The Midwest Booksellers Association welcomes both our members and visitors. You’ll find over 200 of the best locally owned and operated independent bookstores in the Midwest among our members. Read more about the many outstanding books of Midwest regional interest that our booksellers and we recommend. Check out our weekly Heartland Indie Bestseller List, too. And buy your books from your favorite local independent bookseller! Thank you!

The Midwest Booksellers Association has moved our office.
Click here for our NEW address and phone info.

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• Easier Accessibility – no more login and password to remember
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• Greater emphasis on our Midwest Connections regional marketing program and the books we and our stores are featuring

Visitors, you’ll find here:

• Easy access to our 200+ member independent bookstores through our BOOKSTORES database.  Find a store near you or search for stores by location, type of store, special events and services offered, and more.  Our knowledgeable booksellers are eager to help you find the perfect books — for yourself, family members, and friends!
• Featured Midwest Connections Picks — wonderful books for both adults and children which feature authors, illustrators and subjects from our Midwest region. Purchase these books at our locally owned and operated independent bookstores.
• The weekly Heartland Indie Bestseller List – our Midwest independent bookstores’ top-selling books.  And the National Indie Bestseller List — an overview of the bestselling books in independent bookstores across the country.
• Our annual holiday and winter season Midwest Booksellers Association Catalog, featuring an array of books for all interests and ages. Also available as a printed catalog in most of our member bookstores from November through January.
• Information about joining our trade association, if you have a professional affiliation with the book industry.

Coming soon: Better access to our member bookstores’ websites through our new BOOKSTORES searchable database

Thank you for visiting our website.  Please come back again soon!

NEW! Announcing the…

2010 Midwest Booksellers’ Choice Awards

Celebrate our Winners and Honor Books with us!

Official release date: August 24, 2010

All information and publicity and promotional
materials are available on the
2010 Midwest Booksellers’ Choice Awards page.

A funny, bittersweet ode to the power of family bonds and the solace of good food.

STARTING FROM SCRATCH
A Novel with Recipes
Susan Gilbert-Collins

 www.simonandschuster.com

Touchstone / Simon & Schuster
$15.00 Trade Paperback
ISBN 13: 978-1-4391-4316-2, On Sale: August 3, 2010

__________

An unforgettable novel about love and loyalty, homeland and belonging, and one woman’s courage in the face of the most punishing adversity.

THE PERSONAL HISTORY 
OF RACHEL DUPREE
A Novel
Ann Weisgarber

www.annweisgarber.com

Viking / Penguin Group (USA), $25.95 Hardcover
ISBN-13:  978-0-670-02201-4, August 23, 2010

__________

A wry and deeply affecting story of forgiveness, flexibility, happiness, and the art of moving on…

THE BLESSINGS OF THE ANIMALS
A Novel
Katrina Kittle

Website: http://katrinakittle.com/ 

Harper Perennial / HarperCollins
$14.99 Original Trade Paperback
ISBN-13:   978-0-06-190607-7, August 2010

__________

At last!
The sequel to SHIVER is here………..

LINGER
by Maggie Stiefvater
http://www.maggiestiefvater.com/linger.php

 Scholastic Press, $17.99 Hardcover
ISBN-13:  978-0-545-12328-0, August 2010
Be sure to read SHIVER — now in paperback!

__________

Two hard-core surfer brothers helped transform Sheboygan, Wisconsin, into one of the most recognized freshwater surfing spots in the world!

SOME LIKE IT COLD
A Sheboygan Surfin’ Safari
By William Povletich

www.SomeLikeItCold.net

Clerisy Press / PGW, $14.95 Trade Paperback
ISBN 978-1-57860-347-3,  May 2010

Featuring our Midwest Connections Picks for August!

STARTING FROM SCRATCH by Susan Gilbert-Collins
Touchstone / Simon & Schuster

THE BLESSINGS OF THE ANIMALS by Katrina Kittle
Harper Perennial / Harper Collins

THE PERSONAL HISTORY OF RACHEL DUPREE
by Ann Weisgarber
Viking / Penguin

SOME LIKE IT COLD by William Povletich
Clerisy Press / PGW

Please download these PDF files and print out the Twin Cities Live “What to Read Next” sign and shelf-talkers to use with your displays of these books.

