CLASSICS & CONTEMPORARY
Gilead by Marilynne Robinson Tuesday, April 11th, 10:30-11:30am, Adults, Auditorium
In 1956, toward the end of Reverend John Ames's life, he begins a letter to his young son, an account of himself and his forebears. Ames is the son of an Iowan preacher and the grandson of a minister who, as a young man in Maine, saw a vision of Christ bound in chains and came west to Kansas to fight for abolition: He "preached men into the Civil War," then, at age fifty, became a chaplain in the Union Army, losing his right eye in battle.
Reverend Ames writes to his son about the tension between his father--an ardent pacifist--and his grandfather, whose pistol and bloody shirts, concealed in an army blanket, may be relics from the fight between the abolitionists and those settlers who wanted to vote Kansas into the union as a slave state. And he tells a story of the sacred bonds between fathers and sons, which are tested in his tender and strained relationship with his namesake, John Ames Boughton, his best friend's wayward son.
This is also the tale of another remarkable vision--not a corporeal vision of God but the vision of life as a wondrously strange creation. It tells how wisdom was forged in Ames's soul during his solitary life, and how history lives through generations, pervasively present even when betrayed and forgotten. (From the publisher)
Find a copy of the book here. Ebook and downloadable audiobook copies are available through Digital Library of Illinois or the Libby app. Downloadable audiobook copies are also available through Hoopla.
In-person discussion. No registration required.
ONE BOOK EVERYONE READS BOOK DISCUSSION
Now Is Not the Time to Panic by Kevin Wilson Wednesday, April 19th, 7-8pm, Adults, Auditorium
An exuberant, bighearted novel about two teenage misfits who spectacularly collide one fateful summer, and the art they make that changes their lives forever
Sixteen-year-old Frankie Budge—aspiring writer, indifferent student, offbeat loner—is determined to make it through yet another summer in Coalfield, Tennessee, when she meets Zeke, a talented artist who has just moved into his grandmother’s house and who is as awkward as Frankie is. Romantic and creative sparks begin to fly, and when the two jointly make an unsigned poster, shot through with an enigmatic phrase, it becomes unforgettable to anyone who sees it. The edge is a shantytown filled with gold seekers. We are fugitives, and the law is skinny with hunger for us.
The posters begin appearing everywhere, and people wonder who is behind them and start to panic. Satanists, kidnappers—the rumors won’t stop, and soon the mystery has dangerous repercussions that spread far beyond the town.
Twenty years later, Frances Eleanor Budge gets a call that threatens to upend her carefully built life: a journalist named Mazzy Brower is writing a story about the Coalfield Panic of 1996. Might Frances know something about that?
A bold coming-of-age story, written with Kevin Wilson’s trademark wit and blazing prose, Now Is Not the Time to Panic is a nuanced exploration of young love, identity, and the power of art. It’s also about the secrets that haunt us—and, ultimately, what the truth will set free. (From the publisher)
Find a copy of the book here. Ebook and downloadable audiobook copies are available through Digital Library of Illinois or the Libby app.
This program is presented as part of the library’s One Book, Everyone Reads community reading program. Learn more about the series and this year’s selected book, Now is Not the Time to Panic by Kevin Wilson, here.
Make sure to join us for our signature author event, a conversation between Kevin Wilson and Alison Cuddy, on Thursday, May 11 at 7pm. Register here.
One Book, Everyone Reads is funded by the Friends of the Wilmette Public Library.
In-person discussion. No registration required.
ONE BOOK EVERYONE READS BOOK DISCUSSION
Now Is Not the Time to Panic by Kevin Wilson Wednesday, April 16th, 10:30-11:30am, Adults, Auditorium
An exuberant, bighearted novel about two teenage misfits who spectacularly collide one fateful summer, and the art they make that changes their lives forever
Sixteen-year-old Frankie Budge—aspiring writer, indifferent student, offbeat loner—is determined to make it through yet another summer in Coalfield, Tennessee, when she meets Zeke, a talented artist who has just moved into his grandmother’s house and who is as awkward as Frankie is. Romantic and creative sparks begin to fly, and when the two jointly make an unsigned poster, shot through with an enigmatic phrase, it becomes unforgettable to anyone who sees it. The edge is a shantytown filled with gold seekers. We are fugitives, and the law is skinny with hunger for us.
The posters begin appearing everywhere, and people wonder who is behind them and start to panic. Satanists, kidnappers—the rumors won’t stop, and soon the mystery has dangerous repercussions that spread far beyond the town.
Twenty years later, Frances Eleanor Budge gets a call that threatens to upend her carefully built life: a journalist named Mazzy Brower is writing a story about the Coalfield Panic of 1996. Might Frances know something about that?
A bold coming-of-age story, written with Kevin Wilson’s trademark wit and blazing prose, Now Is Not the Time to Panic is a nuanced exploration of young love, identity, and the power of art. It’s also about the secrets that haunt us—and, ultimately, what the truth will set free. (From the publisher)
Find a copy of the book here. Ebook and downloadable audiobook copies are available through Digital Library of Illinois or the Libby app.
This program is presented as part of the library’s One Book, Everyone Reads community reading program. Learn more about the series and this year’s selected book, Now is Not the Time to Panic by Kevin Wilson, here.
Make sure to join us for our signature author event, a conversation between Kevin Wilson and Alison Cuddy, on Thursday, May 11 at 7pm. Register here.
One Book, Everyone Reads is funded by the Friends of the Wilmette Public Library.
In-person discussion. No registration required.
