Thursday, October 8, 2015

Star Wars Reads Day and the Georgia Literary Festival


 

Designed by local artist Kenneth Benson
 
 
Literary fans in Georgia have two events to look forward to within the next month! I am on the planning committees for the 4th annual Star Wars Reads Day and the 14th Georgia Literary Festival which are both taking place in Augusta this year. Star Wars Reads Day is Saturday, October 10th and is a national and annual event created and designed to promote literacy in children through their love of Star Wars. Many libraries and bookstores around the country will be participating in this fun event (I'll post pictures this weekend of the event my local library is hosting). 

The Georgia Literary Festival will take place on the beautiful Georgia Regents University (soon to be Augusta University) campus on Saturday, November 7th from 9am-5pm and will feature over 40 Georgia authors, a vendor marketplace, food trucks and a Children's Entertainment area (Savannah River Ecology Lab, ventriloquist Tawanna Kelly, and local children's musician, David Neches). Listed below is the festival schedule for you to drool over:

9 to 9:45—Terry Kay Keynote, Ballroom

10 to 10:45 Georgia’s Historic Places (Jennifer Dickey, Catherine Lewis, Sandra Deal, F. Martin Harmon) Ballroom, Patti Callahan Henry, Butler; Exploring Today’s Publishing Options, (Susan Boyer, Kim Boykin, Charmain Brackett), Coffee House; Personal Stories: Memoirs and Journals, (Turner Simp...kins, Jonathan Barrett, Tom Robertson), Hardy; Picture Books with Miranda Paul, Children’s Stage 

11 to 11:45 Karen White, Ballroom; Novels for Younger Readers (Christine Deriso, Kami Kinard, Becky Abertalli, Deron Hicks), Butler; Prohibition in Atlanta, (Ron Smith, Mary Boyle) ; Coffee House, Reptiles with Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, Children’s Stage

12 to 12:45 Joshilyn Jackson, Ballroom;  Civil War Memories,(Gould Hagler, Carolyn Newton Curry), Butler; How to Get Published, (Ann Hite), Coffee House; Augusta’s People and Places (Tom Mack, Perry Smith, Don Rhodes), Hardy; Children’s author, Robyn Hood Black, Children’s Stage

1 to 1:45 Mystery and Suspense (Susan Mucha, Susan Boyer, Susan Crawford) Ballroom; Grit Lit (Kim Boykin, Karin Gillespie, Ann Hite), Butler; Making Sense of Our Identities (Jim Grimsley, Allen Ghee, Cindy McMahon), Coffee House; Songs and Stories with David Neches, Children’s Stage

2 to 2:45 Nathalie Dupree and Cynthia Graubart, Ballroom; Breaking Into Children’s Literature; (Kami Kinard), Butler; Literary Reads, (Ravi Howard, Bernie Shein, Jessica Handler), Coffee House; Local columnists, (Steve Uhles, Jenny Wright, Danielle Wong Moores), Hardy; Shakespeare Mysteries with Deron Hicks, Children’s Stage

3 to 3:45 Debut Novelists (Brian Panowich, Eric Morris, Colleen Oakley) Ballroom, Poetry (Linda Lee Harper, Laurel Blossom), Butler; Children’s Performer (Ventriloquist, Tawanna Kelly), Children’s Stage

4 to 4:45 Slave Ship Antelope, (Jonathan Bryant) Ballroom; Twain’s End, (Lynn Cullen); Butler; Augusta’s Literary History, (Tom Turner, Bill Harper and Catherine Adams), Coffee House); Performance poetry (Theresa Davis), Hardy; TBA, Children’s Stage.

Signings will follow each author’s appearance and will be in the JSAC breezeway.

The children’s stage is the outdoor amphitheater. Inclement weather location for the children’s stage will be University Hall Room 170.   11 to 11:45 Karen White, Ballroom; Novels for Younger Readers (Christine Deriso, Kami Kinard, Becky Abertalli, Deron Hicks), Butler; Prohibition in Atlanta, (Ron Smith, Mary Boyle) ; Coffee House, Reptiles with Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, Children’s Stage

If you are going to be in the Augusta area October 10th or November 7th please consider supporting these local events!

Friday, October 2, 2015

Girl Meets Class- Karin Gillespie




Title: Girl Meets Class
Author: Karin Gillespie
Genre: Georgia author, Augusta Literary Festival author, southern humor, takes place in Georgia


Oh my goodness, I can't believe it's been two months since my last blog post! <<<Hangs head in shame>>> Life has been a whirlwind yet again with a new semester of school starting in mid-August and a job change for me last week (I have now entered the world of academic libraries!). Today's review is for Karin Gillespie's shiny, brand-spanking new book, Girl Meets Class. That's Karin in the picture below graciously signing my book!




In Girl Meets Class, Toni Lee Wells is the typical, life-of-luxury Southern gal until one too many trips to the pokey embarrasses her family and the matriarch, Aunt Cornelia, cut off her unlimited source of funds and force her to grow up and earn her inheritance money a little early: find a job, behave yourself and keep it for a year and inherit $5 million dollars!!!

Out of desperation, Toni Lee lands a teaching job at the local "ghetto school" teaching the Special Needs students Life Skills. Toni Lee is out of league on so many fronts and things do not go smoothly  for our beloved protagonist. Her students are wild and disrespectful and her tyrannical principal is involved in a test cheating conspiracy. Good thing Toni Lee has fellow teacher (and lover) Carl Rutherford to help navigate all of this uncharted territory.

Filled with humor and a happy ending, I highly recommend this to anyone looking a humorous read with just a dash of romance!