SIGN FOR AUGUST 16 FEATURED BOOKS (PDF)
SHELF-TALKERS FOR AUGUST 16 FEATURED BOOKS (PDF)

  _____________________

AUGUST 2 BOOK SEGMENT
– Click the link above to get to the video of this segment, starring Charlie Leonard, owner of The Bookcase, Wazata, MN!

Terrific summer reading for kids and young adults
– new books with local connections from Scholastic Press!

LINGER by Maggie Stiefvater
Scholastic Press

SHIVER by Maggie Stiefvater
Scholastic Press

JULIA GILLIAN (AND THE DREAM OF THE DOG)
by Alison McGhee
Scholastic Press

ELVIS & OLIVE: SUPER DETECTIVES
by Stephanie Watson
Scholastic Press

Please download these PDF files and print out the sign and shelf-talkers to use with your displays of these books.

SIGN FOR AUGUST 2 FEATURED BOOKS (PDF)
SHELF-TALKERS FOR AUGUST 2 FEATURED BOOKS (PDF)

Two hard-core surfer brothers helped transform Sheboygan, Wisconsin, into one of the most recognized freshwater surfing spots in the world!

SOME LIKE IT COLD
A Sheboygan Surfin’ Safari
By William Povletich

www.SomeLikeItCold.net

Clerisy Press / PGW
$14.95 Trade Paperback
ISBN 978-1-57860-347-3
black and white pictures throughout
 May 2010 

For the past six decades, twin brothers Lee and Larry Williams have been surfing the gnarliest waves despite living nearly 2,000 miles from any ocean. To overcome the obstacles of being born and raised in Sheboygan, Wis., they brought their dreams and long boards to the shores of Lake Michigan.

Featured on Twin Cities Live “What to Read Next” on August 16!
Video to come after the show airs. 
Click here for more info.

“Cool story, man! Some Like It Cold takes you to the beaches of Sheboygan, catching a vibe that emerged in the ’60s and remains strong today. I grew up in Sheboygan, and William Povletich’s book takes me right back to that time.”  – Jeff Ash, Green Bay Press-Gazette

“William Povletich weaves the tapestry of a loving, yet unique relationship of two brothers and explores the fascinating culture they have created. What was most surprising to me is how much heart this story has. Once again, Povletich’s storytelling has struck gold!”  – Doug Russell, Sports Director, 1250 WSSP Milwaukee’s Sportsradio

Buy this book from your favorite locally owned and operated Midwest independent bookseller!
Click here for the directory of our member bookstores

 MBA BOOKSELLER INFORMATION

Booksellers — Earn up to $100 in rebates from MBA for promoting SOME LIKE IT COLD!
Midwest Connections rebate form for SOME LIKE IT COLD  

SOME LIKE IT COLD is available from Clerisy Press and Publishers Group West, or from your preferred wholesaler.  Be sure to contact the publisher for more information about this title. 

If you are interested in scheduling an event, interview, or book club event or phoner with author William Povletich, , please contact  Hillary Bond,  

MBA and Clerisy Press would love to have your comments and reviews for this Mid. west Connections Pick. Please send them to us so we can share your endorsements with your fellow MBA booksellers and with your customers!

DOWNLOADS

Please download these PDF files and print out the Twin Cities Live “What to Read Next” sign and shelf-talkers to use with your displays of these books.

SIGN FOR AUGUST 16 FEATURED BOOKS (PDF)
SHELF-TALKERS FOR AUGUST 16 FEATURED BOOKS (PDF)

Note:  The shelf-talkers need to be printed on card stock and cut apart along crop marks. Each book has its own shelf-talker, which is double so that it can be used either on the shelf under the book, or as a slip card standing up from the top of the book like a large bookmark.

