Chapter 16 - Part 419

Making Ends Meet with Every Single Stitch

Susan Gregg Gilmore’s third novel imagines the struggles of a young Tennessee seamstress

By Tina LoTufo | September 17, 2013

September 17, 2013 In her third novel, The Funeral Dress, Susan Gregg Gilmore does her finest work to date, perfectly capturing the rhythm and music of small-town Southern life in a quiet story about the ways women support one another when times are tough. Gilmore will discuss The Funeral Dress at Parnassus Books in Nashville on September 24, 2013, at 6:30 p.m., and again at Union Ave. Books in Knoxville on October 6 at 2 p.m.

The Mystery of Creativity

Children’s author Kevin Henkes talks with Chapter 16 about fruit cocktail and the creative process

By Tina LoTufo | September 16, 2013

September 16, 2013 A prolific children’s author and illustrator with more than thirty books to his credit, Kevin Henkes has proven incredibly adept at making the tricky transition between picture books and novels for young readers. His newest chapter book, The Year of Billy Miller, is a sweet and savvy story told from the point of view of a seven-year-old boy. Henkes will appear at the twenty-fifth annual Southern Festival of Books, held in Nashville October 11-13. All festival events are free and open to the public.

Impossible Land

The characters in Michael Farris Smith’s Rivers search for refuge and hope in a storm-battered landscape

By Emily Choate | September 13, 2013

September 13, 2013 In Michael Farris Smith’s debut novel, Rivers, the world seems to be getting “badder all the time,” and the Gulf Coast is declared uninhabitable. Two years after the final evacuation, Smith sets a small band of characters on the dangerous road North, toward the hope of a new life free from storms. Michael Farris Smith will discuss Rivers at the Southern Festival of Books, held in Nashville October 11-13, 2013. All festival events are free and open to the public.

The Runner

Amity Gaige’s Schroder imagines a German man who reinvents himself as a Kennedy

By Sarah Norris | September 12, 2013

September 12, 2013 Amity Gaige’s new novel, Schroder, is a long, strange love letter to the title character’s estranged wife, providing a record of, in his mind, the magical days that ensued when he absconded with their six-year-old daughter, as well as the truth about his identity, which he’s hidden for decades. Amity Gaige will appear at the twenty-fifth annual Southern Festival of Books held in Nashville October 11-13, 2013. All events are free and open to the public.

Smart, Sad, Funny

Poet Mary Jo Salter’s new collection, Nothing by Design, is heavy and light by turns

By Maria Browning | September 11, 2013

September 11, 2013 The poems in Mary Jo Salter’s Nothing by Design display her characteristic wit, erudition, and formal grace, along with real depth of feeling. They are entertaining in the truest sense, speaking to the reader’s mind and heart with equal urgency, and they have a bit of silliness thrown in for good measure. Salter will appear at the twenty-fifth annual Southern Festival of Books, held in Nashville October 11-13, 2013. All festival events are free and open to the public.

Walking to Justice

In a moving work of graphic nonfiction, Congressman John Lewis recalls his path from Nashville lunch counters to the National Mall during the American civil-rights movement

By Michael Ray Taylor | September 9, 2013

September 9, 2013 Like the acclaimed graphic novels Maus and Persepolis, the new graphic memoir March is a coming-of-age story set against a backdrop of violent, historical confrontation. A collaboration between Representative John Lewis, Democratic congressman from Georgia, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell, the book tells the story of Lewis’s involvement in the American civil-rights movement. Congressman Lewis and his collaborators will appear at the twenty-fifth annual Southern Festival of Books, held in Nashville October 11-13, 2013. All festival events are free and open to the public.

Camilla and the Caterpillars

By Frances Figart, illustrated by Matt Brass
Smokies Life
68 pages
$14.95

A young girl’s encounter with an extraordinary caterpillar in the Great Smoky Mountains leads her and her family on a quest to plant a national park right in their own backyard.

This environmentally themed chapter book for ages 6 through 11 introduces young readers to important ecological concepts including habitat loss and the interdependence of native species and offers a compelling grassroots solution through native-plant gardening that invites anyone to take part in addressing the growing biodiversity crisis.

~the publisher