Upper Peninsula Comes South!

Ellen Airgood is coming to town, from the shores of Lake Superior, and I’m so happy and excited my toes are dancing in my boots! Here are Ivy Blake’s boots on the cover of The Education of Ivy Blake, Ellen’s latest novel for young people. Ivy is a 5^th-grader, so if you know a 5^th-grade girl who would like to meet an accomplished and very welcoming, friendly book author, bring that girl to Dog Ears Books on Wednesday for a memorable evening. Coming by yourself or with friends your own age is fine, too. You won't be sorry.

Who was the first author you met? How old were you? What do you remember of the meeting?

My photo at the top of the page shows several Airgood books. (Not all, because one anthology she appeared in seems to be no longer in print.) South of Superior was her first novel, and Prairie Evers her first novel for a younger audience. Ivy and Prairie become friends in Prairie Evers, so while it is not necessary to have read the first to enjoy the second, anyone who reads The Education of Ivy Blake first will want to go back to read Prairie Evers, too. Read or re-read, I should say. Ellen Airgood’s books are eminently re-readable – and I say this having read South of Superior all the way through four times.

The two anthologies that include Ellen Airgood pieces are excellent, as well. A couple customers just the other day were telling me how much they have been enjoying The Way North: Collected Upper Peninsula New Works, edited by Ron Riekki. Riekki also edited the new collection, Here: Women Writing on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, which features work from several decades, both poetry and prose. Good stuff, all this!

Wednesday, June 17, 7 p.m., Dog Ears Books, 106 Waukazoo Street, Northport, Michigan: Ellen Airgood, reading from and signing The Education of Ivy Blake

Below is a glimpse of Ellen at a different kind of work. You'll have to ask her how she finds time to write books!

At West Bay Diner, Grand Marais, Michigan