• Full-color sign/flyer (PDF) -
• Full-color shelf-talker (PDF)
• Publisher Press Release  (PDF)
• Author photo (JPG)
• Book cover photo (JPG)
• Surfer brothers photo (JPG)
• Midwest Connections rebate form for SOME LIKE IT COLD  (PDF)
• Midwest Connections Generic Display Materials

ABOUT THE BOOK

“Some Like It Cold highlights the good-time years of surfing on the Great Lakes of North America. Brothers Williams are true surfers who will suffer through cold water and weather to feel the feeling only a surfer knows. A great read for anybody interested in the lesser-known history of surfing.” –John Lyman, Director, The Huntington Beach International Surfing Museum

“Surfing in Wisconsin?  You bet! Some Like It Cold is a story that screams to be told. The ongoing saga of brothers Larry and Lee Williams documents a near five decades deep impassioned love affair with surfing; all this amidst the uncharted wave fields of an inland ocean. Larry and Lee could have easily pulled up stakes along the way and migrated to the fertile surfing grounds of Southern California & beyond…. but they didn’t. These guys are on to something and they know it in their hearts. Follow the Williams brothers and their surfing sub-culture coterie through episodes of life’s conquests and tragedies played out in America’s Heartland.” –Mark Fragale, Curator, Honolulu Surfing Museum

For the past six decades, twin brothers Lee and Larry Williams have been surfing the gnarliest waves despite living nearly 2,000 miles from any ocean. To overcome the obstacles of being born and raised in Sheboygan, Wis., they brought their dreams and long boards to the shores of Lake Michigan. Some Like It Cold: A Sheboygan Surfin’ Safari (Clerisy Press, May 2010, $14.95) chronicles the lives of two brothers and the evolution of the unique culture they helped build.

 Since the Williams brothers rode their first Lake Michigan waves as teenagers, surfing became their life’s ambition. Often braving 35-degree waters and wind-chill temperatures hovering below zero, they quickly realized the “Malibu of the Midwest’s” biggest adversaries weren’t the lack of waves, but rather hypothermia and frostbite. Customizing their wetsuits to allow them to last nearly three hours in the iciest of waters, the brothers helped revolutionize a surfing culture unknown to most.

 At the encouragement of friends and family, the Williams brothers organized the first Dairyland Surf Classic in 1988 as an opportunity to meet and compete with those who shared their love of Great Lakes surfing. What began as a humble social gathering of a couple dozen friends now attracts hundreds of surfers and thousands of fans from around the world. The event parallels the Williams’ lifelong mission to ride the ultimate wave while bringing a newfound respect to the sport they love in the place they call home.

 ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Native Wisconsinite William Povletich is the author of Milwaukee Braves: Heroes and Heartbreak and Green Bay Packers: Legends in Green and Gold, as well as numerous magazine articles on sports and entertainment. As an Emmy Award-nominated and Peabody Award-winning documentary filmmaker, he recently produced Police Women of Broward County for TLC, Beach Patrol for Court TV, and A Braves New World for PBS’ Milwaukee Public Television. Povletich lives in the Los Angeles area with his wife and two sons.

 A wry and deeply affecting story of forgiveness, flexibility, happiness, and the art of moving on…

THE BLESSINGS OF THE ANIMALS
A Novel
Katrina Kittle

Website: http://katrinakittle.com/ 
Blog: http://katrinakittle.blogspot.com/ 
Twitter: http://twitter.com/kkittle 
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Katrina-Kittle-Fan-Club/234187942929?ref=ts

Harper Perennial
HarperCollins Publishers
$14.99 Original Trade Paperback
ISBN-13:   978-0-06-190607-7
August 2010

From the critically acclaimed author of The Kindness of Strangers comes a wry, engrossing, and moving novel of a veterinarian’s journey through the aftermath of divorce—all amidst a motley crew of animals.

Featured on Twin Cities Live “What to Read Next” on August 16! 
Video to come after the show airs.
Click here for more info.

