Chapter 16
A Community of Tennessee Writers, Readers & Passersby

You Just Have to Listen

In The Whispers by Greg Howard, a boy searches for his mother with the help of mysterious beings

In the debut middle-grade novel by Nashville author Greg Howard, a child turns to the “Whispers,” nearly invisible creatures in the woods, for help in solving his mother’s disappearance. Howard will appear at Parnassus Books in Nashville on January 15, at Star Line Books in Chattanooga on January 17, and at Union Ave. Books in Knoxville on January 18.

Read more

A Flawed Hero in Tumultuous Times

Preston Lauterbach’s Bluff City looks at the strange legacy of a civil-rights figure who worked as an FBI spy

Preston Lauterbach considers both the bravery and seeming treachery of a civil-rights photojournalist and FBI informant in Bluff City: The Secret Life of Photographer Ernest Withers. Lauterbach will appear at Novel in Memphis on January 14.

Read more

Gwendolyn Blooms

In her new picture book, Alice Faye Duncan pays tribute to the legendary Gwendolyn Brooks

In A Song for Gwendolyn Brooks, Memphis children’s author Alice Faye Duncan captures the life of distinguished poet Gwendolyn Brooks.

Read more

A Wee Dram of Brilliance

Clay Risen conquers all things Scotch in Single Malt

With Single Malt: A Guide to the Whiskies of Scotland, New York Times whiskey critic and longtime Chapter 16 contributor Clay Risen has created an essential guide to Scotch for “almost everyone.”

Read more

Bon Appetite, Y’all!

Carla Hall turns her international culinary expertise toward her first love—soul food

Soul Food, the third cookbook by Nashville native Carla Hall, is still new, with no stains. But the recipes in the book have been passed down through Southern kitchens on many food-stained recipe cards. Hall will appear in conversation with Kelly Pickler at Parnassus Books in Nashville on December 4.

Read more

War Swept Them Away

Alan Gratz’s new novel for middle schoolers dramatizes the Battle of Okinawa

With Grenade, Alan Gratz has written a war novel in which people find the strength to look past differences and into the eyes of their fellow frightened human beings.

Read more
TAKE THE SHORT READER SURVEY! CHAPTER 16 SURVEYOR SURVEYING