The 2022 book selections of Two Books Two Communities of Marquette and Alger Counties feature two books by Canadian author Jean E. Pendziwol: The Lightkeeper's Daughters, an adult novel, and Me and You and the Red Canoe, a children's book.
Pendziwol will give a presentation on October 11 at 7 pm at the Northern Center, on the campus of Northern Michigan University in Marquette and on October 12 at 6 pm at Munising School Public Library.
In conjunction with the lighthouse theme, there is also a special presentation by Dianna Stampfler on Death and Lighthouses on the Great Lakes on September 8 at 6 pm at Munising School Public Library.
All events are free and open to everyone.
The committee and community members are also providing special programming for Me and You and the Red Canoe. Thanks to a generous donor, Two Books Two Communities is providing every 1st through 3rd grade classroom in Marquette and Alger Counties with a copy of the Pendziwol's children's book Me and You and the Red Canoe. Girls Scouts are reading it to senior citizens and Jean Pendziwol will host story workshops in children's classrooms.
Pendziwol is the author of more than ten critically-acclaimed books for children, including Once Upon a Northern Night—finalist for the Governor General's Literary Award and the TD Canadian Children's Literature Award—and I Found Hope in a Cherry Tree—a 2020 Globe & Mail recommended book. Her bestselling picture book No Dragons for Tea: Fire Safety for Kids (and Dragons), was selected by McDonald's Restaurants for their Happy Meal literacy program and continues to be used to teach fire safety in a number of countries including the US and UK. Jean's debut adult novel, The Lightkeeper's Daughters, was a Globe & Mail bestseller, shortlisted for the HWA Debut Crown, a BBC Radio 2 Book Club selection, and winner of the Northern Lit Award. Her books for both adults and children have been translated into more than twenty languages and are available around the world. Her newest picture book, When I Listen to Silence, is illustrated by Carmen Mok. Jean lives in northwestern Ontario where she has been a sessional lecturer of creative writing at Lakehead University.
For more information about the books and Two Books Two Communities, visit nmu.edu/onebook/twobooks.
