Adapted for middle-grade readers from Hayley Arceneaux’s 2022 memoir of the same name, Wild Ride tells the story of her recovery from childhood cancer and her unexpected opportunity, at age 29, to join the first all-civilian mission to space.
Chapter 16 talks with master storyteller Lee Smith about her writing process and her fond memories of the annual Southern Festival of Books in Nashville. Smith will appear at this year’s festival on October 21-22.
Matthew Vollmer’s All of Us Together in the End contemplates the certainties of life and its mysteries – whether natural or supernatural. Vollmer will discuss the book at Union Ave. Books in Knoxville on May 23 and The Bookshop in Nashville on May 24.
Justin Warren, the protagonist of Lauren Thoman’s debut novel, I’ll Stop the World, finds himself in a bit of a pickle. It seems he’s suddenly time-traveled to the 1985 version of his hometown, where he has a week to solve a mystery and save his grandparents’ lives. Lauren Thoman will discuss her work at a “Birthing the Book” event hosted by The Porch in Nashville on May 11.
Memphis native Elizabeth Passarella’s second collection of essays, It Was an Ugly Couch Anyway, covers a lot of ground, both personally and existentially. Earthy, articulate, and uninhibited, Passarella is an engaging storyteller with a wicked sense of humor. She’ll discuss the book at Novel in Memphis on May 2.
Lee Smith’s ability to spin tragedy into comedy is challenged as never before in her new novel, Silver Alert, as a motley cast of characters navigates a world filled with pain and loss, while at least one stubbornly clings to her hope for a better future.