“Wonderfully poignant characters and a deeply satisfying exploration of love in its many incarnations, some of them a bit furrier than others, make this novel Katrina Kittle’s most insightful yet. Don’t miss it!” — Lesley Kagen, New York Times bestselling author of Tomorrow River

 “A marvelous page-turner, a story of an unexpected heartbreak and the unexpected blessings that result. Loveable, fallible characters (both two-legged and four) will have you cheering their explorations of love in all its many forms and life in all its messy glory. I didn’t want to put this book down!” — Ellen Baker, author of Keeping the House

 “[Katrina Kittle] takes life in the ‘burbs seriously enough to mine its traumas, dramas and personalities for the rich literary possibilities that lots of other writers have passed on, or missed.” — Dayton Daily News

Buy this book from your favorite locally owned and operated Midwest independent bookseller!
Click here for the directory of our member bookstores

 MBA BOOKSELLER INFORMATION

Booksellers — Earn up to $100 in rebates from MBA for promoting THE BLESSINGS OF THE ANIMALS!
Midwest Connections rebate form for THE BLESSINGS OF THE ANIMALS (PDF) 

THE BLESSINGS OF THE ANIMALS is available from HarperCollins or from your preferred wholesaler.  Be sure to contact the publisher for more information about this title. 

If you are interested in scheduling an event, interview, or book club event or phoner with author Katrina Kittle, please contact  Erica Barmash, Harper Perennial, erica.barmash@harpercollins.com.  Katrina Kittle lives in Ohio, so she is available on only a limited basis.

MBA and Harper Perennial would love to have your comments and reviews for this Midwest Connections Pick. Please send them to us so we can share your endorsements with your fellow MBA booksellers and with your customers!

DOWNLOADS

Please download these PDF files and print out the Twin Cities Live “What to Read Next” sign and shelf-talkers to use with your displays of these books.

SIGN FOR AUGUST 16 FEATURED BOOKS (PDF)
SHELF-TALKERS FOR AUGUST 16 FEATURED BOOKS (PDF)

Note:  The shelf-talkers need to be printed on card stock and cut apart along crop marks. Each book has its own shelf-talker, which is double so that it can be used either on the shelf under the book, or as a slip card standing up from the top of the book like a large bookmark.

• Full-color sign/flyer (PDF)
• Full-color shelf-talker (PDF)
• Reading Group Guide  (PDF)
• Author photo (JPG)
• Book cover photo (JPG)
• Midwest Connections rebate form for THE BLESSINGS OF THE ANIMALS (PDF) – coming
• Midwest Connections Generic Display Materials

ABOUT THE BOOK

 This is Katrina Kittle’s first paperback original, but her books have performed extremely well in paperback—with The Kindness of Strangers (2007) now topping 95,000 copies sold.

 The Blessings of Animals includes a P.S. section featuring essays from the author about her travels and about the inspiration for the novel, as well as an excerpt from her novel The Kindness of Strangers.

 Veterinarian Cami Anderson has hit a rough patch in her life. Stymied by her recent divorce, she is on a quest to unravel the secret ingredients of a happy, long-lasting marriage. Are today’s wedding vows realistic, practical, and applicable? Or is the entire institution of marriage outdated and obsolete?

Surrounded by several couples approaching different milestones in their relationships, Cami reflects on the deepest meanings of love and partnership. As her parents prepare to celebrate their 50th anniversary, her brother and his partner find themselves legally blocked from marriage. Her best friend and soon-to-be-ex-sister-in-law have become newly engaged, while her teenaged daughter’s romance begins to develop its own complications. And now Cami’s ex-husband and two other men are becoming tangled in her own post-marriage love life.

Amidst this circus of relationships, Cami begins to make sense of marriage’s great mysteries-and disconnects. Surrounded by a humorous gang of animals-an angry horse, an escape-artist goat, and a three-legged cat-Cami also comes to terms with her own divorce as she learns the lessons of forgiveness, adaptation, and joy that help her master the art of simply moving on.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Katrina Kittle is the author of Traveling Light, Two Truths and a Lie, and The Kindness of Strangers, which received the 2006 Great Lakes Book Award for Fiction. She graduated with two degrees from Ohio University—a BA in English and a BS in Education. Kittle helped found the All Children’s Theatre in Washington Township, Ohio, and previously taught theater and English to middle schoolers at the Miami Valley School in Dayton. She has also worked as a veterinary assistant. After a year of traveling, she recently returned to Dayton to begin working full-time on her fifth novel.

