With the summer season in full force, it’s all beaches and boats, every day, all day, except at the Northern Michigan book headquarters of Horizon Books in Traverse City. Among the many upcoming Northern Michigan book events at Horizon Books, located right in downtown Traverse City, are Kelly McNees signing The Island of Doves and John Mitchell returning with his latest book, Prehistoric Great Lakes. And for everyone who has loved Stranger in the Woods for years, there’s even a chance to meet and chat with author Carl Sams.
Author Signings
- Brianne Farley, Ike’s Incredible Ink. Saturday, July 5, 12 pm to 2 pm
In Brianne Farley’s whimsical debut picture book, illustrated in a fresh, bold collage style, Ike’s adventurous quest to find the perfect ink might just be the inspiration he needs to get started on his incredible story.
- Kelly McNees, The Island of Doves. Wednesday, July 9, 4 pm to 6 pm
Susannah Fraser lives in one of Buffalo’s finest mansions, but her husband has made it a monstrous prison. When a mysterious woman offers to help her escape, Susannah boards a steamboat for Mackinac Island. An exceptional woman of early America, Magdelaine Fonteneau has overcome convention to live a bold and adventurous life, achieving great wealth and power as a fur trader. But Magdelaine has also seen great tragedy and lost all that was dear to her, and she is no longer sure her hardened heart is capable of love. Each needs to learn to love again, and only together can they realize a future bright with the promise of new life.
- David Anthony and Charles David, Heroes A 2 Z: The Cherry Bomb Squad. July 10th, 11th and 12th, 2 pm to 4 pm
In this adventure, a family visit to Cherry Olde Orchard becomes a waking, walking nightmare. The trees pick up root and start laying down the lumber. If that’s not enough, their cherry bombs will flatten anything in their path. Traverse City and the National Cherry Festival will never be the same.
- John Mitchell, Prehistoric Great Lakes. Friday, July 11, 12 pm to 2 pm
Prehistoric Great Lakes explores the geological formation of the Great Lakes region and the bountiful natural resources which have shaped human history. Travel through time from the Precambrian bedrock of the Lake Superior region, laden with copper and iron — to limestone deposits rich with fossils from ancient seas — to a legacy of coal and oil from lush and tropical swamps.
- Carl Sams, Stranger in the Woods. Saturday, July 12, 2 pm to 4 pm
Years after it was first published, Stranger in the Woods remains a bestseller, with more than one-million copies in print and repeated appearances on the bestseller lists. This charming tale uses wildlife photography to tell the story of animals’ reactions to a snowman who appears in the woods after a winter storm. Now, the book will be featured on one of the floats for this year’s Cherry Festival parades!
- Gloria Whelan, Queen Victoria’s Bathing Machine. Wednesday, July 16, 2 pm to 3 pm
This quirky tale about the longest reigning monarch in British history is as fun as it is authentic, and the book includes a picture of the actual bathing machine Prince Albert created for Queen Victoria.
- Josh Malerman, Bird Box. Friday, July 18, 2 pm to 4 pm
Something terrifying that must not be seen. One glimpse and a person is driven to deadly violence. No one knows what it is or where it came from. Five years after it began, a handful of scattered survivors remain, including Malorie and her two young children. Malorie embarks on a harrowing odyssey—a trip that takes her into an unseen world and back into the past, to the companions who once saved her. Interweaving past and present, Josh Malerman’s breathtaking debut is a horrific and gripping snapshot of a world unraveled that will have you racing to the final page.
- Carrie Pearson, A Cool Summer Tail. Friday, July 18, 4 pm to 6 pm
When summer heats up, animals find ways to stay cool. In A Cool Summer Tail animals wonder how humans stay cool too.
- Kate Hannigan, Cupcake Cousins #1. Saturday, July 19, 12 pm to 2 pm
Baking a fluffy pink cupcake is awesome, but wearing a dress that looks like one? No, thank you! Cousins Willow and Delia can’t wait to spend a week vacationing together with their families. Their aunt is getting married, and Willow and Delia are hoping their tasty baked goods will be enough to get them out of being flower girls in the wedding. Join Willow and Delia in the kitchen by following their scrumptious recipes for whoopee pies, peach pancakes, and other tasty treats!
- Mikel Classen, Au Sable Point Lighthouse. Saturday, July 19, 2 pm to 4 pm
Skeleton ship frames surround Au Sable Point, marking a mile-long sandstone reef that reached out into Lake Superior waiting to grab any and all ships that passed by. In an effort to end this tragic loss of lives, the Au Sable Point Lighthouse was constructed to warn mariners of its hidden reef.
- Al Declercq, Bernida: A Michigan Sailing Legend. Friday, July 25, 4 pm to 6 pm
Originally built in 1921 to race in the ocean, a sailboat named Bernida captures the attention and heart of a Michigan sailor.
