. Help us spread the news. Sunday is now Momoday.