An unforgettable novel about love and loyalty, homeland and belonging, and one woman’s courage in the face of the most punishing adversity.

THE PERSONAL HISTORY
OF RACHEL DUPREE
A Novel
Ann Weisgarber

www.annweisgarber.com

Viking / Penguin Group (USA) 
$25.95 Hardcover
ISBN-13:  978-0-670-02201-4
On Sale: August 23, 2010

“South Dakota.  The land of opportunity.  But that was before the drought, that was before me and Isaac put a child in the well.  That was before we did it a second time.”

Featured on Twin Cities Live “What to Read Next” on August 16!
Video to come  after the show airs. 
Click here for more info.

“An indelibly affecting teaching story: How unchecked selfish desires, regardless of their origins in historical cruelty and deprivation, lead inevitably to suffering. A suffering that can be alleviated only by the realization of a pure love for others greater than one’s desires for self. Rachel and Isaac DuPree and their tiny, vulnerable family stand as monuments to the forgotten millions of brutal, spirit deforming choices made and endured by so many brave and deeply wounded Americans.”  – Alice Walker

“Ann Weisgarber has written an astonishing novel of the pioneering West—a novel as beautiful, profound, and unsentimental as those of Rolvaag and Cather. And yet her story feels brand new, its insights into race in America poignant and timely. THE PERSONAL HISTORY OF RACHEL DUPREE  is the finest novel I’ve read this year. I can’t wait to read her next one.” – Lin Enger, author of Undiscovered Country

“A man, a woman and a marriage based on a bargain –Set these key elements in the Badlands in South Dakota in a year of drought, 1917, and you have a solid first novel.  Add the complexities of people and place, and you have a personal history of a woman that you will not forget.”  – Joyce Suellentrop, Watermark Books, Wichita, KS

 Buy this book from your favorite locally owned and operated Midwest independent bookseller!
Click here for the directory of our member bookstores

 MBA BOOKSELLER INFORMATION

Booksellers — Earn up to $100 in rebates from MBA for promoting THE PERSONAL HISTORY OF RACHEL DUPREE!
Midwest Connections rebate form for THE PERSONAL HISTORY OF RACHEL DUPREE (PDF)  - available now!

THE PERSONAL HISTORY OF RACHEL DUPREE is available from Viking/Penguin Group (USA) or from your preferred wholesaler.  Be sure to contact the publisher for more information about this title. 

If you are interested in scheduling an event, interview, or book club event or phoner with author Ann Weisgarber, please contact Sonya Cheuse, Publicity Manager, Viking / Penguin, 212.366.2078, sonya.cheuse@us.penguingroup.com.  Ann Weisgarber lives in Texas, so she is available on only a limited basis.

MBA and Viking would love to have your comments and reviews for this Midwest Connections Pick. Please send them to us so we can share your endorsements with your fellow MBA booksellers and with your customers!

DOWNLOADS

Please download these PDF files and print out the Twin Cities Live “What to Read Next” sign and shelf-talkers to use with your displays of these books.

SIGN FOR AUGUST 16 FEATURED BOOKS (PDF)
SHELF-TALKERS FOR AUGUST 16 FEATURED BOOKS (PDF)

Note:  The shelf-talkers need to be printed on card stock and cut apart along crop marks. Each book has its own shelf-talker, which is double so that it can be used either on the shelf under the book, or as a slip card standing up from the top of the book like a large bookmark.

• Full-color sign/flyer (PDF)
• Full-color shelf-talker (PDF)
• Reading Group Guide  (PDF)
• Author photo (JPG)
• Book cover photo (JPG)
• Midwest Connections rebate form for THE PERSONAL HISTORY OF RACHEL DUPREE (PDF)
• Midwest Connections Generic Display Materials

ABOUT THE BOOK

“The Personal History of Rachel DuPree is a wonderful addition to the literature of the Great Plains. Ann Weisgarber not only locates a bright, clear voice in that vast, silent region but does so in a much-neglected part of its population. This is a brave, lovely novel.”  – Larry Watson, author of Montana 1948 and Orchard

Named Best Work of First Fiction by the Texas Institute of Letters and shortlisted for the Orange Prize for New Writers, The Personal History of Rachel DuPree is an American writer’s extraordinary debut novel.  It recalls The Color Purple in its portrait of a woman who rises above the circumstances keeping her down, and it opens a window onto the little-known history of African American settlers in the West.