- Tom Laughlin, The Summer of ’71. Saturday, July 26, 2 pm to 4 pm
In 1971 the author hitchhiked across the United States and Europe, keeping a journal of his adventures and observations of life. Forty years later, upon discovering the journal, he realized how much that adventure changed his life.
- Robert Wangard, Payback. Saturday, July 26, 4 pm to 6 pm
This is the 4th book in Wangard’s Pete Thoreson series.
- Carolyn Drake & Marcia A. Borrell, Cold, Cold North. Wednesday, July 30, 10 am to 12 pm
Cold, Cold North originated one evening after dreaming up stories for a not-yet-two-year old child who asked for more, more. It was the Arctic story he wanted repeated and months later requested when he saw Grandmom. This child’s picture book about Arctic wildlife is told with informative verse and introduces a variety of animals that are a living part of the Arctic landscape.
- Joseph Cadotte, Jannah Station: A Soft Murder. Wednesday July 30, 12 pm to 2 pm
A third of the way ahead of Earth in its orbit, Jannah Station is a resort habitat for some of the Solar System’s wealthiest families and the people and bots who serve them. When the immortal chief financier of the station dies of heart failure, detective Faisal Werner must prove it to be murder, or chaos will consume the habitat.
- Tashina Clancy, Redemption: Searching for Salvation. Wednesday, July 30, 2 pm to 4 pm
A thrilling tale of two fated individuals separated by time. As one searches for a place to fit in, the other seeks redemption. Will their paths cross or will life get in the way? Darkness follows them at every turn whispering corruption.
- John Mullally, A Dominican Republic Wedding. Wednesday, July 30, 4 pm to 6 pm
Secret Service Agent Tom Gleason and his fiancé, Cindy are having a destination wedding in the beautiful Dominican Republic. Cindy, wanting to be a good host and tour guide for the wedding party, reads about a small ocean-side village near their wedding that accepted Jewish refugees during Hitler’s holocaust when the rest of the world shunned them. This groundbreaking international thriller contrasts the love at Tom and Cindy’s romantic Dominican Republic wedding with the horrors of Nazi Germany as the engaging storyline moves between the Caribbean, Europe and the United States.
- Suzanne Curron & Bev Hundley, What’s So Special About Me? Thursday, July 31, 10 am to 12 pm
Parents and teachers alike know the importance of building self-confidence in children. Come along with Dottie, the ladybug, on a journey to discover and celebrate her own special qualities with the help of her friend, Suzy, the spider. A guide for parents has been provided that includes questions to ask your child while reading in order to discover the deepest meaning, and greatest pleasure, from exploring this book with your young reader.
- Bill & Pat Storrer, Up North Michigan Wines By the Bay. Thursday, July 31, 12 pm to 2 pm
Up North Michigan Wines By the Bay is a comprehensive portrayal of the wine industry of Leelanau and Old Mission peninsulas of northwest Michigan – describing not only the region’s distinctive climate and its wineries, wines and grapes but also the determined and dedicated personalities who make it happen.
- Kristy Kurjan, Nap-A-Roo. Thursday, July 31, 2 pm to 4 pm
This clever board book is the perfect story to read just before your little one takes a nap! You’ll both be ready for Naptime!
Book Launch Party
- Leslie Lee, Sacred Place. Saturday, July 19, 4 pm to 6 pm
Sacred Place is an innovative and inspiring fusion of architecture, photography, poetry, and visionary philosophy. The architectural wonder of Pine Hollow, as created by local Architect Roger A. Hummel, “stands as a testament to Leslie Lee’s commitment to architectural design, nature, art, and permanence.”
Author Presentation
- Peter Brown, My Teacher is a Monster! (No, I am Not). Sunday, July 20, 1 pm to 2 pm
Come meet author Peter Brown and learn about his new book. A young boy named Bobby has the worst teacher. She is a monster! Luckily, Bobby can go to his favorite spot in the park on weekends to play. Until one day… he finds his teacher there! Over the course of one day, Bobby learns that monsters are not always what they seem.
Author Talk
- Robert Knapp, Mystery Man: Gangsters, Oil & Murder in Michigan. Saturday, July 19, 10 am. to 12 pm.
The Crime of the Century in Clare, Michigan, comes alive in this vivid account of events and people behind a spectacular 1938 murder in the Doherty Hotel. Meet Isaiah Leebove — brilliant lawyer, artful dodger, friend and mouthpiece to gangsters, oil speculator, and inveterate gamble — as he interacts with famous gangsters like Arnold Rothstein, the ‘fixer’ of the 1919 World Series, ‘Dapper Dan’ Collins in New York City, and the Purple Gang out of Detroit. Mystery Man draws on a wide range of unpublished material, as well as newspaper reports and personal interviews to present this exciting tale gangsters, oil, and murder in Michigan.