The Most Important Year: Dr. SUZANNE BOUFFARD on Pre-K Education
What do our young children need in the earliest years of school, and how do we ensure that they all get it?
Porter Square Books invites author SUZANNE BOUFFARD to answer her own question with a reading from her book The Most Important Year: Pre-Kindergarten and the Future of Our Children.
Cutting-edge research has proven that early childhood education is crucial for all children to gain the academic and emotional skills they need to succeed later in life. Children who attend quality pre-K programs have a host of positive outcomes including better language, literacy, problem-solving and math skills down the line, and they have a leg up on what appears to be the most essential skill to develop at age four: strong self-control. But even with this overwhelming evidence, early childhood education is at a crossroads in America. With engrossing storytelling, BOUFFARD takes us inside some of the country’s best pre-K classrooms to reveal the sometimes surprising ingredients that make them work–and to understand why some programs are doing the opposite of what is best for children.
This event is free and open to the public.
Author STEPHANIE GAYLE reads Idyll Fears, the 2nd in her LGTBQ crime series
Attention crime-novel enthusiasts! A new series is underway, and you can meet the author, STEPHANIE GAYLE, at Porter Square Books for a reading of the second novel in her crime series: Idyll Fears.
It’s two weeks before Christmas 1997, and Chief Thomas Lynch faces a crisis when Cody Forrand, a six-year-old with a life-threatening medical condition, goes missing during a blizzard. The confusing case shines a national spotlight on the small, sleepy town of Idyll, Connecticut, where small-time crime is already on the rise and the police seem to be making mistakes left and right. Further complicating matters, Lynch, still new to town, finds himself the target of prank calls and hate speech that he worries is the work of a colleague, someone struggling to accept working with a gay chief of police.
This event is free and open to the public.
Journalist/author MICHAEL DEIBERT on the history of Haiti
Join Porter Square Books as they host MICHAEL DEIBERT for a reading of Haiti Will Not Perish.
In this moving and detailed history, MICHAEL DEIBERT, who has spent two decades reporting on Haiti, chronicles the heroic struggles of Haitians to build their longed-for country in the face of overwhelming odds. Based on years of interviews with Haitian political leaders, international diplomats, peasant advocates, gang leaders, and hundreds of ordinary Haitians, DEIBERT’s book provides a vivid, complex, and challenging analysis of Haiti’s recent history.
This event is not ticketed.
Local debut YA novelist LANA POPOVIC in conversation with JILLY GAGNON
Porter Square Books welcomes debut YA author LANA POPOVIC in conversation with Jilly Gagnon, author of #Famous.
Fans of Holly Black and Leigh Bardugo will be bewitched by LANA POPOVIC’s debut YA fantasy novel Wicked Like A Wildfire about a bargain that binds the fates and hearts of twin sisters to a force larger than life.
This event is not ticketed.
Casanova’s Secret Wife, a historical love story by BARBARA LYNN-DAVIS
Porter Square Books hosts BARBARA LYNN-DAVIS as she reads her novel: Casanova’s Secret Wife.
Caterina Capreta was an innocent girl of fourteen when she caught the attention of the world’s most infamous chronicler of seduction: Giacomo Casanova. Intoxicated by a fierce love, she wed Casanova in secret. But his shocking betrayal inspired her to commit an act that would mark her forever. Bringing to life a fascinating chapter in the history of Venice, Casanova’s Secret Wife is a tour de force that charts one woman’s journey through love and loss to redemption.
This event is not ticketed.
Vietnam Vet/Memoirist DAVID HOLDRIDGE on “The Avant Garde of Western Civ”
Porter Square Books hosts Vietnam Veteran DAVID HOLDRIDGE, author of the memoir The Avant Garde of Western Civ, an exploration of the complications of “giving.”
HOLDRIDGE served in the Vietnam War in 1969 as an infantry platoon leader outside of Chu Lai. He was wounded and spent eighteen months getting repaired at various hospitals in the United States, culminating with operations at Hartford Hospital in Connecticut where neurosurgeon, Dr. Benjamin Whitcomb managed to free him from his trauma. Subsequently, he spent thirty-five years working with humanitarian organizations amidst populations suffering from war, exploitation, and impoverishment, including assignments in West Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. From 2010 to 2012, he directed an advocacy effort in Washington D.C., which argued for significant transformation of the current systems and approaches of American assistance abroad.
This event is not ticketed.
Poet SIMONE JOHN launches collection: Testify, joined by poet KRYSTEN HILL
Porter Square Books welcomes SIMONE JOHN with local poet KRYSTEN HILL as JOHN launches her first full-length poetry collection: Testify.
JOHN’s first full-length book of poems experiments with documentary poetics to uplift stories of black people impacted by state-sanctioned violence. Testify is ultimately a book of witness. It “burdens” its readers “with knowing.” Combined, both chapters serve as an unflinching critique of race and gender supremacy in the United States.
This event is not ticketed.
Rolling Stone columnist ROB SHEFFIELD’s latest: Dreaming the Beatles
Porter Square Books hosts ROB SHEFFIELD, Rolling Stone columnist and best-selling author (Love is a Mix Tape) presenting his latest– Dreaming Beatles: The Love Story of One Band and the Whole World.
SHEFFIELD offers an entertaining, unconventional look at the most popular band in history, the Beatles, exploring what they mean today and why they still matter so intensely to a generation that has never known a world without them. This isn’t just another expose about the band and why they broke up. It isn’t a history of their gigs, their gear or their girls. It is a collection of essays telling the story of what this ubiquitous band means to a generation who grew up with the Beatles music on their parents’ stereos and their faces on T-shirts.
This event is not ticketed.
Heavy Metal + Thriller = TONY MACMILLAN Reading from The Augmented Fourth
Like rock and metal? How about thrillers? Join Porter Square Books as they welcome novelist TONY MCMILLEN for a reading of his newest novel, The Augmented Fourth.
Four individuals trapped in a snowed in hotel. One of which, our narrator, is the bass player for the legendary, seminal heavy metal band Frivolous Black. None of the four trapped in the hotel are exactly what they appear to be. One might not even be human.
This event is not ticketed.
Blast off with children/teen Sci-fi author KATIE SLIVENSKY
Porter Square Books welcomes children/teen author KATIE SLIVENSKY with her first book: The Countdown Conspiracy. The Martian meets The Goonies in this out-of-this-world middle grade debut where the stakes couldn’t be higher.
Miranda Regent can’t believe she was just chosen as one of six kids from around the world to train for the first ever mission to Mars. But as soon as the official announcement is made, she begins receiving anonymous threatening messages…and when the training base is attacked, it looks like Miranda is the intended target. Now the entire mission–and everyone’s lives–are at risk. And Miranda may be the only one who can save them.
This event is not ticketed.
The Countdown Conspiracy is currently on pre-order at Porter Square Books.
If you cannot attend the event, you can still get a signed copy by purchasing the book online and mentioning in the comments section at checkout that you want it signed (or personalized). This must be completed at least 24 hours prior to the event.
