Fox Cities Book Festival
Jess Riley
Wednesday, April 17, 6:30PM
Little Chute Public Library
Jess Riley is the author of the novels DRIVING SIDEWAYS (2008) and ALL THE LONELY PEOPLE (2012) and the novella CLOSER THAN THEY APPEAR (2013). She lives in Oshkosh, Wisconsin with her husband and a neurotic but adorable Cairn Terrier.
Barbara Joosse
Saturday, April 20, 9:30AM
Little Chute Public Library
Best-selling children's author, Barbara Joosse, has published 45 books for children, with translations into 27 languages. Her most popular title is MAMA, DO YOU LOVE ME? (1.5 million sold). Best-known for her playful, lyrical style, she has recently begun to write lyrics for the kindie-rock Nashville band, The Happy Racers. Many of the songs on "Ready Set Go" are companion pieces to recent books including "Old Robert and the Sea-Silly Cats," "Lovabye Dragon," and "Dog Parade." This year, the album made it to the first ballot for a Grammy! Ms. Joosse lives in a little stone house in Cedarburg, Wisconsin with her sculptor husband, C.T. Whitehouse.
W.H. Beck
Saturday, April 20, 11:30AM
Little Chute Public Library
W.H. Beck is an elementary school librarian from northwestern Wisconsin who writes books for kids by night (and early mornings and in between kids' sports practices). Her current book, MALCOLM AT MIDNIGHT, is a funny mystery that stars classroom pets at midnight. Her previous books include DR. KATE, ANGEL ON SNOWSHOES and the Follow That Food Chain animal series.
Lesley Kagen
Saturday, April 20, 2:00PM
Kimberly Public Library
Lesley Kagen is a Milwaukee native and national bestselling novelist. Her first book, WHISTLING IN THE DARK, 2007, which takes place in a Milwaukee neighborhood, made the New York Times Best Seller list. Her novels are written from the viewpoints of children or young narrators, capturing the kids' honesty, their unique way of viewing the world, their direct way of talking, and their enthusiasm. Common themes in her stories, which are set in the 1950s and 1960s, include: dealing with loss, family, mystery, discovering the truth, inner-workings of a community, sibling bonds, childlike perception, innocence and corruption.
Richard Louv
Tuesday, April 23, 1:00PM
Kimberly Public Library
This year's Fox Cities Reads author, Richard Louv, is a journalist and author of eight books about the connections between family, nature and community. His newest book is THE NATURE PRINCIPLE: HUMAN RESTORATION AND THE END OF NATURE-DEFICIT DISORDER (Algonquin), which offers a new vision of the future, in which our lives are as immersed in nature as they are in technology. This future, available to all of us right now, offers better psychological, physical and spiritual health for people of every age.
Susanna Daniel
Wednesday, April 24, 6:30PM
Little Chute Public Library
Susanna Daniel's first novel, STILTSVILLE, was awarded the PEN/Bingham Prize for outstanding debut fiction. Her second novel, SEA CREATURES, is forthcoming from HarperCollins in July of this year. She is a native of Miami, Florida, and lives in Madison, Wisconsin, with her husband and two sons.