Em Shotwell charmed readers with her magical tale of the
Caibre family of Brooklyn, Miss., when she published her debut novel,
“Blackbird Summer.” Now the South Louisiana author returns with an equally
delightful book, “Forget Me Not,” backing up to 1969 and telling the story of
Evelyn Cadeau and Rex Somersby. The two characters are thrown together — much
to Evelyn’s chagrin since she has feelings for another — because of their
magical “gifts.” Evelyn has the gift of vigor, causing things to grow and
flourish, including helping the sick return to health. Rex can remember
everything. And because gifted people keep to themselves, their families are
hoping the two magical 18-year-olds will marry. The move works but just as love
begins to blossom, however, the Vietnam War intercedes. With Rex’s gift of
remembrance, can he forget the horrors he’s seen overseas? Shotwell is donating
royalties from “Forget Me Not” to the military charity, Operation
Homefront. She is also launching the book at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at
Conundrum Books in St. Francisville.
New children’s books
Author and poet Zwame Alexander grew up loving poetry,
believing that “a poem is a small but powerful thing.” He, along with poets
Chris Colderley and Marjory Wentworth, celebrate the written word and give
homage to famous poets with “Out of
Wonder: Poems Celebrating Poets,” illustrated by Ekua Holmes. The poems are
originals but written in the style of Maya Angelou, Gwedolyn Brooks, Emily
Dickinson and Langston Hughes, among others. It’s a marvelous book sure to ignite
“ever-evolving ideas that speak to us in different ways at different times in
our lives,” the author writes.
“Trees” by
Lemniscates is a simple tale about those wonderful plants that bring us shade
and life, appropriate for ages 2-5. This lovely book showcases what trees offer
the world and how important that are to humanity, complemented by soft yet
expressive illustrations.
Creole mouse Chicory of New Orleans climbs into a picnic
basket and falls asleep, waking up in Cajun Country miles away. She meets a
mouse named Roux and they have great adventures in the charming tale, “Chicory and Roux: The Creole Mouse and the
Cajun Mouse” by Todd-Michael St. Pierre, illustrated by Lee Brandt Randall.
The two part to their respective homes in the end but remain lifelong friends
in this retelling of the Aesop’s fable.
Vernon Smith of Metairie pens and illustrates an adorable
story about the maintenance streetcar of New Orleans that’s been around for
decades. “The Littlest Streetcar”
shows Charlie at work, spreading sand on the tracks and helping get the larger
streetcars back in service. When a grumpy streetcar belittles him, he loses
heart, but soon finds that despite his size, he’s just as special as the rest.
Like Charlie, this little book with its sweet illustrations offers a big
heartfelt story.
Germaine Scalisi Lattier of Lafayette, who’s spent 36 years
as an educational diagnostician in the public school system, has published a
book about bullying titled “Stop Bully Stop!,” illustrated by Alexandria
Scalisi, a student of the Savannah College of Art and Design.
Word Crawl
Word Crawl, the annual fundraising event for Festival of
Words in which poets and spoken word artists converge on downtown Lafayette,
will be from noon to midnight Saturday, Sept. 9. The poetry marathon will
include more than 40 poets at six venues on Jefferson Street, including Acadiana
Center for the Arts, Reve, Cite Des Arts, Lafayette Science Museum, Steam Press
Coffee & Café and The Wurst Biergarten. To join the fundraiser as a poet,
contact Marie Touchet at aziesbusiness@gmail.com,
Alex Johnston at PoeticSoul337@gmail.co,
(713) 933-4448 or Martha Garner at mgarner70506@gmail.com, (337)
804-2482. Download a packet and see a complete list of participating authors
and venues at festivalofwords.org.
Book events for Aug.
6-13
Ladee Hubbard, author of “The Talented Ribkins,” an
Indie Next choice for August, will be in conversation with Jami Attenberg,
author of “All Grown-Up,” at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Octavia Books of New
Orleans. Hubbard is the winner of the 2016 Rona Jaffe Foundation Writer’s
Award and the William Faulkner-William Wisdom Creative Writing Competition for
the Short Story. She lives in New Orleans.
Katherine Jeffrey will speak about “Two Civil Wars, The
Curious Shared Journal of a Baton Rouge Schoolgirl and a Union Sailor on the
USS Essex” at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at the Old Governor’s Mansion, 502 North Blvd.
in Baton Rouge, part of the Foundation for Historical Louisiana’s Lecture
Series. Jeffrey is the author of an LSU Press book of the same name. For more
information, visit www.fhl.org or http://lsupress.org/books/detail/two-civil-wars.
The Southern Food & Beverage Museum presents Justin Fox
Burks, chef and co-author of “The Chubby Vegetarian,” at 1 p.m.
Saturday at the New Orleans museum. Burks will conduct a book signing, cooking
demonstration and sampling of recipes featured in the award-winning cookbook he
co-authored with his wife Amy Lawrence.
Cheré Coen is the
author of “Forest Hill, Louisiana: A Bloom Town History,” “Haunted Lafayette,
Louisiana” and “Exploring Cajun Country.” She writes Louisiana romances and
mysteries under the pen name of Cherie Claire. Write her at
cherecoen@gmail.com.
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