It is 1917 in the South Dakota Badlands, and summer has been hard. Fourteen years have passed since Rachel and Isaac DuPree left Chicago to redeem the promise of the Homestead Act by staking a claim in this unforgiving land. Isaac, a former Buffalo Soldier, is fiercely proud: black families are rare in the West, and black ranchers even rarer.

But it hasn’t rained in months—the cattle bellow with thirst, and supplies are dwindling. Pregnant and struggling to feed her family, Rachel is isolated by more than just geography. She is determined to give her surviving children the life they deserve, but she knows that her husband will never leave his ranch: land means a measure of equality with the white man, and Isaac DuPree is not about to give it up just because times are hard. Somehow Rachel must find the strength to stake another, altogether different claim—for herself, and for her children.

Moving and majestic, The Personal History of Rachel DuPree is an unforgettable novel about love and loyalty, homeland and belonging. Above all, it is the story of one woman’s courage in the face of the most punishing adversity. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

ANN WEISGARBER was born and raised in Kettering, Ohio. After graduating from Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, she was a social worker in a psychiatric hospital before moving to Houston, Texas, with her husband. She earned a Master of Arts in sociology at the University of Houston and taught high school and then sociology at a junior college. She has lived in Boston, Massachusetts, and Des Moines, Iowa, and now divides her time between Sugar Land, Texas, and Galveston, Texas.

A funny, bittersweet ode to the power of family bonds and the solace of good food.

STARTING FROM SCRATCH
A Novel with Recipes
Susan Gilbert-Collins

 www.simonandschuster.com

Touchstone / Simon & Schuster
$15.00 Trade Paperback
ISBN 13: 978-1-4391-4316-2
On Sale: August 3, 2010

In this heartwarming and honest debut novel, a grief-stricken daughter cooks herself and her family back to life, uncovering secrets both painful and joyous along the way.  A wonderful book for book clubs and reading groups – especially those that also love family life and  like great food!

Featured on Twin Cities Live “What to Read Next” on August 16! 
Video to come  after the show airs.
Click here for more info.

When her mother dies suddenly, just as she is defending her doctoral dissertation, Olivia Tschetter’s world falls apart. Upon returning home she must face her father and three older siblings, who, despite all she’s accomplished, continue to treat her like a child. Through her passion for cooking—a love she had shared with her mother—Olivia finally begins to confront her grief.

“Gilbert-Collins has an ear for the inflections and cadences of upper-midwestern speech, which adds to the book’s other charms.” — Booklist  

“Take one part Jane Hamilton, one part Julie Powell, season liberally with originality, and you have STARTING FROM SCRATCH, the tender, humorous debut. Blowing away preconceptions about contemporary Midwesterners, this novel will be of particular interest to anyone who’s clashed with a sibling, mourned the passing of a parent or wondered, even in young adulthood, what they’re going to do when they grow up.” – Sally Koslow, author of Little Pink Slips and With Friends like These

Buy this book from your favorite locally owned and operated Midwest independent bookseller!
Click here for the directory of our member bookstores

 MBA BOOKSELLER INFORMATION

Booksellers — Earn up to $100 in rebates from MBA for promoting STARTING FROM SCRATCH!
Midwest Connections rebate form for STARTING FROM SCRATCH (PDF)  - available now!

STARTING FROM SCRATCH is available from Touchstone /Simon & Schuster or from your preferred wholesaler.  Be sure to contact the publisher for more information about this title. 

A letter to MBA booksellers from Touchstone

If you are interested in scheduling an event, interview, or book club event or phoner with author Susan Gilbert-Collins, please contact Shida Carr in Touchstone Publicity, 212.698.4384, Shida.Carr@simonandschuster.com.  Susan Gilbert-Collins does not live in the region, so she is available on only a limited basis.

