Books and Authors
Often the best gift is a book.
We're working with area authors to get their titles in your hands.
We've scheduled live readings and q&a sessions every half hour.
The sessions starting on the hour feature children's books.
Naomi V. Dunsen-White
Why Am I Here?
"Why Am I Here? - A Book About Purpose" is a beautifully illustrated book that teaches children about purpose and exploring the unique path and place they each have in this world. The story follows two children who wonder about their place in life and where the future will lead them. As they consider possibilities, the answers go from whimsical to meaningful, as they are encouraged to dream and imagine a future that is theirs, by design. They discover that their individual path will lead them into their purpose, regardless of the obstacles along the way. Diversity, unity and inclusion are celebrated! Regardless of their circumstances, background, zip code or skin color… every child needs to know that THEY have a purpose!
“Why am I here? Where will I go? I have a feeling that somebody knows…"
Pattie Rae Fletcher
Whoa Nilly. A Nymph Grows Up
Nilly eats and struggles to survive below the water. She is a tiny insect nymph who compares herself to tadpoles who change, watersnakes who glide, and thinks she will never grow up. Using vivid illustrations and photographs, readers can see the metamorphosis. This book has been teacher-approved with comprehensive questions and fun facts. However, Nilly's identity is a mystery until the end. (Spoiler - it's about the dragonfly life cycle.)
Ian Tadashi Moore
Where All The Little Things Live
What has happened to the clouds? Naio is a lost and lonely feather who doesn’t quite fit in. An icy storm threatens to destroy her home before sweeping her into the sky. She meets a red balloon and together they discover where the trouble began. A story of friendship, courage, and forgiveness for all ages.
Jenny Deason Copeland
Tiananman West
While many people blame Nixon for the massacre of four teenagers at Kent State University in Kent, Ohio on May 4, 1970 (including Neal Young and his song "Ohio"), the author does a psychological study of Nixon and his deeds as she searches for historical evidence that might be a motive for Nixon to order the National Guard to use live ammunition on that fateful day.
Ryan Ennis
The Unexpected
A collection of twenty tales about characters whose personal desires and notions of romantic fulfillment take them on journeys of self-discovery, often leading to unforeseen outcomes.
Ryan Ennis
The September Surprise
A Story Helping Kids Understand Autism and Co-Teaching
Debbie Watson
The Polar Bear and the Dragon
Whitney's thirteenth summer is being hijacked! Plagued by strange new abilities, her life is spiraling out of control. Joining forces with mysterious and powerful allies may be her only solution.
Emma Palova
Secret Sands:Secrets
Secrets is the second book in the Shifting Sands short stories series. It is a collection of 15 short stories with the main historical fiction story set in Belding, MI at the turn-of-the-century, when Belding was known as the Silk City capital of the world.
From action-packed 40 Hunks to the corrupt police chief Will who extorts favors from his victims during hometown events, the book delivers egoistical characters to the reader.
Jenny Deason Copeland
New Shoes for Elizabeth
A thirteen-year-old Depression Era farm girl, while penniless, gives her five brothers their best Christmas ever. They were doing fine until Elizabeth's father is injured in a threshing accident and the crops are lost. Elizabeth saves the day while dealing with the villains and angels in the same family tree.
Kathleen Marcath
My Monster Truck Goes Everywhere With Me
Every day brings a new adventure for the curly-haired protagonist as he plays with his favorite shiny purple Monster Truck. He is also learning American Sign Language and knows how to sign the words for his favorite truck's color and sounds. Each page is beautifully illustrated with one or more signs that parents and children can learn together.
Tracy Gallup
My First Book of Haiku Poems
A Picture, a Poem and a Dream pairs classic poems by Japanese haiku masters with paintings by Tracy Gallup.
Tony Lindsay
Melody Knight, a Vampire’s Tale
A spy thriller and a vampire novel. Melody’s involvement in a CIA assignment exposes a $51 billion human organ market, and the storyline climaxes when a weapon is developed that returns a vampire to being human. The reader experiences both: the life of a CIA operative and life within a vampire family. The Knights are presented as a blended family with all the peculiarities that accompany those unions, and it is through her experiences with her vampire family that Melody develops an acceptance and respect for humanity.
Cathy Collison
Meet the Pets: Presidential Animals from A to Z
When the new administration brought pets – including the first shelter dog – back to the White House, Cathy Collison and Janis Campbell were inspired to salute those cats, dogs and many critters that captivated the public and press over the years in their book “Meet the Pets: Presidential Animals from A to Z.” Gifted muralist and illustrator Wendy Popko's illustrations complement the whimsical poems, with artwork collaged with historical documents, letters and newspaper stories. Extended content appeals to animal lovers and history buffs of all ages.
Julia Richardson
Little Dandelion Seeds the World
A dandelion seed blown by a little girl travels the world and blooms among animals from all seven continents. With lyrical, repetitive, rhyming text, this book makes an excellent read-aloud, especially for young readers.
