March 17, 2012 2:00 PM:
Nina Revoyr/ Book "Wingshooters"
Please join us at the Corona Public Library in the High Desert Room for this event and discussion.

Summary

Michelle LeBeau, the child of a white American father and a Japanese mother, lives with her grandparents in Deerhorn, Wisconsin—a small town that had been entirely white before her arrival. Rejected and bullied, Michelle spends her time reading, avoiding fights, and roaming the countryside with her English Springer Spaniel, Brett. She idolizes her grandfather, Charlie LeBeau, an expert hunter and former minor league baseball player who is one of the town’s most respected men. Charlie strongly disapproved of his son’s marriage to Michelle’s mother but dotes on his only grandchild, whom he calls Mikey.

This fragile peace is threatened when the expansion of the local clinic leads to the arrival of the Garretts, a young black couple from Chicago. Betty Garrett is hired as a nurse, and her husband, Joe, works as a substitute teacher at the elementary school. The Garretts’ presence deeply upsets most of the residents of Deerfield—especially when Mr. Garrett makes a controversial accusation against one of the town leaders, who is also Charlie LeBeau’s best friend.

In the tradition of To Kill a Mockingbird, A River Runs Through It, andSnow Falling on Cedars, Nina Revoyr’s new novel examines the effects of change on a small, isolated town, the strengths and limits of community, and the sometimes conflicting loyalties of family and justice. Set in the expansive countryside of Central Wisconsin, against the backdrop of Vietnam and the post-Civil Rights era, Wingshooters explores both connection and loss as well as the complex but enduring bonds of family.

Here's some of the great reviews for this book:




"Remarkable...[an] accomplished story of family and the dangers of complacency in the face of questionable justice.”

--Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"Revoyr writes rhapsodically of...the natural world and charts, with rising intensity, her resilient narrator’s painful awakening to human failings and senseless violence. In this shattering northern variation on To Kill a Mockingbird, Revoyr drives to the very heart of tragic ignorance, unreason, and savagery.”
--Booklist (starred review)

"Hauntingly provocative...an excellent choice for book discussion groups."
--Library Journal

"A searing, anguished novel. The narration and pace...are expertly calibrated as it explores a topic one wishes still wasn't so current."
--Los Angeles Times

"Hypnotic... [Revoyr’s] book is a little thing of beauty."
--Brooklyn Rail
"A beautiful, heartbreaking story. Revoyr has written a searing portrait of the all-too-recent past, of a place where change comes slowly and painfully, and of a girl just trying to find her own space in the world."
--Wichita Eagle

"The racism (Revoyr) depicts is disheartening; the loss of innocence she chronicles is shattering; the love shared between a fallible man and his granddaughter is remarkable."
--Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinel

About the Author:

Nina Revoyr is the author of three previous novels, The Necessary Hunger, Southland, and The Age of Dreaming. Southland was a Book Sense 76 pick, won the Lambda Literary Award, and was a Los Angeles Times "Best Book” of 2003. The Age of Dreaming was a finalist for the 2008 Los Angeles Times Book Prize. Revoyr is currently a visiting professor at Pitzer College and vice president of a large non-profit children’s organization. She lives in Los Angeles.



Be sure to visit Ms. Rovoyr's website for more about her:
http://www.ninarevoyr.com

 

Download the Nina Revoyr/ "Wingshooters" event flyer>>

The Written By Series is Free to the public. Hope to see you there!

More Written By Events happening in 2012:

Upcoming Written By Authors in the coming months include:

March 17, 2012 at 2 PM:. Nina Revoyr "Wingshooters"

April 28, 2012 at 2 PM: Susan Vreeland "Clara and Mr. Tiffany"

May 12, 2012 at 2 PM: P.G. Sturges "Shortcut Man"

June 9, 2012 at 2 PM: Monica Holloway " Cowboy & Wills"

July 7, 2012 at 2 PM: Margaret Dilloway "How to be an American Housewife"

Aug. 25, 2012 at 2 PM: Christopher Reich "Rules of Betrayal"

Sept. 29, 2012 at 2 PM: Laurel Corona "Finding Emile"

Oct. 27, 2012 at 2 PM: Lynn Sheen "Last Time I Saw Paris"

Nov. 17, 2012 at 2 PM: Attica Locke / Black Water Rising




No Written By events during December 2012.

The Written By Author Speaker Events Series:

Sponsored by the Friends of the Corona Public Library this series of author events features nationally and locally known bestselling writers. Authors discuss their books, the writing process, and offer books for sale and signing. These programs are free and open to the public to attend the events which are held at the Corona Public Library in the High Desert Room unless noted. A great chance for you to meet these venerable writers in an intimate setting. Events are popular, arrive early for best seating.

J.A. Jance, popular bestselling mystery writer, kicked off this series in May 2007 to great success. During 2007-2010, Written By sponsored events with notable, bestselling authors Susan Vreeland, Lawrence Block, Denise Hamilton, and Lisa See among many others.

 

 

The series will continue throughtout 2012 and 2013 with new authors to be added to the schedule. Please check back to this space for updated Written By... events information.