Chapter 16
A Community of Tennessee Writers, Readers & Passersby

When a Passel of Possums Pulls Santa’s Sleigh

In his debut picture book, Grant Maloy Smith merges music and merry-making in a marsupial-filled Christmas tale

What happens when Rudolph comes down with the flu and Santa’s reindeer aren’t fit to fly? Singer/songwriter Grant Maloy Smith answers that question in his debut picture book, Fly Possum Fly. He will appear at Union Ave. Books in Knoxville on November 13, along with musician EmiSunshine.

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Making Magic

Cressida Cowell brings readers the second installment in The Wizards of Once series

Cressida Cowell will visit the 2018 Southern Festival of Books, held in Nashville October 12-14, to discuss Twice Magic, the second book in The Wizards of Once series for children.

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Normal is Boring

Escaping from Houdini, Kerri Maniscalco’s new YA mystery, combines science, magic, and murder

In Kerri Maniscalco’s Escaping from Houdini, magic and mayhem abound as teenager and forensic scientist Audrey Rose Wadsworth investigates a series of grisly murders onboard an ocean liner filled with carnival performers. Maniscalco will appear at Barnes & Noble Booksellers at Vanderbilt on September 22, at Union Ave. Books in Knoxville on September 24, and at the 2018 Southern Festival of Books, held in Nashville October 12-14.

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What’s Wrong with Me?

Young men stumble on the path to adulthood in J.M. Holmes’s How Are You Going To Save Yourself

J.M. Holmes’s debut story collection, How Are You Going To Save Yourself, tracks four friends who form a posse in their teens but drift apart in their twenties. The book addresses twenty-first-century issues, particularly those facing young African-Americans, without sugar-coating. Holmes will appear at the 2018 Southern Festival of Books, held in Nashville October 12-14.

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Where Reading is the Coolest Thing

Allison Varnes writes a cautionary tale about censorship for young readers

In Allison Varnes’s new middle-grade novel, Property of the Rebel Librarian, an unlikely hero defies her parents and her school to champion the right to read freely. Varnes will appear at Union Ave. Books in Knoxville on September 18.

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Home to the Mountain

In Ronald Kidd’s new middle-grade novel, a boy’s journey leads to understanding

Ronald Kidd’s new middle-grade novel, Lord of the Mountain, is set in Bristol, Tennessee, in 1927—the time and place of country music’s “big bang.” Kidd will appear at the 2018 Southern Festival of Books, held in Nashville October 12-14.

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