MBA and Touchstone would love to have your comments and reviews for this Midwest Connections Pick. Please send them to us so we can share your endorsements with your fellow MBA booksellers and with your customers!

DOWNLOADS

Please download these PDF files and print out the Twin Cities Live “What to Read Next” sign and shelf-talkers to use with your displays of these books.

SIGN FOR AUGUST 16 FEATURED BOOKS (PDF)
SHELF-TALKERS FOR AUGUST 16 FEATURED BOOKS (PDF)

Note:  The shelf-talkers need to be printed on card stock and cut apart along crop marks. Each book has its own shelf-talker, which is double so that it can be used either on the shelf under the book, or as a slip card standing up from the top of the book like a large bookmark.

• Full-color sign/flyer (PDF)
• Full-color shelf-talker (PDF)
• Press release (PDF)
• Reading Group Guide / Q&A with Author (PDF)
• Author photo (JPG)
• Book cover photo (JPG)
• Midwest Connections rebate form for STARTING FROM SCRATCH (PDF)
• Midwest Connections Generic Display Materials

ABOUT THE BOOK

“What a wonderful story of familial love, loss, and the healing power of made-from-scratch food.  I was completely absorbed by the lives of the Tschetter family, and I very much want to be invited to their house for dinner on a night when Olivia is cooking. Susan Gilbert-Collins has written a fantastic debut novel: warm, witty, and redemptive.”  – Susan Rebecca White, author of A Soft Place to Land

Why is someone who just defended her doctoral dissertation still wasting her time at her childhood home, two months after her mother’s funeral, making coq au vin and osso buco? Olivia Tschetter, the youngest of four high-achieving South Dakotan siblings, is not returning to “normal”—or to graduate school— quickly enough to suit her family. She wants only to bury herself in her mother’s kitchen, finding solace in their shared passion for cooking.

Threatened with grief counseling, Olivia accepts a temporary position at the local Meals on Wheels, where she stumbles upon some unfinished business from her mother’s past—and a dark family secret. Startling announcements from two siblings also challenge the family’s status quo. The last thing she needs is a deepening romantic interest in a close but platonic (she thought) friend.

But while Olivia’s mother is gone, her memory and spirit continue to engage Olivia, who finds herself daring to speak when she would never have spoken before. Told with humor and compassion, Starting from Scratch explores the shifting of family dynamics in the wake of shattering loss and the healing power of cooking.

STARTING FROM SCRATCH not only gives insight into the grieving process itself, but also portrays a complex, realistic family dynamic.  This moving novel resonates with anyone who has dealt or is dealing with loss. But surprisingly, it is also perfect for anyone who has a love and passion for food and family. Olivia uses both to help her cope with the loss of her mother. Whether she is cooking or meddling in family and friends’ lives, there is never a dull moment. From an unplanned pregnancy to a surprise marriage, a childhood secret to an unrequited love – this novel explores the many dimensions of life in a big family.

 ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Born and raised in South Dakota, Susan Gilbert-Collins studied English at Oberlin College and holds an M.A. in English as a Second Language from the University of Minnesota. While she enjoyed teaching international students and adult immigrants, she now freelances as a technical writer in order to focus on her first love, fiction. Susan was born and raised in South Dakota and now resides in Rochester, New York with her husband and son. This is her debut novel.

Here’s one of Susan Gilbert-Collins’ favorite recipes, too!

Cheddar Soup with Shredded Carrots and Potatoes 

Melt 4 tablespoons butter in a large pot. Add 1/2 cup diced onion and 10 oz. shredded carrots and saute for several minutes.  Sprinkle about 2 1/2 tablespoons flour over the onion and carrot and stir until blended.

Add 6 cups chicken broth, 1 pound shredded potatoes, 1/2 tsp. dried thyme, 1 bay leaf, 1/8 tsp. Tabasco (or more to taste), 1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce (or more to taste), 1/2 tsp. sugar, and salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a gentle boil, then simmer until veggies are tender.

Stir in 1 1/2 cups half and half (or milk). Remove pot from burner and cool for 1 minute. Add 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese and stir until melted.