Barbara Weinberg Barefield
Jazz Space Detroit: Photographs of Black Music, Jazz & Dance
Decades of Detroit's rich legacy of Black music, Jazz and dance from the 20th century is captured within 76 pages brimming with iconic photographs by Barbara Weinberg Barefield and narrative by noted author/historian Herb Boyd -- plus a new prologue and epilogue by Detroit writer Larry Gabriel
Renae Micou
I Think My Teacher Needs a Hug Today
Four-year-old Kai takes us on an adventurous day in Ms. Coo's preschool class. Ms. Coo is not having a good day; Kai thinks she needs a hug, a snack, or a nap. Find out what Kai does to make it a great day for Ms. Coo.
Suzanne Jacobs Lipshaw
I Campaigned for Ice cream
I Campaigned for Ice Cream is the upbeat, educational, and heartwarming true story of nine-year-old Josh who petitioned his local government to change an outdated law preventing ice cream trucks from driving through his town.
Janet Ruth Heller
How the Moon Regained Her Shape
How the Moon Regained Her Shape (Arbordale, 2006; 6th edition 2018) is a story that explains why the moon changes shape and helps children deal with bullies. The sun insults the moon, and the moon feels so badly hurt that she shrinks and leaves the sky. The moon turns to her comet friend and her many friends on earth to comfort her. Her friends include rabbits and Native Americans. Then she regains her full shape, happiness, and self-esteem, and she returns to her orbit. An educational appendix gives advice about bullying, scientific information about the moon, and ideas for related activities for children.
Jean Alicia Elster
How It Happens
How It Happens follows the fictionalized story of author Jean Alicia Elster’s maternal grandmother, Dorothy May Jackson. Born in Tennessee in 1890, Dorothy May was the middle daughter of Addie Jackson, a married African-American housekeeper at one of the white boardinghouses in town, and Tom Mitchell, a commanding white attorney from a prominent family. Through three successive generations of African American women, Elster intertwines the adaptations of the defining periods and challenges—race relations, miscegenation, sexual assault, and class divisions—in her family’s history. How It Happens carries the heart through the obstacles that still face women of color today and holds open the door of communication between generations.
Emma Palova
Greenwich Meridian Memoir
Greenwich Meridian Memoir: Where East meets West" is an epic story of the Konecny family immigration saga from former socialist Czechoslovakia to the USA. The story takes place on the backdrop of two major historic events: the 1968 Prague Spring and the 1989 Velvet Revolution.
Amy Nielander
Grama's Hug
May and Grama are a team. They do everything together, from birdwatching to preparing for the annual Space Fair. And they never, ever say goodbye without a hug. May’s love of science takes her far as her inventions win year after year, helped by Grama’s support, effort, and love. She travels to space camp and eventually beyond, earning her spot as the first kid astronaut to journey into space. As May prepares for her mission to explore the cosmos, she seems ready to go without looking back. Will she forget to leave without saying goodbye to Grama?
Linda K. Sienkiewicz
Gordy and the Ghost Crab
Gordy is afraid of the crashing ocean waves and a creature he spots skittering across the sand. What’s worse: his brother tells him it’s a host crab that will pinch off his toes! What will Gordy do when he meets a girl intent on capturing one? Teaches empathy, problem solving and conservation, with fun science facts about common crabs.
Kathleen Jae
Elanora and the Salt Marsh Mystery
Elanora, a young chipmunk, lives each day for adventure in her forest home, and she is mindful of the dangers that lurk in her neighborhood…Until one day…
After a series of terrifying events, Elanora is transported to a strange neighborhood where the only way to get about is by water and the only food to eat is the grasses of the marsh. When she discovers that the water level in her new home is falling, she suspects humans are the cause and puts together a plan to save the creatures who live there. Will Elanora convince the muskrat colony and swimmers that they must leave the marsh and embark on a dangerous journey to their new home?
Julian Van Dyke
Does This Make You a Bully?
A book about the different ways bullying is in our societies around the world and the hurtful and disrespectful feelings we get from it. A very important subject matter that's illustrated in a way that our youth will enjoy and those that are "open minded" and young at heart as well.
Tony Lindsay
Chess Not Checkers
A teen novel with adult adventures and situations. The novel’s thrills happen in both urban and rural environments. A twenty-year-old, Thaddeus Adams, is looking back to when he was a self-described “nerd” who stood up to a brutal bully, Earl Jacobson. The bully is gang affiliated and heartless. At times, we see Thaddeus knocked flat on his back, and at other times we see him standing strong with confidence; he learns to depend on family, community, and friends to survive.
Pria Dee
Balu Saves the Day
A heartwarming story of a day in the life of a young boy and his mother living in a small village in India. When his mother gets sick, a brave boy saves the day with his courage and resourcefulness. Five-year-old Balu and his mother live in a small village in India, selling vegetables from their garden at a local outdoor market. When his mother gets a cold and is unable to open her market stall, the brave boy knows just what to do to help. Filled with words of cultural significance such as the holiday Diwali and customary food Gulab jamun.
Jenny Deason Copeland
A MouseKeeper Christmas
A brainiac six-year-old girl uses data to help solve Santa's toy production problems saving Christmas for all the world's children on the Nice Lists. And she does it in such a way that she creates a new holiday tradition, MouseKeeping