• Note: You can play with the amount of flour you add. A little more results in a thicker soup.

Be sure to get the
MBA CATALOG title list revised as of 8/20/10! 
- INCLUDES DELETED & ADDED TITLES

NEW — more FREE catalogs this year!
NEW — lower participation costs this year!

URGENT! IMPORTANT!

Please call/E-mail MBA by AUGUST 12 to tell us the total quantity of MBA Catalogs you need!
       — call us at 763-544-2993  OR
       — email susan@midwestbooksellers.org  OR
       — email kati@midwestbooksellers.org 

Our printer must order paper by August 16!! 
Your order form, etc. can follow by the deadlines below. 
Thanks!

• 2010 MBA Catalog participation materials — instructions, title list, order forms and fees – are posted on the BOOKSELLER CATALOG INFORMATION web page NOW.
• PLEASE NOTE: This year MBA is NOT mailing a printed package of order forms and participation info to you.  You need to download and PRINT the materials from the BOOKSELLER CATALOG INFORMATION web page
• Order deadlines:
  August 27 for customized catalogs
  September 1 for standard catalogs

MBA booksellers — Plan now to take advantage of all that this great marketing program offers you to help you SELL MORE BOOKS.  We’ll build on past success with more online support through this website, plus other new features, which we’ll announce as we finalize them.

Best friends make the best detectives!

ELVIS & OLIVE
SUPER DETECTIVES
By Stephanie Watson

Scholastic Press
$15.99 Hardcover
ISBN-13: 978-0-545-15148-1
Children’s fiction/ middle grade, ages 9-12

And now available in paperback!

ELVIS & OLIVE

Scholastic Paperbacks
$5.99 Trade Paperback
ISBN-13: 978-0-545-03184-4
First book in this series / kids, friends, and elementary school experiences

Featured on Twin Cities Live “What to Read Next” on August 2!
AUGUST 2 BOOK SEGMENT 
Click here for more info.

Praise for ELVIS & OLIVE:

“Watson’s debut is a solid exploration of friendship and self-confidence themes that are so important to middle-grade girls.” — BOOKLIST

“Watson has penned a satisfying friendship story with drama and humor in fine balance.” — KIRKUS REVIEWS

Buy this book from your favorite locally owned and operated Midwest independent bookseller! 
Click here for the directory of our member bookstores.

MBA Bookseller Information

For more information about this book, please contact your Scholastic sales rep.  Order this book from Scholastic or from your preferred wholesaler . 

If you want to inquire about events with Alison McGhee, please contact Sheila Marie Everett, Scholastic Publicity, severett@scholastic.com .

Downloads

Please download these PDF files and print out the sign and shelf-talkers to use with your displays of these books.

SIGN FOR AUGUST 2 FEATURED BOOKS (PDF)
SHELF-TALKERS FOR AUGUST 2 FEATURED BOOKS (PDF)

Note:  The shelf-talkers need to be printed on card stock and cut apart along crop marks. Each book has its own shelf-talker, which is double so that it can be used either on the shelf under the book, or as a slip card standing up from the top of the book like a large bookmark.

• ELVIS & OLIVE  photo (JPG)
• ELVIS & OLIVE SUPERDETECTIVES  photo (JPG)
• Author photo (JPG)

ABOUT THE BOOK

Natalie and Annie decide to put their detective skills to use as they open the E & O Detective Agency to solve neighborhood mysteries. Together they stumble across an incredibly intriguing one when Mrs. Warsaw, their elderly neighbor with memory problems, begins spreading news about a woman named Zina Zeolite hiding in her bedroom closet. Mrs. Warsaw often speaks of seeing strange things so Natalie doesn’t believe her. But Annie insists that they take the case.

As the detectives start investigating, Natalie and Annie discover that Zina Zeolite is the name of the world’s first female comic book superhero. But could Zina Zeolite also be a real person? And what does a superhero have to do with the ailing Mrs. Warsaw?

The girls must band together to help Natalie win her school election, solve this mystery, and stay friends.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Stephanie Watson lives and works in St. Paul, MN.  She is also the author of ELVIS & OLIVE, her first book for young readers.